A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A BRIMMER KINDERGARTNER
A SNAPSHOT OF THE INTEGRATED GLOBAL CURRICULUM
8:00-8:30
Exploration in the Earth Room Let Curiosity Lead: In a museum-like space, children choose interactive activities related to the continent they’re studying. Right now it’s Asia, so hands-on materials and artifacts include a sensory table with a Zen garden to rake and arrange and pastel crayons for sketching bamboo still-life drawings.
8:30-8:45
Morning Meeting Ni Hao, Let’s Learn Together: Children greet each other in Chinese, check the day’s schedule, and do some literacy/ phonics skill building with the Fundations letter and sound of the week. Meeting is one of the ways we build a sense of community in the classroom.
9:45-10:15
Independent Centers—Literacy Research and Writing: The school librarian has already connected children with books and digital resources. Working independently or having a brief conference with their teacher, students are using the facts they’ve researched to write and illustrate their own nonfiction books about pandas.
10:15
Recess
10:50
Art in the Art Room Cultural Exploration: Having learned that Chinese culture reveres brush calligraphers and other artists, students are using bamboo brushes to practice their own calligraphy as they write the characters for “spring.” On other days this week children will have music and learn songs relating to Asian culture.
11:00-12:00
Lunch and Recess
12:00-12:30
Afternoon Meeting Intentional Social-Emotional Learning: “What does it feel like to be worried? What does it look like in someone else?” This exercise helps build noncognitive skills like self-awareness and empathy. Each child shares thoughts and practices listening skills, and together we identify “tools” to help when one of us is worried.
12:30-1:15
Math Geometry That’s Visual and Tactile: After studying the characteristics of various shapes, students color, cut, arrange, and glue several shapes together to form a panda.
1:15-1:40
Snack/Quiet Books
1:40-2:30
Design Lab Be a Construction Engineer: After using books and videos to research the Great Wall of China, children use AirPano and Google Earth to take a close look at the architectural marvel’s structural features. They discuss their observations and tackle their design challenge: to construct a model of the Great Wall using materials such as clay and foam bricks.
2:30-2:45
Closing Meeting Regroup, Review, Reflect: Children articulate what they’ve learned and express their thoughts about the day’s experiences before heading for home or the After School Program.