In the next few weeks we will be studying the children's author Leo Lionni and using his books to make fun activities. This week we focused a lot on measurement, particularly inches. We read the book Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni, which was about an inch worm who went around measuring different parts of a variety of birds. The children looked at how small an inch on a ruler was and recognized that one unifix cube equals one inch. We then traced their foot and had them estimate their foot size in inches and then actually measure it. The kids had a lot of fun with that have-to job and did a great job at guessing reasonable numbers for their foot sizes. When they were all done measuring we then lined up the feet from smallest to biggest. The kids loved figuring out who had the biggest and smallest feet in the class. In order to continue with the measurement theme we then put out items from around the class on the round table and had the children measure them. They were given a choice to use a ruler or the cubes to measure the items. They all did such a nice job figuring out and writing the measurements they came up with. Check out the have-to job board to see those!
This week we also discussed who Martin Luther King Jr. was and why we celebrate his birthday. We read a book about him and talked about his famous "I have a dream" speech. Although when asked what we are celebrating on Monday all the kids screamed "Alex's birthday!" we still think they understood his role in history. After talking about his dream, we then asked the children what their dreams are. We asked them if they could change anything in the world what would it be. They each got a piece of paper with a thought bubble in it that they had to cut out. Cutting out the bubble was a bit tricky and allowed them to practice having scissor control and strengthen their small motor. When they were done cutting it out they had to tell us what they would want to change. Their answers were pretty interesting!
The children were also busy doing a lot of other jobs this week. They really enjoyed making snowflakes at the art table. They were asked to color in coffee filters with markers and then use water to make the colors on the coffee filter run. When those were dry they folded them up and the children cut out little shapes in them. They were so proud of the way they turned out that they hung them in our windows. The children also worked on sequencing and putting stories in the proper order. We took out cards with pictures on them and the children had to put the cards in the correct order so that the story would make sense. The white boards also continue to be one of the children's favorite activities. They have really been into making their own calendars on them and writing numbers 1-20. It is fun watching them because they all help each other figure out what number goes next if they get stuck or go over to the number line together.
We have a new friend that joined our class this week! Hadia started on Monday and seems to be adjusting very nicely. Everyone is being very helpful, as always, and helping her get used to our class and the daily routines.
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