Weeks of Weather

I have been MIA the past few weeks. It's been hectic in Kindergarten with the end of the year approaching. But I just HAD to share the fun things we've been doing the past few weeks while learning about the WEATHER! And we've had some crazy, real life examples of all kinds of weather in the Chicagoland Area. Rain, floods, snow, sunshine and 70 degrees, wind, clouds, you name it we had it. 

The first week when we began talking about weather the class and I discussed the water cycle, clouds, and precipitation --

Clouds

We had one nice day to be able to go outside and look at the clouds. Before heading outside, we read the story Little Cloud by Eric Carle. We talked about how clouds may sometimes look like different shapes, as well as when lots of clouds join together and get heavy, they produce precipitation. The students all had clipboards, "sky" paper, and white crayons and were able to draw the cloud shapes they saw. 

I found an awesome way to make puffy paint using glue and shaving cream, and the next day we painted our own clouds. The students were able to choose whatever shape they wanted to make their cloud, and they LOVED painting with the puffy paint!

Precipitation

Once we had learned about clouds it was time to talk about the water cycle and precipitation! We used some science experimentation to discover how the water cycle works. One experiment we tried was by creating our own rain storm using a glass vase, boiling water inside of the vase, and a plate with ice cubes on top to create the condensation. The kiddies struggled with sitting and watching the rain form, but once it began to drip down they were very excited that we made "rain!"

We also made a rain storm using shaving cream, food coloring, the clear vase, and water. This experiment helped show the children how once a cloud gets heavy, the rain falls down.

Check back next week for some pictures of our Weatherman project where we made our very own Kindergarten Weather Reports! :)

Xoxo,

Little Miss ABC

The Rainbow Connection

The Rainbow Connection

This week we have been talking about rainbows in honor of St. Patrick's Day. We made a class rainbow Monday afternoon (I noticed we had quite the array of colors on that day!). Tuesday and Wednesday we worked on tissue paper rainbows, one of my favorite rainbow projects as a kid. We also got to do some rainbow sorting with beads and an egg carton (SO easy and so cheap). Check us out!!

We also got a chance to practice a fun activity that I learned at a conference called "Cottonball Breathing". The object of this activity is to try to blow a cotton ball from your palm to in between your partners feet. This is a calming activity, but also helps encourage team work and cooperation. We LOVED it! Thanks Mindful Practices :)
http://www.mindfulpracticesyoga.com - Carla is amazing.

Check back at the end of the week for our St. Patty's Day fun, including Leprechaun traps AND lotsa LUCKY CHARMS! Yummmmy :)

xoxo,

Little Miss ABC

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!

What a week it has been! We have had tons of fun celebrating Dr. Seuss and his legacy this week. Here are a highlight of some of the fun activities we did each day!

Monday we talked about the Cat in the Hat and got to experience a celebrity story-time as well as think about what we would do if the Cat in the Hat came to our house.

Tuesday we talked about Oh the Places You'll Go and the kids made some SUPER cute hot air balloon projects. I was so pleased with how they turned out. It was a multiple step (and subject) project involving art, literacy, and following directions. Check out their hard work!

Wednesday was WACKY WEDNESDAY!!!! Some kids came with wacky hair, wacky clothes, and we even had a few "Things" at school! 

Thursday was a fun day with One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. We graphed some Color Goldfish and had a fun snack too :)

                 

Friday was a fun day FILLED with Dr. Seuss fun. We got to hear Green Eggs and Ham, read by Tim Tebow, have a Seuss-ical snack, and wear Cat in the Hat hats. What a week!

                      

                    

 We finished the week of with watching the Lorax.

Oh the Thinks you can Think!!!

Next week check back for fun Lutheran Schools Week activities! 

xoxo,

Little Miss ABC

Dr. Seuss Week is almost here!

I cannot wait for Dr. Seuss week this week! We're going to have so much fun. Here is a preview of some of the fun activities we will be doing, pictures to follow later this week! 

