This week we celebrated our great state at the ECDC. Pre-K really loved this week of learning, and we did a LOT of learning! We started off by reading some books about cowboys for fun.
Pre-K 2 made some adorable cowboys in art. We are still working on working at art independently and allowing the peas to learn during the process. We are focusing on tracing, cutting, gluing and using critical thinking skills as well as encouraging creativity!
They wrote their names on their stars.
They also made some torn paper Texas flags. We love to add sneaky fine motor skills to art. :)
Pre-K 1 decided to set up a cowboy camp in our home living area. We added a horse, some bandannas and hats and large pots for the chuck wagon.
Next, we read this story about a cactus. This is a wonderful story if you ever run across it at the library.
We looked up different kinds of cacti and my husband sent this picture of a cactus he found at Grapevine lake. Pretty cool!
After talking about cacti, we had a morning message asking the peas to draw a cactus. They had a stencil so it was a little tricky, but they did a great job.
At blocks both classes added some materials for Texas imaginative play and building including rocket ships, books and materials for building ranches. We talked about NASA and how cool it was that we have a space center in Houston, Texas.
We also worked on a new class book. We discussed what a cowboy/cowgirl could do and then colored our own cowboys/cowgirls and worked one on one with handwriting and letter formation.
Here's some of Pre-K 2's cowgirl pages:
Next, both classes talked about our state animal, armadillos. We all learned some new and interesting facts about armadillos. We read this fun story:
And watched how armadillos use their armor for protection by curling into a ball if they are in danger. We watched this little guy curling up-
Then we practiced curling up ourselves. Next, both classes read this book-
Amy and I agreed that this story was adorable. We also read The Little Red Hen and both classes did a Venn diagram comparing the two stories.
Over in Pre-K 1 our cooking savvy teacher Ms. Angela had ingredients ready for our class to make turkey chili!
She went over the recipe and we let the peas smell the spices.
Then she had friends help put all the ingredients together!
A few hours later and we did this:
We do a LOT of cooking in both of our classes and we always tell the peas they don't have to try anything they don't want to, but more often than not they end up wanting to try all sorts of foods! I think it's because they actively participate in making the foods. ;) And I'm sure you know by now, we graphed it. We were pretty half and half on who liked the chili. (It was delicious by the way!)
We also had a very catchy song for our pocket chart and journals this week in Pre-K 1. Ask your pea, they may be able to sing it to you by now! It goes:
There was a state,
a western state,
and Texas was it's name-o.
T-E-X-A-S
T-E-X-A-S
T-E-X-A-S
and Texas was it's name-o.
We are practicing tracking print and using pointers to read the circle time wall. We want to give our emergent readers many opportunities to practice literacy skills!
Later we glued our poem in our journals and added a Texas we colored.
We encourage them to add words, they can write their names, copy the words of the poem, etc. Here's one awesome journal entry:
I know, you think this blog post is never going to end. Well, we did a lot of things! Next, we read this super duper cute story:
I was bummed that I didn't get it from the library, but Ms. Angela saved the day by finding it on Between the Lions, so we had the peas listen to/watch the story on the ipads before heading to a taste testing center.
We tried chips with salsa and queso to see if we liked it.
And then....we graphed it!
Both classes are continuing to work on patterning so we also did this chili pepper pattern sheet for patterning practice and fun. They did great on it!
One of the last things we did was illustrate a Texas Nursery Rhyme! We read this silly variation of Humpty Dumpty:
and then the peas illustrated it at a come and go center. You can check it out on the wall of our classroom!
Can you see Humpty's cracks?
Pre-K 2 documented some of their fun E activities this week, including this E story.
The also colored E easy reader books to match.
Ms. Amy was telling us that her peas have taken to doing their daily work in any comfortable place, and this week a lot of them did it on the carpet together. Aren't they sweet?
They also earned their class party this week and celebrated with some popcorn trail mix!
Well, that wraps up our Texas week. We sure loved this week! We are looking forward to all the wonderful fall themes coming up and have so many fun learning activities planned for the peas! Oh, and last, but not least, we just made these for fun in Pre-K 1:
If you've seen this girl going up the slide, let us know. There's a reward. You can see the rest of our outlaws hanging up in our room. :) Happy Friday, have a wonderful weekend!
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