Our Day in the Dark!

We've been talking about bats this week! We've read lots of books about bats, learned interesting facts, and created some bats of our own. One of the most intriguing ideas to us is that bats stay awake all night and sleep all day-> they are nocturnal animals.

Books about BATS

our list of bat facts

measuring with bat manipulatives

sequencing the events of the story

Today we had our "Day in the Dark"-> we did our center activities with the lights off, imagining we were nocturnal and having school at nighttime. This was a great chance to have sensory centers and let our learning shine!

Just before turning out the lights, we made some glowing flubber (or gak to some) to play with on one of the light tables. Then we all put on a glow bracelet instead of our usual center necklaces, and turned out the lights!

mixing up the flubber and playing with it on the light table

 

waterbeads glowing under the black light

This was probably the favorite center- glow writing with highlighters under the blacklight. Hopefully the kids won't be disappointed when all their pictures don't glow in the dark at home the way they did under the special lamp!

Lite Brite-using pegs and letters

Glitter playdough on the lightbox is new and different!

using our Letter Builders to make letters and shapes on the light box

We did it all under the light of the moon and stars!

After centers, we all came back to the rug to play a game together with a bunch of glow in the dark bugs. We learned this week that one way bats are important to people is by eating lots and lots of bugs. So, we used our grabber tongs to see how many glowing bugs we could "catch" in a short amount of time. Our best bug catching "bat" caught 8 bugs- pretty good, but not as amazing as the real little brown bat that helps us out by eating 1000 mosquitos in an hour!

 

Tuesday, Oct. 16

After all the mixed up- but FUN- days last week, it was good to have a low key day of centers today! First, we had a productive circle time where we practiced our Halloween songs for Summer Breeze. Then we made a list of words that start with the "Bb" sound. It was a pretty good list!

After everyone came up and circled a Bb on the list, we read some books about bats. Then off to our centers!

One group played with fridge phonics and people magnets on the carpet.

Another group started covering Bb with beans and buttons. We tried to glue these on in the exact shape of the letters, so that when we run our fingers over it, we can feel the shape of the letter.

This group used the dot painters to paint a bat picture:

The last center was folder games with Mrs. Horton. We matched upper and lowercase letters, found similar picture pairs and practiced our shapes.

After another circle time to go over the calendar, do some counting and read another book, we had a yummy snack of apple slices with chocolate peanut butter dip. It was a big hit with everyone (especially Ms. Heather!). Then we had individual book reading time, and before we knew it, it was time to pack up and head out for a few minutes of playground time. Usually at line up, we have to answer a question from Ms. Heather before we get to leave the carpet and get in line. It might be a letter or number flashcard, or a fun fact, or a phonics word. Today, Ms. Heather had her iPad at school, so each one of us had to use a one finger touch to write a letter or a number on Letter School before we got in line. Good practice, and good fun!

Firefighter Visit

Wednesday we had more visitors to school! 2 firefighters, along with their amazing trucks, came to talk with us about fire safety. We saw all the equipment they use to keep themselves safe when putting out fires. The mask and breathing equipment looked and sounded very strange, but it was a good idea to see it now so that we won't be afraid if we ever need help from a firefighter wearing all that equipment. After a little safety talk, we took some pictures and got a chance to climb through one of the fire trucks. Thank you to the firefighters for our hats and coloring books!

A Visit from the Vet

Tuesday we had some special visitors in class! Dr. Mahany and Michelle, along with a sweet dog named Lamont, came over from Islands Veterinary Clinic to show us how they give check ups to their pet patients. We also had a pet sitter, Sarah Taylor, bring her darling kitten Truman. All the students were ready to see how a vet helps our pets. Dr. Mahany explained that Lamont gets his check up from tip to tail. He showed us how he checks the nose, ears, eyes and teeth. Then he checks his belly and paws, and all the back to the tail. He used special tools to hear the heart, and look inside ears. Several students noticed that their people doctor uses the same kind of tools! Lamont got his shots in class today too. Everyone was amazed he stood still and didn't even cry a little bit when he got his shot. Brave dog! 

 

After Dr. Mahany and Michelle checked over Lamont, the students all got a chance to come up and listen to his heart beat, and give him a nice pat. 

 

After that, Michelle took Lamont over to the corner for some treats, and Ms. Sarah brought her kitten Truman over to see Dr. Mahany. Truman got his check up, and while very well behaved, was just a little more wiggly than Lamont. Dr. Mahany told us that is usually true for cats vs dogs. He asked us if we knew any other differences between cats and dogs, and we talked about size, noises they make, and what they do. For example, it was noted that dogs chase cats, and cats do not often chase dogs. Cats purr, and dogs bark. Cat tongues are usually rougher than dog tongues. 

 

We had a wonderful time with all our special guests, especially Lamont and Truman! Thank you so much to all of them for taking the time to come and see us, and teaching us how to take care of our animal friends.

Future Vets

Lots of fun was had in our cooperative learning center this week! We had a box of vet gear- stethoscopes, bandages, cotton balls, thermometers, shots (medicine syringes), X-rays (dog and cat skeletons printed on transparencies) and, of course, lots of stuffed animals needing care and medical treatment. It was definitely the favorite center of the week, so we had it open every day. Tuesday, Dr. Mahany is coming to show us how the real veterinarians take care of our pets!

blood pressure seems normal

checking the "x-rays" on the light table

Doctor, I need some help with this!

In other centers, we worked a bit in our practice workbooks on writing letters. We made a little book on  pet safety, which we read as a class. This was a good chance to talk about some book characteristics such as covers, page numbers, and left to right directionality for reading/ page turning. Clothespins were clipped on cards and wheels for counting practice. We practiced writing numbers and our new letter Dd in corn meal trays. We also had fun stamping with pet stamps, and even painting with dog bones!

Off to the Library!

Today was our first trip to the library for story time. We had a great time listening to several stories, singing some songs and playing instruments. We did pretty well walking over two by two, and did an excellent job sitting in our spots and listening with good manners. After we got back, we had our snack, circle time and headed to the playground to run, jump and be loud after all that quiet sitting and listening!

Ready to go!

giving the librarian our full attention

Dance time!

Go Away Big Green Monster!

flannelboard fun