Friday, February 18, 2011

World of Color- February 28-March 4

World of Color - Week 3
Theme Concepts– This week we will continue our Unit 4 of the Owl, World of Color. During this unit students will interact with colors explore topics such as color mixing, stains, fading, camouflage, and color patterns. Students will learn that color can be found in nature, that color can carry information, that paints and dyes are used to color things, colors can be mixed to make new colors and that sun and washing can make colors fade.

Weekly Reminders
This week the color is Yellow
During our color unit we will be having a "color day". Please have your child wear the color of the day and/or bring something from home that is that color. Color day will on Thursdays.

Stories
Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
The Lion and The Little Red Bird
Dear Juno

Small Groups
-Remove One- Children will be exposed to the concept of taking away or subtracting.  They will create a book and using manipulatives to take away or subtract one from a set of numbers.

-Mixing Colors with Paper Towels- We will be exploring how colors mix and make new colors.  We will use eye droppers in diluted paint to put on an absorbant paper towel. We will observe and discuss how paints mix together. Eye droppers will further develop our fine motor skills.

-Exploring Books- We will discuss the letter D. We will talk about which books have the letter D in their titles. (Dog's Colorful Day and Dear Juno). Then we will create a dog along with pictures of D words to reinforce the letter and sound.

-Paper Fading Book- We have been conducting an experiment to see how paper will fade in the sunlight. We have left paper in the sun for 1 week and 3 weeks. We will finish our experiment and complete our book to see what we have learned.

-Color Swatches- We will sort and match fabric swatches by colors. We will then put the colors swatches in a chart.

-Book Browsing- Using our characters from The Lion and the Little Red Bird, we will create a positional book to reinforce concepts such as above, below, between, and next to.

**We have small groups in groups of three. Some of these activities will carry over to next week.
Choice:
- Easel –Ice Cream Painting
-Sensory table- Sand- Digging for Buried Treasure
-Dramatic Play- Art Store(Children will buy supplies then go and create something for our art gallergy)
-Art Table- Mixing paint to create new colors and labeling them (ex-red and white= pink lemonade)
-Writing Center – Colored Pencils
-Library- Books about colors
-Fine Motor-small different colored snap blocks
-Blocks –Little People Schools
-Manipulative- colored shapes with design cards

Let’s Talk About It (oral language development)
-Discuss how words inspire color names. For example, lemon yellow, watermelon red, green grass). Lets think of ways to name colors?
-In the Lion and the little red bird, the characters appreciated each other. Did any one today do something you appreciated? (Example: A friend helped you open your snack, Someone shared a marker with you.)
Songs, Word Plays and Letters
1)Colors Song
2) Bananas
3) Five Green and Speckled Frogs
4) Green grass
5) What are you wearing?
6) Can you think of words that rhyme with__?
7) Stand Up (color recognition song)
8) Ice Cream Math Chant

Friday, February 11, 2011

World of Color Week 2 Feb. 14-18

World of Color - Week 2

Theme – This week we will continue our Unit 4 of the Owl, World of Color. During this unit students will interact with colors explore topics such as color mixing, stains, fading, camouflage, and color patterns. Students will learn that color can be found in nature, that color can carry information, that paints and dyes are used to color things, colors can be mixed to make new colors and that sun and washing can make colors fade.

Weekly RemindersThis week the color is Red
During our color unit we will be having a "color day". Please have your child wear the color of the day and/or bring something from home that is that color. Color day will on Thursdays.
Please remember we will be exchanging valentine cards on Monday. Please send them in on Monday and please no candy. Thank you for your help to make it a fun day.

