Insect Investigation

Today our read aloud was titled Ten Little Ladybugs.  Today we had four centers set up in the room.  Each child visited two of them.  At an independent center the children observed insects that I had in investigation jars.  I also provided them with a set of nonfiction books about insects.  They children made their observations and then drew a few insects that they liked on their recording sheet.

With Miss Sue the children were given a garden (a storage tub with split peas and flowers in it).  A variety of insects were hidden in the garden.  Each insect had a word or letter programed on it based on the child's learning needs.  The children used tweezers to find an insect in the garden.  They then identified the word or letter on it and recorded it on their recording sheet.  If they could not see the letter or word they used a magnifying glass for help.

Insects

This week we are starting on our new theme; insects.  Today we read the story There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly.  Today we did two centers, and the children visited each of them.  At one center the children were given a paper plate with a slot cut out for the mouth.  The children drew two eyes and a nose on their plate to make it look like a face.  They then cut up pieces of yarn and glued them on for hair.  At the second center the children were given the characters that were in the story.  They used colored pencils to color in the lines, as well as practiced using a variety of colors to color their animals. 

 

 

During closing center we used the puppet and characters to retell the story There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly.  When the children identified the animal that came first they put it in their puppet's mouth.  They continued this action until they had all of the characters in the mouth in the correct sequence.  Please don't forget that when you are done reading to your children close up the book and have them retell for you what happened in the story.  You may have to give a few prompts along the way.  I was very pleased that one of the children made a text-to-text connection when they remember that we have read other versions of books that had an old lady swallowing things. 

Today we were also able to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather!!

Board Games

The children have been noticing some of the board games that I have stored and have asked if they can play them.  Well, Friday was their lucky day.  During playtime the children were given the opportunity to play Chutes and Ladders and Candyland.  The Candyland game was a special addition, with many complex rules, but with a few modifications we made it work.  Board games are rich in learning opportunities. They satisfy your child's competitive urges and the desire to master new skills and concepts, such as:

• number and shape recognition, grouping, and counting
• letter recognition and reading
• visual perception and color recognition
• eye-hand coordination and manual dexterity

Games don't need to be overtly academic to be educational, however. Just by virtue of playing them, board games can teach important social behaviors, such as communicating verbally, sharing, waiting, taking turns, and enjoying interaction with others. Board games can foster the ability to focus, and lengthen your child's attention span by encouraging the completion of an exciting, enjoyable game. Your luck can change in an instant — for the better or for the worse. The message inherent in board games is: Never give up! (scholastic.com/parent/resources the Benefits of Board Games)

 

A few of my favorite children's games are:

This game is like bingo except it comes in versions that work on number recognition, vocabulary, and sight words.

 

This was one of my families favorite games to play when my daughter was young.  Even if they can't read yet, younger children can enjoy playing this great strategy-building game.

This game is on my list to purchase for our family game nights. It has received many toy awards.  The great thing is that they made versions for younger children that works on the concepts we are working on in class.

 

Gotta Go

Today our read aloud was titled Gotta Go, Gotta Go.  To beginning the story we discussed how each word in the title started with the letter G.  The caterpillar in the story repeats, "I don't know much, but I know what I know. I gotta go! I gotta go! I gotta go to Mexico!" This story recounts the life cycle of a monarch butterfly, as well as its migrating journey.  The best part of the story was when everyone chimed in, " I gotta go! I gotta go! I gotta go to Mexico!"

Today two of our centers were butterfly hopscotch and caterpillar last name practice.  At butterfly hopscotch the children played the standard hopscotch game, expect the path was programed with higher numbers.  The children worked on identifying the numbers, counting on, and counting back.  All of these skills will be needed in kindergarten to add and subtract numbers.

With Miss Sue the children counted the letters in their last names.  They then added one to their total.  Next they counted out colored circles in a pattern to match the number that they needed.  They cut out their circles, pasted them in a pattern, and wrote a letter from their last name in each circle.  They then drew a face to make their circles a caterpillar.  One thing that you want to keep a close eye on is that your child is starting their letters and the top.  This will make the transition to cursive writing easier.

Caterpillars

Today the title of our read aloud was Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill marten Jr.  This book incorporated ordinal numbers, rhyming words, and different species of caterpillars.  One of our favorite caterpillars was the woolly bear.  This black and orange caterpillar can be found fairly easily in your yard.  It turns into an Isabella Tiger Moth.

