Dear Mr. Wolf...

We completed our unit on the Three Little Pigs with our preK MWF classes.  On Friday, the children dictated their own version of the Three Little Pigs (stories will be sent home later this week).   There are three 'houses' for dramatic play and we ate  'straw, sticks and bricks' on Friday for our special snack.  Check out this past blog post for more information---http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2012/04/little-pigs-little-pigs.html

A new activity added to this unit is an advice letter to the main character. The letters were pretty funny and this activity could be done with many other stories.

 

Once Upon A Time and more...

The Gingerbread Man's Friends

 

 

The Three Bears

 

The Three Little Pigs, etc.

 

 

 

 

 More fun stories!

 

 

 

 

Hungry Caterpillars and Beautiful Butterflies

I really enjoy our Very Hungry Caterpillar unit with our TTh 3 y/o class.  There are many activities we do year to year.  We make a caterpillar and butterfly and we play the Very Hungry Caterpillar (see links below for photos and more information).

This year I added some independent art and crafts for the children to do at center time.  The first activity is a lacing activity.  We love milk and bottle caps at MCP.  I gathered all the red and green caps, made some colored rigatoni and added some yarn http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2009/12/lacing-cards.html It's a pattern!

Colored Rigatoni

Very Hungry Caterpillar Lacing Center

Student Lacing

Student Lacing

 

Very Hungry Caterpillar Necklace

In our art center, we have some green paper cut into leaf shapes with hole punches.  We added red and green paint with corks for printing.  After the paint dries, I added the eyes, antennae and legs.

Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Student Work

 

Student Work

We are also enjoying some Very Hungry Caterpillar snacks.  On Tuesday, we ate apples, strawberries and oranges. Yummy!  We will be tasting salami, pickles, Swiss cheese and some other treats today!

Need more ideas?  Check out these previous posts---
http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2010/04/eric-carle.html

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2012/04/but-he-was-still-hungry.html

MacGyver

Preschool teachers are the MacGyver's of the education world.  We can take a paper clip, a toilet paper tube, some googly eyes and create a classroom activity or holiday craft :-)  Here are some more things we reuse at MCP...

Jars and bottles make cute holiday crafts!

 

Milk jugs for games and bird feeders!

Soda bottles, water bottles and juice bottles for activities and rocket boosters.  Rocket booster 'How to'...http://www.metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2010/02/super-summer-seashore-safari-scuba-gear.html

 

 

Lids, corks and spools for paint projects!


 

Plus gift tissue paper, crayons, silk flowers, large cardboard boxes,  toilet and paper towel tubes and brown bags.  We use old computer keyboards and cell phones for dress ups.  We use wallpaper for chart paper and bulletin boards plus much more.

Make every day Earth Day.  Reduce, Reuse and Recycle!

Earth Day 2013

 Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.  The Lorax  by Dr. Seuss

The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970.  Most of you were probably just a 'twinkle in your daddy's eye'.  I was a little girl and I am sure the day passed unnoticed in my world.

It is now 2013 and  we continue the work that began over forty years ago to improve and save our planet.  We realize the importance of the three R's---reduce, reuse, recycle.  Recycling is a part of who I am---personally at home and professionally in the classroom. I have been recycling for as long as I can remember and hopefully have passed the value of recycling onto my boys.

Recycling is part of the solution.  Reducing and reusing are also key components of a green classroom.  How do we do our part at MCP?

Because we do not have a place to recycle at school, I take plastic juice and milk bottles, cardboard, etc. home to our recycling container but our biggest R  at MCP is reusing.  We reuse numerous items in our classroom for arts/crafts, dramatic play, bulletin boards and educational experiences. 

Here are a few things we reuse...

Egg cartons for painting

 

Plastic caps for sorting, counting & lacing

 http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2012/12/bottle-cap-jewelry.html

 

Greeting cards and boxes for lacing

Cereal boxes make a great fort.

 Check back tomorrow for more ideas!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle---Happy Earth Day!

Weather Words

The word for weather in central Illinois right now is YUCKY!  Despite the lack of spring weather, we have an activity for our MWF students using weather words. We have lots of little mini-centers in the room for the children to work on independently.  These activities are often rewarded with the easy button.

 

Student Work