Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Sky Color

Have you seen this book?  I love Sky Color, by Peter H. Reynolds.  All of his books are inspiring and speak to creativity.  We read this book in  kindergarten  last week and started really looking at the sky.


Winter, in the Pacific Northwest, does not always lend itself to a sky study.  We check the weather every day and, just about every day, it's gray with water falling from the sky.  It's a dreary place in the winter, so we turned to photographs for inspiration.


We talked about all of the different colors we see in the sky and then looked specifically at winter sky scenes.  Then we broke out the watercolors. 


Most kids stayed in the cool blues and purples, but a few wanted to add their own touch.  Who am I to say a sky can't be green?  I think Peter Reynolds would be proud.  In Seattle we call this Seahawks Sky Color.


Photos of the finished art project are coming soon!  Happy painting!





Thursday, January 14, 2016

Singing Walrus - Handwriting Practice

Have you heard of The Singing Walrus?  It's on YouTube and I've recently become a big fan.  We use the videos on our Smartboard to show us proper letter formation.


The YouTube channel has links to their printables as well.  We have been working handwriting for the past 2 weeks and have used the printables that go along with the videos.  


The Singing Walrus channel has tons of great songs and educational videos.  The kids LOVE them.  If you are interested, please check them out!

Happy singing and hand writing!

Centers

One of our favorite times of the day, in Kindergarten, is Center Time.  I'm sure you've heard the quote that, "Play is the work of childhood."  It's so true.  The kids are learning so much as they play each day.

The kids love the LeapFrog tablets.  I've loaded these with many of the educational games that LeapFrog offers and there are also simple activities such as drawing, photography, and a video feature.


The Legos are always a hit!  I was introduced to the CEO of LeapFrog a few years ago.  When we asked him about his favorite educational toy, we expected to hear him talk about a LeapFrog product.  His response was, "Legos."  They really are the best toy ever invented to instill creativity and problem solving!



The light table has been lots of fun to explore.  Kids are always amazed at how much they can see when they put an object on the light table.  We use this for science exploration, math, and even have some x-rays that we use with our Pet Vet center.


Who doesn't love painting?  We have recently pulled an easel out of storage and the kids have been painting away!


I am a bit of a hoarder when it comes to collecting children's cookbooks.  Sometimes, we will get these out and kids can write and draw their own recipes.


The sensory table is an ever-changing part of our classroom.  This year we will find it filled with sand, beans, corn, wheat, and water.  The kids explore with quantity and scoop sizes, as well as just exploring with our senses.


One of my personal favorite centers is our puppet theater.  The kids love telling stories here. We've talked about telling a story with characters, setting, and an event, and the kids are working on their dialogue in story telling right now too.


This is just the tip of the ice berg, when it comes to centers, but it gives you an idea of what a typical Center Time looks like in our classroom.

Happy creating!