Grand Finale of Seuss Month & Easter Fun

We wrapped up the month of March with letter Mm.  Our themes were "Mm is for Me" as well as Magnets.  We also prepared for Easter and our Seuss Spring Spectacular Party.  We also celebrated "Wacky Wednesday" in honor of one of our favorite Seuss books. 

We began the week with My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss, a book about colors and feelings.  All week, we reviewed various feelings and talked about what creates these feelings and how it affects us.  The kids enjoyed playing charade-like games using different facial expressions to show various feelings (excited, happy, surprised, shy, mad, sad, silly, etc).  After reading the Seuss story, they created journal entries to show how they felt that day.  

For letter Mm, we did marshmallow stamping for our alphabet books.  Here are some other photos of writing practice throughout the week.  My favorite is the picture of one child's "rainbow writing".  For each letter, they practice tracing in red/yellow/blue.  Then, they think of a word to illustrate and we give them a piece of paper with their word so they can write it out.  We've also been encouraging them to sound out words and try to write it on their own. 

We finished up our "All About Me" books with a self portrait/cover page and a page about their favorite colors, foods, and school activities.  Again, we provided sentence strips with the words already written out and had the children practice writing on their own in their book.  We loved how their self portraits came out!  For some reason I can't rotate some of these pictures! :(

Our favorite day was Wacky Wednesday.  I based this day off of the silly Dr. Seuss story, Wacky Wednesday.  In this book, a child wakes up to find a shoe on his wall and all sorts of silly oddities throughout the day.  The kids were so excited to find all the wacky things changed around the classroom.  In honor of our wacky day, the kids (and Miss Dixon and Mrs. Doorhy) sported their wackiest socks.  We had a blast.  The kids created their own wacky socks at the art center as well.  

All week, we explored magnets.  I left the sensory table filled with items from my Lakeshore Learning Magnet Kit.  This included many different types of magnets, magnetic materials, and non magnetic materials.  At the beginning of the week, I let the kids explore magnets on their own at the sensory table.  They also played with magnet blocks on cookie sheets.  On Thursday,  I did a brief lesson with the kids at the rug and introduced important vocabulary with a simple non fiction book about how magnets work.  I opened the lesson by asking one child to take the horseshoe magnet and to put it close to a paper clip.  I then asked them, "Why do you think these two things are sticking together?"  They really had some great answers.  Some of them guessed there was glue on one of the objects, some thought it was magic, and various other answers.  I love doing science lessons because they really get so into it!  Throughout the day, we tested different materials at centers in small groups of one, two, or three.  They independently tested materials such as a metal washer, paper clip, key ring, wood block, feather, and plastic button.  They also created a "magnet painting".  It's a really simple and fun craft.  All you need is a paper clip, some tempera paint, a paper plate, and a magnet wand.  Each kid picked two different colors that my assistant put a small amount of on top of the plate.  Then, the child places a paper clip near the paint and picks up their wand and places it underneath the plate.  The magnetic force allows the paper clip to attract to the magnet through the plate.  They simply drag the wand all around and watch the paper clip magically glide throughout their paper.  This is also a very clean craft!  After centers, we discussed our results and they did a great job remembering what was magnetic and what wasn't.  We talked about what kinds of materials are magnetic.  After snack, we did one of my favorite activities.  The kids each got their own magnet and went on a magnet hunt around the room.  Every year, I see the same reaction.  The kids are SO excited to run around the room and discover what's magnetic.  

On Friday, we talked about an exciting holiday approaching us: Easter!  The children shared their favorite Easter traditions.  We created our own beautiful watercolor eggs.  They loved using their white crayons to create designs before painting.  They also created "Peeking Bunnies".  This craft gave them great tracing and cutting practice.  We helped each child trace their handprints to create the "grass".  While we cut the handprints, they cut their bunny ears.  The end product is adorable.  We also read Easter stories and had an egg hunt!

 

Finally, we wrapped up March with our big Dr. Seuss Spring Spectacular.  On Friday, the children prepared a yummy party snack from the book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.  They filled small cups with berry blue Jell-O that we made together.  Next, they placed two Swedish fish in the cup.  They love to help, especially when it comes to cooking!  Our Seuss party was a blast.  Some of our party activities before our guests came included a Dr. Seuss photo booth and various Seuss games we played throughout the month.  Our other party snacks came from other books we read.  For Ten Apples Up on Top, we ate delicious sliced apples.  For The Cat in the Hat, we ate delicious banana and strawberry "Cat in the Hat" skewers.  For One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, we ate goldfish and our Jell-O snacks.  We also ate yummy Easter candies!  

