Language development Centers

At the end of the day students worked in play centers. I was amazed at how well they worked and were able to remember how to clean up and use materials correctly. I also watched the students in the reading center. They loved reading the Elephant and Piggy books by Mo Williams. They used the pictures and even used their voices to sound like the characters.

K works on a dinosaur painting

Students also were interested in a calendar that I had brought in for the New Year. They wanted to use the paints and create the same type of painting. We talked about brush strokes and how the artists take their time and use lots of details to create their art work. 

L makes her painting

A adds details

 Students continued  to show their interest in dinosaurs. In the free choice art center they took paper and created dinosaur puppets. They started talking about how they could create their own puppet show about dinosaurs.

B makes his puppet

Lastly in playdough students worked on creating something that they have eaten before. The big topic was how to make a hamburger. They talked with each other and decided they needed lettuce, cheese, and pickles. Here is what it looked like:

More learning

I can't believe how fast the first month of school has gone by. Students are beginning to learn more and more about each other and are using language much more to convey meaning. They have recently done independent reading for the past few weeks to help them learn more about books and also how to look at parts of books. Today they had the opportunity to read with a partner, which allows students the opportunities to express themselves in a more comfortable way as well as learn from each other in reading. During partner time they have the opportunity to explore texts and share with a friend.

W and K read together on the couch

Students also worked on figuring out the difference between small, medium, and larger. We started with the book The Three Little Bears to help activate prior knowledge. Students were able to think about questions asked and were then sent to their seats to work on sorting by these attributes. 

Students also had FAN 4 KIDS with Ms Tara today. They talked about why it is important to eat healthy and why they should participate in healthy activities. They were also weighed and their height was recorded.