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.

5 Senses

The 5 Senses

   The Ladybugs have been delving into the 5 Senses. The children have begun discovering how the   senses of smell and sight work. They can name certain parts and attributes of the nose and eye, and how our brain helps interpret what we smell and see. We've also explored how the nose helps with our sense of taste, and how our eyes can trick us with optical illusions.

    We'll be encouraging the Ladybugs to further explore how we use our senses in unexpected ways, what happens when someone loses one or more of their senses, how they adapt and how our 5 senses work together to interpret the world around us. 

   The Ladybugs have continued working with addition and counting by 1's, 5's and 10's, and are starting to journal what they see and hear. We're also discussing and recording what we're grateful for, and it's been fun seeing the children find gratitude in their daily life. This is a very busy time for everyone, but below are a few reminders of upcoming events:

November 26th: Thanksgiving Feast 1:30pm

November 27th-29th: Thanksgiving Break

December 5th: Field Trip to Seattle Children's Theatre 

December 12th: Field Trip to Tacoma Children's Museum

December 13th: Snowflake Breakfast  

December 18th: Early Release

December 19th-January 3rd: Winter Break

Spiders

Spiders

I Think Spiders have spinnerets. A type of spider has golden webbing. Some are poisonous. Tarantulas have really big webbing. Some spiders don’t eat flies. Spider land is near Mara Vista Park. Some make white webs. Sometimes spiders do gold and white webs mixed together. Some spiders have gold rings around its legs. They can trap from underground. Some spiders eat butterflies. Some are really, really, really small. Some spiders spin a web, some do not. Webs come in a lot of colors.

I Wonder If they can fly from their spinnerets. If spiders come in different colors. Are there blue spiders? Do spiders eat leaves? If spiders have dots. What do spiders like to eat? Where can spiders live? What shapes do spiders come in, can there be a leaf-shaped spider? Would a spider eat another spider? Are some spiders poisonous? Can they make sound? Do they make a high or low-pitched sound? Do spiders metamorphose? Is there a spider shaped like candy corn?

I Discovered Sea spiders are not spiders and that their legs help them breath. Some people are afraid of spiders. Goliath Bird Eating spider lives in South America. Tarantulas don’t make webs. Black Widows don’t live in Antarctica. Golden Hunters eats insects and is one of the larger spiders. Black Widow spiders don’t make their webs perfect. Some people keep spiders as pets. Diving Bell Spider eat in their bells. The eggs stay in their diving bell. The spider puts babies in their bubbles. When prey comes to the Trap Door Spider, they get them. Spiders run away to protect themselves. When a Diving Bell Spider eats under water, the venom gets diluted. They eat their prey inside their bell.

   The Ladybugs have been discovering many things about spiders. We have been learning about the habitats of spiders, their life-cycle, the many types of spiders, and how and what they eat. Our journey through this exploration helped us discover the parts of a spider, how they capture and eat their prey, and how spiders are different from each other. The students' curiosity had us searching together for answers to the questions they posed.

   We have also been working on number identification, number sequencing and what comes before or after a number, counting by 1's, 5's and 10's, and comparing 2-dimensional to 3-dimensional shapes. The Ladybugs have also enjoyed learning to make words with the letter sounds we have been learning, and have even started writing some of their own words!

   It was great seeing everyone at the conferences this week and we really enjoyed discussing the progress we've seen in your children over these past 44 days. Thank you so much for your time and effort to meet with us. 

A few dates to know this month:

Nov. 11th    No School - Veteran's Day

Nov. 12th    No School - In-service Day

Nov. 13th    Picture retakes

Nov. 26th    Thanksgiving Feast at Seabury 1:30pm

Nov. 27-29  No School - Thanksgiving Break

Halloween

Halloween Week

   This has been an incredibly busy week in the Ladybug room. From exploring letter formation in shaving cream, to leading in the Gathering celebration with the Bumblebees, journeying further into the world of spiders, and celebrating the grand Halloween festivities.

   The Ladybugs have been hard at work learning about spiders and their habitats, body parts and other interesting facts. We have taken a poll of who is afraid of spiders, created our own spider art and watched how spiders weave their super strong webs. We'll be completing this unit on Wednesday and will soon be reporting on all that we have discovered.

   It has been an exciting few days here at school, and we hope you enjoy the following few pictures capturing some moments of the week: