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!

Week Thirty----Happy Easter!

Theme: Easter Fun
The Egg Hunt: We had fun searching for empty eggs! We dumped them into a bowl and then Miss Jodi gave us all the same amount of treats!
And, some time to play:
Choosing Time: Alphabet Upper/Lowercase Easter Egg Matching, Bunny bowling, Bunny Links, Bunny Rockets, Bunny & Egg Jump Ups
Show & Tell:
Easter Bucket (Not a Pail)
Easter Eggs:
Easter Bunnies:
Easter Chicks:
And, Don't Ever Forget the Easter Elephant :)
Snacks:

• Apples, Oranges, Rice Krispy Treats, & Pretzels
• Easter M&M's & Rainbow Goldfish Crackers
• Fruit Snacks & Popcorn
• Birds in Nests
• Kettle Corn
• Cheese Puffs, Cadbury Eggs, & Bunny treats (AKA celery & carrots)
• Jelly Bellies & Granola Bars

Science:

1. On April 2nd I measured our caterpillars they are now 2 cm long--doubled in length! On April 4th, the caterpillars measured 4 cm. long--WOW!
2. What hatches from eggs? The kiddos took turns choosing an egg from my basket and opened it. Each egg had an animal that hatches from eggs. Some of us were surprised to learn that sharks & worms lay eggs.

Music & Movement:

• Bunny Pokey
• Bunny Hop
• See Me Run
• Little House
• Little Bunny
• Do Your Ears Hang Low?

Bunny Math: Write the number you roll

Games:

• Chick, Chick, Where's My Chick?
• E/e Egg Matching Game
• Easter Egg Hunt

Books:

• Dilly Duckling by Claire Freedman
• Max's Chocolate Chicken by Rosemary Wells
• The Easter Story by Patricia Pingry (I felt like we should talk about the real reason for celebrating Easter. We had a lovely discussion about life, death, & resurrection)

Art:

1. Footprint Chicks
2. Colored "glass" Egg Window Hangings
3. Eggs in Grass

Week Twenty-Nine: Excited for Easter!

Theme: Easter Eggs

Letter: E
Letter E makes two sounds. We practiced those. We learned the sign for E. We met Ellie the Elephant who brought her friend, Elizabeth Elephant to play a game with us. Elizabeth was very hungry and could only eat "E"-nuts. We each took a turn to choose a nut from an egg. If it was an "E"-nut, we could feed Elizabeth.

Science:

1. I showed the kiddos some real eggs. One was brown and one was green. I asked them what the egg on the inside would look like. We cracked them open and learned that all eggs look the same on the inside even if they are different on the outside. I asked them if they think people are like eggs--different on the outside, but the same on the inside...
2. We have 5 new friends at school (caterpillars). We will watch them to see what happens!
   

Books:

• Max's Easter Surprise by Rosemary Wells
  
• Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham
  

Show & Tell:
Elephant:
Emerson:
Egg Shapes:
Easter friends:
Envelopes:

Snacks:

• Wheat Thins
• Blood Oranges, Cheese, & Crackers
• Popcorn Mix with Craisins, M & M's, & Easter Marshmallows
• Fruit Roll-Ups & Goldfish Crackers
• E.L. Fudge Cookies & Jelly Beans
• E.L. Fudge Cookies & Malted Eggs
• Laffy Taffy
• Cheese & Crackers

Music & Movement:

• Hi, My Name is O
• Green Eggs & Ham
• I'm An Easter Bunny
• Do Your Ears Hang Low
• Elephant Parade
• 10 Exercises

Game: Hop Little Rabbit

We all sat in a circle while one child walked around patting our heads while we recited a poem:

Hop, little rabbit, hop, hop, hop,
Hop, little rabbit, don't you stop.
Hop, little rabbit, one, two, three.
Hop, little rabbit, count with me

The child who was tapped as the poem finished stood in the center and jumped while we clapped and counted how many times he/she could jump in a row.

Art: Easter Egg & Bunny Salt Dough Ornaments

We had fun rolling out the dough and cutting out the shapes. We enjoyed painting and using colored glitter glue to decorate them.

Reading: Some of our word wall words included: Eagle, Elephant, Egg, Exit, End

Writing: Practiced making E--Straight Line down, one, two, three for E. And "e"--make a "c" and then draw a line across to make the "e"

Birthday Fun X Three:

Week Twenty-Eight--Whoo-Whoo?

Theme: Nocturnal Critters
We learned two new words: Nocturnal & Diurnal
Each child took a turn choosing an animal and then placed it on the Diurnal or Nocturnal Chart.

Letter: O
Letter "O" makes two sounds. We had fun practicing the sounds and writing "O". We learned the sign for "O" and we used our body to make "O". We thought about what "O" shapes are on our bodies. I'd been thinking "eyes", the kids surprised me by showing me their belly buttons :)
Some also said that our heads are "O" shaped, while others thought our heads are more rectangular. Great Observations!!!

Show & Tell:
Obi
Octopus:
Owls:
Orange things:
Owen:
Oreos:

Snacks:

• Crackers, Cheese, Craisins, & Bananas
• Oranges & Oreos
• Nighttime Critters: Owls & Spiders
• Peanut Butter Cookies & Grapes
• Rice Krispy Treats
• Oranges, Popcorn, & Marshmallows
• Orange Jell-O "O's" & Oreos

Art:

• Oval Octopi
• Circle Crazy Owls

Reading: Our word wall words this week include: octopus, ostrich, oatmeal, oval, on, & orange
Writing: Practiced "O". The AM class was given a writing prompt, "Owl, what do you see?" After a great discussion about what an owl might see at night, they filled in the blank.
Books:

• Oliver & the Monsters by Tony Blundell
• Owl, What Do You See?
• Owen by Kevin Henkes
• Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
  

Music & Movement:

• Hi, My Name is O
• Octopus Swimming in the Sea
• Five Little Owls

Birthday Fun: We celebrated 2 birthdays this week! Lots of Spring Chicks!