After playing with seeds in the 'touch and feel' pool, we incorporated the seeds into our 'hello' song. As we sing 'hello' to each friend, we asked him what kind of seed he had in his hand. Each friend described his seed, and then we looked at it through a magnifying glass. Someone suggested putting the seeds in order from biggest to smallest. Since this worked so well, we taped the seeds in order on paper and wrote/dictated what we knew about seeds. The kids identified the first sound in the word, 'seed', and practiced writing an 'S' on their journal page.
During science, the kids each picked their favorite seed and planted it in a tray. We made sure to label where each child put their seed. We'll be observing and keeping a record of what grows. Speaking of observing science projects, the worms have dug down deep into the dirt because they like it damp and dark. Nothing has happened with the carrot experiment yet, but we needed to add more water to the tops of the carrots.
We have another assistant, Ms. Courtney , who will be helping out on Wednesdays. She is a part of the group now and the kids really enjoy her! Ms. Courtney read the book, 'The Enormous Carrot', to the kids in which two rabbits plant a carrot seed and a HUGE carrot grows. They try to pull the carrot out of the ground, but it won't come out. One by one, their animal friends come to help pull the carrot (cow, goat, chicken, dog, cat), but still it won't come out! Finally, a little mouse comes to help and that carrot comes right out of the ground. This was a great book for sequencing, very similar to the book, "The Enormous Turnip". It would be a great one to read at home.
The kids made their carrot idea web and then took turns describing a carrot using the pictures as cues. "The carrot is a vegetable. A carrot is orange. A carrot needs dirt. A carrot grows in a garden. You can eat a carrot." Their idea web will be added to their 'Down on the Farm' book.
Balancing was the name of the game with Ms. Angela today. The kids had a relay race, in which they had to balance a bean bag on top of their heads while walking. A little tricky, but everyone was able to do it with some coaching. A balance beam of different colors wound around the floor inviting the kids to walk on it. Two kids at a time stood on the balance beam and Ms. Angela told them to walk to another color. Sometimes, they walked forward and sometimes they needed to walk backwards to get to the right color. At end of their turn on the balance beam, each child stood onto a 'spinner' (I think there is a real name for it!) while Ms. Angela held their hands and spun them around. They think spinning is absolutely wonderful!
Tucker brought a picture album for show and tell. The pictures of Tucker were absolutely darling and he was excited to tell us what he was doing in each picture. To add to our theme, Joseph brought a 'dirt dessert' to share that he and his mom made together. The dessert was in a pot with worms and a plant in the middle. Hmmm...should we really eat it? Yes, indeed! We scooped the oreo and chocolate pudding into cups and put a gummy worm on the dirt. How fun!
I hope that you have all put in a request for nice weather tomorrow! We will meet you at Lowe's in the morning........
