The Caterpillars are here!!

The caterpillars have finally arrived and the children are all very excited about them!  We decided to name our five new class pets by voting.  Each child gave a suggestion on what they wanted to name them and then they voted.  The names of our caterpillars are Bobby, Maya, Chris, Belle, and Catty.  We then read about different types of caterpillars, their body parts, and learned all about the Painted Lady Butterfly, which is what our caterpillars will become.  When we were done at meeting, the children got a chance to be up close with the caterpillars.  We put out magnifying glasses and paper and crayons so they could look at them closely and draw what they saw.  They drew really great pictures.  Check them out on the have-to job board.  As they grow more throughout the week we will measure their size and watch them transform!

The children also worked on basic addition and subtraction problems.  To do the addition problems they used counters to help solve the problems.  On the subtraction problems they had pictures of sea animals they used to figure out the problems.  They counted how many there was and then crossed out the number that they needed to take away to figure it out.

Other things happening in the class:

* Map puzzle
* Learning to braid
* Practice making W
* Surveys
* Free art
*Water/sand table

Let's Count!

In the next couple weeks we will be learning about the life cycle of a butterfly.  The children have been waiting patiently for out caterpillars to arrive in the mail so that we can watch them grow into butterflies and set them free.  To get them excited for the unit we filled the library with books on caterpillars and butterflies and have started talking about them.  Some of them have started painting beautiful pictures of butterflies.  We also made caterpillars with the children out of construction paper strips, tape, pipe cleaners, and googley eyes.  They used the strips to create the body of the caterpillar and the egg cartoons and pipe cleaners for the face.  They are all displayed on top of the cubbies.  Check them out!

We worked on reviewing all the letters that we have learned this year along with learning the letter N.  N is one of the trickiest letters for the children because they know they need to start at the top but are not sure where to go from there.  They learned to go line down, pick up their pen and go back up to the top, then line down and up.  They practiced with the HWT sticks as well as practicing making them on their own on paper.  We also went through the whole alphabet at meeting time using the HWT sticks.  They each got a chance to come up, make a letter, tell us the sound, and one thing that starts with it.  The children were all very eager to participate.  They all did a wonderful job and have a strong grasp on their sounds.  Along with making letters the children have been enjoying phonics work.  They have been asking for the activity where they have to fill in the missing beginning, middle or end letter.  At the beginning of the year they were only doing the beginning sounds, now they are able to do the blend sounds and the unscrambling of the words through sounding out.

The children have also been excited about numbers and practicing counting.  Below are two videos of them practicing counting and organizing numbers using teamwork.  In the first one the children were asked to to line up in order of what number they received.  We told them that they could not ask for help from the adults and they would have to rely on each other to figure out what order they need to stand in.  They did a great job and all helped each other through out the whole process.  The second video is four children putting numbers 1-100 in order.  We started off by giving them 1-30 but they did that so quick so we then provided them with more numbers to organize.  They worked throughout the whole morning very nicely with one another trying to accomplish their goal of putting all 100 cards in order.  The video is just a quick snip it of the last ten numbers and how excited they were when they finally reached their goal.  Enjoy!

Video 1:

 

 Video 2:



Other things happening in class:

* Floor puzzles
* One on one reading practice
* Sorting sea creatures
* Dramatic play area
* Making a storm using the drums in music
* Beading necklaces

Happy Mother's Day!!

What a great day.  Hope you all enjoyed yourselves!  Here are some cute pictures of the day...

Pablo Picasso

The children have absolutely loved learning about Pablo Picasso and seeing Knuffle Bunny in his travels to Paris to visit Picasso's house and famous museums.  Many of you have probably heard your child talk about Knuffle Bunny and have no clue who he is.  Knuffle Bunny is a character in our favorite class books.  He is a stuffed bunny who belongs to a little girl named Trixie.  There are a series of three books about Knuffle Bunny and Trixie and the adventures they go on.   Since Knuffle Bunny is often read and talked about in our class, we figured why not incorporate him into our Pablo Picasso unit by sending him to Paris, where Picasso spent most of his life.  Every couple of days Knuffle Bunny sends the class a letter and some pictures of him in Paris.  The letters he sends include fun facts about Picasso and Paris.  All of the letters and pictures are hanging up on the map in the dramatic play area.  Take a look!

The three periods that we are focusing on with Picasso are the blue period, the rose period, and cubism.  This week the children worked on replicating Picasso's blue and rose period using their own personal experiences as motivation.  They learned that the blue period was a time when Picasso was very sad so they were asked to think of a time when they were sad.  They had to first draw a rough draft with crayon and then were asked to paint their picture.  When they finished their painting they had to name it.  They went through the same process with the rose period but thought of a happy time instead.

We also made a KWL chart with the children.  This chart is divided into three sections.  In the K section, we wrote the things we know or have learned about Picasso.  The W stands for what we want to know about Picasso and at the end of the study we will fill in the L, which is what we learned about Picasso.  Through the reading of the books and Knuffle Bunnies letters we were able to come up with a good list of things we already know.  The children have other questions about Picasso that will be answered through other books and letters.   They have really enjoyed looking through Picasso's books and checking out his art work.  The children are now able to see a painting and tell what period the picture comes from.  It is really neat to see how much they have already learned and how eager they are to learn more.  

Other things happening in the class:

*Playing with the dollhouse

*Floor puzzles
*Making sculptures like Picasso
*House in the dramatic play
*Math problems on the white board
*Secret Mother's Day projects