This week we concluded our theme of discovering different types of toys with taking our teddy bears on a picnic. Pupils' family members were invited to join in this event, where we shared songs we had learnt and our new measuring and prediction skills from maths. In our focus story this week baby bear wanted to visit the moon. So part of our learning was to measure our own bears to for their spacesuits so they could join baby bear on his trip. After the picnic the children enjoyed the family celebration by playing some games. Our new version of Duck Duck Goose was very popular called Bear, Bear, Goldilocks. (There were many giggles as the children had to chase their teachers and family members.) In our school we keep in regular contact with parents through many different methods, weekly emails, notice boards, the conversations at parent teacher conferences and of course daily interactions at drop off and collection times. However, this more relaxed atmosphere was a great chance for us to connect further as trusted members of our class family.
Transition time
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Creating Cars
2/15/2019
Investigation skills were also the focus of this week. Our young scientists planned, made predictions and carried out out their experiment with great maturity. They used their number skills to measure and record results and all the time ensured they were using their top tips to make it a fair test. We look forward to more science investigations in the future.
Robots and Readers
2/8/2019
Our text prompt this week was Harry and the Robots. His toy robot gets broken and while he waits for it to be fixed he makes some robots of his own. The children loved taking ownership of this design task and creating all different looking robots. Some fabulous fine motor skills in action! Although we had fun exploring robots as toys, the children also found out about how robots help us and many were especially interested in how robots can explore space and deep under the oceans. Many were equally amazed at how they can help doctors and police. I think we covered every profession that our young students want to be when they grow up. The children took turns at being "programmed'. Becoming blindfolded and directed by their partner around classroom obstacles. This really helped us work on our listening skills and also revise our lefts from our rights. The most amusing part of our discussion was thinking about what we would program our robots to do... making beds, tidying toys and emptying the dishwasher were some very popular ideas. Mark making with gears and cogsIn addition, this week we have really been enjoying finding new sight words hidden in and around our classroom. We are putting these to good use as we begin some guided reading sessions with Ms Claire.
Beginning to Tinker with Toys
2/1/2019
Having looked closely at teddy bears and their properties it was time to widen our toy search and discover other materials used to create toys. The children showed a natural interest in magnets and wanted to know more. They first went on a search for items they predicted would be magnetic. before then being given a magnetic wand to test their chosen objects - the wonder on their faces was fabulous. These items are now a very popular choice in our investigation station. Maths and ordering of numbers became a large focus this week. The class loved helping Kipper check his toys in his toy box. They learned a good top tip for counting, by lining them up and touching each one in turn, the children couldn't get confused and count one of those cheeky mice noses! The story was also useful for talking about taking care of our things and keeping them in a safe place. Numbers were in abundance also in the toy shop that the children set up in the role play area. Great everyday experiences were naturally occurring from dialing numbers on the phone checking delivery orders, writing price tags, typing numbers into the cash register and even learning new methods of counting the large amounts of toys (some of us can now count to ten in steps of two!). The balance scales were another new interest, first wanting trying to fit anything and everything in the pans, but then using some quite precise estimating and testing skills. Some very important mathematical skills developing in EKC and they are barely even realizing it. |
Melissa SmithMs. Smith has a degree in Early Childhood Education and has taught kindergarten for many years. Alaska has been home to Ms. Smith for 28 years, and she can't imagine living anywhere else! She has four children, a dog and two cats. She loves reading, camping, gardening, and genealogy! Archives
April 2021
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