Grandparents Day is Friday, February 14th and we’ve been practicing for our show.  We even went on an adventure to Grandma's house to invite her to come and watch. On the way there we ran into a couple of obstacles.  The boys and girls learned how to participate in a group situation, number concepts and operation (under, over, or through), Traveling skills, to think symbolically, and the use of ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, & 3rd). With all the rain this was a fun indoor activity.

Bringing The Outside In

Since we couldn’t go outside, we brought the outside in. Using a sand table and construction vehicles, we were able to pretend that we were leveling the land for a good foundation. We discussed how important a foundation was to be built level ground.  We discussed the vocabulary words foundation and level.

I Scream You Scream We All Scream For Ice Cream!

What makes buildings strong?  We continued our discussion on how important it is to have a good foundation for a strong building. During snack time we used an ice cream sandwich for our foundation and created our own buildings. The boys and girls had fun designing and eating what they created.

Who builds buildings and what tools do they use?

I asked everyone our focus question and wrote down their answers. They said a construction worker and named several tools (hammer, drill, backhoe, and saw.) We also had a construction worker visit our class. Mr. Anthony discussed how he builds buildings and what tools he uses. He also passed around tools for the children to examine.

A Visit From The Tooth Fairy

A surprise visit from the Tooth Fairy. We discussed how to take care of our teeth and what causes cavities. She also sprinkled Tooth Fairy Dust on the boys and girls to help them remember to brush their teeth twice a day.

Classifying & Tally

Classification is a fundamental pre-number learning concept that children learn about the world around them.  Once they have classified items, children can compare items further to learn more specific similarities and differences between items, both within and between matched groups.  Using a color chart, we classified heart-shaped candy. Each student had to count how many pieces were in each color.   This was a fun activity but I think everyone enjoyed eating the candy the most. One of them said "I better brush my teeth tonight so I don't get a cavity."

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Before our Christmas Break, the students enjoyed our Grinch themed party and a visit from Santa.

Not only did we start a new year, we started our new study about buildings. This study features five investigations that we will explore.  The investigations offer children an opportunity to learn more about the characteristics and features of buildings, the people who build them, and the role buildings play in our communities.  Each investigation will help children explore science and social studies and strengthen their skills in literacy, math, technology, and the arts. This week the boys and girls worked together in groups to build a city. They used legos, blocks, and magna-tiles.

One of our focus questions was, “Which would you use to build your house: straw, sticks, or bricks?”  Each student had a chance to vote and tell the class what material they would use and why. We tallied our answers and then read the book, The Three Little Pigs.  After reading the story, we discussed each house and the definition of the word “collapse.”  

After the boys and girls observed 2 boxes with different items in them, I asked “Which has more, the box with the beads or the box with the bears.”  Each student recorded their answer by placing a mark under beads or bears. We then counted the items to see whose prediction was correct.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving break and our Thanksgiving reenactment.

WHICH HAS MORE

I had three bags, one filled with acorns, one with sticks, and one with leaves. I asked the boys and girls “Which has more?” We made a chart with the three items and each child voted for the bag that had the most in it. Afterwards, we counted the items in each bag. The bag of acorns had the most. We discussed how the bag didn’t look very full but it had the most in it. We also talked about how small the acorns were and we could put more in the bag. At home have your child fill 2 bags with items from trees and then play our game “Which has more?” Adults play a significant role in helping children to learn mathematical vocabulary, concepts, and process skills. If children are to develop the knowledge needed for later formal learning, they need frequent practice with materials in play settings and adult-guided activities that include meaningful discussions and applications.

Story Problems

Using trees and a nest that we made, we acted out story problems. Through everyday experiences and planned learning activities, young children begin to construct understandings about the number operations of separating (subtracting). Taking away is a common separating operation that makes a collection smaller and answers the question “How many are left?” Children can often solve subtraction problems before they can solve addition problems.

3 Buzzing Bees were buzzing around the hive. 1 Buzzed away, how many are still near the hive?

4 Little birds were sitting in their nest, 3 Flew away, how many are in the nest? 1 sad little bird.

The Very Hungry Squirrel!

The boys and girls were full of excitement as they rolled the dice to see how many acorns they could feed the Squirrel. When we play games as a group, they are learning to cooperate and share with others. The foundation skills for being a productive member in a social and learning group is established during the early childhood years, and they are important for early school success.

What a great way to end our clothing unit! The children paraded down the stage showing off their Halloween attire. Afterwards, we sang Halloween songs and had a party with food, crafts, and games. This was a day I’ll always remember.

YOU’VE BEEN BOOED!

Each student had a chance to reach into our boo box full of bats.  If they pulled out a bat with a number, the kids would flap their wings to correspond with the number.  If the bat says boo, that child has to fly around the rug like a bat. Everyone loved chanting “ you’ve been booed.” as they flew by.

With our rhythm sticks, we tapped to the beat of Halloween songs.  The children had to hold their sticks in a resting position as we waited for different songs to start.  Children respond to rhythm sticks, shakers, and other instruments with instinctive enthusiasm. They literally celebrate life with a bang!  When we use rhythm instruments in the context of songs, stories, and musical games, children develop an awareness of rhythm, phrasing, tempo, and other elements of musicality.  It’s an incredible joy to see children discover the music within themselves. 

 “HIPPITY HOPPITY, HOW MANY?”

As I shook my closed fist, we chanted “Hippity Hoppity, How Many?”  Then I would quickly hold up fingers on each hand and have the children count the combined number of fingers.  They would then show me the answer by holding up the corresponding number. Young children must learn to connect quantities with written numbers.  Displaying numerals with representations of their quantities helps children associate the amount with the numeral. What a fun way to learn numbers!  Each student couldn’t wait for their chance to be the leader.

We had a great time at the pumpkin patch! Everyone enjoyed a story and pumpkin bread. They also had a chance to pick out their own pumpkin to take home.

BUTTON PATTERNS 

The ability to recognize and create patterns help us make predictions based on our observations; this is an important skill in math. Understanding patterns help prepare children for learning complex number concepts and mathematical operations. The children worked together in pairs to create their own button pattern

SEWING CIRCLE

After discussing how people make clothes we formed our own sewing circle. This activity helps with fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination. Using a needle and thread the boys and girls created their own bat for Halloween.