Dr. Seuss...

Thursday's lesson was based off of the book, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.


We started circle time with some exercising by dancing freely to "Under the Sea" from our Little Mermaid CD, and "Fish School" from our Finding Nemo CD.



Check out little M shaking her behind. She even has her tongue sticking out...such personality!


The kids learned all sorts of interesting facts about fish on this day!
- They learned that a group of fish is called a school.
- There are several different kinds of fish.
- Each kind of fish eats differently. Some fish eat algae, coral, sponges, seaweed, and plankton. Some fish even eat other fish!
- People typically eat Salmon, tuna, cod, walleye, halibut, and shrimp. Some people even eat fish eggs! (I showed the kids photos of these fish as we talked about them.)
- Some fish need to live in salt water, and some need to live in freshwater lakes.
- People can have a fish for a pet, but they need to take care of it by cleaning the tank and feeding it regularly.
- Most fish do not have eyelids!
- Some fish can change color to camouflage.
- A person who studies fish is called an ichthyologist (sometimes commonly known as a marine biologist).
- It is tough to tell if a fish is a boy or a girl. Girl fish are typically bigger in size, and boy fish are typically more colorful than girls. However, the best way to tell which is which, is to observe if the fish lays eggs.
- We can catch fish by using a fishing pole, and placing bait on the hook (often a worm or a small fish is used for bait).

Next the kids identified the different parts of a fish on a diagram (fins, tail, fins, gill, mouth, eye, and scales). I showed the kids a shirt I have that has sequins much like the scales on a fish. After pointing out where the gill on the fish was, we learned that fish breathe oxygen through the water using their gills. If a fish is placed outside of water, it will die (this is the opposite type of living conditions than a human).
I wanted to test the kids listening skills so I asked that they follow the coloring directions printed on the page. I gave one direction at a time (ex: color the scales yellow), and I observed how well they could follow directions, and if they remembered where each part of the fish was located.



G has his tongue out too...such concentration! :)


Next, the kids made color patterns with paint dobbers on a fish worksheet.





I love that Nate has his own idea of what is fun here...stacking paint dobbers caps.

Nate eventually decided he wanted to paint. :)


We reviewed the names of various shapes while the kids decorated a cutout of a fish with different shaped gems!



Look at that face! She is just beaming with pride!




Next, I set up a couple centers for the kids to rotate through. First, there was a magnetic fishing game where they matched up the letters on each fish they caught with the letters on their game board.



Second, I set up a water sensory table with magnetic fishing poles and magnetic fish. I also included small fish and different sizes of boats. I asked that the kids predict how many fish they could fit in each boat before it sank.







Lastly, I set out our magnetic fishing puzzle for anyone who might be interested.



For lunch the kids ate fish sticks, and for their treat I gave the kids gummy Swedish fish! For snack time the kids sorted and then graphed rainbow colored goldfish. :) The kids were asked to identify how many fish of each color they had without counting them. They also had to report which color they had the most of and which color they had the least of.

Dr. Suess....

On Wednesday, we based our lesson on The Cat in the Hat and The Cat in the Hat Comes Back.


I was impressed with the attention span of my older kids on this day. I had A LOT of activities planned and they continued to show interest in everything we did. :)

Before the kids sat down for breakfast I painted their hands to make their handprints look like a Thing 1 or Thing 2!


I asked that all the kids dress in a red shirt and wear a hat for this day. When circle time began, we took note of the similarities and differences among the hats. We also described the textures of each hat. Lastly, I asked that the kids sort the hats into two groups of their choice (we sorted once by color, then shape, and then size).


Before reading The Cat in the Hat, I asked the kids if anyone remembered what the book was about and if they could explain the beginning, middle and end of the book to me. Quickly after starting the story we realized that we too were experiencing a very cold, cold wet day much like the characters in the book. While I read the book to the kids, we paid close attention to facial expressions of each character. We identified how each character was feeling (bored, scared, worried, mad, sad, happy, brave, etc.).

Here is a pic of my backyard...it looked like a half frozen swamp out there!




After reading the book, we remembered that the Cat in the Hat performed many tricks. We performed our own set of tricks with our body (ex: wiggled our eyebrows, jumped on one foot, shimmied our shoulders, etc.) The kids performed the tricks I asked them to do, and then thought of their own trick to share with the group. :)

Next, the kids completed a rhyming activity where they brainstormed a list of words that ended with -at and rhymed with cat. They needed to write a letter in front of the -at sound to create a new word that rhymed.




Next, the kids made their own Thing 1 or Thing 2 wigs with paper plate name tags! They had so much fun using the fancy scissors!



Jay took this picture of all of us when he came home from lunch...


My boys may look alike, but they are soooo different. (Nate just DID NOT want his picture taken.) :)


Next the kids cut and colored a flip book titled "Whose Hat?"





The kids also completed an addition worksheet using Kix cereal as math manipulatives. I was surprised at how easy this was for them. Some of the kids didn't even need to use the Kix. They could just figure out the answer in their head!




Next, I introduced the kids to the story The Cat in the Hat Comes Back! I asked that the kids first predict what they think might happen in the story before I read it to them.
Afterward, I prepared lunch while the kids watched a short 30 minutes video of "The Cat in the Hat!" (This was the still frame storybook version.) This was a special treat considering today was not movie day. On Friday we will watch the longer movie and compare the two.



For lunch, the kids ate Jello jigglers that looked like the Cat's Hat! :)




After lunch we all played a game of "Cat, Cat, Hat!" (Similar to the game "Duck, Duck, Goose.")

For snack the kids ate Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes!


Can you see the excitement in that cute face of his? :)

ET and G ate their cupcakes after lunch because they needed to head to school on this day.





After snack the kids colored a picture of something they would want to keep in their own big red wood box (just like the Cat in the Hat had in the story, where he carried Thing 1 and Thing 2).


I had a packet of Dr. Seuss related worksheets for the kids to take home, but they wanted to complete them right away. All the older kids completely finished their packets!

I love seeing friends helping friends...


During the afternoon the kids also had an opportunity to practice sewing with Dr. Seuss lacing cards...



The kids were well entertained! Seriously, if they can keep up with this pace, they are more than ready for Kindergarten! :)

My little ones are not expected to participate in all of these activities, because let's get real, this is too much for a two year old. However, they continue to surprise me as well. A lot of times, they will want the same worksheet that the older kids are working on and they will sit down and make small markings on their paper and act like they are doing the same thing as the older kids. It is just adorable to watch. My little J will even ask me over and over again, "What do I do next?" So stinkin' adorable!