Groundhog Day and Seasons

Daily Question: Have you ever seen a groundhog? 
 Most of the students had not.
Did you hear his prediction on Monday?

Groundhog Day 2015: Punxsutawney Phil sees shadow, predicts six more weeks of winter

Groundhog Day 2015 

Toys: Lemonade stand, cash register, puzzles, puppet theater, skee-ball... 

Snack: Pretzels and Craisins

Show N' Teach:   

Circle Time: We had a fun discussion on the Four Seasons.
 
Science:
We talked about where do (and which) animals go in the Winter? 

We liked listening to Hibernation Station again during snack time and talking about the many different types of animals that hibernate in the Winter.

We talked about habitat (animals home environment), hibernation (animals sleeping in dens through the Winter) and migration--when birds an butterflies go south for the winter.

Science:  What makes a shadow?
Can a groundhog be a weatherman? Many years ago, people looked to animals to predict the weather because animals would act strangely before storms, etc.

Harris reminded up that a shadow is a "dark place behind a light."  Yes!   

A shadow is a dark area or shape made by an object something in between light and a surface (like a body in between the sunlight and sidewalk).  We stuck objects in front of a flashlight and watched the different shadows made and talked about the earth (sun and moon).   

On Groundhog Day (February 2), Phil the Groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter's hibernation. If he sees his shadow, he is thought to return to his hole (some people think this is an omen of six more weeks of bad winter weather). If he doesn't see his shadow (i.e., if it is cloudy), he is thought to stay above ground (some people think of this as a sign of mild weather to come).

What do you think, can a groundhog predict the weather?
*Update*  On Sunday, Phil saw his shadow and predicts six more weeks of Winter!

I See a Little Goundhog (Tune: I'm a Little Teapot)

I see a little groundhog, furry and brown,
He's popping up to look around.
If he sees his shadow, down he'll go.
Six more weeks of winter--oh, no!

Recess Time: Shadow Hunting outside. We had bright sunshine until it was time to play Shadow Tag and then it was more difficult to find our shadows!

Shadow Tag
If it's sunny outside and body casts a shadow, play shadow tag. Instead of touching a person, whoever is It must step on someone's shadow.

Activities: We had fun making a groundhog picture (out of shapes--rectangle and heart) and drawing Spring or snow outside.

 

Shadow Hunting on the way to meet our parents after class, I asked "We saw our shadows back there (before reaching a group of trees)!  Why can't we see our shadows now?"  Maelo replied, "It's because there is no light here!" Smart boy.  True.

Definitions of today's vocabulary words: Habitat: The natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism. Hibernation: The resting (sleeping) state of some animals in Winter. Den: A wild animals lair or habitation (home). Migration: To change location periodically, especially by moving seasonally from one region to another. Season:One of four divisions of the year (spring, summer, autumn, and winter) demonstrated by particular weather patterns and daylight hours.

Books on Seasons and Groundhog Day:
(New) Groundhog Day by Lisa M. Herrington (Rookie Reader)
(New) Go To Sleep, Groundhog! by Judy Cox and Paul Meisel
(New) Who Will See Their Shadows This Year?  Jerry Pallotta and David Bierdrzycki
*Earth by Melvin and Gilda Berger (Scholastic)
(New) Groundhog Stays Up Late by Margery Cuyler and Jean Cassels
Little Groundhog's Shadow by Janet Craig
Round and Round the Season's Go by Rozanne Lanczak Williams, Ill. by Roseanne Litzinger  
Hibernation Station by Michelle Meadows and Kurt Cyrus (audio)
Silly Lilly and the Four Seasons by Agnes Rosenstiehhl
Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft & Richard G. Van Gelder, Ill, by Helen K. Davie
Footprints in the Snow by Cynthia Benjamin, Ill. by Jacqueline Rogers (HR, 1)

GorgeousWake Me in the Spring by James Preller, Ill. by Jeffrey Scherer (HR, 2) cartoon hibernation  The Magic School Bus Sleeps for the Winter (Scholastic Reader, 2) 
Winter's Song by Claire Daniel, ill. by Leslie Bowman 

Quilts and Patterns

Daily Question: Do you know what a quilt is?

A quilt is a blanket composed of a pattern (repeated design).

Toys:  Dinosaurs and Zhu Zhu/Baby Zhus and Kung Zhus and village, cars, Pizza Store, Nursery

Snack: Popcorn, dried apple slices, pretzels, Apple Jacks (for patterning, AB-orange and green)

We had fun listening to microwave popcorn and making our "pah" p popping sounds and then gobbling up the warm fluffy snack. 

