Green Eggs and Ham

 Do you like Green Eggs and Ham??

They started out as your "average eggs".....

Imagine our surprise when our eggs turned GREEN!!!

Do you like GREEN EGGS and HAM? Try them, try them, you may like them!

Thumbs up if you do... thumbs down if you don't!

Some were not too hip on eating GREEN EGGS and HAM!! He stayed here until the eating was done! 
I will  not eat them in a box, I will not eat them with a fox!
I could not eat them with a goat, I would not eat them in a boat!
I will not eat them here or there! I will not eat them ANYWHERE!

So.... DO you like

GREEN EGGS and HAM?

Our graph will tell us WHO!

G, G, LETTER G...

HOW DO YOU MAKE THE LETTER G??

F is for Flag

I love my flag, my country's flag

The Red and White and Blue
It has broad stripes and fifty stars
And stands for freedom too.


Crayon Color Paint Resist:

The kids painted red over the white crayon stripes, and their flag had two of the 3 colors we needed! 

Their finished product: 

We learned the words to the Pledge of Allegiance and discussed how to treat the American Flag with respect.

We also discovered some other National Symbols. We threw in some "fine motor skill" activities at the same time! (We've been trying to remember to keep our 'THUMBS UP' when we use the scissors!)

Shared Writing

Shared Writing is a cooperative instructional activity during

which the teacher serves as the scribe. Students contribute their

ideas and the teacher negotiates the text. Shared Writing

provides an opportunity for students to see the relationship

between reading and writing.

Adapted from Literacy Techniques for Building Successful Readers and

Writers by David Booth and Larry Swart

As a teacher, I LOVE Shared Writing!

Together, the kids and I wrote in our class journal about our day. We came up with our idea, said it out loud, and then wrote down the letters of the sounds we heard as we stretched each word. 

 Since we were learning about the letter E that day, we went on a "Letter E hunt" and circled all the letter E's we saw in our journal. 

 

Everyone got a turn, and just when we thought we'd found them all, our friends would help us find another!!

E: Exercise Day

There are so many benefits to exercise! We wanted to work on our Large Motor skills today, so we thought we'd have some fun with it!

Stretching, running, crawling, hopping..... the fun never stops!

Crab Walking and hopping on one foot.... a lot trickier than you might think!!

 This is a great article on Why Children Need Physical Education: 

http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/publications/teachingTools/whyPE.cfm

Why Children Need Physical Education 

Physical education is an integral part of the total education of every child in Kindergarten through Grade 12.

Quality physical education programs are needed to increase the physical competence, health-related fitness, self-responsibility and enjoyment of physical activity for all students so that they can be physically active for a lifetime. Physical education programs can only provide these benefits if they are well-planned and well-implemented.

Improved Physical Fitness

Improves children's muscular strength, flexibility, muscular endurance, body composition and cardiovascular endurance.

Skill Development

Develops motor skills, which allow for safe, successful and satisfying participation in physical activities.

Regular, Healthful Physical Activity

Provides a wide-range of developmentally appropriate activities for all children.

Support of Other Subject Areas

Reinforces knowledge learned across the curriculum.Serves as a lab for application of content in science, math and social studies.

Self Discipline

Facilitates development of student responsibility for health and fitness.

Improved Judgment

Quality physical education can influence moral development. Students have the opportunity to assume leadership, cooperate with others; question actions and regulations and accept responsibility for their own behavior.

Stress Reduction

Physical activity becomes an outlet for releasing tension and anxiety, and facilitates emotional stability and resilience.

Strengthened Peer Relationships

Physical education can be a major force in helping children socialize with others successfully and provides opportunities to learn positive people skills. Especially during late childhood and adolescence, being able to participate in dances, games and sports is an important part of peer culture.

Improved Self-confidence and Self-esteem

Physical education instills a stronger sense of self-worth in children based on their mastery of skills and concepts in physical activity. They can become more confident, assertive, independent and self-controlled.

Experience Setting Goals

Gives children the opportunity to set and strive for personal, achievable goals

Diggin' for Dinos!

Dinosaurs may be extinct from the face of the planet, but they are alive and well in our imaginations. ~Steve Miller

 On letter D day we became Paleontologists, got our hands dirty, and started digging for dinosaurs! 

 We made all sorts of discoveries!  

 Volcanoes, ravines, rivers, and "little houses" were made for the dinosaurs.

Some of us took a break from the digging and played some dinosaur games...

 We sang a song about a Disco Dancing Dinosaur and used our fine motor skills to cut and glue dots on our dancing dinosaur!

 In our Science Observation Journal, we made predictions on how fossils were made.

 We made our own fossils in play-dough and recorded our observations

 The kids found all sorts of ways to create fossils using different parts of the dinosaur.... the head, the tail, the backbone, the feet, etc. We decided it would be fun to be a real Paleontologist and discover which part of a dinosaur's body was fossilized into real rocks!

Learning the difference between plant-eating and meat-eating dinosaurs was LOTS of fun and very yummy! We used our snack-time to help us decide if we would be a Herbivore or a Carnivore or even an Omnivore!

 We also used the letters in our name to help give the Stegosaurus his spiky backbone:

Who knew you could have so much fun with dinosaurs!

Fred the Classroom Caterpillar

We just finished talking about the life cycle of a butterfly.......

And then Fred came along....



See him starting to build his chrysalis...

 After watching him crawl around and munch the leaves like "The Hungry Little Caterpillar," he finally made himself a cozy cocoon.

We can't wait to find out what happens next!!!

All things B!!!

Bubble Art! 

 

 Bubble Art Solution: 

1/2 C Water

1 TBL Dish Soap

3 TBLS Tempra Paint

Gummy Bear Graphing!

One-to-one correspondence is a math skill that will build a foundation for preschoolers.  Using our gummy bear graph, we were able to answer the following questions:

What colors do I have?

How many of each color do I have?

Do I have more or less of one color?

How many more do I have of one color than the other?

How many less do I have of one color than the other?

How many do I have compared to my friend?

 TIME FOR OUR TEDDY BEAR PICNIC!!

 

BUBBLE BLOWING!

 

     

 I'm a little bubble, shiny and round.

I gently float down to the ground.

  

 We made time to settle down and read our favorite snuggly friends a story!

How exciting to find bees buzzing in the flowers during our teddy bear picnic!

The only reason for making a buzzing-noise that I know of is because you're a bee...The only reason for being a bee that I know of is making honey....and the only reason for making honey is so I can eat it. 

~ Winnie the Pooh

The wind lifts me up and then I drop.

Down to the dry ground where I pop