One of our centers today had the children make a caterpillar.  They used a clothespin, wiggly eyes, and pom poms to make it.  When it was finished they placed it in a brown lunch bag(the chrysalis).  We then hung the chrysalises from the hooks in our ceiling.  The caterpillars will now rest as they go through metamorphosis.

At an independent center the children listened to the story Waiting For Wings by Lois Ehlert.  This book  follows the life cycle of four common butterflies, from their beginnings as tiny hidden eggs and hungry caterpillars to their transformation into full-grown butterflies.  When the children finished reading the story they drew a picture of their favorite part of the book.  They then dictated a sentence to go with their picture.

Butterflies

Today we read one of my all time favorite stories The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.  This story gave the children an insight into the life cycle of a butterfly.  During closing circle we reviewed this cycle by watching the following YouTube video http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+monarch+butterfly+life+cycle&mid=9A6964297C9549A8659E9A6964297C9549A8659E&view=detail&FORM=VIRE4

Today during centers the children had the opportunity to visit two out of four centers.  At Mrs. Severson's center the children were placed with a partner and given two sets of butterfly playing cards and two dice.  They started the activity by placing their cards in order from 2-12.  They then took turns rolling the dice and counting the sum of the dots.  They then flipped over their card with the corresponding number.  The player to have all their cards flipped over first won.

At my center the children completed the first two pages in the Butterfly Life Cycle book that we are making.  On the first page they glued a leaf and drew an egg on it.  The second page had the following sentence on it:  When the caterpillar hatches, he eats and eats and eats.  For this page the children used a hole punch to punch holes in the leaf to make it look like it was eaten.  They then used circle stickers to pattern a caterpillar on the leaf.

Wacky Weather

Today we continued our discussion of weather.  Our read aloud was titled The Wind Blew.  At Miss Sue's center the children cut out the letter "u" and the outline of an umbrella from a died coffee filter.  They glued the two together to make the "u" page for their alphabet book.  At my center the children played the weather game.  On their turn they rolled the die that was programed with the numbers 6-11.  They then took a playing card.  On their playing card there was a set of three pictures.  The children had to say the name of the pictures and then determine which two started with the same beginning sound.  If they landed on a space with a rainbow above it they were able to slide up the rainbow.  You can reinforce this activity at home by listing three our four words and having your child identify which two start the same.

Our museum play theme is starting to take shape.  Today I introduced a slide to the theme.  The children did a great job of taking turns going down the slide and they remembered to slide on their bottoms.  I also made a "Creation Station" that the children explored.  In the writing center I placed paper, scrap paper, ribbon, buttons, sequence, glitter glue, and fancy scissors.  The children used the items to make collages.

Weather Watchers

On Monday and Tuesday the children listened to two great books Raindrop Plop and Cloudette.  In Raindrop Plop a little girl in a shiny red raincoat and green boots searches for the silver lining and catalogs the many things she encounters along the way. As she travels across the pages, the text counts up to 10 ("One little raindrop, / dark, dark sky. / Two little raindrops, / clouds go by") and back down again after she arrives home (""Ten little toes / in a nice warm tub. / Nine soapy bubbles, / scrub-a-dub-dub!"). This story also incorporated rhyming words into its text.

Over the last two days your child has visited four centers that related to weather.  At Miss Sue's center the children listened to the story It Looked Like Spilt Milk.  They were then given a blue piece of paper to fold in half.  Next they placed white paint in the fold and rubbed the two sides of the paper together.  They then opened up their paper and described what object their cloud looked like.  Some responses included cheeks, a tiger, and a butterfly.  With Mrs. Severson and Grandma Sue the children played the game It's Raining Cats and Dogs.  They were given a die that was programed with animals and a partner.  They rolled their die and dotted the animal on their recording sheet.  The children were very eager to see which animal would be the first one to have its row completed.

At my center the children journaled what they like to do when it is raining.  Some children like to jump in muddy puddles, while others like to play Chute's and Ladders.  The children are working hard to sound out words and write what they hear.  At the last center the children watched the YouTube video for the story Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.  After the story we discussed if what happened in the story was real or fantasy.  The children also shared what they would like to see rain from the sky.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olO73t4kf9E

This week we have also been making projects for the Sock Hop.  The children are definitely getting excited about the big event.   During playtime the children have also been busy building houses for their babies.

