Shells

Today we read a great story titled A House for Hermit Crab.  During center time the children were able to make their own hermit crab and decorate its shell with various art materials.  They loved this!  At another center they went on a hunt around the classroom to search for shells.  When they found one they counted how many dots were on it and recorded the number on their recording sheet.  At another center the children sorted shells based on the letter that was on them.  If the children knew their letters they worked on letter sounds.

Shark Tales

The children loved the stories that we read about sharks.  The first was titled The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark.  We made a text-to-text connection when we compared this story to the story The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf.  Instead of huffing and puffing the houses down, like the wolf, the shark munched and crunched the houses down.  In both stories the characters used three different types of materials to construct their houses.  At the end of both stories the characters were safe from the wolf and shark.


For centers the children read the paper book titled Watch Out Fish.  On each page the children tracked the words from left to right with their pointer finger.  They then listened for the number in each sentence.  Lastly, they drew the corresponding number of fish on the page for the illustration.  At closing circle the children reread their story to a friend.  Rereading books helps with memorizing words and fluency.

The children also played an ocean in a bag/bottle math game.  I made oceans in a bag/bottle that included ocean animals with numbers on them.  The children worked with a partner to find the ocean animals and identify the number on it.  They then recorded the number on a recording sheet.  Here are the directions on how to make an ocean in a bag.

 Squeezed blue hair gel into a Ziploc baggie. You might be able to find a bottle at dollar stores. Next,  added water animal foam stickers, beads, and glitter.  Tape the top of the bag shut and then have fun exploring.  For an ocean in a bottle fill a bottle 2/3 of the way full with water.  Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.  Put in a pinch of blue food coloring addsome ocean animals and have fun exploring.

J is for Jellyfish

Today our ocean animal of choice was the jellyfish.  We learned that a jellyfish is an invertebrate.  Jellyfish have dangerous stingers.  Some fish swim alongside jellyfish as a way to protect themselves from predators.  At one center the children made a jellyfish of their own.

At the second center the children made a puppet of their favorite animal from the song "Slippery Fish."  We used the puppets to act out the song, as well as make a graph of our favorite ocean animal.  At the third center the children used fish counters to measure the length of various ocean animals.

O is for Ocean and Octopus

Today we started our new theme "Ocean."  During this unit we will be reading many nonfiction books.  Many of the books will be from a Pebble Books Series.  This series of nonfiction books are just right for our reading level.  They are short, but give us a variety of facts for each ocean animal.  They do have this series of books at the Kiel Public Library if your child is interested in animals.


Today during centers the children made an octopus of thier own.  They had to do some very tricky cutting to make their octopus.  For the suckers on each of the eight tentacles the children patterned fruit loops.  Some patterns were simple like turn taking patterns, while others were more complex like ABC patterns: red, yellow, blue, red, yellow, blue.

Today the children also learned a new song titled "Slippery Fish."  This song is always a favorite.  I have included a YouTube video for your enjoyment.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_k45_iyVG0

The Queen of Hearts

This month our nursery rhyme is "The Queen of Hearts."  
The Queen of Hearts, 
She made some tarts 
All on a summer’s day. 
The Knave of Hearts, 
He stole the tarts 
And took them clean away. 

To begin the day today we made tarts (cupcakes).  When we came back to the classroom after washing our hands for snack they were gone, and in their place was a letter.  The letter was from the knave stating that he stole our tarts and in order to get them back we needed to go on a scavenger hunt around the school.  Each child was given a map that had hearts programed with letters on them.  In the hallways of the school we found pink hearts hanging up.  Each heart contained three pictures.  We listened to the beginning sound of the pictures and determined what letter they began with.  We then colored the corresponding heart in on our map.  The last heart for the scavenger hunt was on our classroom door.  When we walked into the room it was transformed into a Valentine oasis.  The tables had tablecloths on them, there were Valentine plates and napkins, cups, and our TARTS!!!  The children had lots of fun during this experience.

Valentine's Week

This week our theme is Valentine's.  I have found some great websites with printables that you may want to use this week make it Valentine's Week at your house too.  The following site has a variety of mazes that your child might want to try http://www.busybeekidsprintables.com/Preschool-and-Kindergarten-Valentine-Math-Worksheets.html  The next site has printable coloring pages with Disney characters that would make great pictures to give to relatives for Valentine's Day.http://games.disney.com/ The last web site has Valentine's day puzzles that you can put together.  You can change the amount of pieces in the puzzles to increase difficulty. http://www.coolmath-games.com/online-jigsaw-puzzles/valentines-day-jigsaw-puzzles/valentines-day-puzzle-1/easiest

Terrific Teeth

Today we read another nonfiction book titled All About Teeth.  When you are reading to your child at home please try to include a few nonfiction books along the way.  A great series that I use for this age group is called Pebble Books.  Today the children colored a toothbrush like the one they use at home.   I must say our coloring is starting to look much better compared to the start of the school year.  At another center the children were given a tooth(glob of play doh) that had cavities in it(black beans).  They used tweezers to get the cavities out of the tooth.  They then placed the cavities on a recording sheet that was labeled with numbers.  At the third center the children played a cavity tooth toss game.  They took a cavity (black beanbag) and tossed it at a tooth that had a number on it.  Some friends worked on identifying letters, for the friends that know their letters they worked on beginning sounds to words.

X is for x-ray

This week we will be talking about dental health.  When you go to the dentist you may need to have x-rays taken.  Today the children cut out a yellow tooth.  They then used a toothbrush and white paint to brush it and make it clean.  We also played a tooth game that worked on one-to-one correspondence using marshmallows.