We then practiced more patterning with straight and curved pretzels. ABABAB. 

Our Class (Paper) Quilt.

Miss Jessica led us in a fun patterning activity where each student helped choose the correct color for a class "Paper Quilt."  We practiced an A-B-C pattern. red-yellow -blue. 

Outdoor Recess: Played outside in the sand pile and on the slides and with the ride on toys.


Q and Pattern Review: We enjoyed coloring the Q page and talking about "q" words: quail, quilt, queen, and question. We learned that q has a best friend "u. "

We had a fun time looking at quilts and talking about AB patterns.

At Snack Time, we learned about simple patterns (something that repeats it's self). An AB pattern would be something like red, blue, red, blue. An ABC pattern is illustrated below: blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, strawberry. By learning patterns, children will better look for them in life and in Mathematics.

Next, we studied a mini quilt that was an example of an AB pattern. See it?
(red, pink, red, pink).

We talked more about quilts. "What is a quilt?" A quilt is a blanket made of two pieces of fabric with a layer of cotton batting in between, all stitched firmly together, usually in a decorative design or pattern.


We learned about Q a Queen Bee who quilts. She needs quiet so she can finish her quilt. "Q-q-q" she quivers as she quilts. She finishes her quilt at a quarter past ten. (Students pretend to quilt and move a needle in and out of a piece of imaginary fabric saying "q-q-q.")

We had a white board discussion about q and her friend u. Together, qu makes a "kwah" sound. Words like this are: quail (a small bird), quake, quiet!, queen, quilt, etc.

Story Time: We enjoyed reading The Quilt Story together. In this story, a mother makes a special quilt for her young daughter with shooting stars, hearts, doves, and her daughter's name, Abigail, embroidered on it. Abigail loves the quilt and plays with it and takes it across the plains when her family joins pioneers to find a new home. Later, it is put in the attic of her new home where various animals enjoy it's warmth. Many years later, her granddaughter finds it in the attic and asks her mother to repair and fix the special quilt for her and is comforted again by the warm quilt.

Other Quilt Stories:

The Quilt Story by Tony Johnson, Ill. by Tomie dePaola

The Quiltmaker's Gift by Jeff Brumbeau, Ill. by Gail de Marken

The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills (Little Brown and Co.) Good Read Aloud, not an easy reader.

The Kindness Quilt by Nancy E. Wallace PCL

Cassie Word Quilt by Faith Ringold PCL

Arts and Crafts: Today, students worked on an Qq pattern quilt like the Queen Bee was quilting while saying the letter q and it's sound.

Students completed an AB quilt pattern.

Pattern Book:
Patterns and Animagicals; Paintings by Svetlan Janakovic, Poems by Carol Diggory Shields

Quilts Book:
Grandpa's Quilt by Betsy Franco and Linda A. Bild  (Rookie Reader)
The Quiltmaker's Gift (Quilt designs on the inside covers of book) by Jeff Brumbeau and Gail de Marcken
The Quilt Story by Tony Johnston and Tomie DePaola
(New) Quilt of States; Piecing Together America by Adrienne Yorinks, etc.

The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills

Letter "P" Party!

Our Pajama "P" Party

If you give a Prince/Princess a pancake...

Daily Question: Are you ready for our Pajama Party?

Toys: Play Doh, Potato Heads & puppet theater, FP Little People

We welcomed a new student, Dexter Dalzen today!

(Our class is complete with four girls and eight boys). 

Songs: Popcorn Popping, Piggie Polka, The Pancake Song,

Snacks: * Thank you parents for sending in great "P" snacks today!  Pancakes (with maple syrup), peppermint M&Ms, peaches, pretzels, pretzels with caramel and chocolate, popcorn, pistachios, pepperoni, Peppermint Bark, sugar snap peas, and popsicles.

Other P Foods: We had fun brainstorming other food that start with P (a surprising amount) Peanut butter, pretzels, pizza, pepperoni, pop (soda), puff pancakes, pears, peas, plums, pudding, Popsicles, pasta, peaches, potatoes, potato chips, pie, pork, pickles, pumpkin, peppers, peanuts, pistachios, pineapple, parsley, parsnips, prunes, Parmesan cheese, pinenuts, etc.

Media:We have a new movie--Sesame Street and Abbey and the P Princess!

 

Games: Who is the Pig under our blanket?
"Guess what 'P' things is hiding under our blanket?" The children were very clever when they caught on to the rules of this game. They came up with: pot, play dough, a puppy, a pelican, a puppet, a pepper, a pirate, a paint brush, etc.

