Penguins: Week 1

I was soo excited to start our penguin unit this week! The students have learned so much about penguins! I wanted the classroom to be full of penguins to get the students excited! And they sure were! 

Here is our Antarctica corner complete with 4 differnt life size penguins and an igloo!

At the front of the classroom I put two dry erase penguins to write down everything we learned about penguins throught the unit. Before we got started on Monday I had the students look at some penguin books to feed their curiosity. 

They could not wait to learn! I started out reading a poem and had them guess what it was about, a penguin of course!

We then filled out the "Schema" section of our whiteboard penguins, which is background knowledge. I asked the students to tell me everything they already knew about penguins. Then we read "Penguins, Penguins Everywhere!" and added things we learned to the "New Learning" section. Here is what we ended up with the first day. 

During centers we made a paper penguin. 

Throughout the week the students got to play in the igloo, which they loved! I put some binoculars over there so they could search for some penguins. I also put some fishing poles so they could go ice fishing! I loved watching them play over there! 

The next day we read "Penguins" and added some more to our New Learning chart. During centers we made some penguins out of paper towel holders cut in half. 

On Wednesday we read the National Geographic book "Penguins!" and added a lot of our New Learing chart! 

During centers we measured penguin heights and graphed them. I gave them 4 different types of penguins who all where different sizes. Tallest was an Emeror, next was a King, then an Adelie, and smallest was a Rockhopper.

I had them measure them with goldfish, count the goldfish, and then color the corresponding number of squares on their graph. 

During another center I had the students do some ice picking! I froze some letters and numbers and had them use spoons to pick them out of the ice. They worked so hard trying to get them out! 

On Thursday we read "Penguins Up Close", which has large amazing pictures of penguins. We added some more to out New Learning chart, making it almost full. During centers we did a feed the penguin game. I spread out little letter fish in front of the students and asked them to find a certain letter and "feed the penguin". They had a ball playing and it was great practice for letter recognition! 

Friday morning before we started our day I explained to the kids that Sunday was going to be Groundhogs Day! We made a little groundhog that could pop out of the ground. 

We read the book "The Emperor's Egg" which I had on CD. It was a nice change for them to hear a different voice reading to them! We finished filling out our New Learning chart and the students were so impressed by how much they had learned about penguins in one week! 

One of the things we had learned was that the daddy penguin has to take care of the egg by balancing it on their feet. I let the students take turns trying to balance a ball on their feet while waddling. They found that it was pretty hard! 

During centers we did some water coloring! This was a very calming activity to the students, I need to do it more often! 

We had a blast this week and learned so much! I can't wait to continue our study of penguins next week! 

We also made some new Pete the Cats this week to replace the ones from last semester! We did the buttons Pete this time. 

Snowmen

This past week we learned all about snowmen! Everyday we read a book about snowmen, all of them ones that came to life! He first day we read "Snowman Magic" and after discussed where snow came from. We then did a little experiment. I filled an ice tray with water and had the students follow me into the kitchen. I had them put a hand inside the freezer and tell what if felt like. I told them we were going to put the tray in the freezer and see what had happened to it at the end of the day. I asked them what they thought would happen and here were their answers. 

During centers we used marshmallows to paint a snowman of our own! We used big marshmallows to make the body and then little marshmallows to make snowflakes. They turned out even cuter than I was expecting! 

The next day I let them watch the "In Summer" video from the movie Frozen. The video has a little snowman singing about how much he can't wait until summer and everything he will do in summer. I asked the students what they really thought would happen to the snowman during summer and they all said he would melt! We then read the book "Snowden" and discussed how it was the same and different from the book we read the previous day. 

The next day we read the book "Snowmen at Night". During centers we made snowmen out of marshmallows and then I wrote down what the student thought snowmen did at night. 

During another center we did some snowman bowling! I used empty Clorox cans to make some snowmen bowling pins. The kids loved it! 

It finally got warm enough for us to go outside one day! The kids had a ball playing in the giant pile of leaves! 

The next day we read "Snowmen at Work" and talked about how it had the same author and illustrator as the book we read the previous day. During centers we did a snowman roll game. The kids had to build a snowman by rolling a dice and getting all if the parts of the snowman. Each number had a different part assigned to it. 

We ended our snowman week by reading the classic "Frosty the Snowman" story and watched the video of the song. 

Winter and Snow

We have had so much fun these past two weeks learning about Winter and snow! We started off by reading a nonfiction book called "Winter". We talked about ice and did a little experament. I got a few pieces of ice and had the kids touch them and desciribe how it felt. I then asked them what they thought would happen if we left the ice in a bowl in our warm classroom. Here where their answers. 

I let the students observe the ice throughout the day and then at the end of the day we found it had turned into water! The kids loved seeing the ice slowly melt. During centers I let them play with a bowl of ice, scooping it into different bowls. 

Lynley made an oval with her ice!

We did some snow ball counting in another center. 

We learned about the letter W during the week and did a sound sort with some W words. The students also did a W worksheet where they had to circle all the W and color the pictures that started with W.

We starts out the next week by reading the book "The Mitten" and then got to retell it using a cut out mitten and animals. I gave each child an animal and let them come put it in the mitten when it was their turn. They love retelling stories! 

During centers they got to make their own mitten and animals to take home. They were so exited about this! 

We also had a mitten matching center where the students had to match numbers and sets. 

The next day we read the book "The Snowy Day" and did a sequencing activity with it. The students had to come up and put the pictures from the story in the order that they happened. 

During centers we did some Snowy Day art! I cut out circles from a doily for the students to use as snowflakes. They turned out really cute! 

On Wednesday we read "Snowflakes Fall" as talked about how every snowflake is different, no two alike. I showed them some pictures of real snowflakes up close so they could see how they were all different. During centers we made some snowflakes of our own! I tore off pieces of masking tape and let the students make their own snowflake. They then painted the page blue and when it was dry we took the tape off and had a beautiful snowflake!

In another center the students got to play in some snow! I mixed together some corn starch and shaving cream to make some fun moldable snow to play in! 

It was very messy but lots of fun for the kids! 

Thursday we read "Ten Shiney Snowflakes" and put the numbers 1-10 in order. During centers we made some snow paint! It is just half parts of glue and shaving cream. The stuff dries soft and puffy! 

On Firday we read "Clifford's First Snow Day" and discussed what kind of clothes we wear in the winter. We made a list of some things we wear. 

During centers we had some practice writing our names. The students traced it first and then practiced writing it on their own.