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Showing posts from April, 2016

Ask an expert

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We were very happy to welcome Ben's Dad to our class to talk about turtles. He is a professor at UF and his specialty is amphibians and reptiles. The children had many questions and he answered them all. We had previously read in a book that a turtles shell is its backbone and today we got to really see how it's backbone is built into its shell.  We learned that turtles are reptiles and that all reptiles have scales. We noticed that the shell of a turtle are actually scales and they are made out of the same stuff that human fingernails are made from.  We also got to see a turtles beak which it uses to bite it's food but it doesn't chew it's food because they have no teeth. We also got to touch a fossilized turtle shell that is millions of years old and learned that turtles were alive when dinosaurs were on the Earth. Cool stuff! We want to send a giant thank you to Ben's Dad for coming to talk to us. We learned a lot.

Opposites

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Today we took a break from talking about things that live in the ocean and had a little fun with opposites.  Each child was asked to think of two things that are opposite from each other. We provided black paper and brightly colored oil pastels and they did the rest. We aren't sure whether we will laminate them or make them into a book. Either way look for them in the binder that we send home with families. They are super cute!

A Great Day For Turtles

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All our talk about the ocean has led the children to become very interested in turtles. On this lovely Spring day we brought our turtle books outside to look at. We provided chalk and the children created some of their first images of turtles.  We talked about the shape of their shells, how many legs they have and how sea turtles and land turtles are different. We found out that all turtles lay eggs.  Some of the children drew "mommy turtles with eggs". 

The Ocean

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Today we read a book about the ocean. The children were so excited by the things that we read about in the book that they decided to create an underwater landscape complete with plants, mountain ranges, volcanoes and fish. Our creative play room was alive with ocean inspiration. They added a darker blue fabric to the deepest part of the ocean because as a friend pointed out,  "the deeper you go the darker it gets." One of are friends wanted to add the shore so people could go to the beach and soon other friends were adding roads and a bridge to get to the beach. 

Our Spring Celebration

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Every year the preschool puts on a performance for Imagine's Spring celebration picnic. In preparation for this event the children made flower crowns out of newspaper and tissue paper. It was a multi step process that involved painting and flower making. On the day of the celebration the children were happy and proud to put on their colorful, festive crowns. After the performance the children and their families planted flowers in the garden and had a picnic lunch.  Happy Spring everyone!

Drawing Shells

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Today we set up a provocation that encouraged the children to draw shells. Some chose to trace a shell, while others drew their shell freehand. Some were really into the detail. They drew lines that go up and down, "vertical", and lines that go from side to side, "horizontal". Some were really into drawing spirals. 

Exploring Shells

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Today at snack time we had a great conversation about things that live in the ocean. During activity time the children were invited to explore shells. We wondered many things, " what are shells?", " what used to live in them?" One of our friends told us, "animals need to protect themselves" We read in a shell book that shells are like a skeleton on the outside of their body.  We made a mixture of salt, flour and water . This makes a dough that is easy to work with and will dry hard in two days. The children made "impressions" of a shell of their choosing.   We talked about the lines we could see  and noticed that some shells made spirals.