Last week the children enjoyed looking at the big map poster with tons of different animals on it. They started talking about animals right away. Some friends had questions about big animals as being pets, and wished they had a dinosaur as a pet! Extending their interest and knowledge, we watched a few videos on petting wild animals. We saw a couple of very emotional ones about lions and tigers being pets, playing and having fun with their masters. Everyone went "Awww!" when they saw the lion being raised from a cub by a family. We had lots of talks regarding these videos as to the difference between wild animals and pets, habitats, etc. We also referred to our pet animals that we had made during the petting zoo week that have been displayed in the classroom, and reread all of those children's stories.
The next day we introduced them to big individual animal posters and each one got to describe the animal, tell at least 3 characteristics, and tell what the animal is doing. It was so much fun! Each one listened and waited patiently for their turn to speak.
When I asked L what was his cheetah doing, which was one of the required questions to answer :), he said, "The cheetah is looking right at me and looking at all my friends." What a wonderful observation and answer. I just love these moments!
L got a challenging animal puzzle for the classroom to share. When it's a challenge, we all have learned how to gather up as a team and meet our challenges together. That's what friends did. They made their groups and tada, they were on a mission. They figured out the pieces that they did not need for their puzzle and gave them to the other group to help them complete their project.
The completion of the 'lion' puzzle by the girls team!
L handing over the piece of the tiger puzzle to the other group...
The other team finishing their 'tiger' puzzle too...
Since they had put in a lot of effort to finish their puzzles, they slid them under the carpets to keep them intact and safe :)
We also played the I-Spy game with the poster and spied many fun new and known animals...
After P spied a seal, he pretended to be one, too :)
We also played a matching game at the table where we found matching animals and talked about them...we matched them with different classifications - wild, pet, habitat, family, colors, backgrounds, farm, forest, etc.
READING
Last week we did a lot of reading. Each time we had some time, friends would want us to read. Everybody got so many books to read and share. We read in the morning, at circle time, outdoors, during lunch, before nap time, and after nap time. P got a book on animals from the library, and we have been reading that everyday, and are even being reminded by friends to place a bookmark where we stop so that we can continue again the next day.
Gathering in our reading area to read a fun book bought by A during drop off time...
Other activities during the week:
SENSORY WITH CONDITIONER DOUGH...
We followed the same recipe as before- 2 cups corn starch and 1 cup hair conditioner...you can even make this at home!
Mixing ingredients and kneeding a dough...
Yes, friends were almost bathing in flour ;)
Cutting shapes...
Making pretend food...
BUSY ROCKET SHIP and ASTRONAUTS...
PAINTING ON THICK CARD STOCK WITH METALLIC POWDER PAINTS...
Friends chose their colors and diluted them in water before painting. They were so different from the regular paints. They just loved it and continued to work on those for an entire hour...
MAGNET EXPLORATION....
Making objects using different magnetic materials...they made a fan, a flower vase, a sun, a magnetic car and even moved the car using the magnets' opposing force...
LEARNING TO WRITE NAMES...
We wrote our names on our cubbies. Some friends know how to write while some are still learning. Older friends helped the younger crew write the letters in their names.
CREATING A PARTY OUTDOORS...
To our surprise, the children created an entire birthday party scene outdoors with amazing things associated with great imagination...
The bump was the bounce house, they made a "trampoline", the tires, step stones, and step bars were an obstacle course, and the table that you see in the middle was a cake/lemonade stand. Each friend celebrated their birthday that day by inviting other friends around and pretending to receive gifts...they almost covered every aspect of a birthday party!
THE GROWING CRYSTALS...
We had finished the experiment and had left it last week to come back after the weekend, hoping to see our grown crystals...And there they were! All the water crystallised and turned into a hard rock. We felt them and put them as centerpieces on the tables during lunch time with a little light on to see the crystals glow and shine brilliantly!
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Keep seeing you around!
Hugs,
Teacher Rashida
