The week began by looking at the milk weed plant and discovering some caterpillars on it! The children found it very interesting to look at the caterpillars as they ate. We rescued one caterpillar from the playground that had run out of milk weed to eat. On Wednesday, we discovered 3 small caterpillars. Then alas, the large caterpillar disappeared. We are hoping that it turned into a chrysalis and we will find it soon.
We celebrated by having the birthday boy tell about his photographs in his birthday book. We ate a fun snack and sang some songs!
One of the center time projects was creating an insect complete with 3 body parts. We gave the children circles, ovals, hearts and some Flyswatter paper from last Friday to cut an oval or a circle. The children decided which shape they would use for each part of their insect. The added eyes, antenna, and tore paper for the 6 legs.
We sang: Insects have 3 body parts, body parts, body parts.
Insects have 3 body parts; head, thorax, abdomen
Insects have 6 legs on them, legs on them, legs on them,
Insects have 6 legs on them; 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6
Building with recycled materials was an exploratorium activity and on other days a center time activity. The children delighted in building and then turn these materials into musical instruments!
Home living in the exploratorium incorporates the loft with table chairs and refrigerator, a listening center under the loft, and a kitchen in front of the bulletin board to cook and serve the food!
After sharing the teachers often read the book the children bring in. This day the Fantastic Fish "read" from the illustrations which is one of the first steps to reading!
She "read" The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle!
At exploring on Friday, we sorted insects and other creatures into "homes" on a large banner paper. Mrs. Gootson read A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni. She talked about how chameleons change color according to the environment that they are in. The children painted a chameleon using dry tempera cakes! Mixing colors with fingers was a favorite activity with Mrs. Mundell! For snack we added cream cheese to butterfly crackers and played the Very Hungry Caterpillar board game!
Dates to Remember:
Mr. Hommeyer was our Mystery Reader on Thursday. He read the Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson!
At exploring on Friday, we sorted insects and other creatures into "homes" on a large banner paper. Mrs. Gootson read A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni. She talked about how chameleons change color according to the environment that they are in. The children painted a chameleon using dry tempera cakes! Mixing colors with fingers was a favorite activity with Mrs. Mundell! For snack we added cream cheese to butterfly crackers and played the Very Hungry Caterpillar board game!
April 16 ~ 21 Celebrate the Arts
~ 19 - 21 Upper Division Production, Sound of Music, tickets available 4/16
~ 20 - 11:00 a.m. - The EC students and LD children will sing in the LD Quad followed by a family picnic
April 25 - Field trip to Dr. Levitt's Dental office
April 27 - Parents Day - Student Activity Center - 8:30. We will be done with festivities in the classroom by approximately 9:30 and we will have a mini-exploring after some time on the playground at approximately 10:30!
May 10 - Field Trip to the St. Pete Pier Aquarium
May - 25 - End of the Year Party - Exploring Schedule - 9:00 playground - 10:00 Party
May 30 - Last Day of School - Noon Dismissal
