Triangle Room- January 16-18, 2018

Last week we continued to explore the topic of winter. Our focus on Tuesday was snow and ice. We learned about the forms of water and experimented with what heat and cold do to water. Our focus on Wednesday was animals in winter. We learned that some animals hibernate during the cold winter months. Our focus on Thursday was winter literature. We had fun with the books There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow and Ten On The Sled. We also worked on counting, writing and hearing the letter W, and recognizing the letters in our name.

We had a bit on an interesting start to our day on Thursday when we discovered that our classroom had flooded overnight. Fortunately we were able to just move to the science room for the day and will most likely be there this week as well.

"snow" in the sensory table- baking soda and hair conditioner

talking about the forms of water-
in the liquid form, water can be poured

"the snow in the air is falling down...."

What happens to solid water when heat is applied?

free choice art- stamping a snow scene

painting glitter 

fine motor skill- painting glitter glue onto snowflake pasta

playdoh snowmen

We are bats huddled together in a cave in the winter.

We are bats flying around now in warm weather. 

We are turtles sleeping down deep in the mud through the winter. 

voting with our thumbs- "Does this animal hibernate in the winter?"

spelling our names with sticker letters

Yes or No- Does your letter have a W in it?

The Wonder of Snow

This week we focused our studies on the wonder of snow. We talked about our recent snowfall and how we all enjoyed it. We pretended our classroom was covered in snow. We made snowballs, snow angels and pretended to go sledding -- we rode without hands and pretended there were bumps along the way.

On Tuesday we read Snowmen All Year by Caralyn Buehner and asked the students what they would do if they had a snowman that lasted through the summer months. 

As a learning extension each student received their own mini-snowman made from baking soda and a bit of water. They were given droppers and cups filled with vinegar. Using droppers can be tricky at first, but it was a wonderful opportunity to practice fine motor skills. They enjoyed watching their snowmen froth, bubble and melt away.

We had a hot cocoa stand. While some were very interested in running the cash register -- many  were happy to "make cocoa" using scraps of felt for the chocolate and pom poms for marshmallows.

Fun snow man match-up game that incorporates color recognition.

White things...students were asked to sort them how they wish - animals and non-animals, small and big, hard and soft.

Making snowmen out of playdough

We played I Spy -  searching for white items hidden in our sensory table

I found the feather!

The students really enjoyed searching and finding the items hidden in the sensory bin.

watercolor - always a favorite with students

During free choice students had the opportunity to create snowmen out of paper doilies and other craft materials

As a STEM activity students were given two different kinds of packing peanuts (styrofoam and cornstarch) and encouraged to draw snowman faces on them and make guesses about what would happen if they were placed in a bowl of water? Would they melt? The children observed that the ink from the markers floated on top of the water and changed the color of the water. They also noticed that the styrofoam peanuts remained intact while those made from cornstarch disintegrated and melted away.

On Wednesday we learned about snowflakes...no two flakes are alike, but all have six sides.
* as a STEM activity students were given a variety of craft items to piece together to create snowflakes
* we painted snow scenes on aluminum foil.
* our question of the day 'Have you ever caught a snowflake on your tongue?'
* we created a web of "white things"
* we created vibrant works of art using paint popsicles

painting with colored ice

creating beaded snowflakes in science class

in science the students enjoyed playing with "pseudo-snow" - a concoction of baking soda and conditioner

Build-a-snowflake STEM activity

vibrant ice paintings

On Thursday we read The Magical Snow Garden by Tracey Corderoy. A story about a penguin who longs for a flower garden and seeks to create a magical snow garden from found objects. Afterwards the students created their own magical garden using an array of craft materials. Their garden is on display outside our classroom.

Our Magical Snow Garden