End of week thoughts

Another fabulous week!!  Plenty of cooking going on in the school these days.  The peach pie was AWESOME!!  The children peeled, cut and measured.  We taught math using measuring cups and spoons.  We made lemonade sno-cones on Thursday and delicious Peach jelly on Friday.  The children LOVED the jelly.  We had more than enough to send home.  We really enjoy cooking with the children and will try to incorporate more basic cooking projects into the week.  A big thank you to Svetlana (Lily's mom) for volunteering in the class on Friday.  It's always nice to have an extra pair of hands. 

Next week we have a pirate theme.  Should be a fun week filled with projects, treasure hunts and so much more.  If you have paper towel or gift wrap tubes feel free to bring them to school.  They are always great for projects.

We have a small climbing structure outside now.  It's a step 2 climber that should be fun for the kids.  We will move our garden beds out to the front gate to allow more space to run.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Free Bowling!

2 FREE bowling games per day, per child

This is a great deal!! Go to http://freebowling.amf.com/ to sign up.  Once you get to the webpage, click on the red button on the left that says “sign up for free bowling!” All you do after that is enter your zip code, select location, enter your name & email address, your child’s name & birthday, check the terms & agreement box, and then click “register now”. (Well I guess the only thing you pay for is the shoe rental…so not entirely free but close enoughJ)

Peachy Tuesday!

I think the highlight of today was making the peach pie! All of the kids were able to help make the pie in some way, whether peeling the skin off the peaches, cutting the peaches into small pieces, pouring, measuring, or mixing. And of course eating! J This was awesome. (We also got a really great deal on the convection oven at Fred Meyer!!)

For our safari theme today, we looked at the elephant. We read The Right Number of Elephants, which is book that counts backwards from 10 elephants all the way down to 1 elephant. We then made our own counting backward books by using thumbprints. The students made thumbprints of numbers 5 down to 1, and the thumbprints were made into little elephants. This was a great activity to reinforce what we read during story time. We also made the cutest elephant handprints today too during art time! At the end of the time, we closed with a story about how a baby elephant grows up…a great informational book for children!

Here are our pictures from today!

                                                         Cutting up the peaches

Peach mixture

                                                   Just before we put the pie in the oven

                                                              Finished product!

                                                        Cute handprint elephants!

Safari Books

Here is a list of some more books that I have out for the students to browse through this week:

Big Cats by Jonathan Sheikh-Miller

Lions by Patricia Kendell

Here is the African Savanna by Madeleine Dunphy

Bashi, elephant baby by Theresa Radcliffe

Leopards of the African Plains by Katherine Walden

Super Safari by Tony Mitton

Safari by Robert Bateman

Jungle Jack Hanna’s Safari Adventure by Jack Hanna

Lion Monday

Our topic for today was the lion! We started and ended our day with stories about lions and the savannah. We chanted/moved to Going on a Lion Hunt. This was so much fun, and the students loved it too! They loved it so much that we did this 3 times! (Lyrics at the end of this postJ) Since it was raining (actually down- pouring!) during our outside time, we play a game similar to Red Rover…except we used a lion and meerkats. I don’t think many of the students have played this before, so we may be playing this again to get the hang of it! We made a lion’s head for our art project. We used dry pasta noodles as the mane…these turned out so cute! Right before lunch we sang 5 Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree. Today was a very lion eventful, productive day!

**Pictures to come!

Lyrics:

Here are the lyrics to the songs we sang today. Now you can sing them at home too this week!

Going on a Lion Hunt: (we also made up some of our own motions too!)

We're going on a lion hunt,
We're not afraid!
Got my canteen by my side,
And my binoculars too.

Coming up to short grass now
     Can't go under it --
     Can't go around it --
We'll have to go through it!

swish, swish, swish, swish (push grass with small movements of hands)
We're going on a lion hunt,
We're not afraid!
Got my canteen by my side,
And my binoculars too.

Coming up to long grass now
     Can't go under it --
     Can't go around it --
We'll have to go through it!

swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh (push grass aside with big hand movements)
We're going on a lion hunt,
We're not afraid!
Got my canteen by my side,
And my binoculars too.

Coming up to mud now
     Can't go under it --
     Can't go around it --
We'll have to go through it!

squelch, squelch, squelch, squelch (raises hands slowly off the ground as if stuck in mud)

We're going on a lion hunt,
We're not afraid!
Got my canteen by my side,
And my binoculars too.

Coming up to a bridge now
     Can't go under it --
     Can't go around it --
We'll have to go through it!

boom, boom, boom, boom (stamp floor rhythmically for sound of bridge crossing)

We're going on a lion hunt,
We're not afraid!
Got my canteen by my side,
And my binoculars too.

Coming up to cave now
It's very dark...(shiver)

I've found something...
It's soft and furry...
It's warm and moves...(shiver)

AHHH! It’s a lion, run!!!

boom, boom, boom, boom(stamp floor for sound of bridge crossing)

squelch, squelch, squelch, squelch(raises hands slowly off the ground as if stuck in mud)

swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh(push grass aside with big hand movements)

swish, swish, swish, swish(push grass with small movements of hands)

Phew! (Wipe forehead)

You coming on a lion hunt?
NO WAY!

