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!

Have you seen our Gingerbread Friend?

December is already here! We have been reading various versions of "The Gingerbread Man" in our classroom.  We compared and contrasted the different versions and we practiced retelling the story.  We made our own Gingerbread "friend" together as a class.  I had cut out the "cookie" then invited each student to decorate him. He needed eyes, a nose, a mouth then buttons and "icing". Here he is:

We put him on a cookie sheet and into our dramatic play kitchen's oven.  We shut the oven door then went about our morning.  We took a walk to see if the playground had any puddles- to see if we would have recess or not that day (really just a reason to get out of the classroom so my T.A. could hide him). When we came back in we noticed he was gone!

We gathered on our carpet and i introduced this poem, which has been hanging up all week.

Where is my gingerbread man?
Oh where, oh where is my Gingerbread Man?
Oh where, oh where can he be?
He popped out the oven and ran out the door.
Oh where, oh where can he be?

We then made our Plan of Action!  We made a list of places he could have gone to.  I directed this more to places in our school.  Some suggestions were the zoo and a sudent's house.  I listed them on chart paper for some shared writing.  We decided to put either a happy face if he was there or a sad face if he wasn't.  As you can see, some students had a hard time doing these.  I had 3 students "draw pictures" of what he looked like so we could show people in our school. We put them on clipboards and they carried them around with them.  I also gave 3 students a magnifying glass to use on our walk. 

We went out on our walk and I brought the chart paper.  After we "looked" in each place I had a different student make the sad face until we finally found him in the cafeteria!  An email was sent around that PreK wouldbe "looking for their gingerbread man" so other teachers volunteered to let us look in their room.  This was a great collaboration activity.  As we walked by different classes or teachers they asked my students if we had found him yet and realy helped play it up. It was such a great activity. We are now building him a Gingerbread House to trap him in that we will keep in our room all month. (in referenece to Jan Brett's Gingerbread Baby).