Craft: We talked about P the Pelican who popped popcorn "p-p-p" and picked up pop for his pals. We listened to a bag of popcorn popping in the microwave and repeated "p-p-p." Then we enjoyed eating copious amounts of the fluffy stuff while watching the show.

We enjoyed playing Piggies Under a Blanket. One student leaves the room and another student hides under a blanket. The student who hides returns and asks, "who is the piggy under the blanket?" The student hiding infected blanket says, "Piggie, Piggie, oink oink!" And the student who returned guesses who us under he blanket. 

Some "P" Books:
If you Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff, ill. by Felicia Bond (Audio CD)
What is a Princess? (Step into Reading 1)
Puddles by Jonathan London, Ill. by G. Brian Karas (Audio CD)
Princess Hyacinth (The Surprising Tale of a Girl who Floated) by Florence Heide, & Lane Smith
Pigs Will Be Pigs by Amy Axelrod, Ill. by Sharon McGinley-Nally
Pete's a Pizza by William Steig
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
The Three Pigs by David Weisner

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

Pinocchio by Carli Collodi

Pirate Girl by Cornelia Funke/Kerstin Meyer. 

* Thank you, Ben and Stacie, for the donations you sent in for ou Class Treasure Box!

Modern Day Heroes (MLK, Jr.)

Modern Day Heroes

Daily Question: Do you know a Modern Hero?  

We got lots of fun answers to this question:

Word Girl! Super Women, Batman, Superheroes, etc. 

I asked if anyone had heard of President Barack Obama?  No one had. 

We are talking about being brave, men and women who changed our world for the better, and what we can do about it today.
Harris came in telling me "I wore my hero shirt today!  See, it has a firetruck on it!" 

Toys: (New) Vet Clinic, FP Little People Farm, Fire-Station, Construction, and Animal Discovery World, and Dress Ups.

Snack: Banana wheels, Animal crackers, and mini carrots.

In Circle Time, we saw and talked about many books of Modern Day Heroes/Heroines. We learned that after the start of America, people in Africa were kidnapped and taken by boat to America to work as slaves on plantations that grew tobacco and cotton. We talked about how the slaves (People from Africa who became African Americans or were sometimes called Blacks or Coloreds) were treated poorly--not allowed to vote, hold a paying job, use the same water fountain, or marry. We talked briefly about the US Constitution, the Civil War and President Lincoln (whose birthday is celebrated in Feb.), Segregation, Civil Rights, "Separate but Equal," Martin Luther, Coretta Scott, and Rosa Parks, and Montgomery Bus Boycott. We also talked a little about Helen Keller, one of my personal Heroines.

Share & Teach:
Anna:Piglet, Pony, Princess
Ben:Ninja Turtle action figure
Harris: firefighter hats
Lena: pony, purple cat, puppy
Zakai:bouncy ball

Lukas' "Un-Birthday" Celebration

Lukas brought in huge Sugar Doodle Cookies to celebrate his 4th birthday that was Dec. 30--during our Winter Break.  Lukas has an older sister and two older brothers.  His mother, Aino, is from Finland and his father is an artist.

Raegan: Do you like legos? yea, fire truck legos
Ben: What is your favorite color? blue
Zakai: Do you like bouncy balls? yes
Tanner: What is your favorite toy? legos
Eva: What is your favorite fruit? apples

Winter Book:
Do You Have a Hat? by Eileen Spinelli and Geraldo Valerio
Ms. Spinelli has us thinking about hats as she rhymes her way through a book of modern artists, entertainers, thinkers, and folk heroes and the hats they preferred.  Do you have a hat?

Heroes/Heroines Book:
(New,bd) *The Story of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Johnny Ray Moore &Amy Wummer
(New) A Sweet Smell of Roses by Angela Johnson and Eric velasquez
Martin Luther King, Jr. A Dream of Hope by Alice Fleming (Sterling Biographies)--PCL copy, use for pictures--too advanced for preschoolers.
What's So Great About...? Rosa Parks by Jim Whiting (A Robbie Reader) PCL
Helen Keller by Sean Dolan (Rookie Biographies) PCL
Bio-Graphics Abraham Lincoln (Graphic Planet, Red Wagon) written by Joe Dunn, ill. by Rod Espinosa
The Bus Ride That Changed History; The Story of Rosa Parks by Pamela Duncan Edwards, Ill. by Danny Shanahan
Coretta Scott Poetry by Ntozake Shange, Paintings by Kadir Nelson

Naughty Newt's Behavior (Manners)

Naughty Behaviors (Manners)

Daily Question/Sign-in: Nn Do you have good manners?

