Week Thirty-Two: And, a Very Merry Un-Birthday To YOU!

Theme: Un-Birthdays

We had a fun talk about what "un" means.  We had a fun celebration of everyone's un-birthdays with treats & games.  We also gave a special balloon to each of our summer birthday kiddos.

Letter U:  We met Ulee Unicorn who brought us a fun game to play.  We learned the sign for "U" as well as "U's" two sounds.  Ask them to tell you what they are....you might enjoy their answers :)


Reading:  Our word wall list included:  umbrella, unicorn, up, under, & uniform
We read a poem together called "It's Spring!"


Writing:  Practiced "U/u"
The AM class had a writing prompt:  "It goes up."  The children copied the sentence and then chose 1-3 things to draw that go up.

Learning Game:  "What's Under the Umbrella?" Each child had a turn to go under the umbrella to choose one thing.  He/she then chose which sound of "U" the picture word made and put it under the right column.

Music & Movement:

• "Going UNDER the bridge"
• A Very Merry Un-Birthday to You
• 10 Exercises:  including clap Under leg
• Up, Up in the Sky
• Our dog, Dash, demonstrated Under & Over for us :)
• We made "U's" with our bodies

Science: Our butterflies hatched!  They are beautiful.  One had difficulty leaving its cocoon.  The wings are bent and he has trouble moving about.  His appearance reminded us of the story about the ugly duckling.  We love our butterfly and are happy to have him.  We also talked about how if he was outside, he'd probably been eaten by now.  We're hoping to have some butterflies lay eggs....

Game:  Keep the Balloons UP

Choosing Time:  U Memory, Unicorns, Trains, Zoob, Observe Butterflies, Observe a Bee, United States Puzzle,....

Snacks:

• Quaker Oat Squares
• Umbrella Un-Birthday Cakes
• Cheese Sticks, Grapes, & Vanilla Wafers
• Fruit Roll-ups & Cheese Sticks
• U-shaped Bagels with Cream Cheese & Orange Slices 
• Honey-Wheat Pretzel Sticks & Star Wars Fruit Snacks

Art:  Ugly/Beautiful Ducklings

First, we used a light box to trace the back of a duck

Then we chose which would be our Ugly/Beautiful sides

We did our best work

Some of us cut our ducks out

Our Beautiful Ducklings

Books:

1. Underpants Thunderpants by Peter Bentley
2. The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson
3. The Umbrella 

Show & Tell:
BYU Cougars :

"U":
 
 Umbrellas:
 
 Uniform:
 
Unicorns:
 

 
Utensils:

 
 A Uni-spin(?)
 

T/TH PM Field-trip to see Seussical the Musical at Centennial:
My son, Noah, is in it and they were having a "preview" showing for some elementary kids and so we joined them.  It was fun & not scary.  The kiddos were really well behaved!  If anyone wants/needs a fun family activity, it is playing Friday, Saturday, & Monday Night at 7 pm.  Tickets are $7.00 for a WHOLE FAMILY or $2.00 per ticket.

Week Thirty-One: Bug or Insect?

Theme: Insects
Insects have Six Legs, Two Antennae, a head, abdomen, thorax, and most have wings.

Letter: I
We practiced the two sounds letter "I" makes. We met "Ida Insect" who played a game with us. Ida Insect needed help from each of the kiddos to find a picture with either "I" sound that I instructed them to find.

Choosing Time: Bugs, Cootie, Letter "I" Memory, An "igloo"/"island" Game to practice both "I" sounds, Build An Insect Game

Science:

1. Our caterpillars are now Chrysalises. We are excited to see them become beautiful butterflies. We discussed the life cycle of the butterfly.
   
2. We went on a bug hunt. We found centipedes, worms, ants, slugs, & snails. Sadly, we couldn't find any roly-polys , ladybugs, or box elder bugs... We brought them inside to examine them with a magnifying glass. We also found some IVY--not the poisonous kind :)
   

Show & Tell:
Letter I--
Insect Catcher--
Butterfly:
Picture of him eating his favorite ICE cream:
Insect Book:
Infant brother:
Springtime Seeds:

Snacks:

• Homemade Applesauce & Peanut Granola Bars
• Oreos, Doughnut Holes, & Goldfish Crackers
• Ice Cream Cones filled with Island Fruit
• Fruit Leather, Dried Blueberries, & Cheese Ladybugs
• Chocolate Mint Cookies
• Popcorn, Strawberries, & Marshmallows
• Letter "I" cookies --gobbled up so fast I didn't get a picture
  

Music & Movement:

• Bug Movements: roll like a roly-poly, jump like a grasshopper, crawl like a caterpillar, fly like a butterfly, click like a beetle (and the dying beetle movement), Jump like a cricket, buzz like a bee, and flutter like a lady bug.
• Ants Go Marching
• 10 "Ninja" Exercises
• Sequence patterns: I demonstrate a clapping/slapping pattern and then the children do it with me.
• I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream!
  

Math: We focused on the number Six. We counted many bugs legs to see if they were insects or not.

Game: Bug, Bug, Who's the Bug in the Rug?

Books:

• What Can Insects Do?
• Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle I made a caterpillar/butterfly puppet to tell the story (the kiddos call it a "magic trick")
  

Art:

1. "I" Insects
2. Butterflies--good cutting practice!
   

Reading: Some new words this week include: igloo, insect, in, ice cream, ice, iguana, & ivy.

Writing: We practiced "I(Straight line down, a hat, and boots)/i"

Birthday Celebration: We love the birthday dance!