P is for Pumpkin

We had fun decorating a pumpkin using markers and practicing our fine motor skills!  The nice thing is when each child was done, the marker washed off with a wet paper towel and the next child was able to start with a clean pumpkin!  We have had some very creative pumpkin designs!

During group time, we talked about descriptive words.  Each child had a chance to touch the pumpkin and tell the class a word to describe it.  We used our "turtle talk" to stretch out each word so we could hear the sounds and I could write them down!  We tried to read the words by remembering what our friends had said and looking at first letter in the word! 

 

Did you notice our pumpkin is full of black stuff?  We are doing a science experiment!  We cut the top off of the pumpkin and left all the seeds and guts inside.  We worked together to fill the pumpkin with dirt and added some water.  Each child made predictions of what we thought might happen.  We aren't sure if little pumpkins are going to grow, or maybe the pumpkin will explode like a volcano?  Maybe the pumpkin will grow new pumpkins and they will explode out of the big one, or maybe it will grow flowers!  We drew our predictions in our pumpkin books and are very excited to see what will happen!!

More shape week fun!

During shape week, everyone was encouraged to stop at our shape table.  Using painters tape, I outlined many different shapes on the table, and even put a few shapes together to make new ones.  During center time, each child was encouraged to see if they could match the shapes and figure out how to make the mystery shapes.  This math activity helped us discover a lot of different math concepts.  We discovered that some shapes are bigger then the outlines on the table and some shapes were smaller.  We also explored the different attributes that make each shape special.  Can you fit a rectangle in the circle outline?  Why not? 

We played shape and color bingo!  In addition to practicing our colors and shapes, we practiced taking turns, as each friend had a chance to call out the next shape and color to find.  We used our listening ears so we would know what shape and color we needed to look for!  We did a great job working together to make this game a success!

 

 

Shape Week

We are having lots of fun this week learning all about shapes!  On Monday we read the story Go Away Big Green Monster by: Ed Emberly.  As we read the story, we talked about the different shapes used to make the monster.  After the story, we created our own Big Green Monsters!  We folded our paper , put green paint on the inside and smooshed it around!  Next we used our fine motor skills to tear up pieces of colored paper into the shapes we saw in the story and added them to our monsters!  Our monsters are in display in the hallways!  Stop by to see them! :)

On Tuesday, we did our estimation jar!  We guessed how many squares we thought were in the jar!  I'm very proud of all of our friends!  Everyone had great guesses!  There were 8 squares in our jar today!

We have also been discovering how shapes are everywhere around us!  We read the stories The Shape of Things by: Dayle Ann Dodds and Color Zoo by: Lois Ehlert and discussed how everything is made up of different shapes!  We looked at shapes in our classroom and the hallway.  We even created our own pictures using shapes and our imaginations!  The boys and girls created everything from houses and cars to robots and fish in the sea by using different shapes! 

Mat Man

Meet Mat Man!  In 4k, we love when Mat Man comes to visit us!  As part of the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum, we use Mat Man once a month to help us learn our body part and help us draw our own self portraits!  During Group time, we work together to put Mat Mat together as we sing the Mat Man song! 

 

 

 

After we assemble Mat Man, we use the song to help us draw our self portraits!  When the song is done, we add details to make our pictures look like us.  We add our hair color, eye color and try to make the clothes on our picture look like the cloths we are wearing! 

When we were done, we played guess whose picture!  We tried to guess who made each self portrait based on the details they added!

 

 



Cats and Caterpillars

This week we are learning about the letter Cc!  Ask your child what sound C makes!  We started the week of by creating our literacy links page for our own book and reading a book about the letter Cc!  We put starfall.com on our smartboard and took turns finding the letter C, listening to the sound and watching the animation!  www.starfall.com is a great website for your child to use to reinforce letter recognition and letter sounds! 

For math this week, we worked on creating pattern caterpillars!  We have been practicing patterns all week and today we got a chance to make our own AB pattern!  Once we finished our pattern,  we used crayons to add details to turn our pattern into a caterpillar! 

 



More Letter A Fun

Friday was sharing day!  Thank you for helping your child find something that started with A to bring in!  Each child loved sharing their item and walking around when we were finished sharing to look at their friends "A" items!  We had a wide variety of "A" words!

 

During center time, we used our fine motor skills to create stained glass apples!  Each child chose what colors they wanted on their apple.  They were encouraged to tear the tissue paper into smaller pieces and stick them on their contact paper apple!  It was wonderful to see each child's creativity and personality in their apples and how they chose to make them!