Pre-K: Our Kindness Quilt
In our last week of letter/sound recognition, Pre-K focused on Qq and Yy.
Language and Art
Each child made a Bowen Library Card this week! They are allowed to take out one book at a time from our library and must fill out the date, the number of nights they will have it out, the day it’s due back and the title of the book. Please make sure these books get back to us at the appropriate time!
Our main project this week was creating a Pre-K kindness quilt as a way of thinking about how we can be kind and recognize when others are kind. First, we discussed what a quilt is and what it shows. Then, we read The Kindness Quilt. Each child thought of an act of kindness, we helped them write it on one side of a quilt square, and then children decorated their squares in a way that reminded them of their kindness act. The next day, we asked them about something kind they had done for others, and, on Wednesday, they thought about something kind a friend has done. On Thursday, they visually described a parent's act of kindness, and, on Friday, for group work, we reflected on all of our squares and arranged them in total as our Pre-K Kindness Quilt! It is on display on our bulletin board, along with a complete list of each square’s meaning.
Math and Science
We started off our week in true spring form; Puddlestompers came to talk about metamorphosis! Martine also led the children in a discussion of yeast and its role in baking. She compared matzoh to regular bread, and children got to try different methods of making the yeast rise/explode. From an article in Newsela we learned about a new discovery scientists have made (through fossils) of what they’re calling a “prehistoric chimera crab.” It was alive at the same time as the dinosaurs and sort of resembles a hermit crab. Ask your child how many legs it has and what’s special about its eyes. We came up with a few options of what we might like to call this creature; we voted between three names and ended up with “Padu.” Go figure.
For math, each child made a book of coins by tracing the type of coin and doing a crayon rubbing of it. They went home; so, take a look! We also took a leap into fractions; we talked about how a fraction is a piece of a whole, and each child got a lump of playdoh to help them visualize fractions. We practiced terms from one-half to one-tenth and children split their playdoh into equal pieces, depending on the fraction we called out. They loved it, especially the part in which they got to squish it all back together between fractions!
Dramatic Play was a Quiet Area, where children could read, draw and do puzzles. We basically left our Building Area as it was, although we added a different manipulative to the mix each day. It is so interesting to observe which building activities attract which children and how those groups ebb and flow.
We want to send a big thank you to Jiyoo’s dad Seung Gyou for coming in to speak with us about black holes. The class LOVED his presentation, particularly when they had a chance to throw pom poms into the black hole he had constructed for us!
Perhaps most importantly, Martine and I want to thank you for your generosity of thought, spirit and action that made our Teacher Appreciation lunch so special. We feel so lucky to be a part of Bowen and love coming to work every day.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Emily and Martine
Books Included:
The Kindness Quilt
The Enormous Carrot
If I Were Queen of the World
Rosie Revere, Engineer
