Wind and Water January 12-16

Wind and Water Theme

This theme allows children explore wind and water using observations, experiments,

 and books to learn more about topics such as evaporation, weather, temperature, insulation, rain, and snow

Books this week

-Giberto and the Wind by Marie Hall
 -One Dark Night by Hazel Hutchins
-Rabbits and Raindrops by Jim Arnosky

Small Groups this week

-Phonemic Awareness- We will be focusing on the beginning sounds we hear in our unit books to create a book. 
-Science- We will be conducting experiments on a variety of materials to see if they absorb water or repel. Then we will create a chart to show our results.
-Engineering-We will be using aluminum foil to try to create boats then fill the boats with bears.  We will problem solve to change our designs to see how we can get the most bears on the boats as we can.  
-Tangram Exploration-We will be using tangrams and reinforcing concepts of corners and sides of objects.  How many corners is the shape? How many sides does the shape have?
-Science- We will experiment with how water creates a variety of sounds using a variety of materials to make sounds(ie. eye dropper, cotton ball, block) We will try to come to the conclusion that heavier objects can make a louder sound. 

Center Activities

Art: Painting-moving paint on paper blowing straw

Easel: Painting with colors from the book Gilberto and the Wind  (black, brown and and white paint)
Writing: blank books with crayons and markers
Sand and Water: water and student and teacher created sailboats
Library: Exploring books
Puzzles and Manipulatives: Matching uppercase alphabet arch letters
Dramatic Play: play clothesline and clothes pins for dramatic play
Blocks: building with blocks

Let's Talk About It
-Taking care of animals
-Animal Homes
-Effects of little rain(Kapati Plains Book)
-Times you have been afraid (ie. thunder storm)

Songs, Word Play, Letters
Songs:  Bingo using Windy and Repel words, Magic C rap song
Poems:  My Big Balloon; Mix a Pancake; Five Little Owls in an Old Elm Tree
Literacy Skills: Naming sound game and rhyming word game

Try this at home: Observe signs of weather with your child.

When you are outside ask them to look at the sky about talk about clouds, rain, wind, and storms.

Handwriting
-We will be working on our "Magic C" letters for the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum within our workbooks as well as other hands on activities.
-Literacy Groups will begin.  Our handwriting small groups in the morning will be grouped into RTI groups so children can get the support for what skills each child is working on.  Some of our classmates will stay in our room and others will be going into kinderstars classroom.  Each group will be working on different skills but working toward the common goal of literacy(letter, sounds, writing letters)

Preschool Life Skills
We are continuing to review our previous skills 1-4.
1-When a teacher calls your name, stop, look and say, "Yes".
2-When a teacher tells you to do something, do it "Right Away".
3-When a teacher tells you to do 2 things, do it "Right Away".
4-When something is too hard, first try then say,"Can you help me please?"
5. "When you want something from a teacher or friend and they are doing something, say, "Excuse me" to get them to look at you."
New Skill with this week: (continues)
6- "When someone is in your way or has something that you want, say"Excuse me"to get their attention, and say, "May I____" to get what you want.