Things That Go!

This week was so full of learning! It was also one of those fabulous weeks where we all really enjoyed our centers, everyone was eager to learn and our outside time was absolutely lovely. We started off our transportation week with some fun centers. We did truck puzzles.

At art Pre-K 1 made stop lights. My sweet peas traced 3 circles, cut them out, glued them on and painted the ends of their traffic lights in one center. I can't believe how far they've come with cutting and time management already!

Here's the finished products:

 We also made a stoplight snack craft using graham crackers, icing and M&Ms. They were a hit.

Love this!

 Ms. Natalie bought us a HUGE bag of beans and they filled the whole sensory table! We added cars and trucks and blocks for ramps.

Both classes also used the water tub for some water play with boats. Pre-K 2 went first, but I didn't get any pictures of them in time! :) They let us use it after they were done.

We also added tin foil and they built boats.



We built train tracks...



Pre-K 2 made name trains at art.



Love these trains!

Pre-K 2 also played this adorable roll and cover game for math.

Here's one of our morning messages. The peas added train cars with all sorts of animals and goods.

We also drew in our journals this week and some of us added words to our work!



We strive to meet each child where they are at each year, so when the peas draw we start by allowing them to dictate what they want to say to us and then model writing for them. If they show an interest in writing letters and words, we encourage them to write something about their picture. It is such an exciting thing to see the peas express interest in writing! 

Here's a few of the journals from this week:

With emergent writing we tell the peas to let their mouth tell their hand what to write. We aren't worried about conventional spelling, we are thrilled to see them make connections between pictures and print!

We've also been using the ipads for some fun learning.



 Last week I had the priveledge of observing Mrs. Butts' Kindergarten class at Bear Creek Elementary. She is such an awesome teacher and I learned this game while visiting her class. For a group ipad activity, the peas paired up and used the app Doodle Buddy. I gave them a "mystery sound" and they had to write the letter they thought matched the sound. They held up their guess to see if they were right. I especially loved this idea because the partners gave them gentle corrections or helped their friends form letters, using peer guidance if needed. Here's a couple shots of our game:





Our week also encompassed a ton of F activities for our letter F week.

As our letter of the week, this one was pretty popular.

One of our pea's dads brought his "friend" his bearded dragon, Draco. The class was so excited! Ms. Angela was not excited, haha! She cracks me up!

Although she didn't want to touch the lizard, she did a great job of taking pictures!



Then Ms. Angela brought a Friday treat for our class in Pre-K 1....

And they were really yummy!



Pre-K 2 had a fun treat of their own! Ms. Rhonda had the peas help her make pancakes. They thought of f describing words for pancakes.

Looks Fun!

Those fluffy pancakes were delicious.

So that wraps up our transportation week. As you might already know, Red Ribbon week is approaching and although we are too little to do any learning about the Drug Free campaign, as part of the district we participate in all the fun parts of Red Ribbon week.  One of those fun things is a door decorating contest. Last year we won 2nd place and a gift certificate to shop for our classroom. If you know anything about teachers, an opportunity to get free stuff for your class is pretty awesome, so I've been busy planning our door. I have to watch out for my competition, aka Ms. Rebekah, so, I can't reveal what Amy and I have planned, but here's a sneak peek of some of the adorable-ness that will be part of Pre-K 1's door. So excited! Check back soon for pictures of all the doors! 

Happy Saturday!