More 3-D Shape Fun
In late March we continued our study of 3-D shapes. One day focused on using different materials to make 3-D shapes. The children went through four different stations: magna-tiles, playdough, Geomags, and straws. Later we talked about the term faces, the different sides of a 3-D shape. The children played a game called "Geoblock Match Up" which required them to match one of the faces of a shape to its "footprint".
We also continued to use geoblocks to build in different ways. The children were challenged to build geoblock shapes out of other geoblocks. They also enjoyed open-ended building time where they came up with all kinds of wonderful creations and constructions! We also had the chance to make 3-D shapes out of paper. It was a challenge to turn a 2-D piece of paper into a 3-D shape!
Weebles Wobble, But They Don't Fall Down
Continuing out learning about balance in Discovery, the children got to create their own weebles. These toys helped us learn an important concept about balance; weight can be distributed to help an object balance. In our case, adding playdough to the bottom of the egg made it stay up.
Wonders of Weather
Weather also continues to be an ongoing topic in Discovery. Our daily weather routine has helped us notice trends in both temperature and the weather outside. We've noticed many more blue days as we moved into winter, and of course had our first recorded snowy days. We also were lucky to have a visiting presentation from the science museum on weather. We learned about the water cycle and how clouds are formed. We also learned about many tools that scientists use to study weather. Later, the children made clouds using shaving cream on small blue squares of paper. We learned about cirrus clouds – whispy strands high in the sky, stratus clouds – resemble a blanket of white or grey, and cumulus clouds – the dense clouds that look thick like cotton balls and often take the shape of a familiar animal or object. Ask your child what they remember about clouds!
We're Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo
In Reading, we explored zoo animals as a theme inspired by our final sight word red book, "At the Zoo". The children also made an animal matching game. This was a chance to practice matching words to pictures. We talked about how the first letter of a word can help give a clue to what the word is. Sometimes, however, you need to look at more of the word, like distinguishing between penguin and parrot.For March, we revisited a familiar author: Dr. Seuss. We read his book If I Ran the Zoo, all about a boy who imagines all the fantastical creatures he would fill his zoo with. The children in K105 each made up their own animal for our K105 zoo. They were quite creative!
Family Fun
In Writing, we started a new unit shifting our focus from personal narratives to "all about" books. To start, the children each wrote about something they know a lot about: their families! They followed a framework to create a page about where they live, who is in their family, and what they like to do together. We were able to share the final product, and will be continuing with all about books on other topics.
How to Treat TEAMmates
We have continued to explore social-emotional concepts during TEAM Meeting. We used some of Dr. Seuss' stories to help us with these concepts. First, we read The Big Brag, the story of a group of animals that try to one-up each other. We talked about what bragging means and how it makes us feel. Later we read Gertrude McFuzz. This is the story of a bird who is unhappy with her tail and tries to change it, only to find in the end it was just right for her. This helped us learn about being ourselves and celebrating this. In connection to our Writing on families, we read Tango Makes Three, the story of two male penguins who develop a special relationship and end up "adopting" a baby penguin. We talked about how families are all different, but they also all share many of the same characteristics.
A Cast of Characters
In connection with Dr. Seuss' birthday and the related celebrations of reading, we had Book Character Day. Many children chose to dress up as a familiar character; some even brought in books with their characters. I even joined in on the fun!
Check out more of what we've been up to below...