Bubble Wrap Party

Today we had a fun experience of exploring bubble wrap with our feet.  We discussed how some of the bubbles are loud when they pop while others are quieter.  The kids loved it!  Please check out some of photos in the picture blog too.

Things that Grow

OWL unit 6

May 18th is our family party at 10:30

May 23rd is our conference day.  It is a regular school day for students.

During the months of May and June, we will begin our final unit for the school year “Things That Grow”. In this unit, children explore how living things grow, using observations, experiments and books. In this unit’s stories, children will hear about ducks who find a special home, a new baby on a farm, a boy who grows from a baby to a school-age boy and a girl who discovers the joys of growing vegetables.

Theme concepts for this unit:

• Living things grow and have life cycles
• Living things reproduce, and the offspring are the same kind of plant or animal as the parents
• Living things need food, water and proper living conditions to survive
• Immature living things need special care
• Living things interact, and among animals, there are predators and prey

Books for the Unit:

The Ugly Vegetables by: Grace Lin

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by: Eric Carle

Make Way for Ducklings by:Robert McCloskey

Bigger by:Daniel Kirk

I Heard Said the Bird by: Polly Berrrien Berends

Farfallina and Marcel by: Holly Keller

Small Groups for this unit may include:

• following directions
• observing caterpillars and butterflies (They are starting to change already!)
• size sequencing flowers
• seed patterns
• bird feeder bracelets
• 10 frame counting
• color the flowers book
• butterfly crafts
• Where is the butterfly? positional book
• Size sorting
• planting seeds

OWL Unit 5 Weeks 1 & 2

This week we will begin our next unit, Shadows and Reflections. In this unit, children explore shadows and reflections using observations, experiments, and books to learn about what makes a shadow and a reflection. During story time, children will hear about a girl playing by a still pond, a puppy who thinks he is a kitten, a crocodile collecting reflections in a pail, a sleepy boy who sees a shadow save a cat, and a raccoon who has an adventure with only his reflection as company. Children will continue to learn about letters, letter sounds, and counting concrete objects. 

Theme Concepts for this Unit

• Reflections are images thrown back from a shiny surface
• There must be light, or there can be no reflection
• Mirrors and still water reflect light well; dull surfaces do not
• If water is moving, its reflections are blurry and crooked
• Objects are opaque, translucent or transparent
• Shadows are dark areas made when an object blocks light
• The sizes of shadows vary, depending on how close an object is to the light source

Week of April 3rd

Books for the week:

Play with Me by: Marie Hall Ets

Raccoon on His Own by Jim Arnosky

Small Groups:

• Letter matching- Some students will be matching uppercase to lowercase letters. Others will be matching uppercase to uppercase to create the words Shadows and Reflections
• Turtle Counting - Students will stick a sticker on the turtles shell then practice counting the stickers.
• Looking at ourselves in the mirror and drawing what we see

Choice time

Art Table: painting with condensed milk and paint

Manipulatives: Unifix cubes

Library Area: Books about shadows and reflections

Sensory Table: Looking for ducks hiding in reflective confetti

Dramatic Play: Taco stand

Rug Toy: Cars and Car ramp

Week of April 10th

Books for the week:

Play with Me by Marie Hall Ets

Raccoon on His Own by Jim Arnosky

Puddle Pail by Elisa Kleven

Small Groups:

• animal memory with animals from Raccoon on His Own
• making collections - Each student will be given a collection of animals. Some students will match and count the animals that are the same, other students will tally how many of each animal they have.
• Is it your shadow? Looking at different shadows of animals and determining which animal made that shadow.
• Identifying what letter is missing at the beginning of the word 

Choice time

Art Table: Reflective collage

Manipulatives: animal puzzles

Library Area: Books about shadows and reflections

Sensory Table: Looking for ducks hiding in reflective confetti

Writing Table: Ipads

Dramatic Play: Pet Vet

Block Area

Songs, Word Play and Letters

Clap Your Hands

Open, Shut Them

Itsy Bitsy Spider

BINGO

If You’re Happy and You Know It

What Are You Wearing?

