Monday, February 21, 2011

V is for Valentine- Week 2

More exposure to the letter Vv.
Math: counting
Sight Word: my

Love has been our theme for the last couple of weeks.  I think this is one of my favorites! There is so much the kids get from this unit and LOTS of fun stuff we get to do. On Monday we began making our "love bugs".  The kids painted heart dollies (wings) and then made a body from pipe cleaners and beads. Finished "loved bugs" will be displayed in class next week!









Elizabeth and Trynnity working on their "bodies".

Lots of hand and eye coordination!
We also counted each bead, identified the color
 as well as discussed if a pattern was made.


Later in the week we did our first sight word: my. Most of the kids knew the letter Mm right away without being asked! We said the word, found it on our road to reading, wrote the word and did a color by number with the letters. 

*To practice this word at home: ABC magnets on the fridge that spell out the word, tape up our color by number page in your bathroom or in the kid's room, and have your child read it to you when you come across the word during reading time at home.*
Remember they are still young learners and you will see growth over time!





On Wednesday we were able to enjoy the weather with a trip to our neighborhood park.  They were bursting with energy! And even during playtime I would catch these girls counting as they were climbing steps.





 We had our first PJ day on Thursday.  For their ages, these little guys count fairly well! However the challenge for them has been 1:1 correlations.  We use the white page weekly with a variety of counters (bears, beans, buttons, cars, etc.). They see the number, word and can touch/count how many objects it makes. Each child can work at their own pace and it allows me a chance to get a visual of what the need to work on individually.








 Another fun fine motor practice we did this week was to peel the paper from old crayons. Sounds easy? Can you see me smiling? It really was a tall task even for my older ones. I had to continue to cheer them on to complete the task at hand. The incentive...





 ... home made rainbow rubbing crayons!


To do this at home with your old crayons: 
1. Get out your old crayons. Take off the paper (if it is still on) and break them up into smaller pieces (kids love to help with this.)
2. Spray your muffin tin with vegetable spray (or you can use paper cups as liners as pictured below) and pour some crayons into each spot. The more or less you put depends on what size you want for each chunky crayon. You can also group the crayons into colors that are fun together, red and blue for purple, pink tones or blue tones.
3. Place the muffin tin full of crayons into a preheated oven of 275 degrees F. I used both mini muffin tins and large muffin tins. Watch them carefully, they will melt fast. Bake them for about 7-8 minutes. When they look melted enough, carefully and slowly remove them from the oven. You can stir them with a toothpick for a swirly look, or leave them as is. Let them cool completely (can be placed in the freezer to speed up process once the tin is not so hot.)
4.  Once cooled, the crayons can be popped out of the muffin tin, tap the back to help this process. Then get the paper out and your ready to color. 



For class we used the crayons for our Vv rubbings.

A variety of textured V's with our finished crayons!



Another Vv lesson this week was our collage. We make a collage for each letter we study. For Vv we did (drum roll please...) valentine stamps! 

The stamp pads we have are scented.
So each time they placed the stamp in the pad they HAD to smell it!



By the end of the week we had a not so "love bug" visit many of our little ones.  As much as we try and keep "ick" at bay it does find it's way in.  I teach the kids to hand wash regularly as well as to sneeze or cough in their arm (to do so in the hand causes more germs to spread). We have sterilized all the toys and cleaned all the linens the kids have used. 
*As a reminder your child should be fever, diarrhea, and vomiting free for 
24 hours without the use of medication before returning to school. Thank you!*



Hope everyone feels better soon! 
Next week is a 3 day school week due to Rodeo Break.  Giddy up and get ready for some good ol' fun!

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