Not only did we celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday, but we also celebrated Scarlett and Kiran’s birthday as well. Did you know that we will celebrate 5 birthdays in March?!
Also, a huge thank you to Ryan P. and Ishaan’s Mom for visiting us on Friday to inform us on the harmful effects of smoking. We learned so much and had a great time singing, playing games, and of course meeting Donnie the Dinosaur.
To welcome March, we talked about how March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. We discussed the kind of weather the lion represents and the kind of weather the lamb represents. I also read "In Like a Lion and Out Like a Lamb" and then we discussed the characteristics of lions and lambs. Finally, the kiddos made adorable lions and lambs that are just too cute for words!
• Jack and Martha are friends.
• The friends went to a party.
I circled either and, are, or to and asked the children if they could tell me the word I circled. I explained that the words and, are and to are called Trick Words because they can be tricky and we do not tap them out. We also reviewed our two review trick words from last week: a and the.
The kiddos also made words with our standard sound cards and practiced retelling. I performed "Baby Echo Finds Echo at Last" and then illustrated the story with four simple pictures. I then asked for student volunteers to use the illustrations to retell the story in their own words. The children LOVE sharing their versions and they did such a great job doing so!
In Math, we used a pan balance to compare the weights of objects. I made different-sized balls of play dough and compared them using various combinations. Then, I challenged the children to use the play dough to make the two sides of the pan balance level. The kiddos had to decide if they had to add play dough or remove bits of play dough. This was harder then it looked! Finally, the kiddos put pay dough on one side of the pan balance and an object on the other side, and then described which was heavier and lighter. Next, I asked them to level the pans by adding or removing bits of clay.
The next day, the children learned more about each other by conducting surveys with a partner. Each partnership had a different survey question and walked around with a clipboard to record their classmates responses. The children LOVED this! On Wednesday,
partners stood up in front of the class and answered the following questions:
- What was your groups question?
- What were your classmates choices for answers?
- What was the most popular choice? The least popular?
I showed the children the reference jar with 10 objects. Together, we counted the objects and labeled the jar with the number 10. Next, I showed the estimation jar with 20 objects.
I gave the children time to look closely at the two jars and passed out a estimation sheet to each child and asked them to record how many objects they estimate are in the estimation jar.
Next, we counted the objects in the estimation jar and discussed the terms much too high, much too low, and pretty close. I asked children which of these would describe their estimates, and why.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Miss Visicaro