Wild about field trips

Yesterday we went on our field trip to the zoo and it was definitely wild! Most of my babies had never been on a bus, so before we even left the school parking lot I must have heard, "Mrs. Alexander, THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!" at least 10 times! As you can imagine, their excitement and enthusiasm only grew from there!

Once at the zoo (along with several bathroom breaks and the all important lunch) we got to see all kinds of cool animals....

The kids got to check out the Komodo Dragon,

the cougars, 

 the leopard, 

And many, many more! 

It was such a great experience for the students since many of them had never been to the zoo before. I was happy that they got the chance to see so many different animals and even happier that my parent volunteers and I were able to keep track of 21 VERY excited 4 and 5 year olds the entire time.

When we got back to school, we took a much needed nap and then did a quick writing activity reflect on our favorite part of the day. 

Happy Earth Day!

We started our one on one end of the year testing this week so needless to say, it's been a little crazy! But that did not stop us from having some Earth Day fun yesterday! 

I decided not to get too deep into the "3 R's" because we do a whole unit on protecting our planet during the month of May. So, to give a basic introduction to some Earth Day concepts,  we read this cute, informative and did I mention FREE Earth Day reader from Sweet Sounds of Kindergarten

Then we did a sort of things we can do that help the Earth and things that hurt the Earth.

We also did this adorable Earth Day writing activity that I have seen all over Pinterist.  I'm not sure where it came from originally but thanks to which ever creative mind came up with this; I just love how they turned out!

"I promise to plant trees, recycle my clothes, I promise to help the Earth by donating clothes, and picking up trash." I have to say, I am pretty proud of my little pre-k friends phonetic spelling! They have come such a long way from learning letter names in September!

Finally we used some of the recyclable materials my kiddos brought in to make these "binoculars." We are going to use them on our field trip to the zoo tomorrow. I cannot wait to watch them looking at all of the animals through these! 

I cannot wait to continue reusing and recycling more materials throughout the month of May! I  hope everyone had a happy Earth Day!

Oh Hoppy Days

Last Friday was our first make up day after missing 2 "bad weather days" earlier this year. In Texas, "bad weather days" are usually days where it's cold enough for it to freeze or snow - but it probably won't. :) Because it was Good Friday and originally a day we were supposed to have off, I tried to make the day as fun and festive for the kids as possible.

First we made these adorable chick hats to wear during our "animal egg hunt." I have to admit, I am a little obsessed with these! They each had their own little personalities just like the kiddos wearing them!  I think I will be making many more paper plate hats like these. 

The kids were WAY into being chickens and even threw a little "balk balk" in between verses of several of our calendar songs! Inspired by their love of all things chicken, I taught them the Chicken Dance during music and movement. I could not believe how many kids had never done it before!

Here are some of my little chicks having a blast hunting for eggs. 

When we got back inside from the hunt, we did an "egg-periment" inspired by these Magic Rocks. I wish I had taken pictures of the before eggs, because the after doesn't really look like anything but bubbles! I made the eggs the night before by forming a clay mixture using about a cup of baking soda, a tablespoon of water, and some food coloring for each egg. I just squished the baking soda mixture oh so carefully together to form an egg shape and let it dry overnight. *Now that I have made them once, I will say that letting them dry in an egg carton is a BAD idea. The bottom parts did not dry at ALL. Next time I will let them dry overnight on a paper towel.* I also want to find little plastic chicks or something to sneak in the center next time I do it. How cute would that be?!

While the kids were in ancillary, I hid plastic eggs containing a letter of the alphabet in each egg.

When the kids came back, it was egg hunt round two! After the students found all of the eggs, they had to work together to put the letters that they found in ABC order. 

We also explored sounds using a few left over plastic eggs. 

I filled each egg with different objects from around the room and then hot-glued the same objects on the other side of the carton. Students had to shake the eggs and try to match it to the correct object by the sound it made. 

That afternoon, my sweet Mom came by to help me make an Easter treat for my little chickadees. The kids loved these goldfish carrots! You can download the "Some Bunny thinks you're GREAT!" tag that I made for free here. It comes in several different colors. By the way, sorry the picture is so dark - I was trying to sneak it in during nap time :) 

I think we had an "egg-cellent" day if I do say so myself :) 

Buggy about Spring!

Here in the Amazing Ants classroom, we have gone absolutely buggy - in more ways than one! Over the past few weeks, students have begun to notice lots of little critters popping up outside. We have seen June bugs (lots and LOTS of June bugs), rolly pollies, butterflies, and of course ants! Seeing all of these not so creepy crawlers roaming around outside has really peeked my students interest, so while talking about life cycles this month, I have put an special focus on investigating "bugs."

Here are some of the bug themed workstations my students are using this month:

Matching objects to the letter line by begining sound: 

Finding the 2 words that make up the compound word on the firefly:

Matching the spider web to the correct spider by counting syllables:

Spelling out the CVC words on the caterpillars:

and matching the 2 sides of the butterfly using alliteration to name a few :) 

And now for my favorite bug themed portion of the classroom: Dramatic Play! For the month of April I have turned dramatic play into an Entomologist Laboratory. The kids LOVE it! Here is a little tour of our lab:

 

I don't think the kids really get the "Don't Bug Me" sign, but it makes me smile every time I see it :)

On this side of the lab, students can read the "Color Bugs" book, try and guess where these patterns in nature are found, and take a closer look at some real bugs as well as a chrysalis from one of our old classroom butterflies that we released a couple of weeks ago.