Stories
A Letter to Amy by Ezra Jack Keats
Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
The Lion and The Little Red Bird

Small Groups
-Let's Make a Pattern- We will create patterns using colored animals. We will construct AB or ABC patterns. First we will use manipulatives then create a paper pattern.
-Uppercase Alphabet Memory Game
-Writing- We will write in our journals about our favorite part in our book Max's Dragon Shirt
-Math- How many ice cream cones- Children will be provided with three flavors of "ice cream." They will try to create three ice cream cones that are all different. This is to encourage them to think of different combinations and use problem solving skills.
-Science- In our story The Lion and The Little Red Bird, the lion used dye from food to create a beautiful mural.  We will use various food and explore how the lion used dye from foods.We will be using blueberries, raspberries and beets to create a dye to paint with. 
-Writing- We will be writing our own books inspired by Dog's Colorful Day.  We will create a book about how Dog gets a new colored spot on him.
Choice:
- Easel –Dog's Colorful Spots using bingo dobbers
-Sensory table- Tinted water with clear tubes
-Dramatic Play – Ice Cream Shop
-Art Table- Color Collages
-Writing Center – Colored Pencils
-Library- Books about colors
-Fine Motor-small different colored snap blocks
-Blocks –Colored building blocks
-Manipulative- Lite Brites

Let’s Talk About It (oral language development)
-Has anyone gotten a spot on them like dog?
-How do we have different colored foods? Is your food tinted?
-In Dog's Colorful Day, the dog stepped on trash.  What did you think about that?
Songs, Word Plays and Letters
1)Head Shoulders Knees and Toes
2) Down By the Bay
3) Five Green and Speckled Frogs
4) Green grass
5) What are you wearing?
6) Can you think of words that rhyme with__?
7) Stand Up (color recognition song)
8) Ice Cream Math Chant

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Center Time Photos

 We have been busy washing, drying and folding clothes in our classroom laundromat.

We are using whisks and mixers to mix bubbles and paint. We have been exploring how paint mixes with bubbles.
 In the sensory table we have made our own bubble solution using water, joy soap, and glycerin.  We have funnels, fly swatters, pipe cleaners and strainers to try to make bubbles of different sizes and shapes.
We have read the book Max's Dragon Shirt.  At the easel we have painted our own dragon shirts, just like Max.

We had lots of fun in our dramatic play area dressing up. It is always lots of fun when teachers join in the fun. 
Whisking bubbles at the art table is fun and messy!

Friday, February 4, 2011

World of Color Unit- Week 1- Feb7-11

World of Color - Week 1

Theme – This week we will continue our Unit 4 of the Owl, World of Color. During this unit students will interact with colors explore topics such as color mixing, stains, fading, camouflage, and color patterns. Students will learn that color can be found in nature, that color can carry information, that paints and dyes are used to color things, colors can be mixed to make new colors and that sun and washing can make colors fade.

Weekly RemindersThis week the color is blue
During our color unit we will be having a "color day". Please have your child wear the color of the day and/or  bring something from home that is that color. Color day will on Thursdays.

Stories
Max's Dragon Shirt by Rosemary Wells
Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
Small Groups
-Let's Talk about patterns- We will describe pattern and non-patterns by looking at models.  We then use manipulatives to create patterns using blocks and beads.
-Valentine Mailboxes- We will create "mailboxes" using collage materials for our valentine letter exchange.
-Is it colorfast? We will use crepe paper and diluted paints to explore how colors blend onto crepe paper. We will make predictions and observations about our experiment.
-Let's Make a Pattern- We will create patterns using colored animals. We will construct AB or ABC patterns. First we will use manipulatives then create a paper pattern.
-Uppercase Alphabet Memory Game
-Will Colored Paper Fade-We will conduct an paper fading experiment by putting construction paper in a sunny window. We will cover half of the paper to see if the sunlight fades the paper.  We will have to wait a few weeks to see our results. 
Choice:
- Easel –Painting our our Dragon Shirts (inspired by our book Max's Dragon Shirt)
-Sensory table- Bubbles and objects to create a variety of bubbles
-Dramatic Play – Laundromat -sorting dark and light colored clothes
-Art Table- Finger painting
-Writing Center – Making Valentines for our friends to put into our class mailbox
-Library- Books about colors
-Fine Motor-Pegboards and colored pegs
-Blocks –Colored building blocks

Let’s Talk About It (oral language development)
-Washing clothes and how they can fade in wash
-Colors of food and flavors (ex- brown ice cream is chocolate)
-How to say thank you to people for helping us
Songs, Word Plays and Letters
1)Head Shoulders Knees and Toes
2) Down By the Bay
3) Five Green and Speckled Frogs
4) Green grass
5) What are you wearing?
6) Can you think of words that rhyme with__?
7) Stand Up (color recognition song)
8) Hands