Week ten 2008

Happy birthday to Owen!

Here are highlights from week ten…

Theme: Amphibians & Reptiles

Focus: Frogs & Toads, Salamanders & Newts, Alligators, Crocodiles & Caimans Numbers: 11, 12, 13

Classical composer: Peter Tchaikovsky, Russian composer of the Romantic era (1840-1893) Table Activities: We decided that with the phenomenal success of the cutting of numerals 0-9, we could not stop cutting practice in the morning. So, this week the students practiced cutting the letters “F”, “T”, “S”, and “N” to go along with our amphibians. Also, we encouraged the children to color the lifecycles of the frog and the salamander. We also had great fun with reptile stencils and sandpaper cards (the reptile shadow cut in sandpaper to trace with fingers).

Music: The children had fun listening and moving to Tchaikovsky. We will continue Tchaikovsky into next week since there are so many beautiful pieces to hear such as The Sleeping Beauty Waltz, Swan Lake, portions of the Nutcracker Suite, 1812 Overture, etc. Art: Miss Cristina introduced the children to the concepts of light and dark (gradation) and primary colors. The children began a wonderful multiple week project involving acrylic paint and canvas. The results will be amazing! Handwriting and Reading: We added the /r/ sound to our sound train. With one group, we reinforced the 6 sounds introduced thus far: /m/, /s/, short /a/, long /e/, /t/, and /r/ and practiced the sounds in a fun and competitive way—by playing a board game.

The other group used those six sounds and a few more to work with the –an word family. We matched –an words with their pictures, emphasizing the beginning sound and the rhyming ending. These papers can be kept and practiced at home to reinforce the skills. For handwriting we used wood pieces, slates, and for one group, paper and pencil or workbooks. We worked on making the numbers 11, 12 and 13 and “Rr” using these media. We demonstrated to the group, and then went around one-on-one to assist each child progress to success while the others practiced. When a student is practicing, the teacher will put a J next to her favorite letters…those formed best following the demonstrated process! Theme: We have collected quite a few plastic play animals, so the children had fun playing with the frogs & toads. We also used some non-fiction books and photos about our focus animals to learn some important facts and differences about frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, crocs, ‘gators, and caimans. One of our favorite activities was our finger play of “5 Green and Speckled Frogs” and the cute craft of the same name. You will see in the video clip that the students are using five “frogs” (ponytail holders with green pom-poms and googly eyes) to imitate the frogs jumping into the pond.

Storybooks: Tale of a Tadpole, Sophie’s Trophy, Newt, The Salamander Room, Catch That Crocodile, There’s an Alligator Under my Bed, If I Were a Crocodile.

Math: You will have seen the number sheets come home with lots of 11s, 12s and 13s. The students practiced making 11s, 12s and 13s by cutting out the 1s, 2s and 3s and gluing them over the zeros. This is a great way to reinforce the tens and ones places and show the kids the relationship between the numbers. We also practiced a lot of counting and looking at the numbers in isolation. On #12 day, we used Play-doh and trays (cookie sheets) to make a dozen cookies. The students really had fun pretending to make different varieties of cookies and counting them to make sure they had a dozen.

Free-Play Fun: In addition to the play animals, the children also spent some time in the reading loft. We brought out the flashlights and rainbow paddles to brighten up the gloomy Northwest day. For your information, we are back to assigned seating and having zero-tolerance on wrestling. The children respond so much better to having more structure. Also, we are looking to recruit 3 more students to begin in January and request your referrals. See you next Thursday for week 11!