Magnetic Tube Marble Racing

I put this activity together as part of our Magnets unit, and it has remained a standby center in all the weeks since. (Perfect for the whole "motion" aspect of Transportation! The idea came from Teach Preschool.)

The children helped paint a bunch of cardboard tubes one day. Once dry, I wrapped each tube in contact paper for durability and attached two magnets (found at Daiso) using hot glue. That's it - stack the tubes (we used our magnetic whiteboard), add a few marbles, and see what happens!

The children love assembling the tubes in different ways, seeing how tall they can make their marble runs! The boys in the above photos were figuring out how big a gap they could leave between tubes before the marbles would escape. They also found some plastic containers to use for catching (or trying to catch!) their marbles as they came out.

Simple, inventive, and fun.

Firsts and Bursts

I love "firsts." It's one of my favorite things about teaching very young children.

The first time Alya used, "Help me, please!" without any prompting. The first time Majed strung the sounds S-O-N-Y together to read, "Sony!" on the MP3 player. The first time we had a successful English-only brainstorming session.

No matter how many "firsts" you have, they never get old. Take today: A little boy identified a letter in environmental print for the first time:

"Ms. Emy! Ms. Emy! LOOK! O." 

I was instantly flooded with so much excitement and pride I thought I might burst. (This is frequently true about so much of what my students do!)

Here's the letter on our carpet:

I wrote before about how we tape and walk our letters. Since then, the children have started helping me construct the letters, which has been a great way to work on critical and spacial thinking skills, as well as team work.

The letter "O" love didn't stop there. The same student that identified it on our "Colors" poster during whole group decided to write it out during centers - another amazing first!

Do you see his pink "O's" in the center? And the yellow one to the right?

From across the room he called to show me what he'd done, and when he realized I didn't understand right away, he showed me:

:)

Now, of course, all the children are extra busy finding and writing letters they know (and some they're not so sure about yet!). Not only do I love the "firsts," but the whirlwind domino effect is pretty spectacular, too! Here's to many a few more of these learning bursts as we enter these final weeks of KG1.

Making a Mural

We worked together to create a beautiful display for our Under the Sea theme last week.

Using recyclables (cardboard tubes and egg boxes), we painted a bubble-filled background on blue butcher paper . . . 

. . . while others worked to make cardboard squid:

Some of us sponge painted "R" shapes to look like reef. Did you know sponges actually come from the ocean? ;)

Eventually we added some other fun items, including the cool cardboard fish we'd been working on the week before - but not until we'd used them for a little addition practice!

We fished in two separate "ponds," gathering the fish in a basket, then counted our total catch. (The process was similar to what we did here with eggs. This time, however, some children drew out their own addition problems as a way of leaning into that next developmental step.)

Our mural is now hanging in the corridor, and we've been getting lots of compliments on our hard work! As always, pictures of the finished product to come . . . stay tuned :)

Bear Surgery

There was an emergency play dough removal that took place in our classroom the other day. . .

I'm sure the bear's the better for it :)

It amazes me what children come up with. A lab coat from the science center (must've had those masks still in the pockets), a wrench from the magnet station, and a teddy bear from the reading corner turned into something excellent.

I live for the brilliant, unexpected moments like these. Children are so incredible. What an honor to spend my days with these creative little humans.

Recycling in 1-4

In honor of Earth Day, we've been learning how to recycle. Yesterday we practiced sorting materials into plastic, metal, and paper. We also cleaned out our messy (pretend) fish pond and talked about how trash can hurt the fish. That's one reason why it's important to throw our trash in the waste bin, instead of on the floor or ground. Some trash can even be used again to make new things, or recycled! 

School-Home Connection: Recycling

We'll be watching the video below at school soon, but feel free to watch and talk about it at home, too!

Color Party

For some reason, last Thursday the children became convinced that we were having a party. Not sure how or where the rumor started, except for that it was a non-uniform day. Before simply telling them "No," that in fact there was no party planned, Abla Salwa turned to Mrs. Emy and said two of the best words on the planet:

Why not?

So we spent the last 30 minutes of the day having a spontaneous Color Party!

We blew up balloons and put on some dance-worthy music (the children LOVE this song!) . . .

. . . and Abla Salwa painted faces . . .

. . . while Mrs. Emy taught about the static electricity that results from rubbing a balloon on your head.

The balloons act like magnets!

 Our party was both a learning experience and a great time.

Such a fun way to end our color theme and welcome the weekend.

Thank you for the idea, children!

Everyday Discoveries: Words and Letters

The children are becoming more aware of words and letters in their surroundings with each passing day . . .

It's such a privilege to witness and guide them in their discoveries. Their growth and capacity for learning never cease to amaze.

(Can you tell it was Purple Day when these photos were taken? :) )