Teddy Bear Picnic

The children truly enjoyed our teddy bear picnic.  The idea of a teddy bear picnic is based off of the book by Jimmy Kennedy.  During our picnic the children taste tested Teddy Grahams, honey, and blueberries.  The blueberries were a big hit!  We then graphed which flavor teddy graham they thought tasted the best.   We played a rhyming bear game with our buddies, we played bounce the bears, and we sorted the bears into various groups.  We also took turns rereading the story Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

B is for Bears

This week is bear week in our classroom.  On Monday we read two different versions of the storyGoldilocks and the Three Bears.  We then compared and contrasted both stories.  During center time the children sequenced pictures from the story.  

At another center this week the children went fishing.  When they caught their fish a number was missing on it.  For example 6, ---, 8.  The children had to think of the number that filled in the blank.  They will have to do this in kindergarten as part of their assessments.

During playtime the children could go to the bear have that I set up in books and puzzles.  They had to be very quiet in the cave for the bears are hibernating and we do not want to wake them up.  In the house center the children used items from a prop box to act out the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Today we watched a great YouTube video that showed a black bear preparing to hibernate in Wisconsin.  I did have to fast forward through parts of it to keep things flowing.  I have included the link if your child would like to see more of it.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlThdzKXjQQ

Great Day

Today we had a great day exploring the Above and Beyond Children's museum.  Here are a few pictures of our adventures.

Get the Wiggles Out

With the cold weather the last few days means more wiggles have entered our classroom.  To get them out we went to the gym today and played with balls, scooters, hula hops, and jump ropes. During inside recess we do lots of fun activities.  The children's favorite is when we set up an obstacle course. 
Another favorite of ours is the "Go Bananas" song.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfhzSNW0NmE
I have also attached the You Tube video that goes along with the song Who Let The letters Out?  This song is another favorite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1H-LTV4pkU

Next week when we learn about bears we will use the song "the Cool Bear Hunt" to get our wiggles out.  During this bear hunt the children go thorough a candy factory, swim across a peanut butter river, and walk through a jello swamp.  I have attached a You Tube link for a different version of the bear hunt that you may want your child to do at home to get the wiggles out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gyI6ykDwds

Migration

This week we will be learning about animals and how they survive the cold Wisconsin winter.  Animals will do one of three things.  They will adapt, migrate, or hibernate.  Today we learned about migration.  We read a few nonfiction books Geese and Why Do Geese Fly South for Winter?  We also read a great fiction book about sharing titled I Am Sharing.  

For centers today the children cut out five geese.  They then used a mixture of shaving cream and glue to make a cloud on a piece of paper.  They used their finger to make the letter v in their cloud.  Lastly, they placed the geese they cut out on the v to make it look like they were flying in a v formation.  At circle time we pretended we were geese and we flew in this same formation.

Adapt

Today's lessons focused birds.  We learned that some birds like the Robin migrate in winter, while other birds like Cardinals and Juncos stay in Wisconsin and adapt to the cold weather.  Our read aloud today was titled Birds.

During centers today the children followed four steps to make a bagel bird feeder.  When your child brings their feeder home please help them hang it up outside.  By doing this they learn compassion for other living things.

At the second center the children cut out a bird.  They then painted it to look like a Blue Jay or Cardinal.  We learned that these birds grow more feathers to adapt, they store food, and they roost together to keep each other warm.

The Mitten

Today we read the story The Mitten Jan Brett.  This story reminded us of the story Gingerbread Baby, which we read in November.  When a child reads we ask them to make connections.  We want them to connect the story they are reading to something familiar in their lives, another story, or even an event that has happened in the world.  We call the connections we make to other books text-to-text-connections.

After reading the story the children were broken into centers.    At one center the children sewed a mitten together.  The children also colored the characters from the story The Mitten. We will use the mitten and characters to retell the events that took place in the story.

Brrrr!

Today we continued our discussion about how people adapt to winter.  We read a great story titled The Hat by Jan Brett.  Our vocabulary word for the day was "symmetry."  At one center the children made a pair of mittens.  The one stipulation for the mittens was that they needed to be symmetrical.  At another center the children drew a picture of themselves.  This picture will be assessed.  I will compare their mid year drawing to the one they made in September.  Again, our goal is that the picture had 6 traits and that the person they drew looks similar to a real person.  At the last center the children went on a letter hunt.  A variety of sweaters were places around the room.  Each sweater had three pictures on it.  They children listened for the sound that the pictures began with and recorded their findings on a recording sheet.

Welcome Back!

Boy does it feel good to be back to our regular routine.  This week we will be talking about how people adapt to winter weather.  One way they do so is by wearing winter clothes.

Today we read the story This is the Jacket I Wear in the Snow.  During centers the children cut out a jacket.  We worked on making the connection that jacket starts with J,j.  The children then cut out a circle face and drew facial features on it.  Lastly, they used buttons to make a pattern going down the front of their jacket.  The children also journaled about their favorite Christmas gift.

We also had a great time playing in the snow today!!