Week of March 20th

Stories:

Dear Juno

Tortilla Factory

Mouse Paint

Small Groups:

• Remove one - Counting dots on Dog
• Mouse Paint Positional Book
• Coloring book with Rock Crayons

Choice time

Art Table: Decorating the Lion from the Lion and the Red Bird

Manipulatives: number puzzles, lacing counters

Library Area: Spring and Color Books

Sensory Table: Sand

Dramatic Play: Flower shop - next week we will have a taco stand

Rug Toy: foam blocks

March 27th

Books for the week:

Lion and the Red Bird by: Elisa Kleven

Cat’s Colors by: Jane Cabrera

Dog’s Colorful Day by: Emma Dodd

Small Groups:

• Creating patterns
• Roll and Color - Students will roll the dice, find the number and color that number
• Sequencing Birds by size

OWL Unit 4 Weeks 1 and 2

OWL Unit 4 Weeks 1 and 2

This week we will begin our “The World of Color” unit. Children will learn about color: color names, color mixing, staining, fading, camouflage and color patterns. Stories for this unit include, a story about a dog that stains his white coat, a lion who paints pictures, a boy who gets special letters from his grandmother,  and a rabbit who wants to buy a special shirt. Children will increase their vocabulary about color and explore colors and patterns directly. We will continue to learn about letters and sounds, including rhyming words. Here are the theme concepts for this unit:

• Color is one thing that makes our world beautiful. Talk about different colors you can see in your child’s environment
• Color can vary information
• Paints and dyes are used to color other things and are mixed up to make new colors.
• Different substances can cause stains of different colors
• Sun and washing often bleach colors, making them fade
• Color is an identifying feature of many natural things.

Vocabulary from stories included in this unit

Stain

Fade

Nature

Dyes

Colorful

Nectar

Permanent

Pollen

Smudge

Washable

Address

Corner

Primary Colors

Secondary Colors

Nature

Permanent

Smudge

Week of February 27th

Books for the week:

Max’s Dragon Shirt by: Rosemary Wells

Dog’s Colorful Day by: Emma Dodd

Small Groups:

• Color & Shape Bingo
• Ice Cream Alphabet Memory
• Rhyming words with colors

Week of March 7th

Books for the week:

Max’s Dragon Shirt by Rosemary Wells

Mouse paint by: Ellen Stoll Walsh

The Lion and The Little Red Bird by: Elisa Kleven

Small Groups:

• Painting big mice with friends
• Making different ice cream cones
• Designing a shirt

Choice time

Art Table: painting

Manipulatives: magnatiles
Library Area: Books about color
Sensory Table: Water with tubes, funnels and pipets

Dramatic Play: Ice cream shop

Rug Toy: Roads

Songs, Word Play and Letters

Color Train

Rainbow of Colors  

What Are You Wearing?

Curved Line Letters

Week of February 13

Books for the week:

There was a cold lady who swallowed some snow

Hat for Minerva Lousie

Small Groups:

• Making a snowman

• Exchanging Valentine Cards
• Snowflake Patterns

Choice time:

Art: Open ended

Library Area: Books about Wind and Water

Sensory Table: Snow

Writing Table: Snow scene puzzles

Dramatic Play: kitchen

Rug: dancing

Block Area: blocks and cars

Math Center: number puzzles

OWL Unit 3 Wind and Water

OWL Unit 3 Wind and Water

This week we will begin our Wind and Water Unit. Children will explore wind and water using observations, experiments, and books to learn more about such topics as evaporation, weather, temperature, insulation, rain and snow.

Here are the theme concepts for this unit:

• We find water in different forms-- as rain (liquid) snow and ice (solid) and steam (gas). Temperature affects the form of water.
• Water soaks into, or is absorbed by, some things but is repelled by others.
• Wind--moving air-- affects things. Lighter things are moved a lot by wind, Heavier things are moved less by wind. The amount of wind changes with the weather. In storms, wind can blow very hard.
• Water comes to us through rain or snow.
• Water evaporates from puddles and from things that are wet.
• Plants and animals need water to live.

Reminders:

Report Cards and Progress Reports are being sent home on Monday/Tuesday in a yellow folder inside your child's red communication folder. Kindly return the yellow folder at your earliest convenience.

We started our new lending library. On Thursday, students will select a book to bring home. They created special book pouches to transport the books back and forth. Books are due back to school on Tuesday.

We are working on our next life skill about being flexible.  We will be sending home a sheet to promote the carry over of being flexible at home as well as school.

Week of January 23rd

Books for the week:

Rabbits and Raindrops

Hat for Minerva Lousie

Small Groups:

• Sequence a snowman

• Journal page - My mitten is so big...
• Patterns

Choice time:

Making Pairs with shoes, socks and mittens

Manipulatives: Making the alphabet with lego blocks

Library Area: Books about Wind and Water

Sensory Table: Closed

Writing Table: Snow scene puzzles

Dramatic Play: laundromat

Rug Toy: snowball toss - crumble pieces of paper and throw them at a target

Block Area: Playing with dinosaurs and blocks

Math Center: Adding marshmallows to hot cocoa mugs

Art Table: Making Valentine's

Week of January 30th

Books for the week:

The Wind Blew - Pat Hutchins

It Looked Like Spilled Milk - Charles Shaw

Small Groups:

• Where is the bear?

• Art - My Cloud looks like
• Make a snowman