Busy Pre-K'ers Wrapping up their Year! Past 5 Weeks...

Crunch time has set in!  Our busy kids have been practicing and singing their songs everyday in preparation for their Moving Up Ceremony in 7 (!!!) days.  It's been a while since I put up an entry, so here is a summary of what we did....

Xx Week

Highlights: Xx is for X-Ray.  We revisited X-Rays that we look at during Vv week for the vet center.  We talked about what X-Rays are used for.  We also learned about body parts and bones.  We read and sang Dem Bones (The toe bones connected to the foot bone, the foot bones connected to the ankle bone, etc).  We also learned about xylophones.  The kids played on a virtual xylophone on the Smart Board and with a water xylophone we made together!  It was a very musical day.

Our math lessons for the week were based on greater than/less than/equal to.  All week, we compared numbers.  Each morning, we counted how many boys and girls there were and compared them.  They sat at different learning centers and identified and compared numbers using "alligators" (clothespins) on paint samples.  We read Alfie the Alligator and they absolutely adored this hilarious alligator puppet I found on Amazon that went perfectly with the book.  We learned the following rhyme for comparing numbers:

"Alligator, Alligator, which one will you eat?  

The bigger one, the greater one!  It will be sweet."

After learning the rhyme and reading Alfie's book, the kids practiced comparing numbers at the felt board and at various math centers.  They also created their own comparison using Goldfish Crackers. 

 

Zz Week/Zoo Week!

Highlights:  Zoo Week.  Everything we did during Zz week had to do with zoo animals.  We sorted animals, read stories about the zoo, talked about past experiences, and played many games.  Some of our favorite games included a roll n' stamp number identification game, a number matching game where the kids had to put animals in their cages, and "ROAR", a sight word game.  They also created a sight word book called My Zoo Book.  They already knew the words I, see, and the.  They cut out their words and pasted them onto each page and stamped the animal corresponding to the one at the end of the sentence.  A lot of the kids were able to identify the animal by the first letter/sound.  They also created adorable zoo animal masks.  

Beach/Review Week

I think we can all agree that we're ready for the beach!  We decorated the classroom with beachy items and the kids had a blast digging for shells in the sand table.  To review our shapes, we played at a popsicle stick/shape construction center.  They also created some pretty cool suns for the Moving Up Ceremony that helped them review their shapes. We also reviewed numbers, patterns, letters, and sight words throughout the week at the rug and during centers.  We also read one of my favorite Eric Carle Books, A House for a Hermit Crab.  It's perfect for this time of the year because it's about a hermit crab that grows too big for his shell...he then spends an entire year making new friends that help him decorate his new shell.  At the end of the story, the hermit crab has grown again and it's time for him to move into a new, bigger shell with new friends.  After talking about the similar situation with, our almost-kindergartners, the kids made their own watercolor hermit crab shells and decorated them!  This week, the kids also went to their kindergarten screenings.  We read many kindergarten stories and practiced our songs.

Last Week

In preparation for Fathers' Day, the kids began putting together a few special projects for their dads.  We read stories such as Daddies do it Different(a really funny one about a child comparing her mom and dad) and Only My Dad and Me.  We also talked about our favorite Pre-K memories and created a special project that will be hanging up at our ceremony.  The most popular answers to their favorite memory were the Leprechaun's visit, the igloo, and the volcano.  We also read Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss and talked about our hopes and dreams for the future.  To review our sight words, we played various games including a ping pong ball game in which each child had a ball with a sight word written on it.  When their word was called, they had to shoot the ball into the bucket.  It was good for the kinesthetic learners in the group.  We've also been having lots of outdoor playground fun! 

This Week

The countdown begins!  There are 7 more days until the ceremony and only 5 more regular days, then 2 half days after.  It's unbelievable.  We're busy this week practicing our songs, finishing Fathers' Day projects and preparing for the "Beach Ball Fathers' Day Bash" tomorrow, and learning about Flag Day.  Today, the kids listened to a great nonfiction picture book called F is for Flag.  After learning about the flag and looking at many pictures, they created their own flags using white paper and red and blue fingerpaint!  They came out really nice and the morning class will bring them to the Flag Day ceremony on Friday. 

We Have Some Creative, Smart Cookies on our Hands...

I've been catching the kids coming up with really creative and cute ideas!  Check out these pictures... 

They came up with this idea!  Made a "School Bus" and pretended they were riding the bus to Kindergarten! :)

Playing school!

Writing sight words on our own without being prompted to or helped.

Check out Spongebob!

Doesn't this look like the Stonehenge?  So awesome.