5 Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree: (we made up motions for this song too!)

5 little monkey’s swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Alligator can’t catch me….can’t catch me
along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
and snapped that monkey out that tree

4 little monkey’s swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Alligator can’t catch me….can’t catch me
along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
and snapped that monkey out that tree

3 little monkey’s swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Alligator can’t catch me….can’t catch me
along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
and snapped that monkey out that tree

2 little monkey’s swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Alligator can’t catch me….can’t catch me
along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
and snapped that monkey out that tree

1 little monkey’s swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Alligator can’t catch me….can’t catch me
along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
and snapped that monkey out that tree

No more monkey’s swinging in the tree!

Happy Tuesday!

-Ms. Lindsay

Discovery Garden is going on a safari!

This week our theme is safari! We have many safari art projects, stories, songs, math, and literacy activities planned. Something new we are introducing this week is cooking! We will be doing some easy cooking/snack projects. I think the students will definitely enjoy this J

Here is our schedule for the week:

Monday:

·         Lion art project

·         Going on a Lion Hunt (chant/drama)

·         Five Little Monkeys Swinging from a Tree song

·         Snack: mango, cucumber, animal cookies

Tuesday:

·         Handprint elephant art project

·         Does Your Trunk Hang Low song

·         Elephant Counting Backwards Book

·         Books: The Right Number of Elephants by Jeff Sheppard and An Elephant Grows Up by Anastasia Suen

·         Cooking Project: peach pie!

·         Snack: blueberries and carrots

Wednesday:

·         Safari collage

·         Safari animal charades

·         Safari animal texture project (science/art)

·         Books: Jungle Drums by Graeme Base and Hyenas by Maddie Gibbs

·         Snack: July birthday celebration cupcakes, watermelon, snap peas

Thursday:

·         Popsicle-Stick Giraffe

·         Zebra & tiger marble painting silhouettes

·         Books: Pinduli by Janell Cannon and We All Went on a Safari: A Counting Journey through Tanzania by Laurie Krebs

·         Cooking Project: peach jam!

·         Snack: oranges and avocados

Friday:

·         Rain stick art project

·         Lion addition/number recognition

·         Books: The First Bear in Africa by Satomi Ichikawa and Safari Animals by Paul Hess

·         Cooking Project: Giraffe Snack

Have a wonderful week!

**If you have any extra paper towel rolls or gift wrap rolls, please bring them in! We will be using them for our art project on Friday. Thanks!!**

Drama-rama

What a fabulous week we have had.  The children have truly enjoyed performing circus acts each day.  We had trapeze artists, horse riders, motorcycle stunt riders, firefighter clowns, ballerinas on a tightrope, musicians and more.  All this pretend play/drama has become so popular that many kids have worked together to come up with their own plays.  We had kids performing Cinderella one day and today we had a group of kids who did a fashion show.  I love all the creativity going on.  It's wonderful to see all the children different ages enjoy pretend play.  This week I brought pretend high heels to the music room.  The first pair I brought were fought over, so today I brought three more pairs.  They loved it!!

Today we danced to Ella Fitzgerald music.  One little boy took a girl's hand and danced.  We tried a bit of swing dancing too:)   We also played with the parachute and bean bags. 

We had two new students join this week, Jackson and Chloe.   Yay, for new students!

Next week is Safari theme.  If you become a follower on the blog you can get the new blog ASAP.  Otherwise, you'll get an email from us a bit later.  Also, I want to engage the children in a variety of cooking activities using peaches.  The organic peaches are on super duper sale at QFC!  Only $1.89 a pound.  So I am hoping we can make a peach pie and jam.  If anyone knows anything about canning please share any tips with us.  

I am most likely reserving a spot for Jetty Island on Aug. 19th.  This dates seems to work best since most families will be back from vacations.

Circus Books

These are some of the books that we will be reading and looking through this week J

Babar’s Little Circus Star by Jean de Brunhoff

The Day the Circus Came to Town by Melody Carlson

Adding with Sebastian Pig and Friends: At the Circus by Jill Anderson

If I Ran the Circus by Dr. Seuss

Say Hola to Spanish at the Circus by Susan Middleton Elya

Emeline at the Circus by Marjorie Priceman

The Circus Alphabet by Linda Bronson

Who Walks the Tightrope?: Working at a Circus by Mary Meinking

Circus by Lois Ehlert

Contortionists and Cannons: An Acrobatic Look at the Circus by Marc Tyler Nobleman

Under the Big Top

The circus is coming to Discovery Garden! This week’s theme is circus. Each day will be filled with fun and creative activities! We will read books, create projects, engage in math activities, and practice some circus show movements. For the movement portion, we will practice juggling with one, two, or three beanbags/scarves, walk a tight rope (the rope will be on the ground J), balance on a low balance beam, jump/step through a hula hoop, and march like elephants. Also, at the end of each day the students will perform a short circus act!

