Keep Calm and Teach On: July 2015

Friday, July 31, 2015

Under the Sea!

The theme for the last week of July was "Under the Sea". The children are having so much fun in our "summer camp" this year!

This week we read: The Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen
The Pout Pout Fish in the Big Big Dark by Deborah Diesen
How Deep is the Sea? by Anna Milbourne
Who's in the Ocean? by Dorthea DePrisco
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister

The older children that join my class for Summer Camp do not nap during rest time. They have time in the gym in a small group while my class does. To keep them working on their skills, I make them packet to bridge their grades.

The games that we played this week at morning meeting were so fun!
We played "Number Ball" with a beanbag. We toss the beanbag around the circle and the kids have to say the next number. We stand in a circle and toss the beanbag across to friends and try to beat our record!

"Pop!" is a really fun game, and definitely a favorite. We stand in a circle and each child says one number as we go around. But each round there is a pop number. Instead of saying that number, you POP! the person that would be next, out. We work very hard on having good sportsmanship, and the kids have fun even if they're out because they know they get to play again in the next round!

"Pass the Vader" is a fun game. It's just like Hot Potato, except we do it with a small stuffed Darth Vader that children gave me this past Valentine's Day. Love it!

We played "Find the Clothespin". I found this game on KindergartenSmorgasboard, and I thought it just sounded so fun! While the children are not peeking, I hide a clothespin one myself, on a child or somewhere close around us. When they look for it, they can't yell out where it is, they put their finger on their nose! They have so much fun searching.

We played "Crocodile Snap". I found the idea for this game last year and adapted it to be my own. I turned a box into a crocodile with bulletin and construction paper, then filled it with little cards that have a letter, number or shape on them. The children have to reach into the crocodile's mouth (while he's sleeping of course), pull out a card and name what's there. Also hidden in the belly of the crocodile though are SNAP cards (the crocodile wakes up and SNAPS his mouth shut!). Once we pull three SNAP cards, the game is over!

The special activities this week were a blast. Since we are the oldest in the school, our class take over the little school garden. We spent time weeding it. It seems that our store bought plants are surviving, which is great!

Bubble day is quickly turning into a favorite. This week we tried to make Unpoppable bubbles! I found a recipe online using 1 part water, 1 part corn syrup, and 2 parts Joy dish soap. We tried. It seemed as if it was harder to blow bubbles with this solution. And let me tell you.... it was sticky! Hello dirt all over hands and attracting bugs. I think in the future we will stick with corn syrup-less solutions.

Every Wednesday my class has sprinkler day. This is always a fan favorite. The children wear their bathing suits and water shoes, run around in a sprinkler outside, and play in a water sensory table. It really helps beat the summer heat!

I LOVE having a movie day in the summer. It gives the kids a chance to relax, wind down and just enjoy themselves. Plus we have snacks and make it feel like the movie theater... who doesn't like going to the movie theater? This week we watched Finding Nemo.

Exercise is very important, so I thought it would be fun to have some kind of special exercise activity. This week, we moved our bodies like sea creatures! I found some ideas for animals to call out here.

Our question of the week was "If you lived in the sea, what would you be?"

For our theme "Under the Sea", we explored the under sea world. In the sensory table I added blue pasta and rice that I dyed at home using a little vinegar and food dye, shells from the beach, blue glass marbles and undersea animals. I found the figurines at Michaels, 14 pieces for $9.99. Not bad. My biggest problem was that they had so many to choose from! I settled on just the Ocean tube, but they had prehistoric ocean animals, sea life, baby ocean animals... so many great toys!

In the Science center I added pages of some undersea creatures and plants.

In the blocks center I found pictures of under water ruins and buildings for the structure book.

We sang "I'm a Little Heart Fish" to the tune of Teapot.

"I'm a Little Heart Fish in the sea,

I have a heart tail that helps guide me.

When I'm feeling friendly I start to blow...

Tiny heart bubbles, up they go!"

