Experiments, Lucky Leprechauns & Obstacle Course

Well, I am on my last day of Spring Break :( 

 

Before we left for Spring Break though, we had lots of fun with our Dr. Seuss Week.  We experimented with Eggs and Vinegar, we learned about Rhyming Words, we made Leprechaun traps in hopes of catching our tricky little Lucky the Leprechaun and lastly we ended the week with some Musical Obstacle Course Fun!!!

I found this experiment online SOMEWHERE.  I am sure it was on Pinterest!! 

We took 2 eggs and put them in Vinegar... we added a little green dye to one of them to see what would happen.  I put a clipboard next to the experiment so the kids could record what they observed over the course of the week.

By the 3rd day, we found that the vinegar "ate" away the outer shell of our egg...

It was fun to see the bubbles on the egg from the vinegar, it was also interesting that the shell just vanished.  One of the students noticed that there were no pieces of shell floating in the vinegar.  This lead to a discussion about where we thought it went or what happened to it when the vinegar touched it.  Some of our thought were...

 

"Maybe it's still there, but just soft"

"No, we can't see it anymore, or feel it."

"Yeah, it's mushy now, not hard or bumpy."

"Could it be like Kool-Aid??  When my mom puts Kool-Aid in water it changes color and goes away."

"Yeah, maybe it just went into the vinegar water."

 

It was a lot of fun listening to their conversations.  Which lead into a discussion on how the shell dissolved into the vinegar, and how the components of the vinegar "ate" away at the shell until it was all gone.  Then each child got to hold an egg and feel the differences from before it went into the vinegar.  We compared and listed how it felt.  Until, of course, a little boy squeezed a little to hard and we had green, squishy, mushy, vinegary, egg on the carpet :)

 

Here are our Leprechaun traps...

The kids were SO focused on making them. 

It took all morning to make them and set them up...

Boy did they have fun!!

 

They thought of every spot they could imagine!!!

I loved the use of the tape!!

We ended our week with an obstacle course that had to be completed to music!!  When the music stopped, so did we... no matter where we were.  There favorite part was crawling under the tables!!!

 

We also had fun with Rhyming Words... I made a game out of green plastic eggs.  I put one word on one side of the egg and the rhyming match on the second part and they had to find the match and put them together.  It was a little tricky as some of the eggs were bigger then others, so even though the two words may have matched, if the eggs didn't fit together, they still had to search for the correct match.  For some it was quite easy, others... not so much.  By Friday about 80% of the kids could read ever CVC rhyming word and find the correct match, those kids were asked to write the words on a recording sheet, where as the 20% who still had a hard time, were able to just play the game with a teacher and practice blending the letters to read them .

 

I am looking forward to getting back to school next week, although I will miss the ability to lounge around the house all day ;)

 

 

Building in TK

 

We have been learning about number sense in TK these days.  Lots of counting going on, decomposing of numbers and as you can see from the picture above... building.  I brought out the cups for the 100th Day of School.  I thought it would be great to build with them and thought it may get some use from some of the kids... but they have become a hit.  It has been great watching them become more confident and proficient with them, building and getting them to stay up where they put them.  In the beginning they could only get two or three rows to stay up, but now look at that structure!! 

 

TK is AMAZING!!!!

Farm Night

Well, it's been awhile, but I am going to a blogger meet up next month and realized I have not been blogging at all.  Since the holidays it seems it has been one big thing at school after another.  If it's not a performance, or singing, it is a special evening to show the parents and families the great reasons why they choose our school to send their children to. 

 

We had a Farm exhibit in TK and we had a blast!!  Our topics mostly centered around farm animals and gardening for food.  We had a great time learning about where our eggs come from, how to grow vegetables to eat and even where our milk comes from.  Below you will see how my room looked before the event.  The pool is for the baby chicks that we had. 

 

The chicks have been with us for a week and range in age from a week and half old to almost three weeks old.  They were really getting the hang of flying and would roost on our arms, and then take flight right off, flapping their wings and scaring the begeezus out of some of the kids... pretty funny actually ;)

 

 

 

This is just one of our little feathered friends.  They were pretty stinking this year, but we loved holding them, looking at them and talking about them.

We had a farmers market where we could "sell" all the veggies, eggs, and milk we were able to produce on our farm.

another view from the door

this is the bulletin board outside of our room... that is one of our "gardens" that we used to "plant" carrots, potatoes, radishes, and corn

view into our classroom

 

this was our "milking" cow Bessie... the kids absolutely loved her!!!

