Sunshine Scoop

Sunshiners have been learning what voting is all about, as well as our American flag and the White House.  The children voted for which snack and tabletop activities they wanted in the classroom. After, Teachers masqueraded as presidential candidates espousing their views. The children then voted for their favorite candidate. Afterwards, we graphed all the responses to determine the winner. The construction of  an amazing three dimensional White House complete with landscaping,  was a thouroughly enjoyed project, and the students did such a terrific job on it.  In additon, we listened to some books on the subject including “President Pennybaker” by Kate Fieffer.

The Sunshine mathematicians really love to graph and this has been our recent focus.  We have graphed on paper and used connecting cubes to represent data. We have graphed favorite story books and flowers.  The Sunshine Class’ countdown to the first 100 school days of 2016 continues.

Spring has certainly sprung in the Sunshine Room as we’ve planted Marigolds and “grass heads” which has led to a lot of scientific inquiry and discussions about plant parts, the necessities for plant growth, and all this learning was of course documented in their science journals.

Looking ahead we will become little actors and actresses as we recreate “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”.  We are going to be very involved in creating scenery, costumes, and learning our lines.  We have a very enthusiastic cast!

Starburst Happenings

Farms and farm animals have been the inspiration for our classroom curriculum.  The children have been exploring the physical properties of corn and oats in our sensory tables and commenting on the textures and scents of both grains.  We have had corn for snack and look forward to having oatmeal.  We’ve expanded our research skills by exploring books and short videos about farm animals.  Farm building, machinery, and animal props are being used to created dramatic play games.

Observing the growth of our seedlings, we’ve transplanted some into large container gardens. Other plants have been used for size comparisons. In addition, one plant was placed in a box maze to illustrate how a plant seeks the sun.

We are looking forward to our outdoor classroom.  Michele and Elizabeth are hard at work planning a variety of educational activities for the children to explore in the great outdoors. A perfect example of this is the Frisbee rhyming game the children played today.

We look forward to celebrating Star Wars Day on May Fourth!