Zoo and Rain Forest Theme

This week we studied Zoo and Jungle animals.  We learned that giraffes are 6' tall
when born and they have an 18" long tongue. Their long legs and sharp hooves can
kick very hard and can even knock a lion down. We read some books about going to
the zoo and some books about animals who live in the rain forest, and grasslands. 
"Curious George Feeds the Animals" which taught us why we shouldn't feed the animals
at the zoo.  They all have special diets and our food could make them sick. '
"Courdorouy Visits the Zoo", "Going to The Zoo", "When We Went To The Zoo",
"The Watering Hole", "Rumble in the Jungle", Roar, "The Rain Forest" and"Giraffe Trouble".  

During story time we got to wear zoo animal masks.  We were monkeys,
elephants, a giraffe, a zebra, and a tiger.

 

 

Next we all boarded the pretend Zoo Train and took a tour around the zoo.
I hung pictures of all the different animals around the room.  We stopped
at each picture to pretend we were seeing the animals in their cages and talk about
what they eat and where they came from.  We sang songs about some of the animals,
as we stopped at their cages.  "Sally the Camel Has 5 Humps", "5 Little Monkeys",
and the "Hippopatamus" song.

Then we played a game where I called out an alphabet letter and the first one to find the
animal picture that begins with the letter, got to bring it to me.  We had an anteater,
bear, camel, dog, elephant, fox, gorilla, giraffe, hippo, kangaroo, koala, lion, leopard,
llama, monkey, ostrich, penguin, skunk, turtle, tiger, walrus, yak, and zebra.  This
was a fun interactive beginning sound activity.  The students were so excited to race
around the room trying to be the first to find the animal that begins with that letter.

 

We learned a rhyme about a Boa Constrictor.  The students really enjoyed it so we
had to do it several times, getting sillier with the actions each time.
I see a boa, and here it comes.
Oh no, it's got my toe,
Oh gee, it's got my knee.
Oh my it's got my thigh.
Oh fiddle, it's got my middle.
Oh darn, it's got my arm.
Oh heck, it's got my neck.
Oh dread it's got my head.

Then we sang the "Animal Crackers" song. 
Once I ate a Lion, and then a tall giraffe.
But when I ate the Elephant he really made me laugh.
Now you might think I'm fooling. But I can tell you true.
That they were animal crackers. And you can eat them too.
Lots of giggles came with this song as well as a discussion of which is their
favorite zoo animal.

During art time we made a very tall giraffe.  We cut out his head and mane.
We accordian folded his legs and glued hooves on him.  We sponge painted
brown spots all over him.  We stapled on a yarn tail and drew a happy face
on him.  They turned out super cute and the students were thrilled.

We also cut out a cute elephant and inserted a party horn in the center for his trunk.
Of course this was a big hit with the students.  They loved how his trunk rolled in and
out when they blew the horn.

We did a worksheet to help us distinguish right and left.
We also talked about opposites using zoo animal pictures.  A cheetah is fast and
a turtle is slow.  A Giraffe is tall and a rabbit is small.  A snake is long and a lizard
is short, etc.

During center time we each chose a counting or patterning activity to do.  This worked
on number recognition and order, patterning, and fine motor development.  Some of us
chose the "Feed the Elephant" activity and some of us chose the "Put Me In The Zoo"
visual discrimination activity.

Circus

Today was "Circus Day".  We read some books about what happens at the
circus and the different people, acts and animals we might see there. 
We talked about how some animals can be trained to do tricks.
"If I Ran The Circus" by Dr. Seuss,  "Circus Animal Acts", "Circus Counting",
and "Deep in the Jungle".

Then we did some role playing.  We pretended we were in the circus and tried doing
some circus acts.  This worked on large motor development.
We were tigers jumping through flaming hoops. (no actual flames were used during this stunt)

 We were clowns juggling colorful balls. 

 

 

We were clowns walking on stilts (made of cans with string through them).

We walked on the tightrope with our  arms out to balance so we wouldn't
fall off.

We also used the microphone to pretend we were the ringmaster who announces the acts.

We learned the "un" word family because the circus is so much fun.  We cut out
two pink pieces of construction paper to look like cotton candy.  Then we laced them
together with pink yarn.  (fine motor development)  We stuffed them with a paper 
towel to make them puffy.  We rolled a piece of white paper to look like the cone. 
We stapled them together and wrote the "un" family words on the cone.
Then we practiced blending the sounds:  Fun, Bun, Gun, Nun, Run, and Sun.

We heard a flannel story rhyme about Five Funny Clowns.
Five funny clown juggling balls galore, one tripped and feel, then there were 4.
Four funny clowns up on a trapeze, one jumped off, then there were 3.
Three funny clowns blowing up balloons, one ran away, then there were 2.
Two funny clowns chewing bubble gum, one left to get some more then there was 1.
One funny clown having lots of fun, the circus is over, now there are none.

We sang "I'm a Little Clown" and "Let's All Go To The Circus Today"

We colored our own "Put Me In The Zoo" emergent reader book.  On each
page the animal was to have a different color of spots.  We read the color words
and colored his spots the correct color.  Then we practiced reading the book.

We did an elephant directional coloring page to work on our listening and
following directions skills.  We colored each part of the picture according to the
verbal directions given.

Mother's Day, Five Senses

Today we read lots of books celebrating how important our mothers are to us.
"A Mother For Choco", this is such a cute story about all the loving things a
mom does for us.  "What Moms Can't Do",  "I Miss You Stinky Face",
"Mother, Mother, I Want Another",  "How Do I Love You", "No Matter What",
and "Who Will Tuck Me In Tonight?"

 

During center time we practiced counting to and writing the number12. 
We did a color by number Mother's Day picture.

We made a card shaped like a strawberry.  We used Q-tips dipped in black paint
to make the seeds.  The poem on the leaf says:  "Mom you're berry special and
sweet it's true.  Happy Mother's Day because I Love You".

We also made two lillies from our handprints and a daffodil with a cupcake liner
center. We curled the edges of the flowers with a pencil. We threaded them onto
a green pipe cleaner then added some leaves. We sprayed the flowers with sweet
smelling perfume to make them smell good for mom. (This goes nicely with the
sense of smell we have been studying this week.) We put them in a soda bottle
vase with butterfly tape around the center. We added 12 glass floral stones inside
the bottles to make sure they stand up.
The students were so excited to make a gift for their moms. We put everything
inside a bag so the moms couldn't see it until Sunday. Surprises are so much fun!

During play time we got out the bristle blocks to build with.  Bristle blocks are
great fun, especially during a five senses unit for the sense of touch because they
have so much texture.