This week, we learned all about everyone's favorite topic- FOOD! We tried a few different types of foods, learned about nutrition (and how to keep our body healthy!), and discovered more about what makes food so good! Our fun fact is kind of a weird one: Did you know that honey NEVER goes bad?! In the proper environment (like a sealed jar), because of its high acidity and low moisture, it can literally last forever. In fact, Scientists have found jars of honey from thousands of years ago that still look fresh. Learning and DiscoveryFor our group activity, on Tuesday, we learned about food and what makes it healthy or unhealthy. We then found pictures of food in magazines and sorted them into categories based on if we believed they were good for our bodies or not. We worked together in a small group to make a final poster! On Wednesday we got to plant seeds from healthy vegetables. We began by choosing seeds from our favorite vegetable (like carrots, beets, cucumbers, and more) and then writing their name down on a tag (so we can always remember what we planted!). After that, we poured some dirt into a glass jar and then buried our seeds in it and added some water. Our seeds will continue to grow in our classroom until they are big enough to take home. We can't wait to see if they grow real food! On Thursday we made banana bread cookies! We scooped, measured, and poured all the ingredients into a big bowl and then shaped them into cookies on a sheet. They turned out so nice and taste so good! Free TimeOn Tuesday, at the Art table we made a spaghetti and meatball plate with yarn, red paint, and paper meatballs. They look good enough to eat! At the Science station we practiced sorting noodles by shape and color, while at the Language table we read some exerts from "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" (by Eric Carl) and then learned about healthy foods that the caterpillar ate. Afterwards, we "fed" our own cardboard caterpillar some healthy foods. At the Art table on Wednesday we made popcorn CORN. We used our fine motor skills to cut out the shape of a corn and it's husk. We then glued pieces of REAL popcorn onto the corn. It looks good enough to eat! At the Language table we practiced spelling "Food" themed words (like burger, egg, etc.) with colorful SPAGHETTI noodles. They were kind of slimy but it was a big hit with everyone! At the Science station we learned about the food pyramid and then sorted different foods into their respective sections on the pyramid. We now know that we need to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and maybe lay off the candy a bit. On Thursday, for our Art table activity, we painted with fruits and vegetables! We dipped cut up fruits and vegetables in paint and then put them on our paper to make cool designs. At the Language station we spelled our names with cheerios. At the Science table we sampled different types of cheeses (cheddar, mozzarella, and colby jack) and then wrote down what we thought of each one. Outdoor AdventuresRaise your hand if you are LOVING this beautiful weather we've been having! Candid MomentsThroughout this school year we have heard a ton of funny-and sometimes interesting- things said by the preschoolers. We decided to begin recording some of our favorite quotes the kids say during the week here on the blog. We hope you enjoy!
Teacher SpotlightHands On Activity- Cooking a Cultural Meal
Survey
0 Comments
This week we learned all about the country that we live in. We learned about symbols, presidents, voting, states, and lots more! We had a lot of exciting activities this week, played outside, and learned a lot about America! Our fun fact for the week is that George Washington was not always on the $1 bill. The one dollar bill was issued during the Civil War when Salmon P Chase was the Secretary of Treasury, and his face was first found on the bill. Learning and DiscoveryOn Tuesday we learned about voting and why it is an important part of our country. We were able to cast our votes for which snack we would like to eat during our movie day next month, and after a very close vote, popcorn won! On Wednesday we learned about Presidents and how they lead our country. We got to make a portrait of ourselves as a president, and then we talked to our buddies about what we would do if we were president. We heard some great ideas, including plans to eat a lot of candy in the bathtub, to help the people in our country, and to spend time with our friends and family! On Thursday we learned about the different forms of currency we have in our country and compared that to money from around the world. We practiced our 1-to-1 counting, and the concept of "more" vs. "less" while we played a piggy bank and pennies game. We loved seeing the different types of coins we have in our country! Free TimeOn Tuesday, at the Art table we used corks to create an American Flag as we learned about the stars and stripes that are a part of our country's flag. At the Language station we had a star with word endings inside it, and then we decided which letters could make a word with the ending inside our star, while at the Science table we practiced our counting as we counted money and learned about each coin's value. At the Art table on Wednesday, we used paint and various loose parts to create a scene of fireworks in the night sky to represent a 4th of July celebration. At the Language table, we played word bingo using America themed words and symbols. At the Science station we counted different American symbols such as stars, the Statue of Liberty, and more. On Thursday, for our Art table activity, we cut and glued parts of an eagle, and then used our hand print to give our eagle wings. Some of us looked at a book and talked a lot about the bald eagle while working and were fascinated at all of the things that bald eagles eat! At the Language station we learned about the names of the states, and the shapes as we identified the missing letters in the state's names. We also got to keep the fun Styrofoam cut-outs of the states that we used at this station! At the Science table we practiced our tallying and adding as we flipped a coin, and marked each time we flipped either heads or tails, and then we counted our tallies to determine which side we flipped "more". Outdoor AdventuresCandid MomentsTeacher Spotlight
Hands-On Activity- Handprint Fireworks