Here is an outline of what we’ll be doing each day:

Monday

·         Create a clown face

·         Clown face pattern blocks

·         Clown matching

·         Snack: strawberry, cucumber

Tuesday

·         Circus diorama

·         Balloon sort/matching

·         Balloon addition (4 and 5 year olds)

·         Snack: mango, carrots

Wednesday

·         Circus trains

·         Circus train upper case/lower case matching

·         Snack: peaches, peas

Thursday

·         Circus texture art scene

·         Find the difference circus scene

·         Number act (one-to-one correspondence book)

·         Snack: mango, romaine lettuce

Friday

·         Cotton candy art project (from paper towel tubes and cotton balls)

·         Cotton candy count

·         Cotton candy probability (4 and 5 year olds)

·         Snack: snap peas, fruit smoothies

Pictures from Monday!

4 & 5 year old project

2 & 3 year old project

                                              The wolf, pigs, and music accompaniment

                                                    The wolf blowing down the house

Our Day with the 3 Little Pigs

Our day on Monday revolved around the tale of The Three Little Pigs. We read 2 books: The Three Little Pigs by James Marshall and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka. This second book is very cute because the story is told from the perspective of the wolf. Definitely a good read!

For our art project today, we made the houses of the three little pigs. The 2 and 3 year olds glued down straw, toothpicks (sticks), and pebbles (bricks) onto three houses on a piece of paper. The 4 and 5 year olds made 3-dimensional houses and chose whether they wanted to make a straw, stick, or brick house.

We also reenacted the story using drama and instruments. Ms. Salouma was the narrator of the story. One student played the wolf, three students were the piggies, and the rest of the students played instruments to accompany the story. Students played instruments as the pigs built their houses, as the wolf walked up to the different houses, and then as the wolf ran away from the house to move onto the next one. This was so much fun! I think we might try to do this again another day too. J

On another note…our field trip to Jetty Island! We have two dates in mind, and we would like to know which date is best for everyone. We are thinking of Friday July 22 or Friday August 5. Email us your preference and then we will get back to you about the final decision.

Once Upon a Time…Fairy Tales

This week we will be exploring fairy tales!  Each day will be focused on one fairy tale where we will be singing, acting, creating, and doing much more! Throughout the week we will be reading stories of each fairy tale from different authors, as well as from different cultures. We also will have big pieces of cardboard out in the front so that the kids can create houses and castles to use for dramatic play. We definitely have a fun-packed week planed!

This is a brief outline of what we will do each day. We hope that this weekly agenda will help spark conversation and bring the learning homeJ

Monday: The Three Little Pigs

·         Reenact the story with instruments

·         Build houses out of the different materials from the story: straw, sticks, and bricks

·         Learn about different types of homes that people live in

·         Snack: blueberries, bell peppers, pretzel sticks

Tuesday: Cinderella

·         Listen and dance to Rogers Hammerstein

·         Pattern block castles

·         Build castles out of paper towel rolls, popsicles sticks, paper, etc.

·         Snack: mangos, cucumber, goldfish

Wednesday: Rapunzel

·         Drama and music-act and create a song about Rapunzel

·         Build towers out of city blocks, Legos, foam blocks, and then create our own out of paper towel rolls!

·         Discussing measurement and length

·         Snack: blueberries, tomatoes, ABC cookies

Thursday: Sleeping Beauty

·         Observe pictures of a real castle!

·         Learn about/classify forest animals

·         Discuss wool spinning (the spinning wheel from Sleeping Beauty!)

·         Forest animal yarn art

·         Snack: strawberries, carrots, cinnamon bread

Friday: Hansel and Gretel

·         Create gingerbread men and a gingerbread house out of art materials

·         Same and different gingerbread activity

·         Create a trail with pebbles and follow the trail

·         Snack: blueberries, snap peas, crackers

Looking forward to a great week!

Staying Cool in the School

One nice thing about hot days like we've had this week is the air condition.  We also have been spending a bit more time outdoors.  Today the children listened to a story outside, sang songs about America and played a village game.  Over the past three weeks, we have spent a lot of time learning how to jump rope.  Some of the kids like when we sing the Teddy Bear song and Cinderella Dressed in Yellow.  We have transplanted almost all the vegetables into the garden beds.  This was very much discovery gardening.  We had trays that had a handful of seeds planted together and other trays with no seeds.  LOL  All was well though.  We have pole beans growing, pepper plants with blooms and so much more.  All the kids help with transplanting and watering. 

These past three summer camp weeks have been quite fun.  The first week we built campfires and ate smores.  The second week we learned about countries from around the world.  We made crafts and ate foods to learn about the countries.  This week we are focusing on the United States.   We sang A-M-E-R-I-C-A and This Land is Your Land.  Next week, the theme is fairy tales from around the world.  If you have a Cinderella story from your country please feel free to share it with us.  We will build castles from tubes and learn how to make different kinds of homes.

It is about time to plan another field trip.  I would like to plan a trip to Jetty Island.  A few parents like Friday, however, Tuesdays or Thursdays work well too.
Here is the website:  http://www.ci.everett.wa.us/default.aspx?ID=503
I'll make a reservation for the end of July and keep you all posted.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers regarding my little nephew.  He is recovering well and was released from the hospital yesterday!  It was a stressful three weeks and luckily he survived such a horrible illness.  Have a lovely week:)