Yum, Yum Applesauce

In the morning we started our science activity...making applesauce! First we counted 10 apples. We peeled the apples with an apple peelers. Then they watched me slice the apples into 10 pieces with an apple slicers. We looked at the core of the apple that was cut out....it was hard and had seeds inside.
Next we chopped the apples into smaller pieces and put them inside the crockpot. The recipe had us add water, sugar and cinnamon to the crockpot. We stirred it together and then turned it on. 

During morning circle we talked about the days of the week and months of the year. The kids continued the pattern. We reviewed our "sound brothers." Then the kids each had a turn pulling a letter out of the mystery box. They told the group the name of their letter, what sound it made and thought of a word that started with that letter.

Our story today was "The Apple Pie Tree" by Zoe Hall. The children in this story watch their apple tree during the different seasons of the year. When autumn comes, they pick the apples and with their parents make apple pie. After reading the story we described how an apple tree looks during all four seasons. We used pictures to help us describe how it changes. We also labeled the different part of the apple....skin, stem, core, and seeds.

Before eating lunch we wrote in our journals about making applesauce. The classroom smelled like apples and cinnamon...it was wonderful! After eating lunch the applesauce was ready! We let it cool for a minute because it was very hot. Then everyone was able to taste it...it was delicious! The kids did a great job making applesauce and were wonderful listeners today!

Sweet Potatoes!

It's board game Friday! Today we started our morning playing Candyland and Guess Who. In small groups we explained the rules of the game. Everyone took turns and practiced being patience when they needed to wait their turn.

This morning we reviewed the calendar and continued our pattern. We also practiced counting to 50. We ready our "everyday words" as a class. Then it was time for writing. The kids wrote in their journals, practiced the letter "P" and wrote sight words on the iPad.

Our story today was "Gigantic Sweet Potato" by Dianne De Las Casas. Ma Farmer really wanted some sweet potato pie. But the sweet potato she planted was too big to pull up, even with the help of just about every animal on the farm. Pa Farmer, Bessie Cow, Ralphie the Dog, and Kittie Cat all tried to help. Then Lily Mouse wanted to help....and they were able to pull out the gigantic sweet potato. Everyone enjoyed a big piece of sweet potato pie! During the story the kids predicted how Ma Farmer was going to get the sweet potato out of the ground. After we finished reading the kids recalled the characters in the story and sequenced the events.

We used sweet potatoes to make art today! First we used our senses to describe the sweet potatoes. Then we cut them in half so we could look at the inside. The next step was making our sweet potatoes into stamps. The kids used toothpicks to draw designs on the stamps. After the designs were drawn they dipped the potato into paint and stamped it on their paper. Our stamps made round circles...just like the sweet potatoes.

After we ate lunch it was time for show and tell. The kids loved sharing what they brought to school! The kids asked how they used their object and where they got it. One of our friends brought extras so everyone could take his show and tell home! Have a great fall weekend and I will see everyone on Monday!

Watermelon Seeds

Today was a busy day, even though we did not have music class! This morning we talked about the calendar. We practiced using yesterday, today and tomorrow when using the calendar. The kids counted to 30 as a group. Then they all shared their favorite part of our Out and About to the grocery store. They remembered lots of fruits and vegetables!

 

 Our story today was "The Watermelon Seed" by Greg Pizzou. A funny crocodile has one big fear....swallowing a watermelon seed. One day when he was eating his watermelon he swallowed a seed! He thought he would grow vines in his ears, turn pink and have a watermelon in his stomach! All of a sudden he burped....and out came the seed. After reading the story we sequenced the different events. We decided that this story was pretend and couldn't really happen because our stomachs don't have dirt, water and sunlight to help the watermelon seed grow.

For science we had a taste test to see who liked to eat watermelon. Everyone got a piece...once they ate the watermelon they voted either YES they liked the watermelon or NO they didn't like the watermelon. Many of our friends liked it so much they asked for more!

For art the kids made their own watermelon. They glued the green part (the rind of the watermelon) to the outside of the pink part (the part we eat) to make a slice of watermelon. Then they added black seeds....which we don't want to eat!

They kids have loved learning about foods that grow and talking all about them during lunch. Everyone wants to share a fruit or vegetable they have in their lunches. I will see everyone tomorrow for Boardgame Friday!

Harris Teeter Out and About Pictures

The Grocery Store!

Today we went to the grocery store! To prepare we read a social story about our trip during morning circle. We talked about what we will see at the grocery story and the rules of the Out and About. Before heading to Harris Teeter it was time to work with Ms. Abby.

Ms. Abby worked on being a goalie and kicking a soccer ball. First we made a circle. They each had a turn to pick a friend and roll the soccer ball to them. It was a great goalie skill to practicing catching the ball with our hand. Then the kids practiced dribbling the soccer ball and keeping control. The last activity worked on balance and shooting the ball into the soccer goal. The kids walked on a blue beam and at the end they kicked the soccer ball into the net!

