This week in 2B, we added to our grocery store, engaged in observational art with clay, started our science fair experiments, continued using our Spanish vocabulary, and celebrated Chinese New Year. We also said goodbye to Charlie and his family, who are moving to North Carolina. We’ll miss you!
Specialists
Spanish - We went over the days of the week, farm animals, and the sounds animals make.
caballo - horse
burro - donkey
oveja - sheep
gallo - rooster
pollito - chicken
cerdo - pig
pato - duck
vaca - cow
Cooking - We made a salad with radishes, cucumber, and carrots. We then made a dressing with olive oil, vinegar, and honey!
Soccer - we played a new game where the children were instructed to do “little kicks” to get the ball over to the saucer cone. Then, they sat on their bottoms and used their legs/feet to try to get the ball into the cone.
Music - we sang the sleeping animals song, danced, and marched around the classroom.
Dramatic Play
On Tuesday, we revamped our classroom grocery store! We worked with our recycled materials, containers (thank you so much for donating!), and tissue paper to create food. As the children explored the materials, we had discussions about the various shapes and colors of the foods we wanted to create (spinach, strawberries, eggs, blueberries, etc.) This was such a great activity to get the children involved in making their dramatic play even richer and engaging their fine motor skills. It encouraged them to engage in memory recall, as well as shape and color recognition.
Observational Art
On Wednesday, we engaged in observational art, using clay. At the table, the children noticed clay, grapefruit, and avocado. Before we began creating, we talked about the different shapes we saw. Then, the children worked to recreate the items using clay. Observational art is a great way to get children to slow down and notice details, gain a deeper understanding, and ask questions.
Science
On Thursday, we did part 1 of our science experiment. The children were encouraged to use their sense of touch (no peeking) to describe/guess what was in the box. The mystery boxes included: faux fur, Velcro, a bag of hot water, ice, and pinecones. They used descriptor words such as hot, cold, smooth, bumpy, scratchy, hard, and soft to make predictions about what was in the box!
On Friday, we did part 2! The children were blindfolded and asked to try different foods. As they tried each item, the children were encouraged to describe and guess what they were eating: pretzels, grapefruit, dried mango, avocado, and pickles. They used descriptor words such as cold, crunchy, salty, tasty, soft, sour, and sweet.
The children have been making such great predictions and have been working on answering questions. We’re excited to continue these experiments next week!
Spanish/Literacy
Throughout the week, we continued going over our vocabulary from last week while talking about foods in Spanish. We also read the book “La Oruga Muy Hambrienta,” where we discussed all the different foods the hungry caterpillar ate.
Chinese New Year
In preparation for Chinese New Year, we created red and gold paintings. On Friday, Nicole’s dad, Justin, came in to celebrate with us! We made lanterns to hang in the classroom and read the books, Bringing in the New Year and The Great Race. Justin also brought in traditional red envelopes with gold coins. Celebrating was so much fun!
We’re going to have a school wide Lunar New Year celebration/parade on Monday. If your child has any red articles of clothing, feel free to dress them up for the Holiday. Have a great weekend!