On Friday I tried my best to fit two lessons into one day. Mother Goose planned a lesson for Memorial Day and I will be closed on this day, so I needed to either skip a lesson, or skim down two lessons. I chose to skim down two lessons, because it breaks my heart to waste an entire day's worth of lessons if I don't have to.
We started our circle time going over our new "Friendship Feather" word: Honest. I explained that being honest means that we tell the truth. I talked about how trust can be broken, and when this happens, it is hard to believe someone when they tell you something.
I used our theme poster to tell truthful things and dishonest things. The kids had to look at the poster and state if what I was telling was "true" or "false."
For example:
- There are six sunflowers...false.
- It is raining...false.
-The kids are happy...true.
-There are three crows in the sky....true.
Next, I read the book "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." This is a really GREAT version of this story! I highly recommend reading or buying it. The kids were so engaged with the story and really understood how important it is to tell the truth. (At the end of the story, the sheep did not die. They climbed up a tree to flee from the wolves.)
After our lesson on honesty, I gave the kids their own bracelet that said, "I am honest" on it. They could wear it proudly and use it as a reminder to talk with their mom and dad about what we learned about.
Our next lesson was about weeds. The kids didn't know a lot about weeds. A few of the kids said that weeds are pokey and prickly. The kids really didn't know why weeds are bad to have around. I explained that weeds crowd a garden and can prevent the seeds from growing.
The kids found a partner and sat across from him/her. They held hands and pulled each other back and forth as we sang,
"Pull, pull, pull the weed.
Pull it from below.
Pulling, pulling, pulling, pulling.
Now our food can grow!"
(Sung to the tune of "Row Your Boat.")
These are our garden crafts that we completed on Thursday.
The kids cut yarn and used it to place in their garden. I encouraged them to tie it, twist, and wrap it around the vegetables in their garden. Then they worked to figure out how to cut and untie the yarn to free the sticks from the "weeds."
Next, I gave the kids some time to play with their gardens in our dramatic play area. They had a lot of fun with these!
"The bees landed on the vegetables because they thought they were flowers."
"Now the bees found the flowers."
The kids took out our bunnies (from Thursday's activity) and gathered them together to invade the gardens.
Calling the Farmer's Market to buy more vegetables...
These two cuties brought their vegetables to the kitchen to cook them up!
Our next activity was all about moles. The kids did not know much about moles. I explained that moles like to eat the roots of the vegetables in a garden. I also explained that it is very difficult to protect a garden from moles. Building a fence does not keep the moles out!
Mother Goose provided us with new "I Can Read" books for each child titled, "What Do You Like?" I am such a BIG FAN of these books!
During the month of May, we are learning about the sight words: like, said, & little...
This book reinforces these words...
Each page has a similar format, which makes it predictable enough for the kids to read easily.
These books always give the kids the opportunity to illustrate the last page...
I read the book once with the kids. Then they practiced reading by themselves. Next, they colored the last page. Lastly, they paired up with a friend or two and did a "Buddy Read." They took turns reading and listening to their friends read the book. I walked around the room and helped the kids who had questions or needed help. I always encourage the kids to read again with their mom and dad. I inform the parents to keep the books we receive throughout the year, so the kids can build a library of books that are simple for the them to read.
Next, I asked the kids where they think moles like to live. Moles eat, sleep, and play in tunnels that they dig underground. My wonderful husband made this awesome marble maze for us with paper towel tubes. I cannot explain enough to you how much the kids LOVED this! They played ALL DAY with this! I have seen this idea online before, but this was a first for us! I am pretty sure the kids are going to go home and beg their parents to make one of these for them. This is what I call good, cheap fun! (FYI - Frog painters tape worked the best.)
This was a very crowded station for a while.
Next, we played a new board game Mother Goose provided for us. The kids rolled the colored cube and then moved a game piece to the vegetable that is that same color.
The next three pictures make me laugh. The colored cube had one side that said, "Rain...Stay in your spot." L rolled the rain again and AGAIN. He never got sad. He totally laughed about it! By the end of the game the three other players were near the finish line, and he was still near the beginning. I was so proud of his sportsmanship! He really was a great role model to the other kids, and gave me the opportunity to praise him on how winning isn't everything as long as we are having fun.
Here he got the rain AGAIN!
Hey! He got a sun! That means he got to roll again!
Oh no! He got the red. He only got to move one spot ahead. Oh man! I love his facial expressions!
Next, I set out these "Jack and the Beanstalk" materials. I bought a CD story for our listening station. This is an EXCELLENT version of this story! I also set out the photo of a bean plant to remind the kids that the story is fictional. (Sometimes the giant can be a bit scary.) Lastly, I set out story wands to go along with the story. The kids could put them in order and retell the story with their own words. They could use the blank card as a reminder to come up with a new beginning, middle, or end to the story.
Listening to the story on CD...
Retelling the story with the story wands...
I watched K, as she lined up the story wands and imagined she was building a really tall beanstalk...
I also took out two new activity mats from our Lakeshore Magnet Tin.
Matching each fruit to its plant...
The life cycle of a plant...
This was one of our books for today. It was a multicultural book about a Chinese family who grows vegetables to make a soup. They share the soup with the neighbors and celebrate their differences.
I also read these two fun books that contained moles in the story.
The kids worked on the letter F page in their literacy workbook...
They also followed a key and colored the letters we are learning about this month according to the color directions. I was amazed that even my youngest child completed this correctly!
A color by number activity in their math workbook...
We ate a "Weed the Garden Snack" for today! I bought a couple of trail mixes and a few bags of dried fruits and veggies at Trader Joes.
We mixed the ingredients in a big bowl...
I served each child their own portion, and they pretended to weed the garden by picking out the things they didn't like. Some of the kids were a bit fearful of trying new foods, but most of the kids liked it!
The kids were challenged to smell the contents of the bowl, and try to match them up to the bowl that held the same ingredient. They had a lot to say about some of the fragrances they smelled!
They loved the peanut butter! They said the cinnamon was "cinnamon rolls," and the maple syrup was "pancakes!"
A few of the kids said the vinegar smelled like garbage! Lol!
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
Moles have a very good sense of smell! I wanted to see if the kids did too! I filled 8 bowls with four different fragrant foods from the kitchen (2 peanut butter, 2 cinnamon, 2 maple syrup, and 2 vinegar).
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