I wish everyone a very Happy Easter and a Happy Passover!  I'm currently on Spring Break and I just got back from a very nice, relaxing vacation with my fiance.  I'm looking forward to spending Easter with my family tomorrow and then going back to school Monday and seeing the kiddies!!!!  Can't believe it's already almost April! 

Seuss Week 3 & Leprechaun Madness!

 Letter Nn

Last week, we learned the letter Nn.  We started our week off with a nice breath of fresh air outdoors.  On our nature walk, we collected materials to make our own nests.  We read the story The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman, which taught us how birds build their nests.  The kids really enjoyed the story.  It's comical and very sweet.

 

Not pictured is our alphabet book page.  This week we did, "Nn is for newspaper".  The children tore small pieces of newspaper.  Next, they traced the letter Nn with their finger.  Then, they traced it with their liquid glue and placed the pieces of paper on the glue.  We also used or Heidi Butkus CD to learn how to write Nn.

Word Families: AT

Also not pictured is our AT family poster.  Our visual for the poster is a large cat.  Together, we created a list of at words to add to our poster.  Next, we practiced building at family words at centers.  Throughout the week, we reviewed words at the rug.

 St. Patrick's Day Fun

 All week, we prepared for leprechaun mischief and green goodies.  We prepared "Leprechaun Disguises" and played in the "Leprechaun Table".  Together, we planned our leprechaun trapped and created illustrations in our journals.  The children brainstormed ideas for their own leprechaun traps at the block center.

 

We read a terrific story about the colors of the rainbow.  The Leprechaun who Lost his Rainbow was an adorable story of Colleen and her St. Patrick's Day parade dilemma.  As her grandfather prepared to play his bagpipes in the big parade, a rainstorm was approaching.  Suddenly, a little green leprechaun named ROY G BIV appeared on Colleen's front steps with a solution.  He told her that if she were to give him seven belongings (each being a color of the rainbow), that he would create a rainbow to shine over her Grandpa's parade.  Colleen wondered if she could trust the tricky leprechaun, especially when she had to give up her beloved green penny whistle.  However, after she gave ROY something of each color, a beautiful rainbow appeared and Grandpa marched on.  She even found a pot of gold with a brand new silver flute from ROY.  This story was a great way to review colors and the children's answers to our story comprehension questions were excellent!

After learning about rainbows, we created our own colorful rainbows using markers and fruit ring cereal.  They also counted and glued gold coins and a cloud using a coffee filter.

In preparation for the party, we cooked two different kinds of green Jell-O: melon and lime.  The kids loved helping and smelling each kind.  

Friday was, as one child put it, "the best day ever".  When the kids came into the classroom, they noticed two little green handprints on the classroom door.  Very carefully, we tiptoed into the dark classroom and found a big mess.  There was a long trail of little green footprints.  They led to a gross "green potty" that the leprechaun forgot to flush!  They also led to the refrigerator where we discovered that the tricky guy stole a spoonful of Jell-O.  The trap we set by the window was down and the pot of gold and cereal we left was everywhere!  Very carefully, we lifted the trap, only to find a tiny green shoe.  The kids were amazed and wondered how he got away.  Their ideas were priceless.  I told them all that I had a strange message on my cell phone that we could listen to after we did our morning routine.  The energy in the room was ridiculous.  After listening, we heard from "Lucky the Leprechaun" that there were several clues hidden around the school that led us to a big pot of treasure!  Awaiting us outside at the end of the rainbow were goodie bags full of Smarties, gold coins, necklaces, pencils, erasers, and "Leprechaun Slime". Here are a mix of photos from both the AM and PM kids:

 

 

After our exciting treasure hunt, we had some party fun.  We played a game of "Pass the Shoe" (basically the same rules as Hot Potato) by passing around Lucky's shoe to some Irish music.  Then, we had some free play fun.  We created "Shamrock and Rainbow" paintings using combs and peppers.  We also played "End of the Rainbow", a color and counting practice game.  They also enjoyed green play-doh and Leprechaun slime!