We started the day with our sensory centers today. There were bowls of nuts, bolts, and screws for the children to sort, size, and put in to water bottles. We talked about how bumpy they all felt and what kind of things might be held together with screws and bolts. And....of course....once in the water bottle....they made LOTS of noise.....which the kids all thought was super thought!
Ms. Abby came today. She was inside because of all the rain last night. We started in a circle by throwing the ball back and forth to friends and to Ms. Abby. Then we partnered up in and tossed the ball back and forth. This is a great activity, but when done indoors.....it can get a little chaotic! Next, we played popcorn using the parachute. We counted up and down from 10 using the parachute and waved to our friends on the other side. We ended with an "over/under" passing game where all the kiddos stood in a line and passed the ball over their heads.....without turning around.....to their friend behind them in line. Another great example of motor planning! The first time the kids all needed a lot of assistance, but the second time was much better! Even Ms. Abby commented on our progress!
Today's book was The Construction Crew by Lynn Meltzer. In this book the construction gang is tearing down an old building and laying the
foundation for a new home. Workers use all kinds of trucks and tools to
get the job done. And just in time for a family to move in.
After reading the story we talked about different kinds of building materials. We can build with rocks, wood, metal and cement. We made a chart to help us remember! And.....we all took turns wearing the "construction crew" outfit! SO COOL!
For science we compared different building materials from the 3 Little
Pigs to explain which one would be the best for building a house. When choosing, you can't always pick your favorite.....you have to make smart choices and choose the BEST one for the job based on how strong you need it be! We gave the kids hay,
sticks and a brick. We had them explore the materials and answer three
questions. Can you bend it? Can you blow it away? Is it heavy? We made a
chart of all the answers to our questions. Then the class voted to
decide which materials was the strongest and the best choice to build a
house...the brick won!
Touch and Feel this morning was filled with construction trucks, sandpaper, rulers, and beans. There was measuring, dumping, counting, sanding, and driving galore! The kids LOVED every moment!
Ms. Michele was here today with a fun motor planning obstacle course. First the kids crawled through a tunnel. There were hidden animals in the tunnel for them to find and bring out. Then they had to crawl over several blocks and rolls, to get to the bucket where they had to put their animals. The second time they went through the course.....they had to go backwards! This was especially hard for our kiddos. You could see their little brains working so hard to plan the movements necessary to get through the course. Finger fun was kinetic sand. The kids played in it, rolled it flat, and used tools to build sand castles. Ms. Michele said it was her all time favorite finger fun.....and I think the kids agreed!
Today's book was Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Rinker. The book tells a story as the sun sets behind the big construction site, all the hardworking
trucks get ready to say goodnight. One by one, Crane Truck, Cement
Mixer, Dump Truck, Bulldozer, and Excavator finish their work and lie
down to rest—so they'll be ready for another day of rough and tough
construction play!
After reading the story, we made a chart of some of the tools needed by construction workers. We labeled the tools and talked about the use of each tool. Some tools go together, like hammers and nails. Some tools, like saws, are used to cut things. The kids all contributed to our list....and I was impressed by the tools that you all apparently have in your households!
For art, we made our very own tool belts. The kids colored the three tools, and used scissors to cut them out. Some kiddos used special loop scissors, and some used regular scissors. They have all made great progress with scissor use and were so proud of themselves. We glued the tools on the "belts" and wore them around the classroom pretending to fix things with our construction crew partners!
The Touch and Feel this morning was full of cars and trucks! It was a BIG hit! There were also balls and blocks.....which was a hint to our science of the day about why wheels are round.....but the kids didn't give them nearly the attention that they gave the cars and trucks!
Ms. Michele was here today with lots of fun things! We started with a course all about balance. Each child had to walk across a long balance beam, then onto the round, noise-making circles, then the spiky balls. At the end was an air filled cushion that they had to stand on while taking out a bean bag to toss in the bean bag board. It definitely required LOTS of concentration! Then Ms. Michele made us do it sideways....and then backwards! Finger fun today was puzzles. There were magnetic puzzles where you "fished" for the pieces using a magnet, tangrams puzzles, lacing puzzles, and moving puzzles. The kids switched with each other after they had finished one, so that everybody got a turn with each puzzle.
The playground was BEAUTIFUL today! Finally it feels like spring! It didn't take long before the kiddos shed their jackets and were running around playing with the Weekday Friends. There was even a really nice game of Duck, Duck, Goose happening out there!
Today's story was My Truck Is Stuck by Kevin Lewis and Daniel Kirk. This story explores how many vehicles it takes to get a dump truck
unstuck from a pothole in the road. The dog
driver flags down four vehicles in succession (all driven by various
breeds of dogs) in hopes of getting a hand (or paw) to "make my stuck truck go."
But even with the five vehicles tied together and trying together to pull,
the result is a bust: "The
truck won't go." The pictures in the book also tell another side-story. The same
culprits (gophers) who dig the hole in which the truck gets stuck also
make off with its load (a truck bed full of bones), bit by bit, spread by
spread. When Mr. Mechanic shows up with his tow truck, everyone soon
heads on their way-though the newly freed truck carries a dramatically
lighter load!
For our chart today, we made a "It is...., It has...., It can...." chart. The kiddos did a great job comparing different kinds of trucks and filling in the chart.
For science, we asked the question "Why are wheels round"? There are so many shapes to pick from....why are all the wheels round? We did a quick experiment comparing squares and circles. Once has four sides and one has no sides. Ms. Laura built a ramp.....and using two cars.....one with square wheels, and one with round wheels.....we raced! No doubt about it the round wheels are much faster. The kids noticed that the square wheels didn't "roll".....they only slid. If we tried to make the square wheels turn around and around.....it was much harder....and much slower!
For art today we used cars to paint. There was blue, yellow, and red paint on the tables. The kids used cars dipped in the paint to make tracks across their paper. It really turned out pretty! Since cars are a favorite toy for most of the boys.....the fact that we allowed them to use them for an art project....super cool!
We ended the day with some fun songs.....and a countdown until the last day.....only 20 days until summer vacation!!
