Friday, February 25, 2011

Body Parts

We learned about the differnt body parts we have and what they are used for.Also went over bones and muscles.We played a game with a balloon where the kids had to keep the balloon in the air with using a different part of thier body.

We traced our body on white paper and drew out the different parts.
They played pin the body parts on the face.

The color of the day was white so we ate all white snacks. Mini marshmellows,string cheese and then the boys got to make a body shape out of thier white bread.
The kids painted a picture of a Butterfly since our letter was B.

Monday, February 21, 2011

5 senses

Gathering activity: Playdough.
Color: Pink
Letter: S
Shape: Handprint
We sang the 5 senses song:
With our eyes we see, with our ears we hear, with our fingers we can touch (clap, clap) with our nose we smell, with our mouth we taste, now thankyou very much.
Touch: I put the paint on their hands, and they did a handprint. They said the paint was cold, wet, and gooey.
Sight: Each child looked in the mirror at their reflection, I then had them breath on it and watch what happened. (In the pic, D, EM's baby brother, didnt want to give the mirror back) We then played I-Spy.
Taste: I had 3 things to taste, lemonade, smarties, and potato chips. Each kid tasted one and they told me if it was sour, sweet or salty. Then we had our real snack, cheese and crackers.

Sound: Each child took turns hiding with a whistle, when they found their hiding spot they started blowing the whistle and the other kids would follow the sound to find them, they really liked this game, and did such a good job taking turns.
Smell: For smell we made flowers and I sprayed them with a scent.
We missed J, P and G, they were not feeling well.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Bugs Lesson Feb 8th

Sorry everyone I started writing this and got distracted with life and forgot all about it. So here it is finally!

Gathering Activity: Playdough

Lesson topics:
Number 3
Letter I
Color Black
Shape Square
Topic Bugs (more specifically Insects and Spiders)

We began by talking about the letter I, the word Insect, the number 3 and the color black. First we took turns finding black things in the room. Then we learned that the word insect starts with the letter I and that insects have three main body parts (Head, Thorax, and Abdomen) Then we sang and insect song to the tune Head, Shoulders, Knees and toes.

Insect Song
Head, thorax, abdomen
abdomen, abdomen
Head thorax abdomen
six legs and Antenae

We then then talked about how spiders are different than insects because spiders have eight legs and two body sections. I handed out pictures of bugs to the boys and let them use a magnifying glass to decide if it was a picture of an insect or a spider.

We then took the boys to the table to have them paint/design their own bugs for the blue binders.
EM's bug picture
J,T,EM, and C(EM's brother) painting their bugs

We watched a short video that showed the life cycle of a butterfly. Click here to see it too.

Then we acted out the life cycle of a butterfly by being the caterpillar crawling around on the floor eating everything in sight, then wrapping in a big blanket for a chrysalis and lastly flapping our arms like a butterfly. The boys seemed to really enjoy that.

For snacks they boys got to make their own spider with Ritz crackers, cream cheese, craisins for eyes and pretzel legs.
J shows off his spider
Spider snack

While the boys ate their snack I read the book the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carl

We then talked a bit about bees and how bees use pheromones or smells to identify each other. Each student was then given a paper cup with a cotton ball in it that had one of three smells (Vanilla, Cinnamon, and butter) They then had to go around smelling each others cups to find the person with there matching smell.

Lastly we made a butterfly life cycle mobile that had a leaf with eggs on it (green construction paper with sesame seeds glued to it) caterpillar (twisted pipe cleaner) chrysalis or cocoon (twisted up tissue paper) and a butterfly (laminated pouch colored before laminating with crayon)

Butterfly life Cycle Mobile

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Feb 10, Valetine's Day Lesson

For a gathering activity, we played with RED playdough and especially made sure that each child made at least one heart shape in the playdough. Then we moved to opening activity and introduced
Shape: heart or valentine
Color: red
Letter: V

We talked about Valentine's Day coming up. On Valentine's Day, we do things for or give things to people we love. We talked about the people we love (parents, siblings, friends.)

Then, each student made a valentine and we put them in an envelope and mailed them to our family. It was a nice day and we walked to the mailbox to mail the letters. This was good practice on staying together, holding hands, and staying close to a teacher. (We didn't see any cars, but had a plan just in case.)

After the little walk, we had snack time: all RED food! (strawberry applesauce, a red apple, craisins, and gatorade.)

After this, we made a get well card for G, who had his tonsils out this week. Then we had an impromptu singing time and did all the "action songs" we could think of. It was a nice break and the children really seemed to enjoy moving and wiggling. Then it was time for our Valentine exchange. Sorry I don't have any pictures; it was pretty chaotic. Each child gave each of the others a Valentine. (Great work, BPS moms, on the valentines. Really, they were all so cute!)

We ended with a few minutes of free play time.