Dr. Seuss...

On Tuesday, we based our lesson around the books, The Foot Book & Fox In Socks.

I asked that the kids wear silly socks on this day. The kids loved this, and they shared a lot of giggles comparing socks with one another.


When circle time began, I started by reading both books to the kids. Next, we talked about how one foot is called a foot, but more than one foot is called feet. We also talked about how one footprint is called a footprint, but more than one is not called feetprints, they are called footprints! :)
I asked the kids to name the opposites of the following: left foot, wet foot, slow foot, high foot, etc. Then I asked them to come up with their own opposite.
The kids also answered these discussion questions...
Do all animals have feet? Which do not? Can you think of an object that has feet? (Table, chair, bathtub). I wrote the numbers 2, 4, 6, & 8 on the white board. We talked briefly how these numbers are said when skip counting by twos. Then I asked the kids to come up with a list of animals that have 2, 4, 6 or 8 legs and/or feet. While doing this, we learned that an insect always has 6 legs. That means that not all bugs are considered insects! We learned that a spider is actually an arachnid, and not an insect.
Do all animals have toes like us? What animal can you think of that has toes? How many toes do we have? What other part of your body do we have 10 of? We practiced counting in English and Spanish.

Next, I made each of the kids footprints on a folded piece of paper with the same color ink. We identified the differences between a human footprint versus an animal footprint. I posted the footprints on the wall and we guessed whose each one belonged to.



Next I showed the kids picture cards of different animals and the tracks they make. We played a game of Memory with the picture cards.

Afterward, we completed a worksheet where we drew a line matching the correct animal up with its tracks.


Next, we discussed what conditions work best for making footprints? Can we make footprints on the cement? Why or why not? We conducted a science experiment where we placed our foot in dry sand and then wet sand. We discussed which one we thought was better for making footprints.


Next we headed back to floor to learn a bit about measurement. I asked the kids to compare the length of their feet to the measurement of a foot on a ruler. We identified that all of our feet were smaller than a real foot.

We were also asked to find something in the room that was smaller and bigger than our foot.

Lastly, we completed a measurement activity where we measured how many steps it took to get from the base of the stairs to various places around the room. We were asked to first write our prediction on our paper and then the actual results.



For story time, I had two helpers hold the Fox In Socks book while we listened to the audio version on CD.

For snack we made animal tracks with chocolate pudding and animal crackers! :)






I learned that Nate loves chocolate pudding! He ate all his animal crackers, and drank all his milk and had three helpings of pudding. I actually said no when he asked for a fourth helping! :)

Dr. Seuss Week!

This week we will celebrating Dr. Seuss! I searched the internet and stores for tons of activities that revolve around a few books. I wanted to blog about it, so I don't forget the lesson plan ideas and so I always remember what teaching preschool was like with my little guys. :)

Monday we learned about Green Eggs and Ham.

We started out the morning with toast, applesauce and a green hard-boiled egg. Being that I needed to make a dozen green eggs, I just used water (3/4 cup), vinegar (2 T.), and food coloring (about 20 drops) to dye the eggs.



For circle time I started by introducing the kids to who Dr. Seuss once was. I showed them a photo of Dr. Seuss and informed them of a few fun facts....
1. Dr. Seuss's birthday was March 2nd.
2. Dr. Seuss died at the age of 87.
3. Dr. Seuss was a famous author and illustrator and made 44 children's books. Humor came easy for him. He loved nonsense, and said it "woke up his brain cells."
4. Dr. Seuss's real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel.
5. Dr. Seuss was not a real doctor at all. He went to school to get his PhD, but ending up not graduating.
6. Dr. Seuss was married, but never had kids.
7. Dr. Seuss's first book was, And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street. This book was denied roughly 30 times before it was published!
8. Dr. Seuss's last book was, Oh The Places You'll Go!
9. One of Dr. Seuss's last known recorded words of advice were...We can, and we've got to, do better than this!

After introducing the kids to Dr. Seuss, I read the book Green Eggs & Ham.

I asked the kids various science questions about ham and eggs...
1. Where does ham come from?
2. Do humans lay eggs?
3. Do all animals lay eggs? Which animals lay eggs?
4. Which eggs do humans eat?
5. What animal lays the largest egg? The smallest egg?

Afterward, the kids practiced writing their names on name-tags that ended with -I AM. After everyone completed their name-tags, I gathered them up and asked them to read each name as a group. The kids identified the first and last letter in each person's name and what sound that letter makes.

Next, the kids had a chance to be creative while making a critter of their choice with egg cartons and various art materials (paint, pipe cleaners, pom-poms, googly eyes).









Nate was fascinated with the feel of the new tacky glue. :)


Next was a game of "Pin the Green Eggs on the Plate!"



Next up was a game of Tic-Tac-Toe on the floor with green eggs and ham. :)



Next was a game of BINGO with numbers 1-20. The kids took turns picking an egg from the basket and calling out the number to their friends. We used egg shaped jelly beans as our markers. :)



We couldn't go outside yesterday because the wind chill was a bit extreme, so we colored a "color by letter" page of Sam and his friend. We realized while coloring this that Dr. Seuss never gives the name of Sam's friend in the book. After nap, we were able to complete a few more Dr. Seuss related worksheets.

While I prepared lunch, the kids took turns listening to the audio version of the book.

For lunch the kids ate green scrambled eggs and ham & cheese crescent rolls. :)