Antarctica and more

Antarctica and More

The Ladybugs have been studying Antarctica! These young children have learned so many interesting facts about amazing creatures. We used our "I think", "I wonder" and "I discovered" model to help us organize our thoughts and lead us into exploration! 

The Ladybugs have also been working on Symmetry. These children are really impressive! They have shown their understanding of symmetry in many different ways. Through paintings, stickers and now pattern blocks. Here you see them creating a line of symmetry with a ruler, and then exploring symmetry by making designs on either side of the line that match perfectly. I was so impressed with them!

Math Continued...

Challenging our math skills!

In the ladybug room this week we are working on skip counting and introducing subtraction. Each child gets to explore these ideas at their own pace and level. You will notice in the pictures that there are some kids counting by 2's while others are working on counting by 10's. We give assistance where needed, but try to give them work that challenges them and allows them to reach beyond their comfort level. 

In subtraction, I introduced the concept whole group on the rug and then sent them off to stations to explore it further. There were four stations of subtraction and each child got to try at least two of those stations. There was an opportunity to use manipulatives to show the equation, a number line to practice hopping up and down on and writing strips to write the equation. We will touch on these concepts many times between now and the end of the year.

Skip Counting

Subtraction Stations

Getting back into the "Math: groove!

Ladybug Math

We are getting back into the groove of school, and especially math! Here is a glimpse of what our math might look like. Here you see the Ladybugs first with their stem boxes, using problem solving, spatial awareness, counting and rhyming. Then you see math stations at the tables. We rotated through, so each child got to use each station's manipulatives. Today we used geo boards, stacking cubes and pattern blocks.

Because these are open ended activities, they can take my initial instruction (i.e. make me a snowman with the geo boards, make me a challenging pattern with the cubes or mimic a design with the pattern blocks) and take it as far and as detailed as they desire.

Stem Boxes:

Math Table Centers:

The 5 Senses

   The Ladybugs have been discovering many interesting facts about "the 5 Senses". The children have spent time learning how each of their senses work. They can name the parts and attributes of the body that contribute to the senses and how important the brain is to helping them navigate in the world.  We also explored how we can adapt and navigate through life if one of our 5 senses does not work. We learned how each of our senses needs nerve endings to send important messages to our brain so that we get the necessary information we need every day.  We have been encouraging the students to delve deeper into how each of their senses works and why we need them. This was a very informative and enjoyable discovery process. Our I Think/I Wonder/I Discovered summary below gives a brief glimpse into the learning that has taken place.

I Think...
Taste buds on your tongue help you taste.
Hairs on your nose don't like germs.
Feel stuff to get info.
Feeling, looking, hearing, smelling, tasting.
Feel things with your hands.
Nose cleans the air.
Eyes look at everything, ears can hear, hands can feel.
Nose helps you smell.
All 5 do different things.
Ice feels cold.


I Wonder.....
If taste buds help us taste?
Are all 5 senses in front of the body?
Are all 5 senses all on my face?
Are there more senses?
What other sense does a platypus have?
Other senses?
Do sea turtles have senses?
Animal senses? Same or different?
How does feeling work?


I Discovered...
The nerves sends information to the brain fast.
Stuff on tongue breaks down food... saliva.
Eardrum sends messages to the brain.
Taste buds help you taste what you are eating.
That when you touch something, nerves send messages to your brain.
When you hear something, it's like a drum in your ear.
There are 300 million nerves all over skin.
That smell goes to your brain really fast through olfactory nerve cells.
Smell goes into your nose, through your nostrils, to your brain.
Your ear has an eardrum.
You can feel your way through something if you cannot see.

   The Ladybugs quickly moved into a brief Gingerbread Man unit, having fun comparing the many versions of the beloved story, decorating their gingerbread friends and adding simple sets of gingerbread men. During this busy holiday time, it has been fun seeing the kiddos expressing themselves during art periods and discovering the overall threads in the different renditions of the story that we have explored.


   And of course, we ended this week with a super sensation of exploration at the Tacoma Children's Museum and Snowflake Breakfast at Seabury on Friday morning. A real exploration of the 5 senses!

 

Seattle Field Trip

The Ladybug and Bumblebees spent Thursday in Seattle. We saw the play Corduroy. We also spent some time eating our lunch outside near the fountain. It is always a fun experience taking "little" children to the "big city". Our group of children was so well behaved in the play. I was very proud of their self control and proper theater manners. There are so many reasons we take kids out into the world and expose them to different circumstances and surroundings.

Here are a few pictures of the kids in that environment today.