Shoe Store (cont'd)

we painted our arms and printed them-the paintings looked like x-rays of our arm bones!

 We've had a lot of learning happening in our classroom during our shoe store unit!

The shoe store continues it's popularity-sometimes we (teachers) join in and quietly add to the play conversation to draw children in. 

each box in this stack has a matched pair of shoes-industrious children!

"we made our faces and ate them" 

we get outside!

painting a body cut out with the path of the blood. 

a child asked to learn the alphabet this day-and since this is a class of 4 and 5 year olds of course there were other interested children who covered white boards with letters.  

One of our favorite projects-the band-aid book. Each child has their arm traced, then they cover it with bandaids and dictate a story about their picture. The children's stories were very detailed!

The Middle School Spanish Class came in with Jen to introduce the children to Spanish vocabulary to do with their bodies-

 mi cuerpo-my body
ojos-eyes
nariz-nose
boca-mouth
oreja-ear
cabeza-head







here's Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes in Spanish:

Cabeza, hombros, rodillas
y dos pies
Cabeza, hombros, rodillas
y dos pies

Ojos, oidos, boca y una nariz
Cabeza, hombros, rodillas
y dos pies

English Translation

Head, shoulders, knees
And two feet
Head, shoulders, knees
And two feet

Eyes, ears, mouth and a nose
Head, shoulders, knees
And two feet

and sang a song with us!

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Shoe Store and Our Five Senses

We opened our shoe store this week to a lot of excitement and interest. The children helped to set it up, after we had made a list of things that we might need in our shoe store.

We have also talked about our five senses and our art projects have reflected each sense;

• touch - texture picture
• sight-watercolors and salt to see what happens
• hearing-shakers filled with items of choice; to make "loud" or "soft" sounds
• smell-bears with paint and spices and coffee to sprinkle on
• taste-salt and sugar to glue onto paper-how do we tell which is which?

When we set up our shoe store, we realize that there are many opportunities for learning for the children- 

• fine motor - writing in receipts, lacing shoes, fitting shoes into boxes, pressing keys on the cash register
• math/readiness skills-money concepts, matching pairs of shoes, writing numbers, measuring and determining size of shoes and feet, size of boxes.
• social/language skills- role playing customer and manager, asking for shoes, asking customers what they need, taking turns with the cash register, telling customers how much shoes cost. 
• reading /pre reading skills-keeping a list of cash register turn taking names, closed and open sign, shoe brands and boxes, receipt reading and writing. 
• large motor skills and self help- putting on and taking off shoes, balancing boxes. 

We have added some Spanish words to our vocabulary: 

"Mi Cuerpo" (my body)

la cabeza- head

los ojos- eyes

la nariz- nose

la boca-mouth

el corazon- heart

las manos-heands

el estomago-stomach

los pies-feet

los zapatos-shoes! 

And, finally, a sweet picture of spontaneous and not teacher led circling up fun on the rug!

Until Next Time,

Michele

Welcome Back to Pasta Week!

We come back to school for a week of pasta cooking-the enjoyment of our favorite pasta dishes helps to ease the transition to the structure of school after our long break. The children have enjoyed their return to school, I believe, as noted by their excited voices, playful attitudes, and great big hugs.

We shared pasta poems, books (More Spaghetti I Say! and Strega Nona are two favorites) and art projects; gluing with pasta boxes, painting with yellow onto red, and using spaghetti and paint to create pictures.  We have sung many verses of "On Top Of Spaghetti" and watched Mr. Roger's visit to a macaroni factory-after which there was a building session on the rug to create all of the components of the factory.

Best of all, we cooked pasta for snack each day. Our favorites were categorized and will become a pasta book, and they were sung to the tune of "I like to eat eat eat.....apples and bananas".

Until Next Time,
Michele

We cooked our pasta in the kitchen-and here we are taste testing!

"mac and cheese"

Jen shared a book about a Muneco de Nieve (snowman!) and the children found the nariz (nose) boca (mouth) boton (buttons) sombrero (hat) and bufanda (scarf) to complete the muneco de nieve (snowman).

the sensory table was full of colored pasta and pipe cleaners for bracelet making

spaghetti makes a great painting tool!

the macaroni factory in production

spaghetti and cheese was a favorite!

use a fork or your fingers? You decide.....