Mrs. Mundell's Lively Ladybugs: February 2012

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Self Portraits, Dinosaur Eggs and the Coast Guard Field Trip

The children began the week by drawing detailed portraits of themselves. With minimal teacher direction each child looked in the mirror and talked about their eye and hair color and then began their drawings. After adding hair, clothing, shoes and even shoes, some boys and girls drew their families and pets.

After sharing books and portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln the children learned about the important job they both held as being Presidents of our country, The United States of America. When reciting the Pledge of Allegiance we talked about how the flag that we salute each day represents our country. Magnifying glasses were used to view a penny up close and see the picture of Abraham Lincoln.

This week the children were excited to discover some more dinosaurs hanging out on some really cool rocks in our sensory table.

After solving puzzles and seeing these gigantic and unusually unique creatures, the children used dinosaur non-fiction books to find out their names. Now they are beginning to call them by name and identify their characteristics.

Did you know that dinosaurs laid eggs? The Lively Ladybugs discovered this fact when reading some of our many wonderful books about dinosaurs. Now we are making our own dinosaur eggs! First we used both sets of pincher fingers to tear strips of newspaper. Then we mixed flour and water together until it looked kind of like pancake batter. Next we dipped our newspaper strips into the mixture and held the strip with pincher fingers and used careful scissor fingers to remove the excess mixture from the strip. THEN we began covering a balloon with our newspaper strips.

We worked together as a team as some of us tore newspaper and then delivered it to the next table where we were covering eggs.

On Thursday we were off to the Coast Guard to learn about their many important jobs and the special vehicles they use when keeping people safe.

After observing the huge Coast Guard plane from the outside we were able to step inside!

Next we learned about the big rotor on top of the helicopter and saw one preparing to take off!

Inside of the helicopter we saw the pump that is used to get the water out of a sinking boat and the basket that is used to rescue people.

Then we were able to sit in the pilot's seat and see all of the many instruments used to fly the helicopter.

Next we learned about people who worked on the helicopters to keep them safe and ready to fly. We even knew some friends there!

What a great trip thanks to our friends at the Coast Guard!

In Exploring this week we made fossils by pouring plaster of paris into a cup with a little dinosaur. It began to harden very quickly just like those old dinosaur bones did.

Then we made fossil necklaces by threading various shapes of pasta onto colored thread, sometimes making a pattern.

The children enjoyed dramatic play using a dinosaur like environment and curved blocks with strips of orange and red paper to make volcanoes.

For snack the boys and girls stomped on graham crackers like dinosaurs to begin making a dinosaur nest. Then they we added a little bit of yogurt for the mud and topped it with jelly beans for eggs.

Dates to remember:

2/29 Class Photo Day

3/9 Spring Break Party

3/12 - 3/16 Spring Break

3/30 Relay For Life

4/5 Field Trip to dentist

Monday, February 20, 2012

Valentine's Day, Dinosaurs and the Paleontology Lab

The week began by putting those final touches on our special Valentines for Mom and Dad. After making a beautiful heart collage the boys and girls signed their names to a Valentine poem that they glued to their collage.

The boys and girls had fun delivering Valentines to all of their classmates. They matched the name on their cards to the correct name on the bag, reading each one aloud as they excitedly placed them in their bags.

Valentine's Day began with a cuddly surprise waiting in each child's cubby from two of their favorite admirers, their teachers! What a great way to start the day, feeling loved!

Then the boys and girls gathered on the rug sharing their animals. At circle time each child introduced them to their friends, sharing their names.

Then the Valentine Party began with Mrs. McIvor showing us a Jackson Pollack painting and our teachers demonstrating how we were going to paint our own t - shirts just like Jackson Pollack himself!

What a messy good time the children had as they splattered paint on their shirts creating art masterpieces!

Painting shapes, flowers and designs on little flower pots was a fun time. First the children found the pot with their name on the bottom and then got busy painting. Next they chose Negro or Cafe tissue to scrunch up for soil and then carefully counted six chocolate kisses to place in the soil. Last but not least they chose a seed packet of flowers.

The children enjoyed playing Bingo with their own bag of conversation hearts, naming each color they got in Spanish. We had some big winners. and when the game was over we even enjoyed sampling a few of the playing pieces.

We all enjoyed the company of our Moms, Dads, Grandmoms and Granddads. Opening their many valentines and reading the message inside was a treat for all!

In the Exploratorium the children made strawberry shortcakes and practiced throwing balls through the holes in the Valentine Board.

What a special Valentine's Day!

Then came the D I N O S A U R S!! After reading the book, "Big Dinosaurs" by Tony Kosara the children observed the magnificent creatures and their many interesting characteristics. The boys and girls learned that there were two types of dinosaurs, carnivores and herbivores, and that they lived many, many years ago before there were people on earth.

The children explored dinosaurs through books, puzzles, Legos and at the art center.

A Paleontology Lab opened just this week in our Exploratorium. Lab coats. binoculars, magnifying glasses and cameras are used when studying dinosaur fossils and life on our planet Earth long ago.

Mrs. McIvor introduced us to the trumpet this week in Music class. The children learned about the push valves and how to buzz your lips against the mouthpiece of the trumpet.

Playing the guitar while singing their favorite song and dancing with ribbons was another highlight in Music class this week.

This week we had a special mystery reader in the library. He read "Baa Choo" by Sarah Weeks about a little lamb named Sam who tried to sneeze but had trouble with his"choo!" The book was enjoyed by all and we loved the rhyming words.