On we continue exploring our bodies! This week we will building upon the bodies/human size cut-outs we painted bones into last week. We are going to add blood, brains, a stomach and a heart this week. These will be fun to see when they are finished…..hopefully by the end of next week!
Monday’s class once again began their day with 1:1 work, learning about letter B (both it’s shape and it’s sound). We talked about “B being bouncy,” and pretended to bounce a ball while we made the letter sound, “BBBBBBBBBB.” We looked at the shape of letter and noticed that upper case has 2 “almost” circles while lower case had just 1. “Top to bottom. Smaller circle between the top and middle lines, larger circle between the middle and bottom lines.” Each time the children copied or traced the letter, I stated those instructions to help them gain awareness of writing strokes, writing utensil placement and even familiarity with directions (top, middle, bottom). Lower case b was “easy peasy” for many of them….”line from top to bottom, circle between the middle and the bottom.”
We also explored our sense of sight. We colored in pictures of eyes and graphed by color. We counted how many of each color we had, charted those tallies and identified which had the most and the least. We then learned about the parts of our eyes, the pupil in particular, and how it allows communicates with the brain to let in light and communicate information. We examined a model of the human eye and compared it to illustrations in the book we were reading that explained our sense of sight. The children had a blast playing the game “Look,” in during which each child would see a small piece of a picture that was otherwise covered. They had to guess what they picture was before the majority of it was shown them. What a great way to help the children to understand how our brains help us process information and even put information together that we don’t have. We even squeezed another craft into our day, making glitter glue “lookers” through which we will “peer” on Wednesday.
Tuesday’s group continued to explore letter B, working on writing, coloring and letter sounds with Mrs. Lozano in small work groups. She again reiterated how to use the lines and approach the writing strokes themselves. She also worked with children on a coloring activity, having them color a BUTTERLY according to a code – B= blue and b=yellow.
Tuesday’s nursery rhyme was PETER PETER, PUMPKIN EATER. Again, Mrs. Lozano worked in small groups to cut pumpkins into halves and quarters. As she went through the activity she helped each child state/recall how 1/2 +1/2 = 1 whole. 1/4 + 1/4 = 1/2. The children each cut out 1 half of a pumpkin and 2 quarters of a pumpkin and glued it onto a whole pumpkin.
During morning centers, Mrs. Newman supervised a coloring/sewing activity. The children colored the front and the back of paper plates, using the side of an orange crayon. They then sewed the pre-cut pieces together to create a pumpkin of sorts, with a hinged lid. They created a “wife” to be locked into the pumpkin, using a picture of themselves and a small pieces of the plate. Most of the children asked for a window to peer through, as they all agreed being locked up would not be fun (even in a pumpkin). How interesting it was when the children were asked to state why they thought Peter had locked his wife in a pumpkin shell: “She was mean/naughty.” “He was mean/naughty.” “She stole things.” “She was so tiny!” You could see their “gears” moving as they tried to figure out how that could actually take place.
Of course, after singing and skipping about the letter and the rhymes, the children created another version of the tale, cutting and assembling as Mrs. Lozano guided them. As she worked on the that activity, Ms. Newman measured and cooked with half of the children,making pumpkin bread for afternoon snack. We used half and quarter cups as well as half and quarter spoonfuls as we created our recipes, allowing the children more exposure to the concepts they worked on with Mrs. Lozano in the morning.
As the children played outside, the bread baked and filled the air with yummy smells. What a great snack to wrap up our day!
