Groundhogs and Shadows! (Q, 14, Gray)

Our theme last week was "Groundhogs and Shadows" and  we focused on the letter Q, number 14 and color gray.

**This winter is killing me! We had TWO snow days this week! We got a lot of our projects done, my kids were really good about me having them do more more activities than normal.. they had fun with it!**

We read this week: Where's My Hug? by Amy Hest
                               Bear Feels Sick by Karma Wilson
                               The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood
          *I also had planned to read*
                               Llama Llama Time to Share by Anna Dewdney
                               If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff

Our question of the week was "What would you NOT like 100 of?" Some of these were very interesting!

For our theme of the week, we did talk about Groundhog day and what it stand for. I asked them if they really thought that the groundhog could predict our weather, and my class was pretty split on the issue. It made quite a fun discussion!

I found this project on Pinterest, and my kids loved making this. They thought it was cool to make the flaps.

I also had the kids "hibernate" in the gym. We talk about the activities of a groundhog throughout the different seasons. Then I call out seasons and the kids act like groundhogs. When it comes time for winter they all quick find a place to burrow and sleep. It truly is just as fun for me to watch as for them to do it. =]

We talked about the color gray, and we sang "Three Gray Mice"

"Three gray mice, three gray mice,
oh how nice, oh how nice.
they ran around the house at night.
They found some cheese and had a bite.
The farmer's wife turned on the light.
as three gray mice, ran from sight!"
I got it from here!

When we focus on a color I love to do "color hunts" in our classroom. Each child takes a turn to walk

around the classroom and bring back something that they found that is gray. We ended up having a lot more than I thought we would. I started to get a little nervous that there was only a few things, but my class sure did search it out! Here is what we found for the color gray.

When we worked on our number activities, we practiced writing the number and word for the number 14.

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.

From one of my books I had the kids work on this page where they have to match the number of items to the numeral.

For our letter activities, we used our handwriting sheet for the letter Qq from this book.

And we practiced recognizing the letters.

The students wrote in their journals for the letter Q.

I love to make quilts with a class. Each child gets a square to draw their picture. Then i hole punch and tie together with yarn to make a quilt! 

We made a book about the different quilts that a queen had.  This is from a MailBox Letter of the Week book.

We talked about what would be a loud snack (carrots, chips, pretzels) , and what would be a quiet snack (blueberries, cheese and chocolate). Then we made a quiet snack! Each child measured out 1/4 cup of mini marshmallows, 1/8 cup of raisins (I prefer golden raisins) and 1 Tbsp chocolate chips.

We turned a Q into a Quail! This book is great.

For our alphabet wall we made quails!

Here are the words we came up with this week!

Up next week: "Be My Valentine" and a focus on the letter Rr, number 15 and color pink.

Alphabet Envelope Games

I really wanted to have letter "games" on hand to play with my kids, or to let them play a game on their own. Using Letter of the Week projects from The Mailbox books, I created these little activities.

The instructions are the same for each game, I really wanted to make it simple for my kids to get them used to playing group games on their own. They have to take out all the pieces, divide them up, and then take turns figuring out if their picture starts with the letter or not. If they aren't sure what the picture is, I wrote the word underneath so that they *hopefully* use the letter clues. Each game is self contained in it's own envelope that I got from staples (of course I got the eco-friendly recycled ones =]) I mentioned these games in the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom post, but here are all the letters!

I love the idea of these games and can't wait to make more! I love having something in the centers that occupies the kids and the love. Maybe some math and science themed envelopes... hmm. =]

If you have done something like this, or have any ideas, please share!!

Construction! (P, 13, Yellow)

Our theme last week was "Construction" and  we focused on the letter P, number 13 and color yellow.

  

We read this week: Curious George Makes Pancakes by Margret and HA Rey
                               The 100th Day of School by Angela Shelf Medearis
                               If you Give a Pig and Pancake by Laura Numeroff
                               Curious George and the Puppies by Margret and HA Rey
                               My First Chinese New Year by Karen Katz

We finished the month of January this week (CAN'T BELIEVE IT!) so we got to compare this year's weather and last years!

Our question of the week was "What would you like 100 of?" Some of these answers were great!

For our theme of the week, we did talk some about construction. Other thank some discussions about what construction is, and building with blocks, we focused more on two very special days that happened this week. I just have to share the sensory table from a younger classroom. How cute!

First we had our 100th day of school! My kids were fascinated by this and kept counting to 100 all day. We used construction paper, paper plates and dot paint to make 100 gumballs! In small groups we counted 10 dots for each color of paint to get to 100.

The Lunar New Year also fell this week. I bought this place mat from Pottery Barn Kids that shows the different animals. On the back I wrote little blurbs about what each animal stands for, years, and who they do/do not get along with. The kids loved finding out what animal year that they were born in.

We also colored pictures and made paper fans to celebrate with. This kids really put a lot of effort into their pictures, which I loved!

We talked about the color yellow, and we sang "Yellow Sun" to the tune of "Row your boat"

"Bright sun shining down,
Shining on the ground.
What a lovely face you have,
Yellow, big and round."
I got it from here!

When we focus on a color I love to do "color hunts" in our classroom. Each child takes a turn to walk

around the classroom and bring back something that they found that is yellow. The tricky thing is that they have to bring different things, no duplicates allowed! Here is what we found for the color yellow.

When we worked on our number activities, we practiced writing the number and word for the number 13.

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.

For our letter activities, we used our handwriting sheet for the letter Pp from this book.

We did this worksheet that helps work on letter recognition that I got from this book.

The students wrote in their journals for the letter.

We turned a P into a Pig! This book is great, although this week I made up my own.

I found this recipe for playdoh. The kids had a lot of fun playing with it!

The kids made a little  booklet calls Panda's Pillows that came from a Mailbox book: Letter of the Week.

We made a retelling of the story "If You Give a Pig A Pancake" with the kids kids each illustrating a page. I love making little class books, the kids love making them too and their parents love to read them. I usually hang them up next to our Car Talk so the parents can flip through them at pickup.

I made 3 pizzas out of paper plates and cut them into halves, quarters and eighths. The kids had a lot of fun putting them together and playing with the slices.

Playing hot potato was super fun as well.

For our alphabet wall we made puppies!

Here are the words we came up with this week!

Look at this adorable cupcake from one of the other classrooms!

Up next week: "Ground Hogs and Shadows" and a focus on the letter Qq, number 14 and color gray.