Transportation Out and About

Today was a fun day at school! We started the morning making a truck for our sensory activity. The kids identified the different shapes and used them to make the body, front of the truck and a window. Then the kids used their fingers to tear tissue paper and and crumble it into balls. We glued the paper to fill up the back of the truck.

Ms. Abby worked on balancing and jumping today. First the kids walked on the balance beam, hopped across the circles, then walked across another balance beam. The next activity had two kids racing. They walked down the balance beam, hopped into a big hoop, turned around, hopped back onto the balance beam and balanced to the finish line. Then the kids played red light, green light. They had to be careful walking since they were balancing rings on top of their heads! Our final activity was Simon Says. We followed different directions using our body parts.

After Ms. Abby it was time for our transportation Out and About. First we used our feet to walk to the light rail. Then we road the train into the city to ImaginOn. We had a transportation story time at the library. The library read four books. The first book was Toot, Toot, Beep, Beep. It was about lots of cars that were stuck in traffic. The second book was The Seals on the Bus. All the animals at the zoo get on the bus to head to a big party. The third book was Freight Train. We learned about the different colored trains. The last book was Clickety Clack. Everyone on the train was making lots of noise..until the conductor told them to be quiet. Between our stories we sang The Wheels on the Bus and Driving in my Car. When story time was over we headed to the transportation center. We found bus #19 to take us back to school. The kids thought it was fun riding the big bus back. Once we got to our bus stop we all got off the bus and walked back to school for lunch.

Everyone was very hungry and sleepy when we got back to school. We had just enough time to eat lunch before it was time to pack up and head home. It was a great day learning about transportation!

Trucks on the Road

This morning we had round and square objects in the pool. We talked about objects that are circles and squares. During morning circle we identified words that start with R. We also sorted objects into two categories....things we can eat and things we can play.

Ms. Michelle was outside today! The kids completed the obstacle course forward, sideways and backwards. They walked on the balance beam, walked across the big and small circles and then stood on the blue wobbly circle and threw a bean bag into a shape. For finger fun the kids put together different puzzles.

Our story today was "My Truck is Stuck!" by Kevin Lewis and Daniel Kirk. The dump truck got stuck in a hole! A car, moving van, jeep and school bus try to help pull the truck out of the hole...but it didn't work. Finally the tow truck came to the rescue and helped pull the truck out of the hole. After reading the story the kids compared 3 different trucks....a fire truck, garbage truck and tow truck. We talked about what each truck had and what the trucks can do.

All the trucks had one thing in common...tires. For science we decided to test which tires are betters, circle tires or square tires. The kids knew a circle had no flat sides and a square had 4 flat sides. We predicted the circle would roll faster and be a better tire. We rolled both wheels down a ramp...the circle tires were the better choice! The kids took turns testing out the two kinds of tires.

The kids used cars to create their art work today. They dipped the car tires in red, yellow and blue paint. The used the tires covered in paint to create their artwork. If you look carefully you can see the tread of the tires. The kids loved driving the cars all around their papers!

At the end of the day we listened to transportation songs. We also talked about our Out and About tomorrow! We will use three different kinds of transportation...the train, walking and the bus! Don't forget to wear your speech garden shirts to school tomorrow!.

Cars that Go

Today we started learning about things that go on the road. During morning circle the kids continued the pattern, skip counted and identified numbers 1-50. During Sound Around Town we made CVC words that started with ma-. We read map, mat, math, max, mad, mass, mash and mast.

 

Our story today was "If I Built a Car" by Chis Van Dusen. Jack has designed his dream car. He took his favorite parts of trains, cars and airplanes to make the coolest car. The outside had retractable wings and rockets. Inside the car was a couch, swimming pool and snack area. There was even a robot that drove the car if you want to take a nap. Jack's car can ride on the road, float on the water, move under the water and blast off! After reading the story the kids made a list of things we know about cars. We identified different parts of the car and what makes the important.

