Valentine's Party

Roar!

Following our Winter theme, we moved into a study of dinosaurs!  While knowledge of dinosaurs was varied in our classroom, everyone was excited to engage in new activities and learn about these fascinating creatures.  The children were inquisitive and sparked great discussions and research asking questions such as, What dinosaurs lived where we are?  Why do scientists study poop?  What dinosaurs could swim?  What are the different spikes on the dinosaurs' backs?  Embedded within our study, the children practiced weighing and measuring, counting, listening for important information, collaboration and inquiry.

Dramatic Play:

Our dramatic play area was a dinosaur dig.  The children were paleontologists using tools (paint brushes) to uncover dinosaur bones.  Once bones were found, they were carefully moved to the skeleton building site where they were pieced together like a puzzle by our paleontologists.  Finally, the students referenced dinosaur posters to discover which dinosaur's bones they had uncovered and then drew a picture of the skeleton.

Also, at dramatic play was a fossil discovery center.  The children chose from a group of fossils, determined whether it was a fossil of a plant or animal, used the balance scale to weigh the fossil to determine how many dinosaurs it would balance, measured the fossils length and then drew a picture.  Lots of skills practiced!

Block Center:

At the block center, the children used bristle blocks or wooden blocks to create a habitat for the dinosaurs.

Game:

The children played Dinosaur Rescue, a cooperative game in which they try to save their dinosaurs before building a volcano.

After reading a nonfiction book about T-Rex, we wondered how long an average T-Rex really was (40 feet).  In order to help the children picture this length, we went into the hallway and the children laid down on the floor head to toe.  We discovered that a T-Rex is about the same length as all of the students in our class laying in a line!

Facts that the children learned about T-Rex.

To help the children better understand the relative size of the T-Rex, I showed them a life size footprint.  The students then placed one shoe inside the footprint and we discovered that one T-Rex footprint was about the size of all of their footprints combined!

During circle time, our Question of the Day asked the children if they have ever seen a dinosaur at a museum or if they would have liked to live during the time of dinosaurs.  We also attempted to look at the different heights of dinosaurs by using our play dinosaurs.  Each child chose a dinosaur and then measured it's height using cubes.  Next, the children sat in order from the tallest dinosaur to the shortest.  We talked about what we observed about the tallest dinosaurs (often walked on two legs, had sharp teeth so they were meat eaters) versus the shorter dinosaurs (walked on four feet, had defenses such as armor, plates, horns).  Last we looked at how our blocks showed the different heights of the dinosaurs too.

Science:

Our dinosaur science experiment involved growing dinosaurs.  Each student chose a dinosaur and measured it using a centimeter ruler.  The children also used their five senses to describe the dinosaurs.  Then they placed them in water.  After a weekend, the children took their dinosaurs out of the water and measured them.  They also described the dinosaurs using their five senses once again.  The children were amazed at how much they had grown!

Before and after observations:

Our final dinosaur activity involved a cooperative project.  The students used toilet paper and paper towel rolls as bones to create a fossilized skeleton of a dinosaur.  Some of the groups tried to make real dinosaurs like a triceratops or brontosaurus, while other groups made up their own dinosaur- the eight-leg-osaurus.

Mr. Ken paid a visit again and sang a song to the book Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak.

Outdoor Play!

Winter!

Following vacation, we were met with a warm spell outside, but it was winter in our classroom.  Students were introduced to the new season as we first talked about how our clothing changes.  Our two student volunteers modeled clothing worn in winter versus summer as their classmates sorted items and dressed them accordingly.

During circle time, we used our clothing items to create graphs illustrating who in the class wore gloves or mittens and who wore boots or shoes.  As we discussed the data, students practiced counting and comparing using the words more, less, and fewer.

 

During our study of polar animals, we read nonfiction texts.  We talked about the characteristics of nonfiction texts and the children were asked to listen for facts about each animal.  We then created the following charts about polar bears and penguins.  As I wrote down the students' facts, we talked about how letters make up words and words make up sentences.  The children helped me listen for sounds in words in order to spell the first letters.

Dramatic Play:

In the dramatic play area, students learned about igloos and pretended to be inside one in the Arctic sitting on "animal fur".  The children also went ice fishing and built habitats for Arctic animals using "ice blocks".  

