Ordering Numbers

Before . . .

. . . meets After :)

Note: The girls in the background of the second photo are NOT injured or sleeping! A group of them were tracing each others' bodies with sidewalk chalk, an extension of an activity we did during our "All About Me" unit at the beginning of the year.

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.

"M" is for Marble Painting

A cookie sheet, marbles, and paint made for a fun process the children were eager to explore . . .

I think almost everyone made at least two paintings, and some enthusiastic participants made even more than that!

Mural Close-Ups

. . . are finally here!

"R" is for "reef" -- on the sandy, sponge-painted ocean floor.

The children cut  and placed the seaweed themselves, too.

Colorful jellyfish floating by.

Our abstract cardboard fish incorporate scraps from a marble painting project earlier in the year, as well as weaving. (They were inspired by these.)

Cute cardboard squid, as seen previously in-process.

Is that a handprint I spy? :)

Goldfish Cracker Numeracy

During our Sea Creatures focus, we did some counting using Goldfish Crackers, which I was surprised and fortunate to find in stock at Lulu's!

I laminated several counting mats for the children to use during small group time. (They were numbered one through six, though this could easily be extended. Not pictured are the mats I adapted by drawing on "counting dots" to assist the children that still have trouble recognizing all of the numerals.) The children simply counted out the proper quantity of goldfish to match the amount shown on each bowl. 

Another simple way to adapt this activity is to introduce a "control" (Montessori-style). Instead of simply setting out a whole bunch of crackers, you'd pre-count the exact number necessary to complete the task (in this case, 21 crackers). The children then have a way to self-check their results. 

We extended the activity by using some crackers for addition, too:

Using small-scale manipulatives in this way mirrored the activity we'd been doing in whole group. While most of our class is still building up the fine motor skills necessary to draw/write out an activity like this, quite a few are ready for the mental task itself. It could easily be completed using stickers and pre-made numerals for students to glue on in place of writing.

Here's what the process looked like during whole group (once again, similar to what we did here with eggs):

Writing out our carpet during whole group . . .

. . . and showing our work with pictures the next day (some of the children completed did this independently during small group as an extension).

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 :)

Making Paper

We did this activity as part of our study on solids and liquids. It was also a great tie-in with our recycling theme the following week. I try to consciously incorporate "bridges" most weeks -- activities that suit our current focus but also link to whatever we're planning to cover the following week. It gives the children an additional reference point to help them connect with new learning.

After morning circle, we spent some time tearing old paper scraps (more leftovers from this project) into very tiny pieces and left them to soak in a tub of water.

A few hours later, the paper had absorbed a decent amount of water (and those big pieces in the photo above had been re-shredded!). I used an immersion blender to pulverize the wet scraps a little at a time. The children thought it looked like ice cream! (But we all agreed it was probably best not to take a taste.)

Unfortunately, there are no photos of the blending step, as I was teaching on my own this particular day. However, the fact that we managed to finish this project, just one teacher and 22 little ones, tells you how fun and easy it is!

Finally, we spread our paper mush out on some towels and patted it out like a pizza crust. We also pressed dish towels on top to absorb the excess water. Once our paper "dough" was nice and flat, we placed another thick towel on top, as well as some heavy bins. Two days later, voila -- we had paper! Not sure what we'll use it for yet, but I'll be sure to share once we figure it out!

Story of the Week: Stars

We spent last week exploring solids and liquids. Towards the end of the week, Salwa and I co-read the book Stars by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Marla Frazee.

Because this book is a bit longer and requires some deeper thinking on the part of the children, it was easier for them to engage when listening in both languages. I'd start by reading a page in English, then Salwa would translate and clarify.

We found Stars to be a very soothing book; our class was drawn in slowly, calmly, one page at a time.

After reading we posed a question to the children: What is a star?

The children knew stars were neither solid nor liquid, and it was interesting to watch them contemplate the possible answers to the question. We touched briefly on the idea of gas (which we explored again the next day . . . but more on that later!). The idea wasn't to reach a concrete definition or give them any kind of direct explanation -- we just wanted to get them thinking and hopefully asking more questions.

As a follow up to the book and discussion, we explored a new-to-us process: bubble painting! 

We mixed dish soap, paint, and water in a small container, then used a straw to make colorful bubbles.

After giving the children plenty of time to explore the bubble-making process, we gave them star cutouts to make prints with the bubbles:

It was a great way link what we already knew about liquids with a new concept (our breath as the gas that makes the bubbles), and in the context of a beautiful story and project.

Yet another one we just can't wait to display!

Press Here Display

Below, some photos of our (beautiful!) completed Press Here collages, now on display outside our classroom.

Thought of the Day

"Learning is messy." 

Eleanor Duckworth

Story of the Week: Press Here

Yesterday we kicked off our new unit with the book Press Here by Herve' Tullet. Tullet's books are bright, playful, and creative, which makes them some of my favorite to use in the preschool classroom.

Press Here is full of directional language and really plays on children's curiosity as they watch the magic unfold on each page. Here's an example from the first few pages of the book:

Press the dot on the first page, and two appear on the next! Children are excited and amazed by what they can "cause" the book to do as they read. (And believe me, it only gets better!)

Press Here also incorporates red, yellow, and blue (the primary colors), along with black and white, which made it the perfect tie-in for our colors/color mixing theme. After we finished reading, we made tissue paper dot collages using different sized circles.

We used paintbrushes to cover a sheet of white tagboard with a mixture of glue and water, then (gently) placed the tissue paper circles onto the sticky surface.

This was a process-based activity, meaning there was no specific end-goal in mind or "right way" to complete the project. The idea was to allow children to explore the materials with minimal teacher input as to what they were "supposed" to make. A few learned very quickly that rubbing the tissue paper would cause it to tear, and that too much glue would cause wrinkles. These kinds of discoveries are so much more meaningful when children figure them out for themselves, in their own time.

Pulling individual circles from a stack was also great for developing fine motor skills.

Our collages are dry but still need to be hung; we'll update you on the results once that's done. Have a great night!