Animals, animals and more animals!

After starting week with another wonderful star student presentation we began talking about the wonderful world of animals. Preschoolers were shown a variety of scenery as they looked for animals within them. As teachers would turn back segments of the scene the children would see part of a letter and need to guess what letter it would be as they tried to figure out the clues for the animal hidden in the scene. 

We played the game Animal Catcher on iPads as the children then applied the pre-reading game's skills to the app to again look for certain animals living in their natural habitat the scenes on the iPad.  All of the information about animals in their habitats would be coming into play throughout the week as we repeated this information in many ways to help label habitats as well as learn the definition of the word 'habitat'. 

After looking at the apps and scenes we had in the room we walked up to the third floor of our building to see the aquariums where our science department host schools of various types of fish.  The children searched to match the images of the fish they saw outside the tank with the actual fish swimming inside the tank.  We counted fish, sorted fish by size and color and loved viewing the pirate ship inside one of the tanks.

We spelled a variety of animal names and matched those names to pictures of the animals. The preschoolers are getting to be fantastic at tracing the letters and staying on the lines provided to them. The many activities we do supporting fine motor skills are paying off in activities like these. Children who once only scribbled on the paper are now staying on the lines to trace letters and those who used to be able to stay on the line and trace letters are now able to start writing letters on their own! It's amazing what time and practice can do!

This week we also talked about farms and the various animals that typically live on one. The children enjoyed making count noises so the teachers asked them what parts of a callous face are called and then ask them to place them in the correct areas to create their own cows with black spots.
This week we not only spent time talking about farm animals but also about the arctic, the ocean, and forests. The children were given letters representing these various places and other habitats like igloos that are found in these habitats. Each child searched around the room to find animals, habitats, or objects found in various habitats and matched the letter they had to the first letter of each of these words (i is for igloo, etc).

After singing the five little monkeys song we played with arctic apps allowing penguins to play on the ice and searched for igloos in the snow!   Then we created penguins after following a pattern set up by the teachers. 

The children were excellent and following these step-by-step directions; great skills to have using math, science, and fine motor areas of thinking. 

We played a few games this week and enjoy the rolling the dice to find out what animal we needed to act like at the circle. We waddled like ducks, jumped like frogs and roared like bears! We did animal yoga which allowed us to hold various poses like balancing on one leg as if we were a flamingo, or arching our back like a cat. The kids also enjoyed flapping their legs like butterfly wings as we flew around the country. 

We were very impressed on Friday when the children were all given a variety of pictures of animals and the level of conversation that happened with preschoolers and their teachers as the children applied what they learned this week and placed the animals in the correct habitats. The children sorted the images and were able to show what they learned as they explained to their teachers how they were similar and how they were alike and why they lived in their various habitats.

 

After story time about a bear and his home in the forest we had a little bit of extra time to practice animal yoga once more. This was definitely the favorite activity of the week by the children and we would encourage you to play this game with your kids at home too. Simply make up actions that will reflect the animals you choose and enjoy!

What's Coming Up?

This coming week will be all about the winter wonderland we are starting to see in stores, our communities and our imaginations!  Be on the look out for Elves and other magical characters who appear in the cold this time of year!

Our annual Holiday Party will be Friday, December 18th from 9:30 AM to 10:45 AM and will be catered by our A Latte Sweets Bakery students.  Please feel free to bring a treat but it will not be required.  We will also enjoy a visit from the big guy from the North Pole as well so if you have not emailed Kris Stary with your RSVP for any additional children please do, the big guy wants to make sure no child is forgotten.

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