Snow Day - AGAIN
Wednesday, 2/10/10, Ms. Chrissie's corner
Another snow day challenged our problem solving skills....as teachers! Your children came through with flying colors!! We worked like big Kindergarteners today as we learned about the Polar regions, penguins & camouflage. Camouflage was our big word of the day! I was so proud of them for learning it and remembering what it means! Ask your child to tell you what they know about penguins! You will be surprised to hear how tall and Emperor penguin is, the name of the smallest penguin, what animals hunt penguins, where penguins live, and why penguins are black & white! We learned ALL that today at morning meeting! And we did the Body Rock! Does it get any better than that?!
We made the cutest colony of adult and baby 3D penguins! It was an all day project for the class. Half the class finished before lunch, and the rest finished after we played in the gym. Everyone had a lot of fun making their penguin blend in with the dark seas as seen if a predator such as an orca was looking down at its back because the water is so cold it is quite dark. But if a shark or a sea lion were swimming below a penguin and looking up at its tummy, the penguin blends in with the light reflected from the Antarctic seas and gives it camouflage. Our class had such a good time re-enacting the diving and swimming away from predators (and shaking the rice in their shaker penguins tummies) that several 3D penguins lost their ability to SEE the prey coming at them. We had to put several eyes back on and remind our friends not to play with their art project! Look for the adorable photos of our colony of kids and their "feathered" friends.
After lunch we reviewed our knowledge of the Antarctic and penguins. Yep, we were still quite "in the know" and ready to brainstorm about the all important question: "Why are penguins black and white?" The answers were varied, and in the words of preschoolers - "So they can blend in" summed it up best. I asked them what that big word was that means blending in with the habitat... some shouted "Camouflage"! So we all kissed our brains.
At the end of the day we played with some mirrored prisms/glaciers making more 3D art with nifty items such as a variety of sequins, crystals, pom poms, stars, colored paperclips, tiny teddy bears, rubber bands.... there were so many things to choose from. Some of our friends used each and every item on the table. It looked like their glacier had picked up everything in its path! Be sure to look at the photos of their creations!
Thursday, 2/11/10
Finally I was with the children again. I don't like only seeing them once a week. Today was festive. We decorated Valentine boxes for our goodies in the afternoon. It was an easy child directed art project that the children enjoyed. Two friends even volunteered to decorate our friend Lauren's box who we missed having with us that day.
During Morning Meeting the kids were full of Penguin facts for me that they had learned the day before with Ms. Chrissie. They knew that a penguin could be as tall as 4 feet. That they lived in areas like Antarctica, "at the bottom of the globe". And they knew why a Penguin is black and white. Ask them at home and see if they can still tell you. :) Camouflage! We read 'Without You'. A very sweet story about a baby Penguin spending time with dad while mom is away. The daddy penguin takes great care of the baby and where would this baby be with out his parents. What was fun was to explore the idea that the mommy penguin knows only her child's voice. Our experiment with Ms Chrissie at our Valentines party was fun. Ms. Chrissie gathered voices on a tape recorder that we played at the party. The kids had to guess who was speaking just by listening. :) A great exercise in using our senses.
We measured and painted a 4 foot penguin. The whole class took turns painting our life size Emperor penguin friend. He will be hung in our block center where the children will be asked to build a 4 foot block tower.
We made our Heart Penguins and penguin finger prints during AM Centers. This was a our special valentine project to our parents. They kids did a good job of finding the various sized hearts needed to create their penguin.
During lunch we gave back our sound bag items and then read an adorable story, 'SPLAT". This is a story about a kitty cat on Valentines Day. Yes, a detour from our Penguin study, but too cute to pass up on Valentines Day. :)
Speaking of Valentines day, thank you parents for bringing all the goodies and for helping set up our party. They kids really enjoyed giving their Valentines to each other and I will admit that all my treats are long gone. :) Yummy!
We will finish up Penguins on Tuesday and then move onto Polar Bears on Wednesday.
Enjoy your snowy Monday.
Cari
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