Creepy Crawlies! (G, 4, Hexagon)

Our theme this week was "Creepy Crawlies" and we focused on the letter Gg, the number 4 and the shape hexagon.

We read this week: The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
                               Grandpas are for Finding Worms by Harriet Ziefert
                               Grandmas are for Giving Tickles by Harriet Ziefert
                               Curious George by Margret and H.A. Rey
                               King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood

Our question of the week was "What is your favorite song to sing?"

for our theme of the week, we did all sorts of activities dealing with bugs and crawly, creepy things. Yuck!

We sang the 'Itsy Bitsy Spider" and made spider webs! They came out so cute! First I gave the kids a square of newsprint paper and told them to ... scribble!! I also told them that this was probably going to be the only time they heard that out of my mouth, so to take advantage. =]. I folded the paper for them and drew lines for them to cut on. Everyone had to try to cut their paper by themselves first, and if they needed i was there to help. Then we unfolded and even though they knew it was going to be a web, each child was so happy with how cool theirs was!

I make sure to take my kids outside at least once a day unless it's pouring rain... I love being outside and so do they! We took advantage of our beautiful fall weather and dug around for worms. (I have to say, I don't know what's in the dirt there.. but those worms could moonlight as small snakes.. I've never seen such big worms... shudder.)

We played with play doh and I challenged the kids to make me some bugs. When we do activities like this I make sure that I'm not pressuring them to make an exact replica of a butterfly or something. I want them to make their own creation, but then they have to walk me through how it is a big. Where are it's legs, antennae, eyes, what kind of bug is it... these are all things that they have to tell me.

Here's my bug....

We marched around outside and sang "The Ants go Marching".

We walked around outside trying to find bugs to see what they do in their natural habitats. Look what we found!

We talked a lot this week about the shape hexagon. I found this cool song on Pinterest to the tune of "Head, shoulders, knees and toes."

"A hexagon has 6 sides, has 6 sides.

A hexagon has 6 sides, has 6 sides,

The sides are equal and angles are the same.

A hexagon has 6 sides, has 6 sides!"

The kids practiced recognizing hexagons out of other shapes.

When we worked on our number activities, we practiced writing the number and word for the number 4.

I made these worksheets that reinforces the one to one concept. The kids practice writing the number and have to color a square for each picture that they see. (I forgot to get a picture)

For our letter activities, we used our handwriting sheet for the letter G,  and the sheet that helps work on letter recognition, both are from books that are mentioned in the "All About Me" post. The students also wrote in their journals for the letter G.

We made a class list of animals and colors that started with the letter G. Then the kids each picked what they wanted to make for a page in our class book.

We played "Goose Egg on the Loose", also known as hot potato but with a plastic Easter egg.

We painted "Shades of Green" I put spots of green and white paint on their papers and they used their paintbrushes to spread it out and mix the colors together. When they were done, we pointed out the different shades that they made.

We turned a G into a Grasshopper.

For our alphabet wall we made grapes with dot painters.

And with the G addition, our wall now looks like...

Here are the words we came up with this week!

Up next week: The letter Hh, the number 5, pentagon and "Happy Halloween".

Falling for Fall! (F, 3, Octagon)

Our theme this week was "Falling for Fall" and we focused on the letter Ff, the number 3 and the shape octagon.

We read this week: Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson
                               The Frog Prince (Classic Fairy Tale)
                               The Frog Prince Continued by Jon Scieszka
                               One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
                               Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban

Our question of the week was "What is one reason you like the Fall?"

theme of the week, we talked about and did activities that highlight some seasonal changes that happen in the fall.

We made a fall themed tree using paint and Q-tips. I like to let my kids create their own art. so they even made their own tree trunks! (great cutting practice!!) I saw this done on this page.

We made fall wreaths with fall colors. We used orange tissue paper, red and brown construction paper and yellow feathers. This project let us talk about why we associate the colors with the season.

We had fun collecting leaves from all around outside and then sorted them by size, and then by color.

Using those leaves that we collected, we then made leaf rubbings!

I made a new mural for our library center and the kids made acorns! I drew the outline of the acorn on brown construction paper. Then they glued torn up brown paper bags fro the "cap" and we glued on oatmeal for the bottom.

