Learning the Five Senses!

The children absolutely loved the doctor area in the dramatic play area. Following their interest we decided to do a unit on the human body.  We started this week with the five senses.   We began the five senses with the sense of sight. We read a book on the eye and how it works.  The book taught them the parts of the eye, such as the iris and the pupil.  We then had the children each come up and graph what color their eyes were.  We gave them mirrors so they could take a look and figure it out for themselves.  In the book it talked about how the pupil gets bigger and smaller as it gets darker and brighter.  We had each of the children face one another and stare into each others eye.  We then turned the light off and on in order for them to see the pupil changing sizes.  They absolutely loved that and asked us to do again about four times!  For their have-to jobs the children were asked to draw pictures of things they see on a daily basis.  We hung those up on the bulletin board above the cubbies.  The other have-to job was making their face with a paper plate.  They first had to look in the mirror to figure out their skin tone.  They then added their proper hair color and eyes.  Most of you have probably seen them hanging in the class.

The next sense we talked about was the sense of hearing.  They learned about how the ear works and we discussed the different day to day noises we hear.  Again they were asked to go to the art table to draw pictures of things that make noises we hear.  Many of the children drew pictures of animals such as cats, horses, and cows.  We also did a fun activity at the circle table.  They each got a piece of paper with pictures on it.  We would play familiar sound for them and they would have to match the pictures with the sounds.  They really enjoyed that activity.  They also added the ears to their paper plate face.  As we continue learning about the senses, they will continue adding the appropriate body parts.

The children have been wanting more and more academics lately, which has been really exciting.  They come into the classroom asking to do math or to read!  At the beginning of the year we made math packets for each of the children and only a couple kids were interested.   Rather then forcing them we placed them on the shelf and waited for the children to ask for them.  This week was the week!  We took them back out and the children were extremely eager to go through them.  Some pages have patterns that need to be completed, other pages have counting the shapes, and the other pages are basic addition and subtraction.  Every child was required to come over and do at least one page which best fit their ability.  Some of the children wanted to do the whole packet which we of course allowed.  They have become really good at looking at the problem, recognizing the sign, and either taking away or adding more counters.  It really is amazing to see how far they have come! (proud teacher moment :))











Other things happening around the class

*HWT (Handwriting Without Tears)
*"B" word puppets (Bats, Bunny, Bear, Butterfly)
*Castle Building
*Dramatic Play
*New Puzzles
*Making Binoculars

FYI: 
*April 29th is Newton Service Day.  We are looking for volunteers to help us to paint, build shelves, clean up room, etc...  If you are interested please let me know. 

*The brochure for the Summer Adventure Program is ready and available.  They will be going home with your children next week.  Each week is themed and you may sign up for as many weeks as you like.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact Deb at teachdebperry@gmail.com.