The children wrote in their journals about their favorite thing in the ocean.

In the summer I have elementary children that join my class. While my pre-k students write in their journals, the older children work on a reading response page based on the book that we read at morning meeting.

The children sorted colorful goldfish! Depending on the level of the group, the children sorted 20, 15, or 10 goldfish. We talked about tally marks, most and least, and worked on the one-to-one concept. Then they got to eat their goldfish! I think that was their favorite part!

We made a class book about Under the Sea. As a large group we brainstormed a list of the different creatures that live in the ocean. After they picked the animal that they wanted their page to be about we looked up a cool fact for them to write. Then they drew a picture.

For our fourth week of the study "Buildings" we focused on the rooms at home and at school. First the class worked together to make a list of all the different rooms that we have at school, and the rooms that they have in their houses.

They each picked their favorite room at school, wrote which room it was a drew a picture of it. I turned this into a book that we put in the library center.

The children worked and played in partners to build with different size and shape blocks.

Next they picked their favorite room at their house and drew a picture of it. After they drew the picture, they wrote on the back, and we turned it into a book for the library center.

We talked about the features of a room, and looked around at our classrooms windows, doors, sinks, doorways etc. The children picked on to draw a picture of. They sat in front of the feature so that they were able to observe it while drawing.

Leave a comment below and let me know that you stopped by!

Friday, July 24, 2015

Zoo!

The theme for the third week of July was "The Zoo". The children are having so much fun in our "summer camp" this year!

This week we read: The Perfect Tail by Mie Araki
Splat the Cat and the Cool School Trip by Rob Scotton
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead
Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire
Curious George Feeds the Animals by Margret & HA Rey

The older children that join my class for Summer Camp do not nap during rest time. They have time in the gym in a small group while my class does. To keep them working on their skills, I make them packet to bridge their grades.

The games that we played this week at morning meeting were so fun!
We played "Find the Clothespin". I found this game on KindergartenSmorgasboard, and I thought it just sounded so fun! While the children are not peeking, I hide a clothespin one myself, on a child or somewhere close around us. When they look for it, they can't yell out where it is, they put their finger on their nose! They have so much fun searching.

We played "Crocodile Snap". I found the idea for this game last year and adapted it to be my own. I turned a box into a crocodile with bulletin and construction paper, then filled it with little cards that have a letter, number or shape on them. The children have to reach into the crocodile's mouth (while he's sleeping of course), pull out a card and name what's there. Also hidden in the belly of the crocodile though are SNAP cards (the crocodile wakes up and SNAPS his mouth shut!). Once we pull three SNAP cards, the game is over!

We played "1,2,3" which we have played before and is definitely a fan favorite! We stand in a circle and each child says 1,2 or 3 consecutive numbers starting with 1 up to 9. So for example: "1,2,3" "4" "5,6" "7,8,9" and the next child who would have to say 10 sits down and is out of the round. Then it starts back at one. My class really loves this one, and usually if we play it in the morning, I will hear them in centers or at their lunch tables playing their own facilitated versions of the game.

We played "Alphabet Catch" with a beanbag. We toss the beanbag around the circle and the kids have to say the next letter in the alphabet. If they drop it, we have to start back at the letter "A". This game helps us work on our communication, because the children have to let the person know that they are going to toss it to them!

We played "I have, who has?" which I originally saw being played in a Montessori class. It's so cool to see the children take over the game and help their friends follow along. Over the past year, I made a few different ones to add to my colors, shapes and Alphabet. I love having the different options now because it keeps the game feeling new and fresh!

The special activities this week were a blast. Bubble day is quickly turning into a favorite. This week we tried to make the biggest bubbles possible. It was so neat to see the Eureka moment when the children discovered that blowing gently created larger results. I created a bubble station with a plastic drink dispenser from Five Below and plastic cups that we rinse and reuse. For the bubble solution, I simply used Dawn dish soap from the Dollar Tree and water!

