Camping

Today we started our new theme "camping."  Our classroom now has its own campsite.  Here the children can gaze at the stars, roast marshmallows, or look for animals.  During centers the children went on a hike to find items they would need to use while camping.  When the children found an item they identified its beginning sound and recorded it on a recording sheet.  The children also drew their final self-portrait for the school year.  For snack the children had s'mores.

Almost Kindergartners

At center time today the children wrote a letter to their future kindergarten teacher.  No matter where each child goes to kindergarten they will always hold a special place in my heart and in the heart of Zielanis School.  Here is the outline of the letter:

Dear Mrs.

My name is

and I am excited to be in your class next year!

My favorite thing to do in 4K was

 In Kindergarten, I want to

 I am really good at

 Here is a picture I drew for you:

 

See you in September!

Love,

 

The common theme in each letter written this year and in years past is the idea that the children's favorite part of 4K, what they want to do in kindergarten, or what they are good at is playing.  As we enter the season of summer please reflect on the following from the Illinois Early Learning Project:

It has been said that play is children's work. Children work hard at their play because they can make it up themselves. The best part about children's play is that they learn a great deal while having fun. Here are some things to keep in mind about play.            

"Play" can be any spontaneous activity that is fun.

Spontaneous play occurs when children do an activity freely. If children organize a ball game, dramatic play, or a game of hide-and-seek, they are meeting their needs for spontaneous play. Spontaneous play is different from enrolling children in little league or signing them up for dance lessons. Children benefit most from a balance of activities adults plan and lead and activities that children plan and lead on their own.

Play can be an effective and enjoyable way for children to develop skills:

• Language skills when they play name games, sing songs, and recite jump rope rhymes.
• Thinking skills when they construct a block tower, follow directions to a game, and figure out pieces to a puzzle.
• Small-muscle skills when they string beads, make clay figures, and cut with scissors.
• Large-muscle skills when they play ball, roller skate, and run relay races.
• Creative skills when they make up stories, put on a puppet show, and play with dress-ups.
• Social skills when they team up to play ball games, discuss rules for a card game, and decide who will play what part in dramatic play

It is important to remove barriers to children's opportunities to play, such as:

• Too many structured activities. When their lives are overscheduled with activities, sports, and lessons, children do not have time to themselves and for unstructured play.
• Too much television. When children watch too much television, their play too often mimics what they see on TV (or on the video or computer screen). TV watching also robs children of valuable time to play.

If a child says, "I'm bored," she may need more unstructured time for play.

Parents often hear children complain about boredom when activities are not scheduled for them. Children need "down time" and time to be alone. These are the occasions when children's imagination and creativity take hold. These are the times when children experience the full benefits of play.

Bookworm Gardens

We had a wonderful time visiting Bookworm Gardens and searching for signs of spring.  We toured a barn with Charlotte's web, we sat in Papa Bear's chair from the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears, we looked through insect compound eyes, and we even fed the fish.  I have included pictures from our trip as well as a link to learn more about the exciting learning opportunities that take place at the garden. http://www.bookwormgardens.org/

Zoo Day

To begin the day the children listed to the story Zoo Day Ole! A Counting Book.  This book ehlped us learn to count to ten in Spanish.  Things did not go well at our Zielanis Zoo today.  All of the animals got out.  It was the children's job to count them all and make sure they got back.

 Did you know that a kangaroo can leap 30 feet in one bound?  The children counted how many hops it would take them to travel 30 feet.  For some children it took 21, 18, and even 16 hops. 

Did you know that when a baby giraffe is born it averages 6 feet tall. The children compared their height to a baby giraffe's and recorded their results on a graph.

Missing Number

Today at one center the children played a missing number zoo game.  On their turn the children spun a spinner.  They counted the circles their spinner landed on.  They then moved the corresponding number of places on the game board.  Next they picked a card that had a sequence of numbers with one missing; 9, ___, 11.  The children had to fill in the missing number.  Next year the children will be assessed using AIMS web.  As part of the math assessment they will have to find the missing number in a sequence of numbers. 

