We talked a lot about lines this week. Learning about lines is the second part of our art lesson series. . .but we took it a lot farther than that. . .
Lines that make letters, lines that make art, lines that make shapes (in Spanish!) and lines on the map. We found all kinds of lines around our school, on our clothes, in books and outside. We made different lines out of pipe cleaners while listening to stories, we sang a song about a very special line on the globe (Equator!), we practiced following lines on paper by tracing our names and drew lines to match numbers with objects of that number. We drew lines under vowels in words, drew lines around words we could sound out and stood in lines to get ready to up and downstairs. We looked at maps and found blue lines that are rivers. We listened to a song about a river (Blue Danube Waltz by Strauss), danced to it, and drew our own map (a music map!) using only one line. We tried to follow our music map using a paint brush. Can you follow your child's map? (Youtube has several good versions of the song with pictures of Strauss' great 'stache!)
On Friday (Science Friday! Only without Ira. . .) we talked about magnets and how tiny parts of magnets line up just so. Lines again! The kids conducted their own experiment and, by themselves determined that magnets will only stick to metal. Smarty pants! We talked about the earth being a magnet and watched as a bar magnet floating in water will turn to point north all on it's own. Science is magic, people!
Easiest magnet experiment in the world:
You need:
A bar magnet
A piece of styrofoam (just bigger than the magnet) or several pieces if they are thin
a large bowl of water (several times wider than your piece of styrofoam
Float the bar magnet on top of the styrofoam (or stack several small pieces, like from a take-out box that you tore apart) and place it gently in the water. Wait several seconds for the ripples to settle. turn the styrofoam so that the S end is pointing north. Wait and watch. It is pure science magic, I tell you!
Your kids are doing great. We have been working in small groups once a week to work on reading/letter levels. I will start sending home some homework on Fridays this week or next so please have your child bring their folders each day!
Don't forget: Field trip this Thursday. Dinosaurs!!! I will email details. Thank you! Keep working at home.
Letter learners: Review the letters in your name, and letters Hh, Mm, Aa, Tt
Ready to readers: keep practicing short vowel words like cat, map, mop, sit, top, cup, etc. Throw in some harder ones like flag, drum, scrap, et. It is okay if they can't get the word, just practice sounding out each letter in order.
I have told many of you, but my favorite learn to read website and app is STARFALL.COM if you can, you should pay the $30/year to upgrade to more.starfall.com but the free stuff on starfall.com is awesome as well.
The alphabet and the learn to read program is available on an app and is worth the 3 bucks.
My second place reading app?
Reading Raven
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Monday, September 9, 2013
Georges Seurat and His Magical Dots
Dinos, Art, Music, and MORE!!
We had a great day today.
Today was our first official art day. Mondays will typically be art and art history days. We drew pictures of the islands we had made on Friday but we had a twist. I had the kids draw on highly textured wallpaper samples (sandpaper works great, too, but I have books of wallpaper samples. . . my husband works at Sherwin Williams) pushing down very hard with their crayons. I encouraged them to look at their islands and use the colors that they see. This was a big challenge for ALL of the kids. Kids at this age want to grab one color and scribble it on. It is hard to look at something and replicate the shape and color. The kids kept saying "I'm done!" but I would say "I think I see something red on your island. . .I don't see red on your paper. . ." trying to encourage them to figure out what to add.
Then, I reminded them of Vashti and her Dots. We talked about how all pictures have to start with a dot. I then told them that some artist make entire paintings out of only tiny little dots. I told them about Georges Seurat and his tiny little dots. We tried to guess how many dots would be in one picture and commented about how long that would take to make a painting that way. Then, I took their picture (on wallpaper) and put a piece of white cardstock on top, topped that with a thick kitchen towel and ironed it. The result is a pointilism effect ala Seurat! Very cool. It was like magic when we revealed the end result each time. The kids took home their islands, pictures and 'dot' picture.
Today we also started our unit on Dinosaurs, read a book about dinosaurs invading each day of the week, learned the names of 6 dinosaurs, talked about herbivores and carnivores, learned that we don't want to be a Mine-o-saur, played 'dinosaur around the clock' and had a dino race on the alphabet cards.
Wednesday we get to be paleontologists!
We had a great day today.
Today was our first official art day. Mondays will typically be art and art history days. We drew pictures of the islands we had made on Friday but we had a twist. I had the kids draw on highly textured wallpaper samples (sandpaper works great, too, but I have books of wallpaper samples. . . my husband works at Sherwin Williams) pushing down very hard with their crayons. I encouraged them to look at their islands and use the colors that they see. This was a big challenge for ALL of the kids. Kids at this age want to grab one color and scribble it on. It is hard to look at something and replicate the shape and color. The kids kept saying "I'm done!" but I would say "I think I see something red on your island. . .I don't see red on your paper. . ." trying to encourage them to figure out what to add.