For art today the kids made their own car. First we glued the bumper to the front of the car. Then we added wheels and windows. Next we added a headlight so our car can drive in the dark. Finally we added the driver...the kids! The kids all shared different places they would drive...vacation, the beach and grandparent's house.

During writing today we practiced writing lower case "u."The kids also wrote something they did during spring break in their journal. After writing their sentence they drew a picture to match their sentences. It was fun to hear what everyone was up to last week!

Don't Sink My Boat

This morning during morning circle we talked about the calendar and spring break. The kids identified numbers 1-39. We also skip counted by 2's, 5's and 10's. We practiced the vowel circle and our sliders. The kids read words that ended in -one. We sounded out bone, tone, cone, shone, zone, and phone.

Our story today was "Chato Goes Crusin'" by Gary Soto. Two cats win a free cruise....except the cruise is full of dogs! The cats were board because they only played dog games on the boat and had dog food to eat. When all the dogs got sick, the captain asked the cats to go find help. They found a vet and saved the day! After reading the story we talked about boat safety. It is important to wear a life vest. A life saver is a circle float that you can grab onto if you fell into the water. Big boats also have lifeboats in case their is an emergency. The captain is in charge of the boat and everyone on the boat follows his orders.

For science today we tested to see which boat would hold the most pennies. First we made two boats out of foil...one little and one big. Then we placed them both in the water. The kids took turns placing the pennies into the boats. The big boat had 152 pennies before it sunk and the little boat had 12 pennies before it sunk into the water. The big boat was able to hold more pennies! The kids then had a chance to build their own boat out of foil and see how many pennies it could hold.

During writing today we worked on the lowercase r. The kids also wrote a fact about boats in their journals. We had show and tell before lunch. I was so proud of the kids...they have made wonderful progress with show and tell. After lunch we sang happy birthday to Dhruv because he will celebrate his birthday next Wednesday. He also handed out goodie bags to all his friends.

I hope everyone has a wonderful spring break! The kids have a more extensive homework packet in their book bags. If you have time please work on theses reading, math and writing skills at home. See everyone on the 21st!

Sailboats!

This morning there was water in the touch and feel pool. The kids loved playing with the water! We had chains to connect, eggs to match and different types of transportation in the pool too! During morning circle we discussed the letter m and shared words that started with m. We also reviewed and thought of new opposites!

Our story today was "Captain Duck" by Jez Alborough. Duck was looking for some gas because his truck was on empty. He went over to Goat's to see if he had any to borrow. While at Goat's he saw Frog walking down the path to the water. Duck went to check it out..Frog and Sheep were in Goat's boat and were going on an adventure. Duck hopped in, grabbed the rope and started the engine. Duck, Sheep and Frog were flying through the water...without Goat! They boat engine stopped working and they only had one paddle...they were stuck in the water. Finally the boat made it back to the dock safely. Duck thought he broke Goat's boat....but Goat said it just ran out of gas.

 Our story today was a rhyming story. So we made a rhyming poem about boats as a class. The kids had to think of a word that rhymed to finish each line in the poem.

Today was Ms. Gretchen's last day. We sang "Row Your Boat" first using a stretchy band. We rowed our boat high, low and around in a circle. Next the kids pretended to carpet surf around the room. We used kazoos and scarves to sing "Been Working on a Sailboat." We identified different types of transportation and used bells in the transportation song. The last song before we sang goodbye was the "F-I-N-A-L" song since it was our last day of music class. The kids loved learning new songs and playing all the different instruments during our music time!

For science today we talked about how sailboat move. They need wind and water to move! We tested out 2 boats...one boat had a hull, mast and sail and the other boat just had the hull. We used straws to make wind to blow the boats. The boat with the sail moved, but the boat with no sail didn't move. The boat with just the hull needed paddles to move.

For art the kids made a sailboat out of different shapes. First we glued waves and water to the bottom of our paper. Next the kids colored the hull of their ship and glued it in the water. Then we added the mast to the middle of the boat. Next the kids glued the sail on top of the mast of the boat. The last thing we added to our picture was the sun in the sky. The kids also glued a copy of the poem we made during language circle to their art work so they can read it at home.

