Pre-K, Max Came to Class

Dear Parents,
This week, we did another museum simulation, incorporating lots of elements from past weeks like vocabulary (numbers, colors, facial expressions, museum etiquette, etc.) as well as some new words and concepts. We started the class like always -- handing out nametags and forming two lines to get ready for entering the museum. This time when we entered, there were colored dots for them to sit on in order to set up an appropriate viewing space. We reviewed the commands -- "fate silenzio", "non toccare" and "siediti" -- and then brought back the picture of Max so they would recall some of last week's themes. This time, though, we had a surprise: Giancarlo entered the class dressed as Max, in a black suit, a bowtie and nice shoes. A lot of the kids recognized him and called out "Giancarlo!" so we asked him, "Come ti chiami?" and he responded, "Mi chiamo MAX."

From here, we reviewed many of the words which we had introduced last week -- "vestito nero" (black suit), "farfalla" (bow tie), "faccia seria" (serious face), and "faccia felice" (happy face.) This was a good time to introduce some of the other works surrounding Max in the museum, some of the pieces which Max talks to when he gets lonely. Lam walked in dressed as a sculpture made by Rachel Harrison called "I'm with Stupid." We introduced Lam as a friend of Max and did a comparison of the two, but introduced new words like: "carota" (carrot), "scatola" (can), "maschera" (mask), "scarpe" (shoes), "erba" (grass) and "legno" (wood.) We used this time to compare the facial expression of Max with that of Lam, as well as some of the activities each of them might do.

Sitting beside Lam was a letter, which the little girl from the book (The Girl in the Castle inside the Museum) had left. We read the letter to the class which thanked everyone for making self-portraits last week, and asked the students to make new drawings of the pieces this week. The letter was essentially a prompt for the game "I Spy" -- each time we said "Io vedo.....", the kids had to draw the object. We distributed little colored booklets (also a review of color words!) and crayons, and began the game of "I spy" using the objects on Giancarlo and Lam.

The class really enjoyed the drawing activity and many of them were able to identify the objects even though we only stated them in Italian. A lot of them remembered the color words when we went around and asked them what colors they were using, and they were eager to share their drawings with us.

When it was time to go, we got ready by lining up and "faccendo silenzio"....then we exited the museum and collected all the little books. On our actual visit to the museum in May, we will again distribute these sketchbooks to encourage them to creatively respond to the artwork they see. We think it will be really exciting for them to see the actual painting of Max and the sculpture, "I am with Stupid" when they go to the museum, and our hope is that they will recognize and remember many of the words/objects which we introduced.

We can't wait for our final lesson after spring break! We hope you continue to review the words we have introduced -- especially numbers and colors. On our last lesson, we will be giving each student a little bag with all the work they have been doing this semester!

A dopo,
Julia, Giancarlo and Lam