Ocean Life Learning Adventure!

A couple weeks ago, we spent the week in preschool talking about Ocean Life and the animals that live in the ocean!  It was so much fun and the students really enjoyed learning about ocean life and what animals were like that lived in the ocean.  We had a week packed full of activities and I wish we could have done more because there is so many fun things to do that revolve around ocean life adventures!  Here is a quick recap of what we did during ocean life week!

On Monday, we discussed the difference between land animals and water animals.  I printed off pictures of both types of animals and then handed each student a picture and they had to decide where the animal lived...on the water or on the land!  They love activities that keep them involved and moving so they really enjoyed this activity :) Below is a picture of our land animal vs. water animal poster!

On Tuesday, I took the day off to pursue a hobby of sewing, but that didn't mean my preschoolers got the day off! No way :)!  I had the students vote for their favorite ocean animal...ideally I would have liked the students to vote on their own...but my assistant did the activity a little bit different but that's okay!  At least they have an idea of what voting is and deciding which category had the most and which category had the least.  Overall, I heard they did very well with this activity!  Below is a picture of our Favorite Ocean Animal graph.

On Wednesday,  I had the students work on measuring which is a very beginning skill for Kindergartners, but my preschoolers are so smart and I wanted to challenge them a bit!  And Miss Brittane did! :)  But they loved it.  I had them measure ocean animals on paper with a well-known snack called Goldfish Crackers!  I decided to have them measure with goldfish crackers so we were staying to the theme of ocean life while measuring ocean animals.  I also had them work in partners for this activity...pairing up a 4 year old with a 5 year old because measurement can be a tough skill for a 4 year old!  It worked really well and the students were very engaged in this activity!

On Thursday, the students created Sandpaper Starfish.  I had them color a square of sandpaper with crayons (it makes it look like little crystals) and then my assistant and I cut them into squares.  I stressed to the students to make their creations colorful like a rainbow because I wanted to make a bulletin board out of these Sandpaper Starfish.  Check it out below! :)  My assistant and I are SO PROUD of this bulletin board :)!

On Friday, I wasn't able to get any pictures but we painted seahorses (on white paper) with a different kind of paint made of glue and shaving cream.  This kind of paint is really cool because when it dries, it makes it puffy and squishy...kind of like a seahorse!  The students really enjoy painting with different kinds of paints so I decided this was one easy way to do it!  I also had the students make their own aquarium in a plastic baggy.  This activity was so neat!  The students drew on the outside of the baggy with permanent markers, and then we added blue hair gel to the bag to make it look like water!  It was soooo cool and the students were in love with their aquarium creations!

Overall, ocean life in preschool was a hit!   My students love fun themes like this one and I was so excited for them because it's truly a theme they all love and all get into.  This week in preschool was a  blast and I wish I could have spent two weeks on ocean life because there are so many great activities to do with this theme!

Well that's it for now....so until next time, stay safe and thanks for listening! <3

June News!

Posted now is the June newsletter sent out to all the families of my students so they know exactly what is happening in our preschool classroom!

Few highlights to the month of June...

-WATER DAY BEGINS!!! Woohoooo :)

-FARM THEMED WEEK!!! This is going to be such a fun week for me as a farm girl :)

Thank you all for listening. And until next time, stay safe. <3

What's Your Superpower?

Last week in preschool, we explored a favorite theme of my preschoolers, SUPERHEROES!!! Oh my, were they ever excited?! Needless to say, the week went great and now I am here to share all of the experiences and memories with you!  So listen in, you're in for superhero school ride!

On Monday, I introduced the term superhero and the term hero to the students!  I really wanted my students to understand the difference between a superhero and an actual real hero.  My students made a great discovery, stating the superheroes are fake and heroes are real!  I think this was the best explanation the students could give regarding their age and understanding of superheroes versus heroes.  In order to further their learning on this concept, I had the students complete a Superhero vs. Hero picture sort.  There were pictures of Superheroes, such as Spiderman & Superman and also pictures of real heroes, such as firefighters and policemen.  The students had to cut the pictures out and then sort the pictures according to whether they thought the picture was a superhero or a hero.  This activity went really well and the students thoroughly enjoyed it!

Later in the week, I gave the students a chance to create their OWN SUPERHERO!  The directions for this activity were: 1)Illustrate a picture of your own superhero. 2)Think of a superhero name. 3) Think of a superpower for your superhero.  These drawings turned out so cute!  The students did so well with them.  I modeled this activity for them before letting them loose on their own and they loved mine and were very excited to do their own.  I didn't get any pictures taken, but some of my favorite "superheroes" that were created in the Bear Room were "Lowrey, the King" where he could shoot lightning from his hands and "Waffle" where she could shoot out waffles for people to eat!  The students were so creative with this activity and they just loved it!

On Friday, I gave the students a chance to make their own SUPERHERO MASK!  Oh my, were they loving me on Friday!! :)  I gave them each a template of a mask to color and add glitter to...yes, GLITTER!  (Miss Brittane was very loved on Friday for this!)  During recess/snack time we let the masks dry and then helped the students put their masks on by tying two strings to their mask in order to tie around their head.  They turned out so cute and it was so fun to see them acting like superheroes!  It was definitely a fun Friday activity! :)

Using glue so they could sprinkle glitter on their masks!

Superhero masks!

My girly superheroes :)!

Last but not least, to truly let the students understand the difference between a superhero and a hero, an idea was brought up in my class that was truly remarkable and eye opening for me as a teacher.  One of my students has an uncle that is currently serving in the Army and is in Afghanistan.  She stated this fact before to me as well as the day we talked about real heroes that we knew.  She is so proud of her uncle and from this comment brought up in our classroom, the Bear Room decided to put together a 'care package' for this soldier (the uncle of my student) and send it to Afghanistan for him to receive and see the appreciation and love from his niece and her peers.  So, the plan I had for the week changed, but I was completely okay with that, knowing that we were going to make a difference in somebody's life!  Check out our 'Superhero-themed' care package below!!! :)

'Superhero-themed' care package for the soldier in Afghanistan!

Hands-Up for Our Heroes! (student creations!)

Overall, the superhero-themed week went over awesome!  My preschoolers are in love with superheroes such as Iron Man, Superman, Spiderman, Batman, etc. and it was so fun to see them learn through this theme...completing academic material but in a fun and engaging way.  This week showed me exactly what preschool is all about....having fun and learning through student interest areas.  They truly learn the best when they are intrigued and engaged with what they are doing.

Thank you all for listening...and until next time, stay safe. <3