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.