I don't know what they loved more, the cow or the chicks, but it was pretty close!!

we decided to make some butter from the "cream" Bessie produced ;)

 this was just an area for the littlest kids to play with some farm animals, but they found our construction vehicles in a box or something, because this is what I found when I walked over there :)

our egg stand...

this was our "garden" in our classroom.  Last year I found some great plastic carrots during Easter time, and we used those to "plant"  The kids had a great time with this also, there was a lot of talk about drought and they thought they should be able to get more water in the watering can to make sure the veggies didn't dry up... they are pretty smart cookies!!!

 

We enjoyed using this event as a way to practice our counting, sorting, and patterns.  We also read lots of farming books, animal books, and practiced some CVC words.  It was a pretty exhausting week, and although I truly love the event... I am glad it is over and we can get back to our normal routine... but wait, isn't Dr. Seuss Parade coming up, then Grandparents Day (at least at our school) and then Spring comes, and before you know it we will be practicing for our Moving Up Ceremony!!!  Argh... just when you think you can relax :)

New Year's Resolution

Ok, we all do it.  We start the New Year with all sorts of goals, resolutions and wants... but most of those are left in the wind when the real world begins again.  Yet, we do it anyway. :)

I know I have some goals in mind.  Like keeping up with this blog.  I love blogging, it really is a great way to record what I have done and how I have grown over the course of the school year.  So, one of my New Year Resolutions is /Blog More!!! 

Another big resolution I have is to find that balance in my teaching.  Teaching TK is wonderful and I love it.  The kids bring me so much joy, and I have a passion for educating young children.  I am finding that balancing the need to learn through play and meeting the guide lines that my school sets is becoming more and more of a challenge.  I know my Little's need to play, that is their work.  I set up the housekeeping with lots of differentiated activities to help with math, reading, writing, as well as social emotional skills.  For instance, we had play dough in the housekeeping before break.  I set it up with lots of measuring tools, cookie sheets with cut outs for 1:1, different "decorations" for the cookies for sorting, and even different outfits to help promote self-esteem, social emotional skills, and problem solving (since only 1 apron has to be shared).  I do my lessons during center time, I teach handwriting, have a sensory table and lots of books.  But.... still I have parents saying, "Why isn't my child farther along!" ARGH!!!!

I bring my patience to the forefront (as we teachers have to do a lot ;)) and quietly explain the developmental growth of each child is different, that each child is where they need to be NOW, and that their child is making progress, just at their own rate.  Meeting the child where they are at is the hardest thing for a  parent to understand.

So, here I am on the 5th day of the New Year, scouring websites, blogs, and TPT in hopes to find the "AH HA" magic that will make every parent happy, every child learn, and this teacher balanced :)  I know, I know... never gonna happen... but a teacher can hope right.

I hope that all is wonderful in all the classrooms out there in blogland and I am wishing all of you a WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!!!!

Michelle

Plymouth Has Come To TK

Well, it took me and my son about 2 1/2 hrs to put together, but we finally created our Native American "Village" and Mayflower ship.  We came to school to put all the items together so the little ones would come into class and be excited and when we came into the school we received a stinky surprise.  Some of our Pumpkin Literacy project decided to implode and cause a great deal of smell and mess.  It took us an hour to clean it all up, and THEN on the way out the wonderful, sturdy garbage bags that the school provides, broke and nasty, smelly pumpkin guts fell out all over the place.  Oh... what we do for our little ones!!!!

 

Sorry about the rant!!  Never the less... We created and finished our little history exhibits and they were ready for my guys and girls!!!  They loved it!!



My son really wanted the kids to have a "stove top" to put the pot on over the flames, but we couldn't figure out what to use, so he rigged this string.  It lasted about an hour with the kids... but it was cute ;)

 





I made the flames, logs and rocks during our 3 day weekend over the Veterans Day holiday.  The tutorial I used can be found here... but I have to say I really just free handed it and sewed them together as best as I could.  I figure the kids don't mind the tattered ends, and I was right.  They just loved it and have been using it for so many different things.

This is our TK Mayflower.  I couldn't find a photo of the sail without kids in it, and due to privacy issues at our school I am unable to have kids in the photo, even if I block out their faces... sooooo, this is our sad little sail-less Mayflower.  We added some telescopes, oars and the kids have been using our blocks to make planks, bridges and seats everyday. I am so happy with their use of the areas.