Exercise is very important, so I thought it would be fun to have some kind of special exercise activity. This week, we did Yoga! Cosmic Kids Yoga on Youtube has great videos that the children love.

Since we are the oldest in the school, our class take over the little school garden. We spent time weeding it. Most of our sprouts did not make it.. so I purchased a few flowers and small vegetable plants to plant. Fingers crossed!

Our question of the week was "What is your favorite animal at the zoo?"

For our theme "Zoo", we talked about animals at the zoo! I made this zoo game with a large piece of construction paper. Add some small zoo animal figurines, a dice and some excited kids and we get a super fun time!

We sang "We're Going to the Zoo" to the tune of farmer in the dell.

On Pinterest I found this great zoo flap book that the children created!

I made pages of a few different habitats and three animals that live in each one. As small groups, the children worked together to correctly put the animals in their homes. The kids felt like the Kratt Brothers while they were doing this. Our class LOVES their show!

Using shapes cut out from different colors of construction paper, the children created their own zoo animal. I adapted this from this monster activity that I found on Pinterest. I love that it is a project that really is all about the process, and the kids were so happy with their finished products!

The children wrote in their journals about what they see at the zoo.

In the summer I have elementary children that join my class. While my pre-k students write in their journals, the older children work on a reading response page based on the book that we read at morning meeting.

For our third week of the study "Buildings" we focused on the people that build buildings and how they do. The children made a class book filled with illustrations of Construction Sites.

My assistant teacher brought in a toolbox for the children to explore tools. They felt them, picked them up and asked questions about them.

The class had a discussion of who the different people were that built various parts of our classroom; plumber, electrician, general contractor.

I emptied out my sensory table and added unifix cubes and pieces of construction paper. The children worked in small groups to build different height buildings and create a Unifix city.

Leave a comment below and let me know that you stopped by!

Friday, July 17, 2015

DInosaurs!

The theme for the second week of July was "Dinosaurs". The children are having so much fun in our "summer camp" this year!

This week we read: Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff
      Curious George's Dinosaur Discovery by Margret and HA Reys
          The Dinosaur Who Lived in My Backyard by B.G. Hennessy
          Detective Dinosaur by James Skofield
   The Smallest Stegosaurus by Lynn Sweat

The older children that join my class for Summer Camp do not nap during rest time. They have time in the gym in a small group while my class does. To keep them working on their skills, I make them packet to bridge their grades.

The games that we played this week at morning meeting were so fun!
We played "Alphabet Catch" with a beanbag. We toss the beanbag around the circle and the kids have to say the next letter in the alphabet. If they drop it, we have to start back at the letter "A". This game helps us work on our communication, because the children have to let the person know that they are going to toss it to them!

We played "I have, who has?" which I originally saw being played in a Montessori class. It's so cool to see the children take over the game and help their friends follow along. Over the past year, I made a few different ones to add to my colors, shapes and Alphabet. I love having the different options now because it keeps the game feeling new and fresh!

We played "Number Ball" with a beanbag. We toss the beanbag around the circle and the kids have to say the next number. We stand in a circle and toss the beanbag across to friends and try to beat our record!

"Pop!" is a really fun game, and definitely a favorite. We stand in a circle and each child says one number as we go around. But each round there is a pop number. Instead of saying that number, you POP! the person that would be next, out. We work very hard on having good sportsmanship, and the kids have fun even if they're out because they know they get to play again in the next round!

"Pass the Vader" is a fun game. It's just like Hot Potato, except we do it with a small stuffed Darth Vader that children gave me this past Valentine's Day. Love it!

The special activities this week were a blast. Exercise is very important, so I thought it would be fun to have some kind of special exercise activity. This week, we brought out the BIG parachute and had fun playing different games. The most challenging, but most fun was trying to turn the parachute into a cave!

Since we are the oldest in the school, our class take over the little school garden. We spent time weeding it and planted all the things we had sprouted in the classroom during our Going Green week.

