After looking at several countries this week, we decided to cook pizzas, as we learned a about Italian cooking. I'm sure the pizza shop in our play area made this a favorite too! Then we are deciding on our second choice this week as we're learning of other popular food choices in foreign countries like China, Ecuador, or maybe we'll pick something from Egypt or Chad. Chad's largest export is peanuts so that lends itself to a lot of great recipes.
We're continuing to learn about instruments in the orchestra. Last week we learned about the brass and woodwind section. I've asked our musically inclined staff members at Brooks-Yates to drop by the classroom with any musical instruments that they have so the children can see and hear as many instruments as possible first hand. So far, we'll see a flute, a clarinet, the keyboard-which will be played by a student in the older class, castanets. If you have any musical talent and would like to share it with our class please let me know because we'd love to have you visit our classroom with your instrument.
We planted marigolds in our terrarium and they have sprouted already. We'll be planting crocus' and tulips this week and discussing the difference between seeds and bulbs. The children are very excited that their seeds have sprouted and we talked about why the seedlings lean towards the window. After a variety of answers we learned that they lean towards the sun coming through the window. The terrarium is a wonderful learning tool as the children can see the condensation on the plastic and we can discuss the water cycle. I'm sure they'll be equally excited as they see the bulbs burst forth from the soil. We'll have a lot to compare as they can observe the bulbs vs. the seeds growth.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
What's for Lunch Around the World?
This week we're studying what other countries eat. We closed our beauty/barber shop in the play area and we opened up our pizza shop. We have several different kinds of pizza for the children to make and order forms for them to write on. So far some of the pizza takes 58 hours to bake and it costs anywhere from free to $21.00. Oh, it's so fun to eat in our pizza shop!The children are enjoying it and putting on their aprons when they cook and they love serving anyone that comes to the classroom!
We'll be looking at a few countries to compare what they eat with what we're familiar with. We'll look at China, Chad, Italy, India, Egypt, and Ecuador. We'll find each of these on the map and look into what people eat in each of these countries as we also look at a little bit of the culture of these countries.
We'll also pick a recipe or two to cook in the classroom and so far pizza and meatballs are at the top of the list as we looked through an Italian cookbook today. We fingerpainted with whipped cream today and added colors to it so the children can not only taste their work but they can mix and create many colors as they experimented with adding different colors to their creations.
We're also learning about musical instruments in an orchestra. They were able to name drums and cymbals in the orchestra as that is what they're most familiar with so far. Today we learned about the brass section and they loved watching the video about the tuba, trombone, trumpet, bugle, and the french horn. We used our rhythm sticks today to make the sound of rain and we played follow the leader with each child taking a turn to be the leader. We have a very creative group of children as they showed us many ways to play the sticks!
We'll be looking at a few countries to compare what they eat with what we're familiar with. We'll look at China, Chad, Italy, India, Egypt, and Ecuador. We'll find each of these on the map and look into what people eat in each of these countries as we also look at a little bit of the culture of these countries.
We'll also pick a recipe or two to cook in the classroom and so far pizza and meatballs are at the top of the list as we looked through an Italian cookbook today. We fingerpainted with whipped cream today and added colors to it so the children can not only taste their work but they can mix and create many colors as they experimented with adding different colors to their creations.
We're also learning about musical instruments in an orchestra. They were able to name drums and cymbals in the orchestra as that is what they're most familiar with so far. Today we learned about the brass section and they loved watching the video about the tuba, trombone, trumpet, bugle, and the french horn. We used our rhythm sticks today to make the sound of rain and we played follow the leader with each child taking a turn to be the leader. We have a very creative group of children as they showed us many ways to play the sticks!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Ice, Teeth, and Fun!
We experimented with ice cubes this week and predicted how we could get them to melt. We conducted several experiments using our gloves and mittens. We put ice cubes in the window with the sun steaming in and we put ice cubes in the shade to compare how and if they melted. Two of our favorites were adding salt to the ice cubes and adding the ice cubes to warm water. We used large spoons to stir and they loved watching the ice melt before their eyes!
Our dental hygienist came on Tuesday to talk with our children about the importance of brushing your teeth and what happens when you visit the dentist. She asked them to 'open wide' so she could look at their teeth and then she gave them a bag of goodies including a new toothbrush.
We had a wonderful time at the World of Bounce! I tried to get some pictures but the children were bouncing and sliding so quickly that I either missed them or the children were blurry! I did get a few pictures for their scrapbooks! It was such a fantastic time for the children to play and enjoy each other. A big thank you to all the parents that went! It's such a pleasure to have you there to enjoy the experience with your child and their class!
Our dental hygienist came on Tuesday to talk with our children about the importance of brushing your teeth and what happens when you visit the dentist. She asked them to 'open wide' so she could look at their teeth and then she gave them a bag of goodies including a new toothbrush.
We had a wonderful time at the World of Bounce! I tried to get some pictures but the children were bouncing and sliding so quickly that I either missed them or the children were blurry! I did get a few pictures for their scrapbooks! It was such a fantastic time for the children to play and enjoy each other. A big thank you to all the parents that went! It's such a pleasure to have you there to enjoy the experience with your child and their class!
Dates to Remember:
Monday, February, 21-President's Day, No School
Thursday, February, 24-Swimming
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)