Tomorrow is our last day of school before spring break. We will finish learning about boats and do a really cool science experiment!

Our Toy Boats!

This morning the kids went through rotating centers. At center #1 we made stress balls filled with rice. The kids poured rice into a balloon and pushed it through the hole until the balloon was filled. They practiced squeezing the balloon with their whole hand and then just two fingers at a time. At center #2 we searched through the water beads to find letters to spell our name and CVC words.

 At center #3 we made sensory water bottle. The kids put glitter, beads, sequence and transportation foam shapes into the bottle. Then we added oil using a funnel. Next we walked to the bathroom to fill out the bottle with water. Before closing the bottle the kids added 3 drops of food coloring. We put glue inside the cap and sealed the bottle. The kids did a great job rotating through all 3 centers.

Ms. Abby came today and set up four stations. The kids were separated and rotated through each station. At station #1 the kids practiced kicking the soccer ball into the soccer goal. At station #2 the kids hit the ball of the tee with a bat. At station #3 the kids practiced kicking the ball to each other. At station #4 the kids used a hockey stick to shoot the ball into the net.

Our story today was "Toy Boat" by Randal de Seve. A little boy has a toy boat.  He made it from a can, a cork, a yellow pencil, and some white cloth. The boy and his boat are inseparable--until a big storm pushes the toy boat out into the lake. On the boat's journey he saw all different kids of boat. Finally the boat made it back to the little boy and never left his side again. After reading the story we recalled the events from the story. The kids sequenced the different boats the boat saw on his adventure in the lake. He was a tub boat, ferryboat, speedboat, sailboat, sloop and a fishing boat. We also learned the different parts of a boat. The hull is the bottom of the boat. The mast is the big pole in the middle of the boat. The sail is attached to the mast.

For art the kids made their very own sailboat. We used rubber bands to connect the hull of the boat. Then we used a toothpick as the mast to hold the sail. Once the sail was on the mast we pushed it into the middle of the hull. The only way to see if our boats would work was to sail them! We walked down to the creek at the park to see if our boats would float and sail. We set them into the water and all the boats started to sail down the water. The kids loved seeing their boats move down the creek!

After getting back to school it was lunch time. The kids were very hungry after our trip to the park to sail our boats. We ended the day with the kids favorite boat song.

Tug Boats

This morning there were boats and different materials in the pool. The kids decided if the materials would float like the boats or sink in the water. We talked about the letter m in morning circle and thought of words that started with m. We also discussed opposites and matched opposite words together. We talked about hot/cold, up/down, in/out, happy/sad, front/back, top/bottom, float/sink, and boy/girl.

Ms. Michelle came today! First we used different tools to pick up eggs around the room. She hid the eggs low on the ground and high on the shelves. We had to be careful and walk slowly so the eggs didn't fall before we reached the big basket. Once we found all the eggs it was time for finger fun! Ms. Michelle had a mixture that looked just like birthday cake dough and smelled like strawberries! We pretended the make cookies for each other.

Our story today was "Little Tug" by Stephen Savage. Tug boats are very important. They help push bigger boats out of the harbor and make sure cruise ships get out safely. They also help boats that break down and needed pulled back to the dock. Even though tub boats are small...they big boats need them. After reading the story we introduced our vocabulary..sink and float! The kids brainstormed objects that would sink and float. We learned that float is when it stays on top of the water and sink is when it goes to the bottom.

The kids conducted an experiment about sink and float. First we made predictions about 10 objects. The class made a guess if a metal spoon, crayon, feather, plastic spoon, block, paper, rock, stick, coin and popsicle stick would sink or float. After making our prediction chart the kids placed each object into a bin. We charted the objects that floated and sunk. We were surprised by some of the results. The kids were so excited to share and describe the results to each other...we had some great conversations!

After lunch the kids had music. We sang songs about opposites, transportation and then took suggestions for their favorite songs. They sure love the peanut butter song! Tomorrow we will continue talking about boats....any maybe we can test some boats in water to see if they can sail!