Martin Luther King Jr. 2013 and Review

This week we learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the wonderful things he did, peacefully.  I showed the children the music video called "With My Own Two Hands" by Ben Harper and we talked about what we can do with our own two hands.  I explained that we can do good with our hands like care for someone that hurt themselves on the playground or pick up our trash.  Here is a link to the You Tube Video With My Own Two Hands.

I also showed them a cartoon video that gave a simplified history that was narrated by a child: MLK - The King and his Dream.

I read the following books: Stinky the Bulldog, by Jackie Valent about a kind dog that was judged because of his name.  I also read: Shades of People, which showed real pictures of children in many different shades.

For art, I traced the children's hands and later they painted the with water colors (as seen above and below).  While I was tracing their hands, they practiced tracing their own as one of the centers.

For another center, we clipped and unclipped clothes pins.  They work the muscles in their index finger and thumb, which helps strengthen the fingers to hold a pencils.  This is called "fine motor skills".

It has been very cold here.  I took a picture of my next door neighbor's lawn.  Their sprinklers were running and it caused the grass to have frost (it looked like snow) and icicles hanging from under their car.

Here is a picture of children dressed warmly:

Then it warmed up and we didn't need jackets as much:

The Friday class's science lesson was on magnets, which will also be the lesson for the week coming up.

There was a birthday boy who didn't get his gift before the break, so here are some pictures of him getting it: 

Cc is for Clouds

This week we read books about clouds (It Looked Like Spilt Milk, by Charles G. Shaw) and weather.  We were lucky, because in the beginning of the week, we had clear, warm weather.  Then half way through, it got cloudy and rainy.  By the end of the week, it was clear.  It was nice to focus on weather and to talk about meteorologists, because we briefly talk about the weather each week.

It was nice to be back with old friends after a two week break!  

Our letter of the week for phonics, was the letter Cc.  Our  letter for writing was the capital “Q” and the lower case “o”.  Our number for the week was 11, our color for this month is white, and our shape is a square.

For art, we made colored rain drops and colorful cloud shapes!  The children picked three colors, which I put into their pallet.  The tool that we were using was droppers.  The pain is too thick for the droppers, so I had to add a little bit of water.  I showed the children how to stir the pain with their droppers.  It’s always interesting how children discover their own ways of doing things and a lot of times, they teach me.  I noticed them “playing” with the droppers in the paint and noticed that while they played, they were actually mixing the paint by sucking in the water and picking up paint.  The in and out of the paint – mixed it.  I then showed that to the other classes.  After the children dropped the paint onto their paper, they folded the paper in half – on their own.  When they opened it up, it made a beautiful shape, which I called a colorful cloud and asked them to tell me what shape they see in their “cloud” – like from the book: It Looked Like Spilt Milk.

For centers, the children learned and practiced using the dressing plates.  They are boards that are equipped with a: zipper, snaps, buttons, laces, buckles, and ties.  Many of the children didn’t know how to do these tasks, but by the end they could do it, which boosted their confidence!  I LOVE being able to see this!  It’s one of my favorite parts of my job.

In my "all pre-k" class, we revisited the lesson: Uu is for Underground.  We pulled up the radishes to see what it looked like when it was done growing and to look at the roots.  Some of the roots were coming out of the bottom, so we were able to feel them.

I also took a picture of our pumpkins that we've been watching slowly go back to the earth.  We've had them since Halloween.

This week we also celebrated a birthday!

Next week, will be a review week.  We will also learn about Martin Luther King, Jr.