 

Next week I will add more props to each center.  We will introduce some clothing, utensils they used and some animal "pelts" to create Native American clothing.  These have been such popular centers this past week, I am seeing a lack of focus when I pull kids for individual work time.  I am thinking I may have to create a work area for individual work time away from the hustle and bustle of the free centers.

 

I am excited to be able to start adding things to my blog.  It has been a long time since I was blogging everyday on my Kozy Kids blog but I am starting to remember to get on her more often!!

 

 

Leaves and Fall

Fall has finally made it to our neck of the woods here in NC and what a beautiful sight it is.  The weather has a nice chill to the air, the breeze brings with it a wonderful fresh air smell, and we are loving spending amazing mornings outside in the Outdoor Classroom. 

 

Last year my team teacher and I decided to utilize an area in our nearby nature area, that is owned by our school, but shared with the community.  We took the students out there and let them play, just PLAY.  We found the results to be dramatic.  The time outside in the natural environment brought a calm to our rowdiest students, it brought a confidence to our shyest students, and it brought out abilities that our students didn't even know they had.  It was wondrous to see.   

 

This year we brought our newest charges out there and although they love it we have had different challenges than last year.  Some of our boys are a little aggressive with the sticks and the "play" has become more of the fighting type than the exploring type.  The last few weeks has been a lot of work for us teachers, but as we continue to creep along the learning path the students are beginning to get it.  They are beginning to see the leaves as roofs for fairy houses, they see the logs as balance beams and the sticks as something to help them balance and not a weapon, and they are beginning to see the beauty in the squirrels, insects and sound of the rustle of leaves in the breeze.  Amazing!!!

 

We decide to take the book Leaf Man by Lois Elhert to the Outdoor Classroom and read it in the round (which is a place we created to sit and talk).  We pulled out the blankets and found spots on the logs and enjoyed a great rendition of the book. 

 

Then it was time to create our own Leaf Man with things we found in the Outdoor Classroom.  What fun we had!!!

 

 

Our Outdoor Classroom is a special part of our program.  Hearing the words, "Get your boots on!" is like music to the 4 year olds ears.  They get so excited and can't wait to get out there.  It is a great way to connect our classroom learning to real life experiences and I am so happy to be working in a school that has one. 

 

We also completed our first Family Project.  We love including our families in our classroom work and this was a fun way to start that home-school connection.  We did a Pumpkin Literature Project.  The students choose a pumpkin, then choose a book, then choose a character from the book and made their pumpkin into that character.  We had some great characters!! The kids loved to talk about their project as they created them at home and I loved getting the play by play from them as the week went by, then to finally see them all come in was exciting for them as well as me!!!

Don't you love them!!! 

 I don't know if the minion is my favorite or the Llama.

 

It is wonderful to love your job as much as me!!!

Classroom Photos... Finally!!!

It has been very hard keeping this blog up and running and I apologize for not writing each day.  I, of course, forgot my good camera at home on the day of our Halloween party, but we had our kids documentation camera so I took some photos with that.  A little blurry, but that's okay :)

 

My room is quite big actually.  But it seems like I have no wall space to use.  I have a beautiful USA map and I have no where to hang it up so the kids can see it/use it.  So, it sits under my science sensory table waiting....

 

 

 

 This is a view from my doorway to the room... I acquired both my supply cabinet and my team teachers cabinet since my room is bigger.  So that little bump out is occupied with cabinets, water cooler and refrigerator.

 

 Again, another view from the doorway... you can see my tables in the middle, my circle area and Smart Board, my writing and science area beyond the meeting area, and my block area. I made the pumpkin bean toss game for our Halloween Party, the kids loved it.

 

 A wider view... my housekeeping is off to the left where the play stand is and next to the housekeeping is the free art center and across from the art center is the sensory/easel area.

 

 This view is from my writing center... that is my bathroom door to the right, my desk area and the cubby area at the door.

 

Close up of my desk area.  It's a mess and I am having a hard time organizing it.  I try, but I am a piler upper... Then I try to put things where they belong each day after school and I say to myself... "Ahhh... that's where that was."  In front of my desk is my computer desk where we usually have 2 tablets for the kids to use, but I was charging and downloading some ebooks on to them at that moment.

 

So, that is my classroom, just a few weeks late... Okay, a few months late ;)  It has been a great year so far and I wish I had posted about our tasting party, outdoor classroom, literary pumpkin project, and all the wonderful things we have been doing.  But, now that I am back on this computer for something other than report cards... I will get back on the blogging wagon!!  So, hopefully I didn't lose all my 7 followers ;) and someone will read what we have to say :)