At an independent center the children cut out and colored a Zoo Keeper hat.  We will use this hat on Thursday when we go on a Zielanis Zoo adventure along with Mrs. Sagal's class. 

Our read aloud today was titled Dear Zoo.  Each child received their own journal page to go along with this story.  They picked an animal that they would like the zoo to send them.  They then went on to pick one character trait of the animal that would make it unable to stay at their house.  Here are a few examples:

Penguins

Today we learned about penguins.  The children used cubes(nonstandard units of measure) to measure the length of three different penguins.  They measured a Gentoo penguin, the smallest a Blue Fairy Penguin, and they measured a Rockhopper penguin.  At another center the children made their letter "z" page.  Our alphabet books that we have been working on all year are now complete.  I will be sending them home with the children on Monday. 

Z is for Zoo

Today the children made a giraffe position book.  On each page there was a sentence that told where the giraffe was;  Giraffe is under the sun.  After reading the sentence together the children had to glue their giraffe in the correct spot.  Next year you will hear a lot about the Wisconsin Common Core Standards.  One of the math standards is to explore, recognize and describe shapes and spatial relations.  Spatial relations includes the terms under, between, above, and below, all of which were covered in our giraffe book.

At an independent center the children were given the outline of a giraffe and a variety of art media.  They used their creativity to add spots to their giraffe.  It was fun to see how just like people, each giraffe is different.

Our favorite fact about giraffes that we learned about today is that they have a blue tongue.

Fun Friday

Today was an exciting day in our classroom.  We finally checked on our chrysalises and guess what?  A butterfly emerged from each and every one. Yeah!!  When the children opened their chrysalises they found their caterpillar turned into a butterfly!  Today we also released our classroom butterflies.

Before I Was a Mom
Author Unknown

Before I was a Mom
I made and ate hot meals.
I had unstained clothing.
I had quiet conversations on the phone.

Before I was a Mom,
I slept as late as I wanted
And never worried about how late I got into bed.
I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was Mom
I cleaned my house each day.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words of lullabies.

Before I was a Mom
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom
I had never been puked on
Spit on
Chewed on
Or pinched by tiny fingers

Before I was a Mom
I had complete control of:
My thoughts
My body
And my mind.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom
I never held down a screaming child
So that doctors could do tests
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
When I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
Could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a Mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
Could make me feel so important.

Before I was a Mom
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay
I had never known the warmth
The joy
The love
The heartache
The wonder
Or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.
Happy Mother's Day!!

K is for Kangaroo

Today the children learned all about kangaroos.  One of our favorite books was Marsupial Sue.  Marsupials are animals that have a pouch.  During centers today the children made a kangaroo of their own.  They also played the kangaroo hop game.  For this game they stood behind a red line.  They then tried to hop as far as they could.  When they landed they were on a kangaroo that had a number on it.  The children identified the number they landed on and then recorded it on a recoding sheet.

The favorite center for today was making a zoo.  I brought in a bunch of zoo animals from home.  The children used our classroom blocks to make a zoo for the animals.  This seems like an easy learning activity, but it teaches one of life's most important skills, which is how to get along with others.  The children tried to worked as a team to make their zoo.  They had to communicate with one another what part of the project they we working on.  They had to share resources, and when their zoo was done they had to communicate to the rest of the class what part of the project they worked on.  The sharing aspect of this project was done to provide the children with the opportunity to become more comfortable speaking in front of others.

Caterpillars

Today the title of our read aloud was Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill marten Jr.  This book incorporated ordinal numbers, rhyming words, and different species of caterpillars.  One of our favorite caterpillars was the woolly bear.  This black and orange caterpillar can be found fairly easily in your yard.  It turns into an Isabella Tiger Moth.

 At one center the children counted the letters in their last names.  They then added one to their total.  Next they counted out colored circles in a pattern to match the number that they needed.  They cut out their circles, pasted them in a pattern, and wrote a letter from their last name in each circle.  They then drew a face to make their circles a caterpillar.  One thing that you want to keep a close eye on is that your child is starting their letters and the top.  This will make the transition to cursive writing easier.