November Happenings

Note: Not many pictures were taken of our activities during November. 

November's theme was how we get and stay healthy.

November 5 - Exercise

We started off the month by discussing ways we can exercise our bodies. In a group discussion we learned that dancing, playing, running, and walking to the park are some fun ways to get exercise. In math we are learning different ways to categorize objects. We took a large bag of pom poms and each student categorized their pom poms. Some chose to separate them by size, others by color. I had them turn their back to each other so that they would make their own categories. Since the pom poms were already out we decided to use them for a quick game to exercise their breath control. We played a game using the spider web on the floor.

The object of the game was to gently blow their chosen pom pom along one of the lines of the spider web. This was a lot harder than it looked. Too much air and the pom pom would fly across the floor. 

To encourage exercise at home we made our own music dumbbells. We used a toilet paper roll, construction paper, duck tape, and jingle bells. Then we practiced some moves adults do to exercise with dumbbells. There was not a lot of interest in just standing and "pumping iron", so we found some lively music and danced around as we "pumped iron."

Snack was a cheese & banana scooter with carrots and juice. Peanut butter was the edible solder that held our scooters together.

In language arts we did a very grown up activity, we created a Venn Diagram. On a magnetic board we placed all the letters that only straight lines in the left circle, in the right circle we placed all the letters that only had curvy lines, and in the middle we placed the letters that had both straight and curvy lines. We analyzed our data and found that there were 15 straight capital letters, 7 curvy letters, and 7 combination letters. 

To finish off the day we learned about Book Buddy Bags. They are bags I have made that have a couple of related books (subject matter, author, or theme), a related stuffed toy or puppet, and extension activities for the students to do at home with their families. 

The homework assignment was to choose and do three exercises/activities that would help keep them healthy. They also needed to choose some activity that they could do using their dumbbells.


November 7 - Nutrition 

During the morning meeting we read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. We talked about the foods that he ate and how our tummies would feel if we had eaten those same things. We talked about the five different food groups and looked at posters for each food group.

I made a large nutrition plate and we used our plastic food to categorize the food. Each student chose one food, consulted with the food group charts, and decided where that particular food should be on the nutrition plate, then they quickly placed it on the plate and ran for more food. We ended up categorizing all the plastic food, next time I will sort through the food and have a sampling of each of the food groups for the whole group activity. This group of students are very much product oriented rather than process oriented and they were not satisfied until all the food had been categorized. 

For snack they were given a plate that had been sectioned off to resemble the Nutrition Plate and a variety of foods to choose from (Wheat Thins, Fish crackers, celery sticks, carrot sticks, craisins, applesauce, peanut butter, chicken nugget, yogurt, and milk). They were then given the task of choosing one food from each of the food groups and place it onto their plate for their snack.

Outdoor play consisted of practicing the different hand grips on the parachute and then having free play.

After learning about rhythm and beat we used percussion instruments to imitate the beat of the songs on the radio. We ended up using our whole bodies to imitate the beat of he songs.

Homework was to cut out pictures of food from newspapers or magazines and use their charts to determine which food group they belonged to. The also were given some coloring pages about the food groups found at http://www.nourishinteractive.com/nutrition-education-printables/category/3-free-nutrition-month-kids-eating-healthy-colorful-foods-activity-pages-worksheets.

November 12 - Healthy Habits 

Our focus for the day was on the importance of hand washing and when we should wash our hands. We started off by watching a short video called "Preschool Germs."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eFovC0uSEA After a few comments on the video, we moved onto math. We are focusing on one-to-one correspondence (one item for each word number said or for example if  you see the number 3 you know that it represents three items.) We used number puzzles and connected a link for each item that number represented. One student challenged herself and made an "A B A B" pattern with her links.

Just before snack we learned the Hand Washing song from the video and took turns singing and washing our hands. Having extremely clean hands was really important for today's snack "Breakfast Sushi." found at http://thebreakfastproject.com/articles/recipe/banana-smash-down-sushi. They are banana slices slathered with peanut butter and rolled in Rice Krispie cereal.