Monday

We will be talking a lot about The Cat in the Hat on Monday. During our Centers time the students will be able to do a Cat in the Hat "Write the Room" which they are going to LOVE! We will also be viewing Justin Beiber reading the story, can't wait to see their reactions to one of their faves reading them a story :)

Tuesday

Tuesday we will be focusing on Oh The Places You'll Go. The students will be talking, writing, and drawing about what they want to be when they grow up! We have not talked about this before, and I can't wait to hear what some of their dream jobs are!

an idea from fun.in.first.blogspot.com 

Wednesday

WACKY WEDNESDAY!!! I am sooooo so excited for Wacky Wednesday. We have already sent home a note to families that we will be celebrating Wacky Wednesday this week and the students are invited to wear mismatched clothing, socks, hairdos, creative outfits, etc. I cannot wait to see what the kids come up with! We will be reading the book "Wacky Wednesday" as well and doing a self-portrait drawing of Me on Wacky Wednesday.

Thursday

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish... Such a classic and such a fun Kindergarten book. We will be doing some graphing with Rainbow Goldfish, and we will also be creating our own 1 ____, 2_____, (color) ______, (color) _______, aka the students will be able to pick their own animal and color to create their own story!

Friday

Friday is all about Green Eggs and Ham! We will be having a special birthday Green Eggs and Ham treat to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday, and we will also be watching (my faaaaavorite) Tim Tebow reading the story! We will also be voting on whether or not we think we would like to eat Green Eggs and Ham like Sam I Am.

Check back this week for pictures of all the fun as well as a picture of the ADORABLE Thing 1 and Thing 2 decorations we will have up in the hallway!

Oh the Thinks You Can Think!!

xoxo,

Little Miss ABC

Dental Health Week continues...

Today we enjoyed some more dental health fun, and I had to share. The day's activities involved more discussion on keeping our teeth healthy, as well as what might happen when we take a trip to the dentist. 

The first activity of the day was an "eggs"periment using hard-boiled eggs and three different types of liquid: water, pop, and vinegar. We wanted to experiment and FIND OUT what might happen to our teeth when we drink these types of drinks. 

 The students first made predictions to guess what will happen to the egg shell after it has been soaking, and then tomorrow we will find out what will happen to the eggs!

Happy Brushing!!! :) 

Dental Health Month

February is Dental Health Month, and we are definitely celebrating having clean healthy teeth in Kindergarten. All this week we are doing activities, reading books, watching videos, and experimenting all involving our teeth and going to the dentist. This entry will include pictures of our activities, as well as more ideas I have gathered that we did not have time to complete. Happy brushing! :)

 

First we had a chalk talk about what things make our teeth happy, and what things make our teeth sad. We discussed healthy/junk foods, as well as brushing and flossing routines. The kids were really good at coming up with what was NOT healthy for our teeth :)

I placed magazine pages that had foods, toothbrushes, happy smiles, etc, on the tables and invited the students to search to find things that make our teeth happy and things that make our teeth sad. They had a great time searching throughout the magazines! It was like a treasure hunt! This activity also helps with cutting and gluing skills, which are SO important at this age! 

Later in the day we did some more exploring with brushing and flossing:

I put out DUPLOS, play-doh, and yarn for the students to practice "flossing" their teeth. This activity worked the best with the Mega Blocks. Students put play-doh between their "teeth" and practice flossing using the yarn. 

The students also were able to brush their own tile teeth! I had some white ceramic tiles that were donated and put crayons out for the students to draw on the tiles with. I put some toothbrushes in some soapy water (dishsoap worked really well and smelled FAB!) and the students could brush their teeth clean! We talked about how brushing in small circles works the best when brushing our actual teeth, so they tried that method on their tiles, and found out it worked really well.

Happy Brushing everyone! See you next week for DR. SEUSS'S BIRTHDAY!!!!