We talked a lot this week about the shape octagon. I couldn't find a song that I really liked, so I wrote my own modeled on the ones that we've already done..

"This is an octagon, this is an octagon,

How can you tell? How can you tell?

It had 8 sides,

And looks like a stop sign, 

It's an octagon, it's an octagon."

The kids practiced recognizing octagons.

When we worked on our number activities, we practiced writing the number and word for the number.

I made these worksheets that reinforces the one to one concept. They kids practice writing the number and have to color a square for each picture that they see.

For our letter activities, we used our handwriting sheet for the letter F,  and the sheet that helps work on letter recognition, both are from books that are mentioned in the "All About Me" post. The students also wrote in their journals for the letter F.

 
We went "fishing for F's". On cutouts of fish I wrote letters A-F. I put a paperclip on each fish and the kids used a fishing pole with a magnet on the end to catch a fish! They had to name the letter they got. If it was and F, they got to keep it, and if it was a different letter they had to "throw it back in".

We danced the Hokey Pokey, pretending that we were foxes (bushy tails, pointy ears, paws) Love it!

We turned F's into Fish.

For our alphabet wall we made fish that we finger painted.

And with the F addition, our wall now looks like...

I didn't realize until now that my little  pond looks a little bit like Texas...

We got into a competition with the older class for who could think of more words.. by the end of the week both classes tied! It was an awesome job done by both classes. Our list for words beginning with F's was awesome. Here it is!

Up next week: The letter Gg, the number 4, hexagon and "Creepy Crawlies".

Community Helpers/Fire Prevention Week (E, 2, Oval)

Our theme this week was "Fire Prevention Week/Community Helpers" and we focused on the letter Ee, the number 2 and the shape oval.

We read this week: Career Day by Anne Rockewell
                               Bendemolina an American "silly story"
                               Detective Dinosaur by James Skofield
                               Curious George and the Firefighters by Margret and H.A. Reys
                               Duck for President by Doreen Cronin

Our question of the week was "What do you think Mom does at work?" The kids really love answering these questions.

For our theme of the week, we talked about the different people that help our community be successful, really focusing on fire safety and prevention.

We played community helper bingo. I made the game board and found pictures of various jobs (teacher, paramedic, police, crossing guard, store cashier, judge, chef, etc). The kids had to color the pictures, cut them out and then glue them onto the board. It's a great activity for fine motor and then we get to play a game!

I found on Pinterest last year the idea for turning a hand print into "5 Little Firefighters".

We talked about stopping, dropping and rolling... and practiced. That was a lot of fun. =]

The fire truck and firefighters from a local station came to visit us. The kids loved it. They got to talk to the firefighters, see them with their gear on and go in the truck! They came through the school afterward to see all the classrooms and I'd never seen my class so shy! It was hilarious.

The next day we wrote about saying thank you when people do something special for us, so we wrote thank you notes to the firefighters.

We had a Grandparent's breakfast and our visiting Grandparents helped us use dot paint to decorate 911. We talked about the number, when to use it and especially when not to.

We talked a lot this week about the shape ovals. We sang this song that I found here.

"This is and Oval, this is an Oval,

How can you tell? How can you tell?

It is long on one end,

And short on the other, 

It's an oval, it's an oval."

The kids practiced recognizing ovals.

And drawing ovals and squares with this worksheet or a cute egg-headed man.

When we worked on our number activities, we practiced writing the number and word for the number.

The kids also used a key to color a picture. This time we tried is as our first whole group activity of the year. They did a great job and really worked on following directions, listening, being patient and trying to focus on what they were doing.

I made these worksheets that reinforces the one to one concept. They kids practice writing the number and have to color a square for each picture that they see.

For our letter activities, we used our handwriting sheet for the letter E,  and the sheet that helps work on letter recognition, both are from books that are mentioned in the "All About Me" post. The students also wrote in their journals for the letter E.

We turned E's into Elephants.

For our alphabet wall we made Eagles. After we made them we watched some of this video so the kids could see Eagles in action.

And with the E addition, our wall now looks like...

Our list for words beginning with E's was very impressive. Here it is!

Up next week: The letter Ff, the number 3, octagon and "Falling for Fall".