Amy Norton's Newsletter and Plans
March 13, 2015
The first week of our buildings unit was a big success! The dramatic play center is temporarily closed and we have a gigantic blocks and people area, complete with many different options of blocks to build with, dry erase boards to draw what we have built, and a variety of tools and construction vehicles. The kids have been very excited because the area is so big and because of the new toys that we have put out. Block building fosters great peer interactions and teamwork, and it is a great way to work on visual motor skills.
We also have many different options of things to build with during our table toys time as well. This has also fostered great peer interactions and teamwork. We can work on counting, patterning, shapes, and colors as we build. In the feeling table, we have small rocks with small dump trucks, bulldozers, and scoops.
On Tuesday, we will digress a bit for some St. Patrick's Day songs, fun, and games. We will talk about the color green, four leaf clovers, leprechauns, and the mischief of a leprechaun.
We will do shamrock and gold counting activities on the Smartboard. We will be more elaborate in our PM class. On Friday, Miss Rachael helped the kids build a leprechaun trap which we will use to “catch” our leprechaun puppet who will come to life! He will likely do things such as turn our toilet water green, mix up our backpacks, tip furniture over, leave green footprints in our classroom, and he will leave us some “gold coins” and a treat. The coins are for the kids to keep!
Last week, we learned what a building is and what a building is not. A building is somewhere we go to do something specific and where we see certain people. We looked at many familiar buildings with environmental print on the Smartboard. These included Target, McDonalds, Wal Mart, the police station, the fire station, the post office, the library, and our school, Jefferson. On the Smartboard, the kids also got to create houses and cities by using shape puzzles and tracing over pictures of city buildings. This week, we will make small buildings by covering small Kleenex or shoe boxes with paper and adding environmental print, including popular logos.
This week, we will continue to talk about buildings, with a focus on features of a building: doors, windows, walls, roofs, etc. We will also learn about things buildings can be made of, including wood, steel, brick, stone, glass, etc. We will incorporate the story of The Three Little Pigs as well.
Upcoming Events:
Tuesday, March 18- St. Patrick's Day!
Monday, March 23- VIP Day (Please RSVP if you plan on coming)
Monday, March 30-Friday, April 3- Spring Break
Features of Buildings/The Three Little Pigs
Dates: March 17-20, 2015
Circle Time:
Tuesday, March 17- Leprechaun songs and counting games
Wednesday, March 18- Activities with Miss Rita
Thursday, March 19- Read “Building a House”
Friday, March 20-
Centers:
Feeling Table: Rocks with trucks, bulldozers, scoops
Blocks and People: Blocks, tools, buildings
Table Toys: Shapes and materials for building
I Pad: “Grandpa's Workshop”
Small Group (Art/Math/Literacy Activities):
Tuesday, March 17- Decorate leprechaun pictures
Wednesday, March 18- Shape Houses
Thursday, March 19- “Count the Doors and Windows”
Friday, March 20- Building towers with a partner