Today

Today was a great day.  The kids were good, even my baby.

Today we:

practiced spelling
did a math match up game
sang the national anthem
introduced Europe and found it on a map
learned that in Europe there are castles, queens and kings
Read a book with a king in it (The Most Wonderful Egg)
sang Los Pollitos (our eggs have hatched. . .)
practiced writing our numbers
counted to 100
counted to 100 by tens
colored a map of Europe and wrote "This is Europe"
Played 'memory' with our challenge words in pairs (each pair has their own set)
ate a most delicious snack of chili, cheese and apples mmmmmmm!
Read a book about castles
Did some alphabet yoga
read a book about money counting (The Penny Pot)
practiced 'silent e' rules
started a worksheet identifying silent e (long vowel) words and short vowel words
Listened to Brahms "Hungarian Dance"  and danced to it.  We all laughed that a country in Europe could be called 'Hungary"!  We know how to say hungry in Spanish.  It is in our Los Pollitos song!
Sang a wiggly song
Practiced flashcard words

Phew!  No wonder Miss Meg is exhausted!

See you tomorrow!

Constance

We read the Caldecott Winner "Thanksgiving Story" today at preschool.  Well, I read half of it then let the kids play while I read the other half to anyone who wanted to listen (one child).   That book is long!
One part all the kids liked was when it talked about the names of the pilgrims.  Pilgrims often had names like 'Diligence' or 'Prayerful' or the little baby in the book, "Oceanus".  I thought it would be fun to give all the preschool kids some Pilgrim names.  I actually did think long and hard about what names would fit each child.  Parents:  Can you guess which name goes to your kid?

Today we had:

Love, Remember, Strength, Constance, Melody and Patience at school.  For a while we also had little Tempest, but then Pa put her down for a nap.

I may use those names for the rest of the year.

What would your pilgrim name be?

Beans About It

Count 'em, add 'em, subtract 'em, graph 'em, eat 'em.  Beans are good no matter what you do with 'em.

Us? We did all those things with beans, plus made a mosaic out of them. A mosaic of something we are thankful for.
Me? I am just thankful for beans.

I showed the kids a mosaic my brother had brought back from Chile. It was made from minerals and had a key on the top telling which minerals were which. It was of a llama. The kids were only mildly impressed. I thought it would be great to tie in our South American studies and add our own Thanksgiving twist. We made our mosaics not out of South American minerals, but Native American seeds, nuts and beans. Okay, it was a stretch, but the kids seem to really enjoy the bean gluing part. They liked the graphing, too.

Oh Dear! What Could the Matter Be?

Solid?  Liquid?  or Gas?

Yes folks, it was Science Thursday at The Quick Cricket and this week we learned about states of matter!  Such a great lesson for kids.

First, we talked about molecules.  I told them if we cut up a banana (I had a banana at the time, hence, the banana) into tiny pieces, the smallest piece (that was still banana) would be a molecule.  They are so so tiny!  But, like students in our class, they like to wiggle! (here we all wiggled).   I then told them that when molecules are cold they wiggle less than when they are warm.

Then, I brought out the ice cube, glass of water and steamy tea kettle.  I showed them water in all three states!  Then, I showed them pictures of rivers and oceans, glaciers and foggy hills.  Water in all three states in nature!  WHAT?  I know their minds were blown.

After our quick discussion about examples of the states of matter I transformed them all into molecules and we ran outside.  I froze, melted, and evaporated them into various states of matter in a great game I (tap tap on the back) invented myself!  (Huzzah!)

STATES OF MATTER ACTIVE GAME
1.  Change all students into molecules of the same substance (no variable melting points for this game).
2.  Do a brief lesson on states of matter.  See above.
3.  In the solid state, your student-molecules must be touching at the shoulders and confined to a shape (inside a hula hoop you put on the ground to be your container).  In the liquid state, molecules may leave the container (spill out) and move around the yard but must maintain contact with each other by holding hands.  (think Crack the Whip).
In the gaseous state, molecules can drop hands and run as fast and as randomly as they wish around the yard.
Guess what state Student-Molecules maintain in their natural state?
4.  Teacher calls out "Colder! Colder! Solid!" or "Warmer, Warmer, Melting, Liquid!" to change the states.  Sometimes I would say, "I am adding more heat, you molecules are moving faster, and faster, some of you are melting out" or "some of you are starting to EVAPORATE!"

Hilarity ensues.
We didn't cover sublimation, though, this would be fun twist.  Especially if you brought some dry ice as an example. .. or to make root beer.


After our game we came back inside for a little art/science fusion.
We have been talking about primary colors and had started a Classroom Color Wheel.  I set up this little activity to have the kids observe secondary colors on their own.  It is fun to have them reach their own conclusions.  It was good review, too, for some that already knew (or thought they knew!) what colors would come about.

