{Guess Who Zoo}

Last week was ZOO week! We had a blast learning all about zoo animals. We kicked off the week with some great books. Some of our peas brought some wonderful books to share. This one is really great: 

This one had everyone in giggles: 

And this one we used in guided reading to read together!

 Both classes set up materials for the peas to build their own zoos out of blocks and animals in centers throughout the week.



  

 This pea made this elaborate zoo building at the end of the day and his mom waited while I took a picture of it! I thought it was pretty cool!



 In Pre-K 1 we read one of my very favorite all time stories:

And then made giraffes in Pre-K 1.

 

 We used our sweet little fingerprints to make our giraffes spots.

 Here's how they turned out...adorable!

Pre-K 2 made parrots from the zoo! They used their handprints and added feathers.

 

 
They turned out super cute!

 

Pre-K 2 also did several Venn Diagrams comparing different animals and they were suprised by how many things very different animals had in common.

 

Pre-K 1 choose one animal to research in depth about. We have been learning about researching, and we wanted to continue to put our new knowledge to use. We chose hippopotomuses. They are such a strange and fascinating animal.We brainstormed what we knew about hippos and then we used our ipads to research about them. We found that a lot of children's books and cartoons have led us to some misconceptions about hippos being harmless or even friendly and not having sharp teeth, when in fact, they have very sharp teeth and are one of the most dangerous animals in Africa!

 

Afterwards, we added some facts to our morning message.

 

Later, we reviewed we we already knew, the misconceptions we had about hippos and the new knowledge we had gained!

Next, we did some hippo art! I found some inspiration from the wonderful art at Deep Space Sparkle. The lesson there had a basic outline with shapes and the peas and I discussed how to draw a hippo and what shapes to use. We used the white board to practice, then they got to work!







 I'm totally in love with these water resist hippos. Aren't they wonderful?

 Later, we added some writing to our artwork.

Pre-K 2 did a really cool art activity, too, and did some research of their own! They used the ipads to  research how different animals look  and really notice their shapes. Then they tore paper to make their own animals. I love this activity because it really uses a lot of thinking skills!

 As they tore, they laid their paper down before they glued to see if they liked their design.

Here's a gallery of their torn paper animals. What an incredible job!

Meanwhile, Pre-K 1 was busy at work making a zoo out of play-doh and popsicle sticks, a pinterest inspired activity that the peas loved.



You gotta love that fine motor work!

We also had the ipads set up to explore the Wild Kratts, which was VERY popular! :)

Pre-K 1 wrapped up the week with Alligator Pie. I posted the poem in our room at the beginning of the week and had the peas predict whether the alligator pie would be a silly recipe or made from real alligator! 

They were guessing all week until on Friday....

They got to try my special recipe!

It turned out to be a silly recipe!

But it was still pretty tasty. :)

Have a great week!