Sunday, October 31, 2010

Weekly Favorites, October 31, 2010

Each Sunday, I’ll post favorite links I’ve found throughout the week that are creative, interesting, informative etc. I’ll try to narrow it down to five, but sometimes will have more. I’ve thought of this before, but never got around to it. Recently, I saw a post from, The Imagination Tree that reminded me of it. It’s a good way to link up to other people’s blogs and it’ll be easier when I want to find all these activities in the future.



1.
Ice Bowling!
I had never seen this activity before and thought it was really neat. I love the way the blue ball came out.



2.
If We Did That, Teacher Tom, We Would Die!
A great post on safety and helping children make their own judgments about what is safe. I like his approach.


3.
Patterning With Gumdrops!
A fun but simple activity.


4.
The Value of Scooping, Pouring and Counting Candy Corn
Another simple, but fun activity good for Halloween. I had to include it because I love candy corn!


5.
Exploring The Five Senses with A Pumpkin
A creative post about how to use all five senses to explore a pumpkin. It's also great for Halloween or a general fall theme.


6.
Jelly Volcano Balloons!
This is because I couldn't narrow it down to just five. Another great activity using balloons from, A Little Learning for Two.

Happy Halloween!!!!
Boo!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

In the Kitchen

Here’s another sound and picture matching activity. This one deals with things that can be found in the kitchen. I hope you enjoy it.
Click here for the folder with sounds and pictures.


Track List:
1. Hot Chocolate
2. Popcorn
3. Frying Bacon
4. Pouring Cereal
5. Chopping Vegetables
6. Filling Sink
7. Refridgerator Closing
8. Cracking Eggs
9. Ice Cubes in Glass
10. Rolling Pin Rolling Dough
11. Silverware
12. Spreading Jelly on Toast
13. Peeling Potatos
14. Nut Cracker
15. Mixing Whipped Cream



Bacon

Cereal

Eggs

 


Refridgerator

Hot Chocolate

Ice Cubes

 


Nut Cracker

Popcorn

Potatos

 


rolling Pin

Silverware

Sink




Toast

Vegetables

Whipped Cream




All pictures were found using Google Images and they are clip art.

Friday, October 22, 2010

My Friend's Last Day

Today was my friend’s last day. My friend with the Fire Truck.
This morning, he saw me when I walked in. He showed me the book he brought for the center and then he followed me to the office. He noticed I have a backpack and he said, “You have a backpack too? Like mine?” I said, “Yes, I have a backpack.” I told him it was cool that we both had backpacks and we went into the classroom. His mother was still there. She stayed for a few minutes to talk to us and then said goodbye because his dad was coming to pick him up instead of her in the afternoon.

They didn’t have our usual play-dough out so we sat down at a table and he looked at the book he had brought with another teacher. After that, we started lacing spools. They had pipe cleaners and shoe laces that they were threading through the holes in the spools. He did most of them fine, but there were a couple of spools that he had trouble threading so he asked for my help, but he was pretty quiet for the rest of the time. I was told to go outside and help with the other group of kids which made me miss his little snack party.

When I saw him again, he ran over and sat in my lap during story time. After that we went outside and he pretended the caterpillar tunnel was a train, played in one of the houses for a while and then I had to take him inside. He started talking about fire safety from last week. He noticed a smoke detector and made the beeping noise. He told me that when there’s a fire that you have to leave. I said the word, “Exit.” Then he said, “Yeah. You exit.” He talked about how if you can’t get out the door you have to go out the window in the classroom. I asked him where we’re supposed to go once you get outside and he pointed to the door that leads to the parking lot. I said, “You know a lot about fire safety.” He said, “I know a lot about fire safety.”
We watched a short movie and then it was lunch time. The kids nap for a while after lunch, but he’s one of the ones that wake up early so I brought him back to the classroom. We played with play-dough for a while, but we had different molds to use. Some were dolphins, starfish, and lobsters and there is this thing that the kids call, “Crazy hair.” You push it down on to the play-dough and long stringy pieces come out of it. It’s like an extruder for clay. He made a few shapes, but he was back to being quiet again. Some of the other kids thanked him for bringing his book and he decided to play in the kitchen area with a telephone. I asked who he was calling and it turned out to be his dad.