After Ms. Abby we headed to the grocery store. The kids did a great job on our walk. We walked up and down the isles of the produce department looking at all the different kinds of vegetables and fruits the grocery store sold. We saw corn, squash, green beans, and eggplant in the vegetable section. They kids found lots of different colored peppers. There was red, orange, green, and yellow.....some were even packaged like a stop light! We also found 3 different colored potatoes....white, brown and purple. We smelled the apples, oranges and lemons. I gave the kids clues to guess what fruit I was thinking of.....it is yellow and monkeys like to eat it....BANANAS! The grocery store also had pumpkins, Indian corn and gourds to celebrate fall. The gourds were very bumpy! Before leaving the grocery store the kids each got to try a piece of cantaloupe. Then we headed back to school...everyone walked a little slower after our fun Out and About. 

Before we ate our lunch we read "Out and About at the Supermarket" by Kitty Shea. Store employee Mark gives a guided tour of a supermarket, where he explains the most popular foods, why some foods must be kept frozen, and how groceries should be packed in bags. After reading the story the kids shared their favorite part of the grocery store. They liked looking at the different colored vegetables and fruits...and they loved tasting the cantaloupe.

The kids must have been tired and hungry after our trip because everyone was very quiet during lunch time. We ended the day with songs about fruits and vegetables. We left everyone a little surprise from the grocery store in their book bag...a cookie.

Vegetable Soup

Today the touch and feel pool was filled with fruits and vegetables! We sorted them and talked about how they looked. The kids had fun feeling and smelling them too! During morning circle we talked about the calendar. Then we shared our Out and About trip with the kids...they are so excited to go to the grocery story!

Ms. Michele came today! First we practiced balancing. The kids walked up wiggly steps, and across bumpy circles. At the end they put a birthday candle on the cake. We started out slow, but by the end the kids were flying through it...and keeping their balance! Next it was time for finger fun. The kids took turns playing with gak and finding leaves in a container of beans. There were all different colors and sizes....the smallest bean was soo tiny we couldn't pick it up!

 Our story today was "Growing Vegetable Soup" by Lois Elhert. Together, a father and child plant, water, and watch the seeds grow. And once their harvest of tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, and corn is ready, they'll cook it up into the best soup ever! After reading the book we made our own garden. The kids picked different vegetables to draw in our garden. Some vegetables grow under ground, some grow on vines and some grow above the ground. We put each plant in the correct place.

For science today we made vegetable soup. First we needed to follow the recipe. It said to find and cut up 1 tomato, 1 celery and 1 onion. The kids watched us cut up the vegetables. They got to look at the inside of vegetables and smell them. No one liked to smell the onion...it almost made us cry. Then the recipe said to put the vegetables in the blend and add water. After we added the water it was time to turn on the blender. It was very loud. We watched the vegetables turn into soup! The blender made the soup hot, so we had to blow on it before we could taste it. Some of our friends loved the soup and some didn't.....but everyone tried it!

During lunch everyone was sharing what fruits or vegetables they had in their lunchbox. I wonder what foods we will find at the grocery story that grow in a garden? 

Look out for the Squash!

Today we worked on making patterns and sorting different objects for morning work. During our morning circle we talked about the calendar and practiced saying the days of the week and months of the year out of order. We learned 3 new everyday words....one, two and three. The kids practiced the Sounds Around Town. We reviewed the lip poppers, tip tappers, throat scrapers, lip coolers, and tongue coolers. Our new pair was skinny air (s, z). We make these sounds by making a smile and blowing skinny air through our teeth. We used a mirror to help us make the sounds.

Our story today was "Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash" by Sarah Weeks. In the story Mrs. McNosh planted a squash seed. The seed immediately started to grow and it grew bigger and bigger. It rolled over the cat and even broke the fence. At the end of the story she picked the squash off the stem so it couldn't grow any bigger. She used a spoon to dig out the middle and make the squash into her house. After reading the story we talked about the beginning, middle and end of the story. There were also lots of rhyming words in the story, so we practiced rhyming. We sorted -old and -ack words to make two lists of rhyming words. It was important to listen to see if they sound the same so we weren't tricked.

For science and art we explored corn. We peeled the husk and the silk off the corn to find the corn cob. It was hard work to get the husk off! Once we found the different parts of corn we used them to paint a picture. The kids rolled the corn cob in yellow and green paint. Then they used the husk and silk as paint brushes. Everyone had a lot of fun!!

It was a great first day learning about foods that grow. We can't wait to find all the vegetables we talked about today at the grocery store on Wednesday. Tomorrow we will be making something very special for science!