Math - Dice Number Game

This afternoon, the children and I played the dice game to learn the numbers. First, we reviewed numeral 1 to 6 together. Then, we took turns to roll the dice and took the numeral cards that match to the number we rolled out.

This game helps the children know their numbers and practice taking turns. It was amazing to see the children being principled to follow the rules and to take turns during the game. What a great chance to enhance their self-management and communication skills! 

Earth Group - Ox-Cart

Transdisciplinary Theme: Where we are in place and time

Central Idea: There are similarities and differences between the way people lived long ago and the way people live today.

The children in the Earth Group started our group time with the story "Ox-Cart Man" by Donald Hall. In the story, a 19th century farmer loads up his cart with the produce from his farm, and home-made items from his family, and takes them to the city where he can sale everything. Then, he returns back to his farm to start growing and making everything again.

"What are some similarities and differences between you and the people in the story?" I asked the children.
Mila - "We have cars. We don't have to walk far away." (In the story, the man walked ten days!)
Paxton - "We buy those things(candles, mittens or brooms) in the stores! I don't make them at home."

Then, we used play dough and toys in our school to make their own ox-cart.

"This is my ox-cart!"

During group time, the children were showing their interests in transportation and how people travel now and in the olden days. Here is a link that we watched together: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G_K12Lu0lQ

Art - Decorating with Lights

Science - Ice & Salt

The children were all curious and interested in the salt we put on the ground outside our centre on icy days. This afternoon, the children and I observed how ice affect ice through a little science experiment. We had three dishes, each of them with one ice cube in it. I asked the children to add two spoon of salt upon the first ice cube, one spoon of salt on the second ice cube and leave the third ice cube plain. 

Then, we had a five-minute timer to help us measure the time. "What will happen to the ice cubes?" I asked the children. The children all excitedly said "it will melt!"

"Which one will melt the fastest?" I asked again. This time, each child had his/her own guess.

The children all waited patiently for five minutes. Then, we observed the ice cube by our eyes to see which ice cube became the smallest among the three. We found the plain ice cube was the biggest, but we could not decide which was the smallest.

Therefore, we took out the scale to help us compare which ice cube became the lightest at the end. The difference between the two ice cube with salt were really small (0.1 g)! 

Math - 10 Fish Game

This afternoon, the children and I played a math game, which introduced the act of subtracting. Here, we started by counting and confirming that we had ten fish on the paper. 

Then, one child would hide some fish underneath the blue paper while everyone else hid their eyes. The question was "how many fish went under the paper?"

"I am ready!"

The third step would be counting how many fish was left on top of the paper. Once we knew the number of the fish left on the paper, we could open up our little hands to count with our ten fingers. Bending down our fingers one by one, we would know how many fish went under the paper.

Of course, we lift the paper up to check if we get it right!

What a fun way to encourage the children to count and to introduce subtraction! 

Earth Group - Decoration Book

We started our group time with two videos to review what we have learned in the Earth group.

Central Idea: People use decoration and this helps us learn about each other.

Lines of Inquiry: Decorations tell human stories and help us know one another (connection).
We reviewed two forms of decorations, totem poles and sand drawing, that tell human stories we learned through Earth group group time.

After the videos, the children talked about their totem and sand stories right away. What a great way to reinforced and refreshed their memory! Then, the children made their decoration books that record what they know about decorations.

       

Art & Craft - Jingle Bell

This Friday, the teachers and the children were busy preparing props for our Mini Concert. As many of you already know that we will sing "Jingle Bells," the children would make their bells to shake while we sing it.

The process required the children to thread the bells on wire and to wrap ribbons around a stick. The movement would enhance the children's fine motor skills. 

We all practiced singing "Jingle Bells" with our bells at the end of the activity!