Scavenging for Volcanoes

The letter "V" was another exciting week.  We found ourselves learning about volcanoes and then traveling outside to make our own volcano.  The kids built the volcano and then we added baking soda and vinegar and watched our volcano erupt.  The other classes in the school seemed to enjoy the experiment as well.  We got to see how the "lava" flowed down the side and as it absorbed into the dirt, it left markings similar to what hardened lava looks like.  This gave us a chance to learn about igneous rock.  The volcanoes were definitely the hot topic for the day!

Friday was another adventurous day, as we talked about vultures and how they are scavengers who look for dead things.  We didn't really look for dead things, but we were vultures and went on our own scavenger hunt looking for things around the school. 

                              Making our Volcano

                              Scavenger Hunt

The Letter U

Uncle Sam plays the ukulele?  No, but we can make Uncle Sam's and play the homemade ukulele.  For the letter "U" we learned about Uncle Sam and how he is an image of the US.  We learned that he was based off a man named Sam Wilson dating back to the War of 1812.  The kids then made Uncle Sam's out of egg cartons.
  We also learned about ukuleles for the letter "U".  We learned that they are from Hawaii and actually mean "leaping flea" in Hawaiin.  They enjoyed making their own ukuleles from cardboard boxes and rubber bands.  Needless to say the room sure was hopping!  Be sure to ask about the umbrellas and why April and the spring are known for rain.  (Hopefully the answer has to do with the plants needing water to grow.)

              
                             Egg Carton Uncle Sam

                    
                             Rocking Our Ukuleles!

Ice Cream Party

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!!  What fun our alphabet study has been in the 3-4 year old classroom.  We celebrated the letter "I" by having a special treat.  How can you study the letter "I" without having ice cream?  Our snack time had us enjoying our own bowl of ice cream.  I guess it is never too cold to have ice cream!

                     Enjoying our Ice Cream Party

Turtle Races!!

And the winner is....the turtle!  "T" week had us reading the story of "The Tortoise and the Hare."  We then celebrated the Tortoise's victory by making our own turtles and racing against each other.  The students cheered each other on as two students raced.  The winner was the first one to get their turtle to the end of the string.  I think it surprised the students at how hard it was to get the turtle to move down the string.  There certainly was a lot of excitement for the races.

 AM Class Racing Turtles

 

                 

                         PM Class Having Turtle Races