Last Day In The Jungle!

Today we started the day a little differently.  We began with the kids all on the carpet looking at books.  For morning circle, we read our book of the day.  Our book today was The Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland.  Moose, Lion, Zebra, and Sheep take shelter in a cave on a cold and rainy day, only to realize that a bear is there.  The bear roars loudly and says that he is trying to sleep.  Not understanding why the bear is so cranky, the other animals come up with ways to cheer up bear.  Moose finds antlers for him, Lion gives him a manx, and Zebra paints on stripes.  When none of that works, Sheep comes up with a plan and makes bear a pillow!

We spent the rest of morning circle talking about the word "cranky", and identifying some things that make us cranky.  We also talked about some things that we can do to help when our friends are cranky.  The kids were very perceptive about "crankiness"!

Ms. Danielle was here today to help us practice throwing and catching.  She set up four stations that the kids rotated through.  One station was a bean bag toss, one was a scoop and ball partner toss, and one was a velcro tic tac toe board where the kids took turns throwing balls in the boxes.  The last station, and probably the most favorite was throwing a frisbee at three bowling pins trying to knock them down.  I concluded after watching these stations that, as a whole, our throwing is not that bad, but our catching needs some work!!  We ended with a fun line game called Over and Under, where the kids take turns passing the ball to the person behind them over their head, or between their legs.

Ms. Stacey came for music today!  We sang our hello song, and the kids even did it with strong voices a cappella and with no help from the teachers!  Next, we sang Bare Necessities for the last week. Clearly, everyone had practiced.  Some friends even knew the words to the verse and not just the chorus!  After that, everyone got an instrument and we learned a new song called "Pole Pole".  We learned that when you are driving on a safari, there are signs that say pole pole along the way, and that means go slow, go slow, so that the animals can cross the path in that spot safely.  We sang the song taking tuns - on Ms. Stacey's turn, voices and instruments stayed quiet.  Waiting and listening and managing that impulse to play can be so hard!  On the kids turn, they played and sang about the different animals we could find on safari.  After that, everyone got a scarf and we played a listening game with the song Day-O, which we learned was about picking bananas.  For each of the different sections of the song, the kids had a new move to do and had to listen closely for changes in the music to know when to change their moves.  After that, it was time for goodbye!

Then, to celebrate the beautiful sunshine.....and a great week at school.....we headed off to the park to play on the big playground.  The kids were all sweaty and hot when we got back to school just in time for lunch and dismissal!

Enjoy your long weekend!

Going On A Safari!

Today we started the day with binoculars in the Touch and Feel pool.  The kids were looking around the room....and each other....talking about how things looked up close.  They were more than excited to find out that we were making our own set of binoculars for art today!

Ms. Michelle was here today for OT.  We started with a following directions obstacle course.  First the kids had to pick an object out of the basket to carry across a balance beam with them.  At the end of the beam, they tossed it into one of the numbers of the board.  The next station was a ring toss.  The kids had to jump across three colored dots and then toss the ring on the cone.  Lastly, they took turns riding the EZRoller, which only uses your feet to make it go.  If you don't use both feet, you only go in one direction.  Michelle and I determined that we have a lot of right dominate kiddos in the class.....because everyone ended up going in a left circle!!  Finger fun was multiple parts today.  First, we stuffed pool noodles with pom pom balls.  Then we stretched ponytail holders to put around the outside of the pool noodles.  Lastly, we used scissors to cut up straws into tiny pieces.  Ms. Michelle told us that we would be using the straws for a project next week.

 Our book today was Starry Safari by Linda Ashman.  This story is about a little girl who takes a bright red jeep off on an exciting jungle safari.  There are giraffes to watch, rhinos to race, and wily crocodiles to avoid.  And when a roaring lion crossed her path, she knows exactly what to do....roar back!  But when she's unpacked her tent, and it's time for bed, will she be brave enough to handle all the jungle night noises?