Glass Jars + Colored Ice Cubes= Art and Science Harmony

I pointed out that as the ice was warmed up (I used warm water to be more dramatic) the molecules in the ice moved faster, melted, and changed into a liquid, taking the colors with them.  We observed the color change as the ice melted.   This was a great activity because they could 1. do it themselves 2. draw cross-curriculum conclusions (we reviewed our Spanish colors as well) 3. the ice melting provided a slower color change.  It was almost like magic!

To really bring it home. . .and to bring something home, we did a beautiful art project that i have seen all over the internet but can't remember exactly where.  I didn't think it up, but i did copy it and that is worth something.  

I glued crayons in chromatic order across the top of canvasses the night before (I did a test as well to ensure that the melting point of the crayons was less than that of my glue. . .tragedy averted!  In the test I also found the need for a drop cloth as wax does splatter).  Then, I turned a blow dryer on and let the kids feel the air that came out.  It was warm!  I told them that water was not the only substance that changes states.  Any solid can melt and become a liquid and a liquid a gas if the right amount of heat is applied.  I showed them the canvasses and asked them what they thought would happen if we put the blow dryer on the crayons.  Then, I let them go for it.  2 at a time the kids aimed their air guns at the crayons and every the wax started to drip it was like Christmas morning.  Squeals, shouts, laughter, applause.  It was glorious.  I thought they would get bored watching the other kids cycle through but they didn't.  Every time was as magical as the first.  Every one turned out differently, too.  It was really one of the best projects we have done.  

The best part is, if you want it more blended or some wax chips off, you can always just apply more heat.  The kids loved this and I pretty much let them do it themselves and decide when they thought theirs was 'done'.  They all were different and that is what I love.

Favorite Quote of the Day:

Me:  Okay kids, what is an example of a liquid?

Cambell:  Chairs!

Me:  No, try again.

Cambell: Broken Chairs!

Me:  No, a liquid, something runny, like water?

Cambell: Broken chairs into teeny tiny, I mean really, really broken up chairs!

If nothing else "River of Chairs" does make a good band name. . .

Color Wheel Autumn Walk

I don't have time to do everything I want to do at preschool.  But, I still like to do them with my own little ones.  Here is an idea I had that turned out so beautiful.  We have been talking about the color wheel in preschool and how colors have opposites, how colors change, etc.
One warm, fall day we went on a walk.  We had 6 bags with us.  Each bag had a color written on it.  As we walked we collected things outside that were colorful and put them in the right bag.  Back at home I drew a color wheel on some 12x12 card stock and wrote the color word above each piece of the pie.  We talked about color mixing, complements and primary colors as Lily (and our buddy, Claire) glued their finds in the right spots.

They turned out better than I would have hoped.

Pumpkin Patch

Picasso Pumpkins. SO SO SO SO cute. I am just kicking myself for not taking a picture of all of them.

I also cut out letters and had the kids spell their names on the back. Can you say 'cross-curriculum?' I can!

The hay maze was a huge hit. It was perfect for the little ones. I was so happy we chose to go to a smaller pumpkin patch and not to an overwhelming crazy one.
The farmer gave us a great little lecture about all the different varieties of pumpkins, read a story and answered questions. I usually have intense anxiety about field trips but this one was perfect. Just perfect.

Best snack ever. Oranges, carved as jack-o-lanterns and stuffed with fruit. Strawberries, grapes, pineapple, yum! My Lily has asked to make these almost everyday since. I saw something online where they carved bell peppers like a jack and stuffed them with meat, veggies, mushrooms, etc. Maybe she would go for that? Either way, it will be fun.

One more look at Africa

I forgot to document something. . .well, many things. . .but one thing I really liked.

I gave each child a 12x12 piece of cardstock with the the shape of Africa on it.  After talking about where Africa is on the map and the animals that live there we learned the names of some of them in Spanish.  We even learned a fun Safari song in Spanish as well.  I told the kids to use that shape of Africa to draw an animal that might live in Africa.  We reviewed what we had been learning about line and shape and how to look for shapes in all art.  I showed them how to turn the paper to alter the shape.  Then, I gave them a few examples that I had made.  Then, they went to work.  They all looked so spectacular.  I was so proud of them for being so creative with a given shape.  What little artists we have!  And they all chose a different animal, all on their own.  We wrote the Spanish name of their animal on the paper and sent them home.  Lily's giraffe  monkey (I must have been tired.  Giraffe is her favorite African animal but she did, in fact, make a monkey.  Bad mom)  is one of those that I will keep forever.