Then, I reminded them of Vashti and her Dots. We talked about how all pictures have to start with a dot. I then told them that some artist make entire paintings out of only tiny little dots. I told them about Georges Seurat and his tiny little dots. We tried to guess how many dots would be in one picture and commented about how long that would take to make a painting that way. Then, I took their picture (on wallpaper) and put a piece of white cardstock on top, topped that with a thick kitchen towel and ironed it. The result is a pointilism effect ala Seurat! Very cool. It was like magic when we revealed the end result each time. The kids took home their islands, pictures and 'dot' picture.
Today we also started our unit on Dinosaurs, read a book about dinosaurs invading each day of the week, learned the names of 6 dinosaurs, talked about herbivores and carnivores, learned that we don't want to be a Mine-o-saur, played 'dinosaur around the clock' and had a dino race on the alphabet cards.
Wednesday we get to be paleontologists!
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Wednesday, Sept. 4 2013
Today we ran out of time! We did not have time to make our own islands so we will have to do that on Friday as part of our Lei Day!
We did some good practice on writing 'leis' (which are really just ovals, zeros or letter O). It is so important that kids learn to write letters the right way. Start at the top. Circles first, go in counter-clockwise direction.
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Please have your child practice writing circles, zeros (review with them what zero means) and letter O's (start at the top, say the sound!)
** please help them hold the pencil/crayon the right way. Pinch between thumb and pointer with middle and ring tucked under pencil like a pillow.
ISLAND HOP
We had a great time playing island hop with a letter review. Some of the kids would do a great job with the same game with sight words.
Write one word on each piece of paper, then lay them around the world. Put on some island jams and walk around the paper islands. Don't fall in the water. When the music stops, mom pulls a word (same words as the islands) out of the cup and you see if you are on that island. You can alter the game by having the child take out the island word (or letter) that was pulled from the cup. It makes island hopping a lot harder with less islands to hop to!
Sight words to review: See, I, Up, It, Me
Letters to review: Hh, Mm, Tt, Aa, Oo, Vv, Rr, Ff, Ee
PANGEA "PUDDING"
We learned today that the whole earth used to be an island named Pangea. I gave each child a cup of yogurt with a piece of crunchy granola on top. They cracked it with a spoon and watched the pieces separate. . .just like our continents. We looked at different maps of the world and observed how the pieces do look like they should fit together like a puzzle. We talked about what is really down, deep down, under the ground and how that makes the land, or continents, float around. Who knew the earth started out as an island. . .
Next time: Lei Day!
We did some good practice on writing 'leis' (which are really just ovals, zeros or letter O). It is so important that kids learn to write letters the right way. Start at the top. Circles first, go in counter-clockwise direction.
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Please have your child practice writing circles, zeros (review with them what zero means) and letter O's (start at the top, say the sound!)
** please help them hold the pencil/crayon the right way. Pinch between thumb and pointer with middle and ring tucked under pencil like a pillow.
ISLAND HOP
We had a great time playing island hop with a letter review. Some of the kids would do a great job with the same game with sight words.
Write one word on each piece of paper, then lay them around the world. Put on some island jams and walk around the paper islands. Don't fall in the water. When the music stops, mom pulls a word (same words as the islands) out of the cup and you see if you are on that island. You can alter the game by having the child take out the island word (or letter) that was pulled from the cup. It makes island hopping a lot harder with less islands to hop to!
Sight words to review: See, I, Up, It, Me
Letters to review: Hh, Mm, Tt, Aa, Oo, Vv, Rr, Ff, Ee
PANGEA "PUDDING"
We learned today that the whole earth used to be an island named Pangea. I gave each child a cup of yogurt with a piece of crunchy granola on top. They cracked it with a spoon and watched the pieces separate. . .just like our continents. We looked at different maps of the world and observed how the pieces do look like they should fit together like a puzzle. We talked about what is really down, deep down, under the ground and how that makes the land, or continents, float around. Who knew the earth started out as an island. . .
Next time: Lei Day!
Island Fever
This Friday is Lei Day!
Lei Day is usually May 1 in Hawaii, but our kids don't know that! We are talking about parts of the earth, how the earth looked in the beginning (one big island) and Islands! For lei day each child should come to school with a lei that they helped make. It can be made of straws and paper, noodles, fruit loops, flowers (real or fake) or anything. Be creative! It is fun to look up "elementary school lei day hawaii" on youtube and watch some of the things the kids do in Hawaii.
Please send your child with a lei (that they helped with) and have them ready for a fun hukilau, hawaiian style songs, dances, games and stories.