Toys: (New) Market Stand, Play Fruits and Veggetables and plastic foods, Rose Petal Cottage.
It was so fun to hear,"May I buy two doughnuts, please?"  "Here you go!"  "Thank you!" this morning.  Each year the class seems to gravitate towards a certain type of toy or theme.  This class may be a class of inventors or sales-people!

Snacks: Sugar snap peas, carrots and dip, Ritz crackers, (juice boxes and Pop Tarts for Luke's Birthday!)
 

During snack time I heard a lot of please, thank you, more water, please. Etc. We talked about other polite words like pardon me, excuse me, and I'm sorry.

Today after play time, we read the books Please Pass the Manners and Say Please! We had an informal white board discussion and wrote down the students ideas about what manners are.

Role Play: After snack time and our discussion, the children enjoyed a role play game of meeting people and introducing themselves. For instance, "Hello. I'm Susie. Nice to meet you. What is your name?"

The children enjoyed the upbeat story and song about N the Naughty Newt who painted the Nursery walls numerous times with neon nail polish. Mother shook her finger at N and said, "N n n" (like you would scolding a disobedient child). Our follow up activity was using nail polish to paint N the naughty newt! It was lots of fun. (What good little artists I have.)

Luke's Birthday
Luke is the new addition to our class. We were lucky he joined just in time to celebrate his birthday!

Favorite food: Duckies
Raegan: Do you like fire truck legos? yes
Ben: What is your favorite color? red
Tanner: What is your favorite toy? The iron man that you're holding
Zakai: Do you like yellow fire trucks? yes
Lena: What is your favorite crown color? red


Manners Books:
Please Pass the Manners: Mealtime Tips for Everyone by Lola Schaefer, & Kellie Lewis
Manners by Aliki
You've Got Manners: Table Tips From A to Z for Kids of All Ages by Louise Elerding
Say Please by Virginia Austin
No David! by David Shannon

*Time to Say "Please!" by Mo Williams

How to Behave and Why by Munro Leaf
Richard Scarry's Please and Thank You Book
Elbert's Bad Word by Audrey Wood, Ill. by Don Wood

Many Healthy Munchies

Many Healthy Munchies

Daily Question:  Have you ever seen a moose? 
The Moose is the largest animal in the DEER Family.

 Many Healthy Munchies

Toys: Play Doh Cookie Monster's ABC Stew and Play Market with toy money and play foods.

Snacks: Muffins and milk

Math:  Money Exploration

We (briefly) explored play coins and money.  We talked about pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, as well as, $1, $5,$10, and $20 bills.  

Parents, please review with your child cash and money sense. 

To Market, To Market:  Students had fun putting on a play Market (Greg's Grocery Store).  We had store clerks, shoppers, and food stockers.  We also reviewed healthy "munchies" put in students baskets. (Science/Foods/Nutrition lesson)

What is a munchie?  (Another name for a snack).  What is a healthy snack? Vegetables, fruits, whole grain crackers, cheese, yogurt, etc.

   

Songs: Do you know the Muffin Man?

First Verse:
Oh, do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Oh, do you know the muffin man,
That lives on Drury Lane?
Second Verse:
Oh, yes, I know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Oh, yes, I know the muffin man,
That lives on Drury Lane.

Making Muffins:  We had fun reading directions, adding ingredients, and baking muffins to eat while we listened to a story  If You Give a Moose a Muffin about a moose who wanted a muffin, we listened and danced to a Moose and Muffin song. 
 

M the Moose Activity:  M the Moose tells his mother he can eat up all the meatballs "m-m-m." Students say the "m" sound while patting their tummies. 

Students color the moose and cut the strip of healthy munchies beginning with the letter m through the moose’ mouth (teacher makes a slit on the left side of the moose mouth for the children).

I Spy “M” Discussion:

We discussed healthy foods that begin with Mm: macaroni, meat, milk, muffins, meatballs, marshmallows (not so healthy!), and munchies.

Other M words we talked about together: moose, market, "munchie" mom, mother, month, mouse, mice, money, mitten, and M&Ms. 

Harris's Birthday Celebration

Favorite toy: diggers and excavators

Color: Blue

More M or Healthy Snack Books:

A Bad Case of Stripes

If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff, Ill. by Felicia Bond

 If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff, Ill. by Felecia Bond

Jack Sprat (Nursery Rhyme)

Pete's A Pizza by William Steig More Spaghetti I Say! by Rita Golden Gelman, Ill. by Mort Gerberg