  I filled the area with real pictures and diagrams of different bugs and insects for students to view:

  

 In this area, students are able to take a closer look at different insect parts using a microscope and slides as well as practice the life cycle of a butterfly in a variety of ways:

  

 

  

  

  

 

I hope you enjoyed the tour :) I hope to post a few more of our buggy ideas as we continue of unit of study throughout the month!  

  

Who, me? Wait, What?!?

Great title right? ;) No this is not a post on questioning strategies; that was my response when I found out that I was my school's Teacher of the Year this year!! I am still in shock and total disbelief!

I feel so honored and privileged to even work at such a great school with the most amazing group of teachers! The fact that they voted for me as teacher of the year is completely unreal! I am on cloud 9! I didn't even know I had won until other teachers stared popping in my room and calling me to say congratulations! When I finally got around to checking my e-mail at lunch, I saw this:

 The best part about all of this has to be the amount of love I have been getting from co-workers (both past and present), friends, and family today as  they have found out. I think for all teachers, many days go by when you feel discouraged and unappreciated. After a very long couple of weeks, today has been such a blessing! I hope that all teachers get to feel this amazing amount of love and support at some point. 

Now time to stop blogging and start working on my official teacher of the year essay and documents for the district! :) 

Hip Hip Hooray for the 100th Day!

This week we celebrated 100 days of school! Here are a few of the 100th day activities that did during our fun filled celebration.

Before the big day arrived, I sent home a letter asking families to decorate a t-shirt for students' to wear using 100 objects. I was very impressed with how creative many of the shirts were! Here is one of my little cuties modeling her 100th day shirt in front of our classroom door decor!

The students were all very excited to see this banner with "streamers" hanging from the door. Many asked if we could keep it up for the rest of the year! (Sorry guys, not happening!) This shirt, where they used 100 objects to create a cat, has to be one of my favorites!

Some of my co-workers and I even got in on the t-shirt making fun! Here is us in our Pintrest inspired tally mark shirts:

Before we started on our workstations, we read this cute little poem I found on Pinterest:

Before we counted the letters, I asked students to predict how many letters were in the rhyme. To my surprise, nobody guessed 100! After we counted, they were all amazed that there were 100 letters - just like we had been in school 100 days! What are the odds? ;) 

For our 100 days workstations, we made necklaces using 100 beads:

I usually do the fruit loop necklaces but these beads are inexpensive (and I don't have to watch them eating their necklace all day) so I decided to go with the beads. The kids LOVED making these and many came back to school Friday wearing their 100th day necklace again! Definitely doing this again next year! 

We made trail mix using 100 yummy items:

We built structures using 100 blocks (which I completely forgot to take a picture of) and tried to make a tower using 100 cups. Some students made a long wall, others tried to make a tall tower. I was surprised at how much the kids LOVED this cup stacking activity! 

Then there were these crazy hats, which were my personal favorite thing the kiddos made that day! They took 10 strips of paper and punched 10 holes in each using our "fancy hole punches" to make 100 holes. I love this activity because all that hole punching helps with fine motor, not to mention the kids look pretty darn cute! :)

We also attempted making these adorable "100 gum ball" machines that I have seen all over Pinterest. Not everyone actually made 100 dots but I figure, they counted to 100 about 20 times that day so if they didn't make this one little crafty all the way to 100, I am going to have to let it slide :) 

Fairy Tale Science

Over the past few weeks, we have been reading many different fairy tales such The 3 Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Goldie Locks and the 3 Bears. When I found this experiment on Pinterest, I could not wait to try it with my class! 

In the story Goldie Locks and the 3 Bears, Papa Bear's porridge in the largest container was too hot, Mama Bears's porridge in the medium size container was too cold, and Baby Bears's porridge in the small container was just right (some where in between the other two temperatures). We decided to be "Mythbusters" and see if that's how the three bowls would actually cool down after about 15 minutes.

We used 3 different size glass bowls and water instead of porridge, although next time, I think I want to make oatmeal in the crockpot first thing in the morning and use that as the material we are testing is more like the story.

In the end, the largest bowl was the hottest, and the smallest bowl was the coolest. 

I even found a video on Discovery Education that is really meant for older grades but it explains all of the science behind why each container cools down at that rate. Even though the scientific principals were a little over the kids heads, I think it is good for them to hear. After watching the video (which you can find here) we discussed what we saw and I put the science behind the experiment in more "pre-k friendly" terms.

We also did a fun Jack and the Beanstalk science activity that was inspired by an activity I found here. 

The students planted their beans and created their own little castles for the beans to grow up towards. I wish I had taken more pictures because all of their little castles looked so cute and different! I wouldn't have even taken any pictures if Mrs. Lawton (shout out!) hadn't reminded me to take at least one during dismissal! 

This activity is great because not only did we talk about plants and their basic needs, but we were also able to discuss fact and fiction. We made a list of what happened to the magic beans in the story (they grew overnight, they reached  all the way to the sky) and what we predict will happen with our real beans. One kid asked why I didn't just get them magic beans, so I told him I couldn't because I didn't have a cow to trade them for! He was just like, "Oh yeah, okay." Haha man I love my kids!

I can't wait for our classroom beanstalk to grow so we can make more observations and finish comparing and contrasting our fact vs. fiction beanstalks!