After we did some reading comprehension questions from the book, we talked about the things that we would need to go on a safari.  The kids came up with some good items.....and used the book for help when they got stuck.  

For art, we made binoculars.  Using two toilet paper rolls, and some cool zebra tape, we made the eye part of the binoculars.  Then we punched holes and tied a piece of yarn on the sides so that the jungle explorers could wear them around their neck like real binoculars.  

Before we finished, we went on a pretend jungle safari.  The kids marched around the table, using their binoculars to "see" out in the jungle, while we played animal sounds on the iPad.  They had fun guessing which animals they heard....and then looking to see if they were correct!

Over In The Jungle....

We started the day with geometric shapes.  The kids were identifying circles and triangles and rectangles.....and hexagons and octagons and trapezoids!!

Morning circle was all about sounds!  We spent some time talking about all 26 letters of the alphabet and the sounds that they make.  We played around with some beginning sounds and watched some really fun songs with letter sounds!

Our book today was Over In The Jungle, A Rainforest Rhyme by Marianne Berkes.  This book that is very similar to "Over In The Meadow" describes all the noises and movements of the rainforest.  There are monkeys that hoot, ocelots that pounce, parrots that squawk, and boas that squeeze.  And at the end.....a long two page picture where the animals are all hiding in the jungle.  What fun to find and count each one!

Our language activity today was a conclusion to our week about Foods of the Jungle.  We made a chart about where we get foods in the jungle.  Bananas grow in bunches on trees.  Coconuts grow on trees too.  Honey comes from honeycomb in the beehive.  Berries grow on bushes.  We contrasted some of these foods with what we know about the foods that we usually eat....like pumpkins, which the kids know grow on vines, and carrots, which grow underground.

For art we did a following directions activity to color a coconut tree.  The kids had to use a key on the paper, find the shapes, and color them the correct color.  They all worked so hard and did a great job with very little adult redirection.

Bananas in The Jungle!

Today we started the day using descriptive words.  We used magnifying glasses to explore some strange cardboard shapes.  The kids had to come up with many different words to talk about the shapes.  They were using good words like pointy and hard and sharp.

Ms. Michelle was here today and it was so beautiful outside!  Finger Fun was mixed in with the obstacle course today, so that everyone was busy and no one was waiting.  While one group used strings and beads to make long chains and patterns, the others took turns going through the course.  The course started with putting two pegs in the pegboard, then two clothespins on the sticks, then feeding the piggybank two coins, then using the tongs to match colored blocks and buckets.  The kids then had to use two large foam blocks to make a castle that everyone added to when it was their turn. The last step was to ride a hand motion scooter from the green cone to the red cone.  Lots of motor planning and processing in OT today!!

Today's book was Beautiful Bananas by Elizabeth Laird.  In the story Beatrice sets out for her grandfather's house, balancing a bunch of bananas on her head.  On her walk, the giraffe's tail accidentally sweeps the fruit into the river.  The giraffe apologizes and gives Beatrice a bunch of flowers instead, but those are ruined by a swarm of bees.  The bees give her a piece of honeycomb, which is spilled and replaced with mangos. Each animal encounter destroys one gift and provides another.  Her journey ends with the elephant handing her a new bunch of bananas for the grandfather.

After the book we made a chart all about fruits and the way that we eat them. Some fruits need peeling, like bananas, because we don't eat the outside skin.  Other fruits don't need peeling, we can eat the whole thing.  But, some fruits, like apples, you can eat either way depending on what you like.  We talked about some reasons that fruits have the skins that we don't eat.....and that the most important thing when eating fruit is to make sure and wash it first.  Whether you get it from the jungle or the grocery store, it all needs washing first!

Our art today was a good following directions activity with lots of pieces.  The kids made a monkey puppet.  They had to use the pieces they were given, match them to a model, and make their own monkey.  If you got the pieces in the wrong order or the wrong place, it didn't look so much like a monkey....but once they figured it out....with a little grown up help.....we had a whole class of monkeys!