Today, we will be making our own islands. Have you every read Marie-Louise Gay's book On My Island? It is a fun book about a gril and her imaginary world. We get to make our own today. We will also do a science demonstration about plate tectonics! We won't call it taht, but we will see how the continents moved.
After school today, ask your child:
How do you play 'island hop'?
What is an island?
What are the blue parts on a map?
What letters are in MAP?
What is a hukilau?
What kind of things do you hear if you listen on an island?
Hope you had a great weekend! I had a fun family hike (complete with my dad making a daring rescue of a stranger), a BBQ and way way waaaaaay too much food! My kind of holiday!
See you today!
Other books we are reading this week:
Island Boy
When I Am Quiet on Maui
The Little Island
Island of the Blue Dolphins (just kidding. I love that book. . .if only we had the time. . .)
Monday, August 26, 2013
A New Year
The first day is always exciting, hard, scary, fun, silly and every other emotion you can think of. I think this was the easiest first day of school yet! The kids were great and I felt great and everything was. . .great!
We found out about the jobs we do at preschool and made name clips to put on the job chart. We ate a yummy snack. . .the beans were a huge success. . .and played, painted, sang and read.
Today we read the book "The Dot"by Peter H. Reynolds. In this book a little girl, Vashti, doesn't like art class because she thinks she can't draw. Thanks to the creativity and patience of her teacher she learns that even the smallest effort can lead you to find a hidden talent and love.
We talked about how trying new things is hard, especially when we don't feel like we are good at them. We talked about why Vashti felt mad at the beginning and why she felt happy and wanted to help someone at the end of the book. We noted that all of her dots were circles and we learned the Spanish word for circle "circulo". Then, we painted our own dots. . .and, of course, signed them. Sharing paints at the table, practicing making circles the right way (always counterclockwise), literacy, art and more all from one book. Thanks, Mr. Reynold!
Netflix has an animated (from pics from the book) version of this book. The words in the movie are the exact text from the book. It is darling. If you have Netflix and want a little review of what we did today, check it out. It is part of a Scholastic One of a Kind Critters collection. It is only a few minutes long.
I am curious to hear what your kids thought of the first day! Leave a comment if you have time.
Love, Miss Meg
We found out about the jobs we do at preschool and made name clips to put on the job chart. We ate a yummy snack. . .the beans were a huge success. . .and played, painted, sang and read.
Today we read the book "The Dot"by Peter H. Reynolds. In this book a little girl, Vashti, doesn't like art class because she thinks she can't draw. Thanks to the creativity and patience of her teacher she learns that even the smallest effort can lead you to find a hidden talent and love.
We talked about how trying new things is hard, especially when we don't feel like we are good at them. We talked about why Vashti felt mad at the beginning and why she felt happy and wanted to help someone at the end of the book. We noted that all of her dots were circles and we learned the Spanish word for circle "circulo". Then, we painted our own dots. . .and, of course, signed them. Sharing paints at the table, practicing making circles the right way (always counterclockwise), literacy, art and more all from one book. Thanks, Mr. Reynold!
Netflix has an animated (from pics from the book) version of this book. The words in the movie are the exact text from the book. It is darling. If you have Netflix and want a little review of what we did today, check it out. It is part of a Scholastic One of a Kind Critters collection. It is only a few minutes long.
I am curious to hear what your kids thought of the first day! Leave a comment if you have time.
Love, Miss Meg
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
November News
Today in preschool we started our big body project. Technically, we started in November with our x-ray hands, but we traced the body today.
We reviewed our sight words:
I
a
can
me
my
see
And our letters. We are getting quite good at out letters and loved singing "Little h, Little h fly through my window, find molasses candy. . ." it was fun to plug in the letters instead of birds! The kids love that song. It may, or may not be because I let them have a molasses candy when we sing it (one chocolate chip). Sugar is usually contraband at our preschool, so, a whole chocolate chip? WATCH ME SING!!!
We also started our 'Thankful Trees' today. I introduced gratitude by reading my favorite Thanksgiving book Thankful Together by Holly Davis. It is a darling, rhyming book that teaches thankfulness for daily things and giving thanks to God for those things.
I drew a tree trunk and branches on a piece of fall-colored cardstock and had the kids put thumb prints (thankful thumbs. . .t and h make a special sound. .. never too early to introduce it!) and then I wrote something they are thankful for on the print. Each day we will do two or three and fill up our thankful trees. I love hearing the sweet things that these kids come up with that they are thankful for.
A few from today:
hot dogs
oatmeal
mommy
Jesus
cats
my garden
daddy
friends
All on their own!