Sock Hop

This week after school I have been busy helping with the Sock Hop.  Please check back tomorrow to see what we have been up to.

R is for Rain

I don't know about you, but I have seen enough rain for a while.  Today with Miss Sue the children cut out the letter "R" and glued it onto a piece of paper.  They then used droppers to suction up rain(blue colored water).  Next, they dropped the raindrops onto their letter "R."

The children have voted on a new play theme.  They would like to set up a Children's Museum in our classroom.  This theme does not have a lot of roles to go with it, but it will allow the children the opportunity to increase their language skills and creativity.  As part of the Children's Museum the children brainstormed that they would like to plant flowers.  To accommodate this I put soil, seeds, flowerpots, strainers, shovels, and silk flowers in the sensory table.  The children who visited this area came up with some pretty floral creations today.

Besides a planting station the children would also like a dinosaur bone exploring station.  During playtime next week I will teach them how to paper Mache balloons.  We will use these for our dinosaur bones.  I am also going to place various media in the writing center, so the children can work as artists at the museum.  The children also wanted to make a pirate section of the museum.  I plan on getting a variety of books and placing them in our books and puzzles area, along with some props from the Sock Hop to create this section of the museum.  The children also want a gift shop in their museum.  It may take us a while to set everything up, but this student driven activity allows the children to explore and drive some of their own learning.

To end the day we went to the gym and played on the scooters.  This was a fun way to increase our large motor skills and wear off some energy.

Planting a Rainbow

Today the children listened to the story Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert.  During center time the children then painted a rainbow of their own.  They cut out a pot, glued it onto a piece of paper, and then used their creativity to paint a rainbow of flowers.  The best part of this project is that no two are alike.  One child even painted a hand on top of his stem because a hand print looks like a flower. 

 At Miss Sue's center the children visited the website http://www.scholastic.com/clifford/gamesandprintables.asp here they played the patterning game How Does Your Garden Grow?  They also played a sorting game and a letter identification game.  At my center the children were given an outline of a flower.  They rolled a die and placed the corresponding number of petal stickers on the outline. 

At closing circle the children went on a letter hunt.  Our letter for the week is the letter "R, r."  I paired the children up with a friend, gave them a clipboard with a piece of paper, and two markers.  The children explored the classroom in search of R's.  When they found one wrote it down.  The children found R's at the beginning of words, in the middle of them, and at the end of them.  The focus of this activity was learning how to share and work with others, recognize that print carries a message, as well as identify the letter r. 

To end the day we went to the gym and played with the parachute. We made waves, popped popcorn, and created a igloo that we could sit in.  This was lots of fun!!!

Growing Flowers

  

                                                                                                                                                              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week the children will partake in learning experiences that relate to flowers.  Our read aloud was titled The Surprise Garden.  I also shared with the children a seed book that I made.  I cut the top off of the seed packets that I had at home and dumped the seeds into a zip lock bag.  I then placed the empty packet in the bag.  Lastly, I stapled the bags together to make a book.  This book will allow the children to compare and contrast different types of seeds.  Our song for the day was "Flowers, Stems, Leaves, and Roots," which we sang to the tune of "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." 

With Miss Sue today the children cut out the steps taken to plant seeds.  They then sequenced them in order and glued them on a sentence strip.  Next, they followed the steps to plant Marigold seeds.  At my center the children made book tilted What do seeds need to grow?  On each page the sentence described one thing that seeds needed to grow.  The children then drew the object in as part of the illustration.  For example, on the page that said, "Seeds need sun to grow," the children drew a sun.

At closing circle we placed bean seeds and carrot seeds in zip lock bags along with cotton balls and water.  We then predicted which seed we thought would sprout first; the Marigold, bean, or carrot.  The carrot seed received the most votes.  Many of the children said they chose this seed because they love to eat carrots.  I hung the seeds in the window so they would receive heat from the sun.  We will observe the seeds over the next few days and weeks in hopes that they sprout soon.

Dinosaurs

Today we had another great day learning about dinosaurs.  The children enjoyed getting some wiggles out doing the Dino Pokey.
Tune: Hokey Pokey
adapted by Mrs. Jones

 You put your claws in
You put your claws out
You put your claws in
And you scratch them all about
You do the Dino Pokey
And you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about.

You put your feet in
You put your feet out
You put your feet in
And you stomp them all about
You do the Dino Pokey
And you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about.

