December Show and Tell

This display is pattern block snowflakes, hand-cut snowflakes and decorated foam trees.

This year I purchased clipart to create my own Hanukkah and Kwanzaa materials.

We have been working on our math shapes unit. One of the activities is to fill in a shape in different ways. I was excited to see all the different ways students created.

Here we are using our oversize deck of cards to count and compare numbers.

These are some of the crafts that graced our classroom walls.

A simple project for students to make:  Roll out Model Magic clay, cut shape with a cookie cutter, and press glitter into the clay.  After 3 days, the ornaments are ready to be hung.

This is one of our newest toys.  It is a table that the children use the mega block to build structures. They are just loving it!

Little Miss Muffet and other Random Stuff

I am linking up with Kacey over at Doodle Bugs Teaching with my five!

 I am also linking up with Stephanie over at Forever in Fifth Grade with my four!

I knew I had seen Shape Turkeys somewhere, so I searched the internet high and low for it.  Several days and hours passed and still I found nothing.  Finally, I gave up and decided to do something like it myself.  Of course, I found it a week later.  The original can be found here: Wild about Firsties

I have never done anything with food in my classroom.  Mostly because I am a disaster cook and I find it intimidating.  Then I found this nonthreatening Spookley Snack on line and I knew I could handle it no problem.  I used graham crackers, frosting, marshmallows, decorating gel, and AirHeads Soft filled Bites candy.  We used yellow and red food coloring to make the frosting orange.  I asked the children to predict what color red and yellow would make.  I was dismayed at how many strange colors I was given.  We frosted our graham crackers, placed two marshmallows for eyes, used the black decorating gel to draw details to the eyes and a mouth, and lastly added a green colored candy stem. 

We have been studying Little Miss Muffet.  I made the picture (below) of little Miss Muffet with her meal set in a park. There is no spider.  First we recite the poem as written and I add the spider. Then we repeat the poem until we get to the part, "Along came a..." At this point I change the characters (available below) and we discuss how this changes the ending. 

Finally, the children choose their own character and tell me the new ending.  These students are TK and are not writing more than there names yet, so I take dictation. The results are pictured above.

(Free) Miss Muffet Setting 
Laminate for multiple use.

(Free) New Characters for Miss Muffet

Laminate and cut out characters.  Use tape to add and remove characters.

Left over Halloween pics!  I love the balloons.  These are colored balloons that we drew faces on with a sharpie.  But the fun part was the candy inside.  I must warn you.  It is not easy getting items inside the balloons.  I found that the long cylinder shape of some smarties went in easily. I think tootsie rolls would probably work too. When playing with the balloon is over, you pop it, and out lands the candy!

This was my son's first vex competition. He only made 8th place out of 33. Still, I was really proud of his effort and excitement. 

                                         Back to the link up!            Doodle Bugs Link Up

Five for Friday: October Activities

It's time for Five for Friday, the weekly link up party!

Here are my five...

1

I love how these turned out!  The children traced shapes, cut them out, and made the faces themselves choosing the color paper they desired.

2

These Humpty Dumpty projects were inspired by Toddler Approved.

I had the kids trace rectangular blocks to create the wall.

3

It is Red Ribbon week and although we weren't asked to decorate our door, I decided let the children create an owl and write about something they would do to keep healthy. This is on a wall, not a door!

4

We have been talking about the three little pigs this week. We created each pigs house in groups.

This is the little pig's house made from bricks.

This is the little pig's house made from sticks.

This is the little pig's house made from straw.

5

After we read Spookley the Square Pumpkin, we used these shapes from Tot Schooling to make a unique pumpkin headband.

Five for Friday: Stem Tower

I am linking up with Kacey over at Doodle Bugs Teaching with my five!

1

This stem challenge allowed the children to experiment with different materials and decide which makes the best tower.

Each group rotated through all the areas so they could experiment with each material.  Before they moved on, I asked them for their thoughts and wrote them down.  The child drew a picture and circled the happy or sad face indicating whether or not they judged the materials as effective for a tall tower. Here is a copy of the worksheet I used.

Tower Materials Worksheet

Here the child is working with Magna-Tiles.

This child is trying out the blocks.

This little girl is using Jumbo Building Blocks.

2

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the King's horses and all

the King's men,

Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Printables for reinacting Humpty Dumpty are from Sparklebox.

3

My alternate version of the "Chicka, Chicka Boom, Boom" name activity. Everything was painted, except the coconuts and names. I was too lazy to cut leaves or trunks!

4

This week we have been holding parent conferences on a minimum day schedule.  It is amazing how exhausting this is even with kids leaving early for the day.

5

Happy Friday!