CATERPILLARS AND BUTTERFLIES--OH MY!!

Today we added antennae, eyes, and a mouth to our egg-carton caterpillars. Next week, we will wrap our caterpillars into a chrysalis.
The children in the photo below are coloring a butterfly. Check out the symmetry!

Ask your child who or what is waiting for wings in the story pictured below.

For seatwork today, children were given a blank butterfly like the one in the photo below. They were asked to color the butterfly, making it symmetrical. Our finished butterflies are hanging in our classroom.

A CATERPILLAR LEAF???

Ethan found and brought to school the leaf you see in the photo below. Ethan brought it in because he felt a caterpillar had eaten through it due to the hole in the bottom right part of the leaf. Great discovery, Ethan!

BUTTERFLY SYMMETRY

Today we introduced the concept of symmetry using the wings of a butterfly as an example. In the activity you see in the photos below, the teacher placed a sticker on one side of a butterfly. Next, the teacher gave the same type of sticker to a student who then placed it on the other side of the butterfly wing to make it symmetrical.

Our finished, symmetrical butterfly.

In another activity we did today, children looked at pictures of objects and determined whether or not the object was symmetrical or unsymmetrical. To help determine whether or not an object was symmetrical, a drinking straw was provided for the children to place in the middle of the picture of the object. Using the straw helped the children better visualize and determine if the object was symmetrical.

The photos below show an activity we did on the Smartboard to practice and develop the concept of symmetry. The activity started with one side of the butterfly completed as depicted in the photo below.

Each child had a turn to complete one section of the other side of the butterfly.

Our completed, symmetrical butterfly!

STAR OF THE WEEK--MAEVE

Our "Star of the Week" is Maeve! Thanks for sharing your photos and telling us about some of your favorite things, Maeve!

EGGS AND CATERPILLARS

TODAY WAS FILLED WITH CATERPILLARS IN PRE-K "A" FROM ARTIFICIAL TO REAL...

During Free Choice, children painted a section of an egg carton which we will be making into caterpillars.

While out on the playground, some children found a live caterpillar...

We learned facts and information about caterpillars, including:
~whether or not they can see well.
~what the word caterpillar means ("hairy cat").
~identifying what might be predators or enemies of the caterpillar. (One child identified a shoe as an enemy of a caterpillar, explaining that a person might accidentally step on a caterpillar with his/her shoe.).
~ways a caterpillar can scare off its enemies.

In the photo below are food items which represent the a few of the different kinds of eggs from which a caterpillar hatches.

We ended our morning watching a brief video of a live caterpillar emerging from its egg and then eating its egg shell. It was amazing! We will post this video on our blog later this week so that you can access it at home and watch it with your children.

/CH/ SOUND

Since we have completed our study of the alphabet letters and sounds, we will spend this week and next week learning about the sounds of /ch/, /th/, and /sh/. Today we brainstormed words that begin with /ch/. We came up with 55 words...

cheese chat Charlie Chad chit-chat Chuck E. Cheese chatter chick
chapped chapter chicken Cheez-its cheddar cheese challenge change
Chipotle chalk chocolate chopped chest chimpanzee chinchilla chill out cha-cha-cha chest chili chocolate chips chilly chatter box chapstick chew chips chair Chinese China choke cheesecake checkers Chex mix checkered flag check check-up children Cheerios cheek chin church chess choo choo chugga chugga choo choo chuckle cheetah Chewbacca cheat chain

RECYCLING BOXES

During Free Choice today, children decorated the recycling boxes we are going to have in our classroom. One box is very paper and the other box is for plastic.

RECYCLE!

To celebrate Earth Day, we read a story about recycling which explained why we recycle.

Next, we did an activity, sorting objects into recycable and non-recycable. Be sure to ask your child what object he/she had and whether or not it was recycable.

We had an interesting discussion about whether or not a pair of pants is recycable. One child gave the idea of cutting off the pair or pants and wearing them as shorts. We also discussed that we could give the pants to someone else if we outgrow them.

We filled this bag with items that can be recycled!

For our seatwork, we separated the pictures in the photo below into items that can and cannot be recycled.

ZERO THE HERO DAY!

Today we celebrated our 140th day of school! Charlie's mom and Charlie's mom brought in a great activity to help us celebrate! We decorated treasure boxes with circular jewels. Then, we put jewels and round coins in a bag to put in our treasure chests. Thanks for a fun project!

PRE-K "A" MASTERPIECE

Pre-K "A" Parents~

Below is a photo of the finished masterpiece that your children did along with guidance and assistance from Mr. Cicetti, Lower School Art teacher. It's still not too late to buy raffle tickets to win it! Our masterpiece will be on display at the Spring Gala this Saturday night!

STAR OF THE WEEK--CHARLIE

Today we learned more about our friend, Charlie! He shared his favorite things and some photos with us. We enjoyed getting to know more about Charlie. Be sure to ask your child what Charlie's favorite food is! (ESCARGOT!)

BUTTERFLY LIFE CYCLE QUILT

Yesterday for seatwork, each table of students was assigned to draw a different part of the life cycle of a butterfly on a white square. We then put all the pictures in sequential order ending up with a pattern to our quilt. The quilt is hanging outside of our classroom.


~Egg~
~Caterpillar~~Chrysalis~

~Butterfly~Our finished "Life Cycle of a Butterfly" quilt.

FREE CHOICE FUN!

Emil y and Charlie created designs on their geoboards using rubber bands and their imaginations!

This child put together a butterfly using magnetic parts.

Ethan is identifying the beginning sound/letter of various pictures and putting them into the correct letter pocket. Every child will have the opportunity to complete this task during Free Choice time.

Maren put together a wooden model of a butterfly. This is not an easy task!