Sensory Table: 

At the sensory table, the children first played with Insta snow.  This substance starts as a powder and grows into a substance that looks like real snow when water is added.  Without real snow outside, this was the next best thing!

The Insta snow was then replaced with ice as we began talking about Arctic animals and the many forms of water we see outside in Winter.  Small animal figures were trapped in the ice and the children had to wear safety goggles and try to hammer away the ice to rescue the animals.

Playdoh:

At the playdoh center, the children strengthened their hand muscles and creativity skills by creating habitats for polar animals.  Some children also made animal tracks.

As we continued our discussion of Winter, we touched upon our favorite activities to do in the snow.  Of course making a snowman was a favorite, so students designed felt snowmen inside the classroom.  

This month we also introduced our Question of the Day.  Students enter the classroom each day, practice writing their name and then answer a question by placing their name card under the answer that best describes their thinking.  This theme's questions all involved snowy day activities.

Discovery Center

At the Discovery Center, students used popsicle sticks to design snowflakes.  We read books and looked at pictures of actual snowflakes.  As we observed the snowflakes, I pointed out the characteristics that snowflakes have six points and are symmetrical.  Students tried their best to use this criteria to create snowflakes on our magnetic board.

Block Center

What's better on a snowy day than to relax in a log cabin?  At the Block Center students had the opportunity to build their own cabin with Lincoln Logs.  Students collaborated to design and build different structures.

Some children prefer Legos, so these building tools were also available.

 

Finally, the children were asked to build habitats for the Arctic animals out of wooden blocks.  Below are some of their creations.

 

Art Center:

At the art center, students stamped out snowflakes which set a wintery scene in our classroom.

The children also used watercolors to paint a blue sky and cut white strips of paper to design a snowflake falling.  The snowflakes were then decorated with sparkly jewels.

Following a reading of The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, students used white puff paint to create snow scenes that illustrated what they like to do on a snowy day; go sledding, make snow angels, build a snowman, make tracks in the snow, and have a snowball fight.

Following a reading of The Mitten by Jan Brett, students painted their own mitten designs.

As we discussed the different forms of water in winter, students had the opportunity to paint with ice cubes.  They learned that the colors were more vibrant as the ice cubes began to melt.

Science: 

Our winter science experiment was titled "Melting Snowmen".  As a class we read Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner.  After retelling the story, students drew pictures of what they thought snowmen might do at night.  We then had a discussion about what causes snowmen to melt.  The children determined that warm air (or temperatures) caused by the sun and rain are what cause snowmen to melt.  We decided to simulate snowmen melting with rain.  First, the children made a snowman out of baking soda, water and dish soap.  Then, they sprayed "rain" on their snowman with a water bottle.  Some children used vinegar while others used just water.  We were able to observe and discuss how the effects of the two different liquids impacted the snowmen.  Students noticed that both melted the snowmen, but the vinegar made them bubble.

Another experiment that we did as a class was designed to teach the students about blubber.  After reading several books about Arctic and Antarctic animals, we learned that some animals have a layer of fat or blubber that protects them from the cold.  To demonstrate the benefits of blubber, students tested ice water.  First, they quickly placed their bare hand or finger tips in the ice water and described how it felt.  Next the children put on a blubber glove which was two nitrile gloves with blubber (Crisco) in between.  The children then dipped their gloved hand in the water to see how the blubber kept their hand warm in the icy water.

Gym: 

During gym the students engaged in winter activities, sledding (scooters), making snow angels on the mats, ice skating on poly spots, hockey, and throwing rings (hula hoops) around icicles (cones).

On a second visit to the gym, the children participated in animal relay races.  Pretending to be seals, walruses, penguins and polar bears, the students worked in teams to get from one end of the gym to another.

Library:

It is so wonderful to see all of the children working together to build in the library.  Each visit a group of children try to build the tallest tower possible out of Magnatiles.

We all enjoy our visits from Mr. Ken!

Outdoor Fun!

Flashback: 

Those who attended our Ward's Berry Farm field trip might remember that the farmer donated several different gourds to our classroom.  One was the Swan gourd, named for its shape.  The farmer promised that if we dried out the gourd it could be shaken and the seeds inside would sound like an instrument.  Well, 3 months later and we have our gourd instrument.  The children enjoyed seeing its transformation!

Patriots!

Our team spirit worked as the Patriots went on to a sixth Superbowl win!