Out door play we worked on giving directions, listening to directions, and then following the directions. We used three hula hoops (different sizes, shapes or colors), laid them on the ground, and gave directions on how we were to get to the next hula hoop. Skipping, jumping with one or two feet, walking backwards, hopping and even rolling on the ground were modes of getting from one to another hula hoop.

Language arts we have been focusing on the letter 'Ff'. Homework was to take a lunch bag and make a collage of things that start with the /f/ (f sound). Then put a few items into the bag that started with /f/.

November 14 - Hygiene 
Some really cleverly decorated bags returned to class today. Each student had an opportunity to share their "Ff" bag and it's contents. Continuing on with our learning about the importance of washing hands, we read the book "Germs Are Not For Sharing" by Elizabeth Verdick and Marieka Heinlen. As a book extension we made a poster "Wash your hands!"

Another extension focusing on how germs are transferred from one thing to another, we put hand lotion on our hands and I had a glitter sneeze (sprinkled some glitter on my hands) and then shook hands with each of my students. They were amazed that they got glitter (aka germs) from my hands. We tried some hand sanitizer and found that it may kill the germs but the germs are still on our hands. Next we went into the bathroom and washed our hands with warm soapy water (while we sang our hand washing song). We learned that it is only when we wash with warm soapy water that we can clean our hands of germs.
 
We have been focusing on the importance of writing letters properly and preschoolers struggle with maintaining uniformity in letter size. So I introduced the lined paper I used in Denver Public Schools. The lines are sky line (cloud), the plane line, the grass line (where every letter sits) and the worm line for letters that go below the grass line. From a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Plesko, I learned the importance of whole body learning. In preparation for air writing each letter the children need to practice where the lines are in relation to their body. The sky line is at the top of their head, the plane line is at the shoulders, the grass line is at the waist, and the worm line is at the top of the legs. Knowing where these lines are, we now love to air write all of our letters.

During snack time we continued the one-to-one correspondence by playing a game. We took one dice and rolled it to see how many animal crackers we would get with our snack. Once they finished their crackers they could have another roll, if they were still hungry. They were served with applesauce and milk. 

Outdoor play was very challenging for the girls, we had four cones set out and they had to foot dribble a ball weaving back and forth through the cones. The girls are competitive so we started timing how quickly they could get through the cones and they were motivated to complete the task. When it was time for free play they chose to continue dribbling the ball and making new and different challenges for each other.

For music time we learned the song "This is the way we ____ our ____ so early in the morning." We sang about washing our hands, face, and feet; brushing our hair and teeth; and flossing our teeth. 

Home work was to make "Remember the Rule Craft" Idea found at http://www.preschoolplaybook.com/2010/02/cover-your-sneeze.html. Also they were asked to do a worksheet where they rolled a die counted the dots and colored in the box that had the same number.

November 19 - Shapes 
We started to focus on shapes. We talked about the sides and vertices (corners) of each shape and started a chart of the different shapes we learn about.

To use the whole body to learn about shapes we used stretchy bands found at http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2012/08/stretchy-band-shapes/ . We focused on triangle and square. While we had our stretchy band in the triangle shape we went around the room to find other triangular shapes. We did the same with the square. 

For snack we continued the concept of  shapes. Using small hors d'oeuvre shape cutters from Tupperware we cut shapes out of sliced cheese and placed them on small crackers in preparation for a tea party. The scraps of cheese were eaten during the food preparation time. Apple slices and milk rounded out the snack.

Outdoor play was just free play. We had started raking leaves when it got too dark to finish so the students found several piles of leaves to play in. The pretended that they were sinking into the big piles of leaves and so another student went and got them a hula hoop to help pull them out of the "quick leaves."

The rest of the day was spent listening and re-listening to a story called "Cleanliness" by Janeen Brady. 