Happy Valentines Day... aka the National Day of Love! This week we made heart shaped EVERYTHING, did fun Valentines Day activities, and even passed out sweet Valentines to all our friends. Our Fun Fact this week is... People spend a lot on love! Americans, in 2017, spent $18.2 billion on Valentines Day goodies. That's a lot of money. Learning and DiscoveryAside from Valentine's, we also learned a lot about the postal service and how mail works. On Tuesday, for our group activity, Mrs. Anne talked about addresses that we all have for our homes. We then used our fine motor skills to make mosaic houses. We cut out the shape of a house on paper, and then glued some scrap fabric to it to look like our own home. As a finishing touch, we pasted a sticker with our house number on it. We hung them up in our classroom and they look great! On Wednesday we made valentines for our parents. We cut, decorated, and wrote thoughtful notes (with the help of our High School teachers!) which we then put in envelopes with our addresses on them. After that, we took a quick "field trip" to the office where we dropped our letters off in the main office mail room. We can't wait to have the mail man deliver them in a few days! Some of our preschoolers had also been thinking about our old classroom and what it looks like now, so we also decided that we would take a little tour through our old room on the way back to our classroom. It is now being used as a workshop for for another class at Century- so it was crazy to see how much it had changed! On Thursday we spent most of our group time sharing our boxes and taking turns to pass out our Valentines to the whole class (see "Valentines" section below). It was very exciting to see all of the special notes and treats getting dropped into our boxes. Afterwards, we went outside to play in the misty weather. Free TimeOn Tuesday, at the Art table we got to create our own cute Valentines for our friends. We used our fine motor skills to cut, glue, and paste stickers, paper, and fabric, onto beautiful hearts that we cut out. After that we addressed them to one of our preschool friends- which they will get soon! At the Science station we got to pretend we were mailmen and "delivered" mail around the room by matching patterns on the envelopes to different patterns on bins, while at the Language table we discovered what the first letter was of some Valentines Themed words. At the Art table on Wednesday, we recreated a Mail Truck by cutting and gluing paper pieces together. They turned out so cute! At the Language table, we practiced writing names and dictated some short phrases and drew pictures to represent our nice notes on postcards for our friends. At the Science station we practiced counting though the use of some stamps and envelopes. On Thursday, for our Art table activity, we made adorable butterflies out of paper hearts and a Popsicle stick. After we had finished putting it all together, we stamped the wings with our hand prints. At the Language station we stamped our names onto hearts which we then strung together to make caterpillars. At the Science table we tried to see how many heart candies we could stack on top of each other before they fell over. This was such a fun way to practice counting and writing our numbers. Outdoor AdventuresWe loved playing outside this week (even though it was so cold)! One of our favorite moments was when one of our high school teachers pretended she was the big bad wolf and cried, "Let me in! Or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!" Then one preschooler shouted, "Not by the hair on my one chin on my own head!" ValentinesOn Thursday we delivered our valentines to all our preschool friends. Ms. Anne had us all sit in a circle and we got to each individually pass out our sweet notes to everyone's mail boxes. It was the highlight of our week! Candid MomentsTeacher Spotlights
Hands on Activity-Thumbprint Tree
SurveyThis week we learned about A TON of different careers, especially those who help out in our community, such as firefighters, teachers, police, and doctors. We are grateful for all those who help us keep safe in our community, and loved learning about their jobs along with many other career choices. Ask your preschooler what they want to be when they grow up and write it down to tell them again when they are older! The fun fact for this week is that, as one survey found, the most common childhood dream careers are to be a professional athlete, doctor, teacher, veterinarian, or firefighter. Learning and DiscoveryOn Tuesday, for our group activity, we looked at a map of a community, and each put different community places on the map (school, fire station, etc.) We got to talk about each place and how the people who work there help serve our community. This week we also explored being a scientist as we made a scientific observation about ice, and made our hypothesis about which cups of water would turn back into ice depending on their location. On Wednesday we played career charades! We split into four groups and planned how we would act out our career, and then the class got to guess what we were acting out. We had a great time playing this game! On Thursday we learned all about fire safety. We talked about what to do in the case of a fire, and how firefighters come to help us when there is a fire. We were challenged to go home and count how many smoke detectors we have in our house, and to talk to our parents about their family emergency plan. We also got to make a fireman craft, and wrote 9-1-1 on the hat. A great activity to do with your preschooler would be to practice having a fire drill in your home, allowing them to know what their smoke alarm sounds like, and to help them understand your family's emergency escape route. Free TimeOn Tuesday, at the Art table we learned about the different types of hats people wear during their job, and we got to make our very own hats. They were fun to wear for the rest of the day! At the Science station we wore our hardhats and an apron as we spread shaving cream "mortar" in between our blocks to build something creative, while at the Language table we practiced identifying the first letter of words related to our community. At the Art table on Wednesday, we learned about the job of a doctor, and how sometimes they take x-rays of our bones. We created a craft that looked like an x-ray of our hand using q-tips, our hand print, and some creativity! At the Language table we had a fun career matching and spelling game and we got to see just how many jobs there are in our community! At the Science station we learned about the job a chef has. We filled out an order form to decided what toppings we would like on our pizza, and then we followed our order to make our very own personalized pizza that we got to take home! On Thursday, for our Art table activity, we learned more about the career of an artist. There are many forms of art, and the one we practiced was still art, as we painted a picture to look like the stuffed animal dog we saw. At the Language station we got to put together a variety of career people puzzles, while at the Science table we used blocks to measure and compare different shapes and sizes of airplanes. Outdoor AdventuresThis week we bundled up and had a great time outside with our friends! Birthdays!This week we celebrated two our our upcoming birthdays. Happy birthday Everett and Christopher! Teacher Spotlights
Hands on Activity- Community Helpers
|
Details
Archives
January 2022
Categories |