Apples to Coconuts

This week we went a little nuts. COCO-nuts, that is. (Forgive me, I just had to).  We began the week reading the classic, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. You know the one where all the letters climb up the coconut tree?  Well, there is also a follow up book called Chicka Chicka 123 where numbers climb up an apple tree.  We read that one, too.  Since this week was all about comparing and contrasting to find likenesses and differences, we used these two stories to practice this skill.  The students chose pictures out of the bucket, showed it to the class, then we decided which book had those items. Sometimes, it was an item they shared, so the students were introduced to Venn diagrams to help organize our thoughts. 

That was done on YELLOW day, by the way :)

The next day, we read the follow up book to Mouse Paint (which we read last week), called Mouse Count.  Once again, we compared the stories using a bucket of pictures and a Venn diagram. 

We also discuss how things are alike and different everyday when I pull two things out of our alphabet mailbox. We learn two letters each week, so I pull out two items each day that begin with those sounds. This week we found 1)an elephant and a fox, 2) an egg and a fish, 3) an elbow and feet, 4)an envelope and a folder, and 5) an egg (again) and a football. So, you can see how the students can make comparisons. The students talk about the items with their "teaching partners," then they volunteer to share with the class. Their wheels are turning more and more everyday as we practice this skill. It's really neat to see!

We did lots more with the coconut and apple and finding how things are alike and different, but more on that in a minute.  Here's just a little of what we did in centers this week.

In the writing center, I used those student info forms that I had you guys fill out before school began to make a picture and word list of the students' favorite things. The students could choose from a variety of fun writing tools (Markers! Glitter pens! Pens shaped like animals!) and simply write a list of all of their favorite things.  It was a hit! 

In the letter work center, the students sorted out lowercase letters by how they're formed: all straight lines, all curvy lines, and both straight and curvy. They sorted them onto coconut trees (a la Chicka Chicka Boom Boom). They could also sort out the red, yellow, and blue letters into the coordinating jars (a la Mouse Paint), or they could play Letter Race (as Landon and Jayla are doing in the picture).

In the fine motor center, the students cut plastic straws and strung them onto red ribbon to make necklaces and bracelets. Some students wore theirs all week!  So- we'll definitely do that one again!

There is a magnet center during the literacy centers and the math centers. The only difference is the magnets they work with. In math, they get to design whatever they want with the base ten magnets and random shape magnets (it's more like an engineering and design center). We can already see lots of future engineers in the room!

In my guided math center, we worked on making amounts up to five in many different ways (5 + 0, 4+1, 3+2). The students are also working on representing amounts with drawings. 

At the sight word center, the students cut and paste the new sight words.  This will be the task at this center every week for a while. The format is familiar, but the words change every week. When they finish the task, they can put together sight word puzzles. This is one of the few centers that are project-oriented, meaning they should have a finished product at the end of the 10-15 minute period that they are there. 

In addition to this sight word center, we have sight word workshops four days a week. Unlike centers, the students get to choose the stations that most appeal to them.  They choose one of the seven stations each day. This way, the students can learn the sight words in the style that suits them best and avoid the stations that seem frustrating or boring to them.

These were their choices this week. For the ones who love to write there was....

White boards  

 Rainbow Words (spin the color spinner, trace the word in that color).

And Roll, Write, and Graph (which appeals to the 'gamers' too).

 

For the tactile learners, there was....

Sandpaper words and playdough words (which I forgot to take a picture of)

For the builders, there was pop cube words

And for the artsy ones, PAINT.

Each week I will change a few of the stations out, but I will always have 3-4 learning styles represented. I'm working on a hopscotch type game for my movers and shakers. 

Ok, now let's finish up with a bit more coconut stuff. 

So, after comparing the stories we'd read the first two days, we talked about our five senses. I had the children just use one - their sense of touch to describe what they felt in the mystery box. 

They mentioned that one item was big and one was small. One was scratchy and the other one was smooth.  But we decided they were both somewhat round. They were all able to guess that the small and smooth item was an apple - but they weren't able to guess the other. One guessed pineapple, another guessed a porcupine.  But once I pulled the coconut out, the light came on. Oh yeah! The Chicka Chicka Books!

 

The next day (Thursday) - we compared the fruits again using our five senses and talked about what was in the insides of them and how they tasted. Well we needed to see what was inside that coconut and taste it too! So we did. 

The boys were very much into the use of the hammer and screwdriver.

Sampling the coconut milk - it was unanimous - they didn't like it (The picture was pre-tasting)

There were a few fans of the fruit itself. 

Our final experience with alike/different and coconuts had to do with buoyancy. The students tested four round fruits; a plum, an apple, a coconut, and a watermelon.  The students told if they thought an item would sink or float using thumbs up (for floats) or thumbs down (for sinks) - because I try to do my part to decrease noise pollution. We were all surprised that the only fruit that sank was the smallest!

After our whole group experiment, the students got to test lots of random items back at their tables. And things got a little bit messy. But, thankfully, we have a Mother Hen in the room who LITERALLY cleaned it ALL up without even being asked to.  I mean - she wiped off every table, packed up all the items, even threw away the paper towels that had fallen on the floor. Shout out to Daleigha! (I wished I would have gotten a picture of her).

Lastly, we couldn't do a Chicka Chicka theme without an art and crafts activity!

Next week we will learn about community helpers and the students will become community helpers themselves in the classroom.  Check back in next week to see what fun we have.  

AND WEAR GREEN ON MONDAY!