Arkansas

Our Arkansas unit was so much fun! The students were so excited to learn about their state! We started out by reading the book "America Is..." to help them understand that Arkansas is a state in America. I had a large map of America in the room that I had them all come up to and try to find Arkansas. I then showed them the American flag and the Arkansas flag. We discussed how they were alike and different. During centers we painted the state of Arkansas and glued a rock where Little Rock is and put a sticker where Searcy is.

The next day we read "N is for Natural State" and discussed some things found in Arkansas. I also introduced them to the Arkansas state symbols. 

By the end of the week they knew them all! During centers we made our own Arkansas flags! These turned out great! 

This student wrote the word Arkansas all by himself! I was so impressed! 

We had a new center this week, penny dropping! They had to drop the pennies into the tiny slot, this helps with fine motor development. They enjoyed filling up those canisters! 

There was still a little ice outside from the snow days so we decided to venture out there when it got warm enough! 

They had so much fun scooping up the ice into thei buckets and then dumping it into the puddle of water! They did this for probably 30 minutes straight! 

Every morning I had the students color a picture of one of the state symbols. On our third day I had them color our state tree, the pine tree! 

We read the book "Arkansas Facts and Symbols" and discussed our state symbols again. We went into a deeper discussion of the pine tree. During centers I had the students paint with pine cones! The artwork turned out even cooler than I was expecting! 

They had so much fun getting messy! 

The next day we read the book "Arkansas-The Natural State". We discussed that the capital of Arkansas is Little Rock and I had them again come up to the map of America and point to Arkansas. During centers we made some beautiful apple blossoms with tissue paper! 

We had a few other new centers this week! One was bead lacing. The students loved making necklaces! 

The other was a pipe cleaner fine motor station. 

The last day of our Arkansas unit we read the book "Honeybees", focusing on our state insect. After reading it we discussed what bees do and how they help or environment. I then had them play a honeybee game. I gave them each a bag of letters (n, c, a, i, and h) and had them buzz around the room looking for the bee hive that matched their letter. They had to deposit all of their letters into the correct bee hive. 

After we did this, I wrote a sentence up on the board using the letters they found.

During centers we made a bee hive and honeybee! I had the students paint a hive shaped bubble wrap and then stamp it onto a yellow outline of a bee hive. 

Here are a few other pictures from the week! 

We painted the fence a few days after lunch. They love doing this and it is great fine motor practice! 

 

Zoo Animals: Week 2

This week we finished up our study of zoo animals! We started out the week by reading the precious story "A Sick Day for Amos McGee". Amos is a zookeeper who gets sick one day and all of the animals come to his house to take care of him for a change. After we read the story and discussed it, I had each student come up to the front and act out a zoo animal for us to guess. They loved acting out the animals and loved guessing what animal their classmates were pretending to be! During centers we made Mat Man and I let them personalize it. They have gotten so good at drawing people! 

After lunch we switched things up a bit. Instead of going out to the playground I took them to the backyard area. I gave each of the students a tin can to collect acorns in. You wouldn't believe how fun they thought this was! They all went off to their own corners and started filling up their cans.

The next day we read the book "When Lulu Went to the Zoo". After reading it I asked them if they thought animals in the zoo liked being in cages. We discussed this for awhile and then we talked about how most zoos get their animals by rescuing them from the wild. During centers we had a fun treat. I let the students paint animal crackers with edible paint! I put different colored food coloring into 4 different cups of corn syrup. The students dipped a quetip into the color they wanted and then painted their cracker. 

During another center we had the animal toss again! 

Wednesday we read the book "Giraffe" and discussed giraffes and some vocabulary words: herd, calf, hoof, Africa, and grassland. During centers the students got to make a giraffe! I traced their foot for the head and then they painted some brown spots on it. 

It was too cold to go outside on Wednesday so we stayed inside and did some mini fine motor centers. 

We had chain links, lacing, number tracing, straw cutting, and number beading. 

Thursday we read the book "Joey to Kangaroo" and discussed kangaroos and some vocabulary words: Joey, mob, pouch, marsupial, and Australia. I even learned a few new facts about kangaroos from this book! During centers I had the students practice tracing and writing their name. 

Friday we read the book "Gorillas" and discussed the difference between monkeys and gorillas. During centers the students made their own monkey! 

This student said he wanted to make his monkey look "tough"! Haha

We had a new center Friday that the kids loved, a tool center! 

That concludes our study of zoo animals! Next week we will begin our study of Arkansas!