The Opposite of Boring

What a fun week we had learning about the concept of opposites.

On Tuesday: We read The Foot Book and then played a game in which each student was given a foot cut-out with a picture and word and were tasked with finding it's pair which featured a picture and word that meant the opposite. We sang a fun flannel board song about squeaky, clean pigs that play in the mud and become dirty pigs. We also read Up Hamster, Down Hamster. For a craft and as an extension to the song we glued down pig cut outs and used markers and dobbers to make clean and dirty pigs. During free play we set up a Big and Small store. We traveled upstairs to listen to a Bible lesson from Ms. Kristey in the chapel.

On Wednesday we read about friends who are complete opposites in the book, Polar Opposites and then made some observations about opposites in our classroom such as some Triangle friends have very dark hair while others have very light colored hair. For a game, students took turns reaching into my "opposite hat". Inside the hat were slips of paper with actions written on them. The students did the action and then they had to come up with what the opposite action would be. For example, jump high...jump low, walk forwards...backwards. We also read Harry the Dirty Dog. As a fun craft we weaved colorful paper strips and practiced over and under. During free play we continued to play in our Big and Small store. For a craft the students created short and long dogs by cutting the dogs in half and folding a piece of paper using an accordion/fan fold. We also learned about temperature and how air expands and contracts.

On Thursday we read Black Cat, White Cat and made guesses as to whether various items would sink or float and then tested to see if we were right. After circle the students created their own opposite books. Words were written on the pages and the students had to find and glue objects that matched the words. For example, smooth and rough, big and little. During free play we enjoyed our Big and Small store. Students also had the opportunity to paint on black paper using white paint, various brushes and sponges.

Students enjoyed sorting various items into bins: hard and soft

Our sensory bin was filled with large burr oak acorns that the children enjoyed running cars through.

Playing our opposite foot game

Fun flannel board song about squeaky clean and dirty pigs.

Creating clean and dirty pigs

Enjoying a fun opposite movement game

Students enjoyed an opposite puzzle

Reading the action two students selected from the opposite hat.

Jump high!

We also learned about over and under

Over...now let's go under the broomstick. Something so simple -- but enjoyed by all.

Paper weaving -- over and under

Learning about how water temperature affects air molecules  -- expand and contract

Creating short and long dogs

Creating opposite books

Enjoying free art - exploring with sponges and various sized brushes