You put your teeth in
You put your teeth out
You put your teeth in
And you chomp them all about
You do the Dino Pokey
And you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about.

You put your tail in
You put your tail out
You put your tail in
And you swing it all about
You do the Dino Pokey
And you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about.

Today the children visited three centers.  With Mrs. Severson they cut out the outline of a stegosaurus.  They then glued on triangles in a pattern to give the stegosaurus its plates.  With Miss Sue and Mrs. Palmer the children played a Dinosaur Roar Rhyming game.  At my center the children used unifix cubes to measure three different length dinosaur eggs.

 

Digging Dinosaurs

Today's read aloud was titled Stomp, Dinosaur Stomp.  During circle time we also sang to the song "All Around the Swamp."
The Pteranodon's wings went FLAP,FLAP,FLAP,
FLAP,FLAP,FLAP,FLAP.FLAP,FLAP
The Pteranodon's wings went FLAP, FLAP, FLAP
All around the swamp.

The Tyrannosaurus Rex went GRRR,GRRR, GRRR,
GRRR, GRRR, GRRR, GRRR, GRRR, GRRR,
The Tyrannosaurus Rex went GRR, GRR, GRR,
All around the swamp.

The Triceratops horns went POKE, POKE, POKE
POKE, POKE, POKE, POKE, POKE, POKE,
The Triceratops horns went POKE, POKE ,POKE,
All around the swamp.

The Brontosaurus went MUNCH, MUNCH, MUNCH,
MUNCH, MUNCH, MUNCH, MUNCH,MUNCH, MUNCH
The Brontosaurus went MUNCH, MUNCH, MUNCH,
All around the swamp.

The Stegosaurus tail went SPIKE, SPIKE, SPIKE,
SPIKE, SPIKE, SPIKE, SPIKE, SPIKE, SPIKE,
The Stegosaurus tail went SPIKE, SPIKE, SPIKE,
All around the swamp

If your child has not already told you we had an egg appear in our classroom.  The children each took turns predicting what would hatch from the egg.  Some of the predictions include a tractor, a chick, and a bird.  After waiting and observing we found that a dinosaur hatched from the egg!  Everyone was very engaged in watching over the egg.

One of our dinosaur centers today involved making a fossil out of Model Magic and noodles.  The children pressed the noodles into the model magic to make a dinosaur body.  We will wait for our images to fossilize and then the children will be able to take their fossils home.  They loved this activity!! 

The children also used dinosaur stamps to stamp quantities today.  At my center the listened to the story Dinosaur Roar.  They were then given a page the had the sentence starter Dinosaur ____________. on it.  The children drew a picture of a dinosaur on their page and then told me an adjective that described their dinosaur.  I wrote the adjective in to complete their sentence.  I must say I was very proud of the effort the children put forth on this activity.  They have come a long way when it comes to drawing a recognizable picture.  I will assemble the pictures into a class book and read it to the children tomorrow.

Oviparous

Today we learned about oviparous animals.  An animal is oviparous if it hatches from an egg.  Our first read aloud today was titled Hatch.  This book gave us a riddle and we had to decide which oviparous animal solved the riddle.  To check if we solved the riddle correctly we had to lift a flap.   During one of our centers today the children drew an oviparous animal.  They then cut out an egg that it could hatch out of.

The second story we read was titled Little Lumpty.  This story is a spin off for our new nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty.  In the town of Dumpty stands the high wall from which Humpty Dumpty fell long, long ago. Every day Little Lumpty passes the wall and dreams of climbing to the top. His mother warns him not to, but, at last, Little Lumpty cannot resist. He gets a ladder and climbs to the top of the wall. How wonderful he feels, if only his friends could see him. And then he makes his big mistake: he looks down! He starts to shake and tremble, he cannot move from where he is sitting. "Help! Help!" he screams, fearing that he will end up scrambled like Humpty Dumpty. The townsfolk run to save him.  At this point in the story I stopped reading the book.  We then broke off into centers.  During center time the children made a brick wall and cut out their own Little Lumpty.  They then used their imagination to decide how Lumpty could get down from the wall.  Once they had their idea they used a marker to add details to their picture showing how Lumpty would get down.  Some children thought he would jump into some pillows, one child said he would use a scissors lift to get down, and another child said he would slide down into a pool.  When I finished reading the story at closing circle the children learned that the real Little Lumpty is saved when the townsfolk hold out a blanklet for him to jump on.