Bubble day is quickly turning into a favorite. This week we brought out pipe cleaners to make our own wands, and tried to make different shaped bubbles. I created a bubble station with a plastic drink dispenser from Five Below and plastic cups that we rinse and reuse. For the bubble solution, I simply used Dawn dishsoap from the Dollar Tree and water! The children on the whole became very frustrated with me, because they started to suspect that I knew all along that the bubbles would always be circles. =]

Our question of the week was "If you were a dinosaur, would you be an herbivore or a carnivore?" This was a fun question, because it not only reinforced facts about how dinosaurs could be classified, but it also made them think about their favorite foods.

For our theme "Dinosaurs", we talked about... dinosaurs! In the sensory table, we excavated dinosaurs! I added sand, small rocks and blue glass marbles along with some dinosaur figurines and paint brushes. I saw a really cool way to bring it up a notch. Freezing dinosaurs in water balloons! I t was super easy to do, and the children were fascinated when I added them to the table.

I have a dinosaur match game, check it out here, that I love because it not only has cards with dinosaurs but also has things like claw, horn and footprint. My class loves a good game of memory anytime, and these are nice because the cards are thick and sturdy, not easily bent.

We sang "Big Ol' Dinosaur" to the tune of If You're Happy and You Know It. I found it here.

Oh, I wish I was big ol' dinosaur. Stomp. Stomp.

Oh, I wish I was a big ol' dinosaur. Stomp. Stomp.

Oh, I'd roam day and night, and ROAR with all my might.

Oh, I wish I was a big ol' dinosaur! Stomp. Stomp.

I cut out different small dinosaurs and the children made "rubbings" by placing them under their paper and using crayons.

Using salt dough (I used this recipe) we made dinosaur fossils!! These were so fun to make. I made the salt dough and turned it into small balls. The kids flattened it out a bit and pressed in the dinosaur figurine of their choice. I baked them for like 4 hours at 250 degrees so that they would keep their light color. I sent them home that day and the kids loved them!

I drew pictures of some dinosaurs for the kids to color and cut out. Some of them kept the dinosaurs the same and some mixed them up. It all turned out so cool and they were each so happy with their creations.

The children wrote in their journals about if they like, or do not like, dinosaurs.

I made a little board game with construction paper and we used small dinosaur figurines as the playing pieces. I honestly can't remember where I found this game last year, I think it was on Pinterest.

For our second week of the study "Buildings". This week we focused on the buildings around our school. Since our school is on a busy road, and there are no buildings very close to use, we focused on our own. To start off, we made a map of the school on the white board, working together to remember things to draw on it. then the children made their own.

We compared pictures of our school to different schools. First the children looked at four pictures, and chose two to compare.

As a large group we made a map of our classroom. Then on their own they drew a classroom map.

We compared pictures of different classrooms. I found 4 pictures for the children to look at, and they picked two to compare.

We looked at some road maps, and the children made map art. With markers they drew roads first, and then added buildings. I cut out building shapes from dollar store sponges for the children to use.

Leave a comment below and let me know that you stopped by!

Friday, July 10, 2015

In the Garden!

The theme for the first full week of July was "In the Garden". Summer camp has officially started! This year I decided that I wanted to make it more of a camp feel, and less of an extension of the school year, so I created themed days that rotate throughout the week. I'm excited!

This week we read: My Garden by Kevin Henkes
    Backhoe Joe by Lori Alexander
    Living Sunlight by Molly Bang
Build, Dogs, Build: A Tall Tail by James Horvath
                                        Mortimer's First Garden by Karma Wilson

The older children that join my class for Summer Camp do not nap during rest time. They have time in the gym in a small group while my class does. To keep them working on their skills, I make them packet to bridge their grades.

The games that we played this week at morning meeting were so fun!
"Pop!" is a really fun game, and definitely a favorite. We stand in a circle and each child says one number as we go around. But each round there is a pop number. Instead of saying that number, you POP! the person that would be next, out. We work very hard on having good sportsmanship, and the kids have fun even if they're out because they know they get to play again in the next round!

