Monday, July 1, 2013

Fireworks, Belly Breathing, & Meet Popping Penguin!


Fireworks

Our Nation's Birthday is just a few days away! Today we did a great science mini-experiment that made "fireworks" in a jar. We used 1/3 water and 2/3 vegetable oil, some food coloring, and alkaseltzer tablets to create our contained fireworks. After we enjoyed the show, we worked to build our handwriting skills by writing the word "Fireworks"! Afterwards we added a little flair and made our own fireworks. This activity helped us with letter sounds, handwriting, colors, descriptive language,  fine motor control, and following directions. 

















A Lesson in Social Intelligence

Today we introduced our new friends to one of our favorite social intelligence techniques! Belly Breathe! We use belly breathing when we are upset. We use a fun song to remember just how to do it. We will be learning a lot of fun techniques and important skills during our social intelligence lessons in the future. To learn the song and see all the fun, follow the link: Belly Breathe.


Popping Penguin

Meet the the Popping Penguin! We learn a lot in just one day, so to help us recap our lessons before pack up, we play a fun game with Popping Penguin. We are asked a question about the day's lessons, or  something we are working on, and then we are given the opportunity to "pop" a friend! Popping Penguin helps build hand strength, control, and reaction time! Plus, we LOVE to pop and to be popped! 





Enjoy learning about our day? Add your email address to the right of the screen to receive posts in your inbox each morning.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Glowing Fireflies

What a great week! We had a blast getting to know our new friends while learning! We learned through play and did some exciting activities as well! Today we finished up the letter F sound and made some really fun Fireflies. They even light up! This activity helped with fine motor control, hand writing, letter sounds, problem solving, color identification, and following directions. Before we began making our fire flies we talked about how to write a letter F, and then we all wrote our own! Where do we start our letters? At the top!

This activity also helped reinforce our weekly vocabulary. When it is dark our fireflies shine. The light from our fireflies can be bright!

We used easter eggs, battery operated tea lights, duct tape wings, goggly eyes, and pipe cleaners to make our fun fireflies.

If you enjoy our blog you can receive it in your inbox each morning automatically! Add your email address to the box at the right of the screen to begin receiving them tomorrow.









 











Thursday, June 27, 2013

Fireworks in Goop & a Happy Birthday to our Friend!

What a great day! We worked hard, celebrated birthdays, and even played with "fireworks" in celebration for the 4th of July! Ok, not real  fireworks, but just as fun! We used cornstarch and water to make Goop and then as an added sensory bonus we added Poprocks! The Poprocks popped and fizzed just like fireworks do in the night sky on the 4th! We used the opportunity to talk about our country again, work on letter sounds (P and F), sensory processing, and following directions.








Happy Birthday! Our classmate and his sister celebrated a great birthday today! We enjoyed a picnic with a sweet surprise!