We reviewed our sight words:
I
a
can
me
my
see
And our letters. We are getting quite good at out letters and loved singing "Little h, Little h fly through my window, find molasses candy. . ." it was fun to plug in the letters instead of birds! The kids love that song. It may, or may not be because I let them have a molasses candy when we sing it (one chocolate chip). Sugar is usually contraband at our preschool, so, a whole chocolate chip? WATCH ME SING!!!
We also started our 'Thankful Trees' today. I introduced gratitude by reading my favorite Thanksgiving book Thankful Together by Holly Davis. It is a darling, rhyming book that teaches thankfulness for daily things and giving thanks to God for those things.
I drew a tree trunk and branches on a piece of fall-colored cardstock and had the kids put thumb prints (thankful thumbs. . .t and h make a special sound. .. never too early to introduce it!) and then I wrote something they are thankful for on the print. Each day we will do two or three and fill up our thankful trees. I love hearing the sweet things that these kids come up with that they are thankful for.
A few from today:
hot dogs
oatmeal
mommy
Jesus
cats
my garden
daddy
friends
All on their own!
Friday, February 3, 2012
A look to the past. . .
< Here are some pictures I had on my camera. As you know, I am HORRIBLE about taking pictures at preschool. I forget. Even when I put the camera in my pocket so I won't forget. I still forget.
Cooking up a storm in South America! Now aren't those the sweetest chefs you have ever seen? We used our math and measuring skills to whip up some authentic Brazilian cheese bread. Did you know that stuff is naturally gluten-free! I was so happy! I didn't have to adapt a recipe! Woot! Lily was excited, too, to learn that in Brazil they eat a bread that gluten-free. Everyone does!
The kids loved mixing, pouring and measuring, and even though I let them do it all themselves (and I didn't have time to test it out before school) the breads turned out delicious and my kitchen wasn't nearly as messy as I thought it would be.
I had the kids scoop the batter into mini muffin tins to make mini breads. They were so cute, and puffy and yummy!
Okay check out this awesome snack a parent brought in during January. Not the blurriness, that is all me, but the PENGUINS! those are cream cheese stuffed olives, people. Leave it to Rachel to bring an artistic, healthy snack that also goes with our Antarctica theme. They were good, too!
These two pictures are old. I love that this post is so random. Even that last sentence! But, I wanted to post them, since I rarely remember to take a picture. . . I can't waste a single one!
This was during our South America unit. . .uh. . .in November! Each child brought a fruit that comes from the rain forest. I cut them up and we made portraits of ourselves using the fruit. I showed them paintings by Giuseppe Arcimboldo and we tried to name all the fruits and veggies he used in his work. Then, we talked about shapes, lines and colors (a review from our art lessons) and had them draw the self-portrait they had made. They were so dang cute! Of course, then we ate! Yum. For writing time, we wrote the names of the fruits we had brought to school and for a little math, we talked about fractions as we cut up the fruit, and played a little fruit basket game where we had to take a fruit (how many are left), or put one back (how many now) and sometimes 2 or 3 people would take one out at a time. It was a great day. . .I think because it was all food related. Food makes things great.
Here is an example of Arcimboldo's work. Why it is so huge, I don't know. My talents do not include technical support.
The kids loved mixing, pouring and measuring, and even though I let them do it all themselves (and I didn't have time to test it out before school) the breads turned out delicious and my kitchen wasn't nearly as messy as I thought it would be.
I had the kids scoop the batter into mini muffin tins to make mini breads. They were so cute, and puffy and yummy!
Okay check out this awesome snack a parent brought in during January. Not the blurriness, that is all me, but the PENGUINS! those are cream cheese stuffed olives, people. Leave it to Rachel to bring an artistic, healthy snack that also goes with our Antarctica theme. They were good, too!
These two pictures are old. I love that this post is so random. Even that last sentence! But, I wanted to post them, since I rarely remember to take a picture. . . I can't waste a single one!
This was during our South America unit. . .uh. . .in November! Each child brought a fruit that comes from the rain forest. I cut them up and we made portraits of ourselves using the fruit. I showed them paintings by Giuseppe Arcimboldo and we tried to name all the fruits and veggies he used in his work. Then, we talked about shapes, lines and colors (a review from our art lessons) and had them draw the self-portrait they had made. They were so dang cute! Of course, then we ate! Yum. For writing time, we wrote the names of the fruits we had brought to school and for a little math, we talked about fractions as we cut up the fruit, and played a little fruit basket game where we had to take a fruit (how many are left), or put one back (how many now) and sometimes 2 or 3 people would take one out at a time. It was a great day. . .I think because it was all food related. Food makes things great.
Here is an example of Arcimboldo's work. Why it is so huge, I don't know. My talents do not include technical support.
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