Meet our Fish!

My classroom has an ocean theme so I start the year off mostly talking about ocean animals and fish.  We read The Rainbow Fish and each made our own fish using a construction paper cut out of a fish and different colored tissue paper.  My class behavior chart has each student starting out on "Ready to Learn Rainbow Fish" then the students either move up or down based on their behavior. So entering our third week of school I decided to bring in the fish...he has been at home all summer. I got him 3 years ago and finally upgraded his "house" thanks to a grant from www.petsintheclassroom.org . I got a coupon for materials from Pet Smart and I bought a new tank, gravel, a few plants and a Cat in the Hat figurine. The kids love it and think he is reading to "Rainbow". We came up with 3 potential names for him and of course Rainbow won! "smurf" was a close second.  We made a graph based on our votes and it is hanging in the room.

Green Apple Playdough

I just made a batch of Green Apple playdough. I got the inspiration from recipes I found on Pinterest. I stopped at the grocery store on my way home from work to buy some apples for us to make applesauce tomorrow and stumbled upon this Jolly Rancher jello! It smells delicious.  It will go great with our playdough mats I made last year.

2 cups of Flour

2 cups of warm water

1 cup of salt

1 package of jello (can use any flavor...I can't wait to try the candy cane flavor during the winter!)

4 tbs of cream of tartar 

4 tbs of vegetable oil

Mix ingredients together then pour into sauce pan over medium heat. Stir until a dough forms. Be careful not to burn it! Then let it cool in a glass bowl then knead together and store in a zip lock bag.

Apple time

Today I brought in 3 apples. One red, one yellow and one green.  During snack time I cut them up and had each student taste all 3 then pick which one they liked the best. We then created a graph to see which one had the most "likes". I introduced the word "prediction" during a read aloud yesterday so we used this activity as a great way to make some more predictions. The class ended up being right, we like RED apples the best.

Happy Fall!

Fall has officially arrived! I just wrote up this poem and added fake leaves from a craft store to it.  I have an extra set of leaves for the students to use when they "read" the poem on their own.

Diving into another School Year!

The 2013-2014 school year began yesterday! We have been busy the past two days learning our classroom expectations and meeting new friends. This is my third year teaching PreK at SPA and I am so excited to see what this year brings! I was very happy to see some of my former students this morning and am very proud of them :) 

We have big plans this year in room 105. I will keep you all updated with our learning throughout the year so....DIVE IN! 

You're a Mean One...Mr. Grinch!

Since Chirstimas is soon we read Dr. Seuss's How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  I read it in two parts today.  We talked about how we can use describing words to talk about someone. I started by having my special helper of the day stand up and we used different words to describe her.  Pre-K students are only 4 and 5 but they are pretty smart... We talked about what color her clothes are, how old she is, she is a girl, she is smiling, she is happy, ect.  I presented a blank chart that we would be filling in to desribe The Grinch.  Throughout my frist reading I made sure to draw attention to key words or phrases or actions he did to plant ideas in the students' heads to add to the chart.  This was a great way to introduce new vocabulary to them. After I read the first part, we brainstormed together some words:

The we went about our day and during center time we made Grinch faces. Here is my sample (at least I tried ahhah)

Here are some of theirs.  Notice only one is the "mean Grinch"; most of them made theirs the "Kind Grinch".  I had cut out the shapes so they had to glue them on then make a face.

Then we continued our reading.  We reviewed the Grinch at the beginning of the story.  After I read it all we then made a new chart about how he was at the end of the story.  I got this idea from someone on Pinterest (Loveee that site) but it was for a first grade class.  It was easy to adapt to my little ones.  Surely they are not reading what I write but I'm modeling writing and we're working together to use our knowledge to complete a task.  I was pretty impressed with the words they were able to use.  I threw in a few of my own and gave them the meaning but most of them had heard those words used before.

Next week, before we go on break I am planning on making "Grinch Punch".  it is green sorbet and Sprite.

Gingerbread Boy/ Girl craft

We made our own Gingerbread Friends.  I cut out a template to trace on cardstock then I traced the outline on white construction paper.  During centers each student painted theirs in (practicing staying inside the lines).  When they were dry My T.A. and I cut them out.  The next day we used foam shapes to add 2 eyes and 3 buttons.  I encouraged student to macth their eyes and make a pattern with their buttons (after the 3 were glued down, I would ask them what button would come next).
We decided he also needed icing but we couldn't use real icing so I made the mixture I used with "It looked like Spilt Milk". Equal parts glue and shaving cream.  I added red paint to one and green paint to another.  I put the "icing" into zip-lock bags and cut one of the bottom corners very slightly.  I then used it like a real baker's icing piping bag to "decorate the cookie".  I was able to have a few students do their own but it got pretty messy so I did the rest.  it dries puffy and looks like real icing!