"Pass the Vader" is a fun game. It's just like Hot Potato, except we do it with a small stuffed Darth Vader that children gave me this past Valentine's Day. Love it!

We played "Find the Clothespin". I found this game on KindergartenSmorgasboard, and I thought it just sounded so fun! While the children are not peeking, I hide a clothespin one myself, on a child or somewhere close around us. When they look for it, they can't yell out where it is, they put their finger on their nose! They have so much fun searching.

We played "Crocodile Snap". I found the idea for this game last year and adapted it to be my own. I turned a box into a crocodile with bulletin and construction paper, then filled it with little cards that have a letter, number or shape on them. The children have to reach into the crocodile's mouth (while he's sleeping of course), pull out a card and name what's there. Also hidden in the belly of the crocodile though are SNAP cards (the crocodile wakes up and SNAPS his mouth shut!). Once we pull three SNAP cards, the game is over!

We played "1,2,3" which we have played before and is definitely a fan favorite! We stand in a circle and each child says 1,2 or 3 consecutive numbers starting with 1 up to 9. So for example: "1,2,3" "4" "5,6" "7,8,9" and the next child who would have to say 10 sits down and is out of the round. Then it starts back at one. My class really loves this one, and usually if we play it in the morning, I will hear them in centers or at their lunch tables playing their own facilitated versions of the game.

The special activities this week were a blast. Since we are the oldest in the school, I thought it would be great to take over the little school garden. We spent time weeding it and getting it ready for all the things we had sprouted in the classroom during our Going Green week.

I thought having a bubble day would be so much fun each week. This week I brought out this adorable small bubble machine that I found for $3, and just let it do it's thing. the children had an amazing time running around in the hundreds of bubbles.

Exercise is very important, so I thought it would be fun to have some kind of special exercise activity each week as well. This week, the children moved their bodies like insects. This pin gave me great ideas of what to call out, and the children really enjoyed it!

Our question of the week was "What do you want to grow in your garden?"

For our theme "In the Garden", we talked about things happening in a garden! In small groups the children played "The Ladybug Game". We've played this before, and the children really enjoy it.

On TeachersPayTeachers I found a great FREE worksheet that is not only a cool coloring, cutting and gluing project, but really helps kids with those tricky teen numbers!

The children wrote in their journals about what they would plant in their own gardens.

We sang "I'm a Little Watering Can" to the tune of teapot.

I’m a little watering can, Tall and thin.
To fill me up, Just pour some water in.

When you tip me over, And the water sprinkles out.
“Thanks for the drink,” The flowers all shout!

We talked about how plants and flowers drink their water up from the ground and I thought the best way to illustrate that would be the celery experiment! SUPER SIMPLE TO DO!
I got 4 celery stalks (full stalks with the leaves at the top) and put one in plain water, and one in each dyed water blue, yellow and red. I showed the class the set up and we made hypotheses about what would happen to the celery. (I made the worksheet up for this one).

Then we looked at the celery that had been sitting in the water for a few hours t osee what actually happened. That was what we recorded on our papers.

Just for fun I kept the celery around to the end of the week and it looked SO COOL!

The children painted flowers.

We have begun using the Creative Curriculum's Studies, which seem pretty cool. Each study lasts as long as the children are interested in them, and they can be customized to the class's interest in the subject. We decided as a school to start with the study "Buildings". In the sensory table I put some building blocks in dirt to make a construction site.

We began by exploring the topic. We went outside our school and sat in front of it, and each drew an Observational picture of it. It was really cool to see the the children take such an interest in it.

Using different size and shape blocks, the children worked in pairs to build.

We talked about different kinds of buildings and the types of things that happen inside them.

The children each picked a kind of building to draw the inside of, and we turned it into a book.

Leave a comment below and let me know that you stopped by!