Home work was to observe shapes in nature (focusing on square and triangle), They were to then draw or cut out of magazines as many triangular or square things that they saw.

November 21 - Gratitude 
As the holidays draw nearer, I am constantly amazed at the synergy between children and the holidays.

 

Thursdays are Science day, we have been playing with magnetic toys. The students have been fascinated and frustrated with them at the same time. Fascinated with the different shapes they can make with the magnets, and frustrated as the magnets stick together even when they are not suppose to.We have learned that we can not hold extra magnets in our hands while we are creating our masterpieces because they jump together at the wrong time. :~} 

To expand our understanding of magnets we took our horseshoe magnets (bought at Dollar Tree) around the room to see what they might stick to. We discovered things that were made of metal would attract the magnets, but things made of cloth or wood did not attract the magnets. Next time I would include a bit of math and make a chart of things in the room that were magnetic and those that were not.

For snack we made a cornucopia. The idea come from

http://b-inspiredmama.com/2013/10/kids-thanksgiving-cornucopia-snack/ . Of course we included different items, here we have apple and cheese sticks. We each named something that we were thankful for as we added items to our cornucopia. 

Today was a very cold and snowy day so we had free play inside. The students decided to use the bean bags as a nesting spot. They flew around like they were birds and jumped into their nest to save their babies. Some landings were more successful than others!

We also honed our eye hand coordination with a quick game. Each student chose which animal they wanted to 'feed' the butterfly, the bird, the frog, or the turtle. With very careful aim they tossed their hacky sack into the appropriate hole.

As we continue to learn about Thanksgiving and being grateful, we watched a short video, called Turkey Song and dance at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaiEcfU59sg. Using our scarves we did our own turkey dance as we sang the Turkey song. There was no time for a story after all the dancing, so we took origami paper and made snowflakes. 

Homework was simple and focused, they were to find pictures of things they were thankful for and glue them onto their cornucopia. The second assignment came from

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Family-Turkey-Project-167556, the students were to disguise their turkey in some way that represented their family. Having disguised their family turkey it would be saved from being the main course on Thanksgiving day.

November 26 - Turkeys and Thanksgiving Day

We started the morning sharing our cornucopia of gratitude. We briefly discussed where the tradition of Thanksgiving and some of the unique vocabulary and then read "Thanksgiving Rebus Story" from

http://www.savvy-spending.com/2011/11/preschool-thanksgiving-activities-and.html. We ended up reading this story several times as the students got really excited about being able to read the pictures. As soon as a student started getting restless we took a break and did our Turkey Song and Dance routine as we listened to the you tube video. 

In math we focused on position words as we read "Where's the Turkey" found at

http://www.pre-kpages.com/thanksgiving/. After reading it together the students practiced placing the turkey puppet in the correct position on each page. 

For free play the students found the lacing cards and really went to town playing with them..

For snack the turkeys were slathered with peanut butter, cut up and then decorated with the student's choice of Craisins, pretzel bits, nuts,, sliced cheese, grapes, bananas, peanut butter chips, and sprinkles. The idea came from

http://www.stretchingabuckblog.com/2013/10/15-thanksgiving-diy-crafts-thanksgiving-morning-turkey-toast.html. 

 Our outdoor play focused on shapes in nature. We took our stretchy bands and looked for shapes in nature, made the shape and then everyone else got to guess what shape we were representing. Some were rather difficult to identify and we had to be told what the shape they were representing. All in all it was really good practice for making shapes with our stretchy bands.

We did our Turkey Song and Dance one final time before the big holiday. This time we chose to use maracas to dance with.

Our last few minutes of class we did some dramatic play. My two students took time to dress up like cowboys (because they were at Thanksgiving too). After dressing up they wanted to have their picture taken so everybody would remember Thanksgiving. 

Homework was just to color a booklet "Pilgrim, Pilgrim" by

www.hubbardscupboard.org/Pilgrim_Pilgrim_Printable_Booklet.PDF‎, and to finish their "Family Turkey Project.