A woman came in to do Tyche with the older kids and he didn’t want to participate so he brought his stuffed hedgehog over and sat with me. I always have called it, “igelkott” ever since his mother told us what the word for hedgehog is in Swedish. When I first said that to him, he laughed probably because I said it wrong. Then I got the other kids saying it and he’d laugh even harder at that. He finally started to look out the window until his dad drove up and he ran out of the classroom. The director stopped him and told him to make sure to get his lunch box. I ran after him because I didn’t want him leaving with out an adult. He almost forgot, “igelkott” so the director ran out to give it to him. When we got to the door to the lobby, his dad was there getting the rest of his stuff. He thanked another teacher and me for taking care of his son. Then he ran out the door and almost to the parking lot. I caught him and had to bring him back to his dad, but at first he wanted to stay in the entry way. Eventually, we were able to say goodbye to him and give him a hug. He was happy to be going home with his dad and quickly went out the door. I know he probably won’t remember me later, but I’ll always remember making big pancakes and counting eggs with play-dough, arguing about more pushes on the swing and, “igelkott.”

Thursday, October 21, 2010

The Fire Truck

Last week, the kids learned about fire safety. On Wednesday, two firemen brought the fire truck so the kids could see them in their uniforms and look at the fire truck. The kids were able to spray the hose on the lawn and sit in the driver’s seat of the fire truck while having their picture taken. Earlier that morning, the little boy who loves to make food out of play-dough ran over to me carrying his plastic fire hat. All he could tell me was that it was a fire hat and he put it on his head and then took it off. He sat on my lap and while another teacher was asking questions about fire safety, he’d be one of the first to answer. At the end of the day, his mother told me he loves fire trucks and that at home, he and his brother are always playing with them. I remembered him playing outside a few weeks ago. He sat up in the play house and kept saying that he needed to put out the fire. His way of putting it out was to fill a bucket with wood chips and pour it on an imaginary fire somewhere on the playground. Every time I thought he was done and that he had put out the fire, he’d say that there was a new fire and he had put that one out too.

Usually, his last day of school for the week is Thursdays. Since he will be moving back to Sweden after this week, I bought him a going away gift. I found a fire truck that makes sounds. It has four buttons for the different sounds. I also got him run run koala!
I was actually looking for a book about fire trucks or trains, but there weren’t any that I liked so I bought this one hoping he’d like it. When he opened his gifts on Tuesday, he was excited about the fire truck. He immediately found the buttons and listened to all the sounds. I wasn’t sure if his mother was in a hurry so I told him there was something else in the bag. After digging through all the tissue paper, he found the Diego book and he was even more excited about that. It turned out that he loves Diego and the, “Dora The Explorer” show. I was glad I had picked that book because he started looking through it right there and wanted it read to him. His mom explained that they could go home and play so they packed up the bag and he lifted it. He found it heavy, but he wanted to carry it anyway. The director walked by and he had to show her his new big fire truck. After he put the fire truck away again, he realized the bag had his name written on it and pointed at a couple of the letters. His mother thanked me and he gave me a hug. I was happy that he liked his gifts and that I had the chance to get to know him.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Matching Pies to Foods

Monday’s match is part two of the Numbered Pie Match.
For this one, the children can match the pie with what food it is made from. This way, they can see the food in its original form and what you can make out of it. Of course, this activity would be better before or after making real pies.


Apple Pie

Apple

 


Banana Cream Pie

Bananas




Blackberry Pie

Blackberries




Blueberry Pie

Blueberries




Cherry Pie

Cherries




Chocolate Cream Pie

Chocolate Pudding




Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon




Peanut Butter Pie

Peanut Butter




Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin




Strawberry Pie

Strawberry



All pictures were found using Google Images and they are clip art.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Numbered Pie Matching

Here’s another matching activity for fall. What you do is cut the pies out and then cut them in half so there are two halves to match up. If you are using a file folder, right the numbers 1 through 10 next to one set of pie halves and then you can write the same corresponding numbers on the back of the other pie halves. If you are using match cards, you can either hand write the number right on the picture or copy and paste using the computer as I did with the blackberry pie. There will be a part two of this which I will post next week. I hope you enjoy this.


Apple

Banana Cream




Blackberry

Blueberry




Cherry

Chocolate Cream




Lemon Meringue

Peanut Butter




Pumpkin

Strawberry



All pictures were found using Google Images.

 
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