Week Thirty-Two: If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

Week 32 is the last week of school.  We read If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Felicia Bond:

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie collage:

(here's the template)

Sensory bin:

Cookies cereal
Toy mouse
Toy boy
Cup
Straw
Napkin
Little mirror
Nail scissors
Paint brush (broom)
Little container filled with cotton balls and a pink bandanna
Book (for the bedtime story)
Paper
Crayons
Pen
Scotch tape

They liked this, but mostly they just took all the stuff out and ate the cookies :)

Week Thirty-One: Curious George Rides a Bike

Week 31 we read Curious George Rides a Bike by H. A. Rey:

I brought in newspapers and we made boats like George did.  I didn't take any pictures but here are instructions.  Then we brought them outside along with our water bin and tried to make them float.  They did for a bit, but once they tipped the water started seeping in and soon enough they were destroyed.  Still fun.

I made a yellow hat out of felt and we played pin the stripe on the yellow hat:

(I realize now it's supposed to be the man with the yellow hat, oh well)

Here is a stop motion rendition of the story.

We made a bike craft.  Here is the template.  We used light blue construction paper for the bike and black for the wheels.  Attach the wheels with brads so they can turn.

Week Thirty: The Little Rabbit + LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

Week 30 we read The Little Rabbit written by Judy Dunn:

For this week, instead of focusing on rabbits, I focused on the photograph aspect of this story.  I brought in my camera and took out some toys and tried to spark their imaginations.  As they took the pictures, I had them narrate the story to me and I would write it down, numbered as to which picture it went to.  

Then, I used Snapfish to put together their books.  Here are some examples of one:

I didn't tell them I was making their stories into books.  Instead, I wrapped them and attached a note:

Tino-

I’m glad I was your teacher

I’ve come to love you so.

I can’t believe the end is here,

I hate to see you go.

You’re such a star

And I love you so dearly.

You light up my life

I mean that sincerely.

Remember all the fun we had

In all the things we did,

But, most of all remember…

You’re a very special kid!

Love,

Miss Theresa

I gave their books to them on the last day of school. They were thrilled.

Week Twenty-Nine: Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel

Week 29 was Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton:

We watched a great musical rendition of this after reading it.  Here it is on YouTube.

We also watched some videos about real steam shovels.  Here is one.

If you follow this link there is a great copywork page for this story.

Next, we did an experiment to show how gas is made.  We used some empty water bottles, balloons, vinegar, and baking soda.

"First, fill a quarter of your bottle with vinegar.  Using the spoon, very carefully add about a spoonful of baking soda into the balloon.  Next, stretch the neck of the balloon over the top of your bottle, being careful not to spill any of the baking soda into the bottle.  (This means the balloon will be flopped to the side on the outside of the bottle.)  Once you are ready, quickly lift the balloon up to tip all of the baking soda into the bottle.  (The process is quick, so be ready!)  The vinegar and baking soda react, creating carbon dioxide gas, causing your balloon to inflate almost instantly!" (instructions from http://homeschoolingmom2mags.blogspot.com/2013/08/mike-mulligan-and-his-steam-shovel.html)

Here is a great idea for a cake that I didn't get around to: 

Week Twenty-Eight: Caps For Sale

Week 28 we read Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina.  They absolutely adored this book.

Caps For Sale Coloring Pages

Here are a couple coloring pages.

Caps For Sale Dramatic play

The peddler:

The monkeys:

When all the monkeys threw down the hats:

We made mustaches out of construction paper and popsicle sticks:

Caps For Sale Craft

I cut the caps out of construction paper ahead of time (I didn't have gray construction paper so I had them color white construction paper gray).  We just taped together three pieces of copy paper, the bottom one with the peddler (here is that link), and then glued the caps on in order.

They were super proud of these.

Week Twenty-Seven: Play With Me

Week 27 we read Play With Me by Marie Hallets:

First thing we did was go on a nature walk, because that's always a good idea.

Next, we watched this video about a frog's life cycle.

Then we did this sequencing activity:

We also made frog life cycle mini books and headbands.

Here is a bullfrog coloring page.

Here are more ideas:

http://refinedmetalsacademy.blogspot.com/2011/07/b4fiar-play-with-me.html

http://www.prekinders.com/animal-tracks-book/

Also, I brought in a bunch of science/nature/animal books for the kids to look at in our free time.

Week Twenty-Six: The Empty Pot + EASTER

Week 26 is The Empty Pot by Demi:

For the Empty Pot sensory bin, I made brown colored rice, and added a garden hand shovel and some little pots.  

Next we set up our bean sprouting experiment: 

We taped them on the classroom window from Tuesday until Friday but then I sent them home because it was Easter Break.

Our last Empty Pot activity was this:

I brought in some flower shapes to trace and asked them to only draw flowers in one of the two pots. Here is the printout for this.

This was the last week of school before Easter break.

Of course we read and learned about Easter.  Then we made these Easter crafts:

For these crosses:

1. We used a little of our green playdoh from St. Patrick's Day and pressed it into a cup of an egg carton
2. Apply some glue onto the playdoh
3. Press in some green Easter grass
4. Make the crosses out of popsicle sticks; one big cross and two little ones
5. Stick all three crosses into the playdoh

Another idea: make a felt Easter egg and some felt decorations for it, like my felt Christmas tree.