5-Day: Welcome to Our Apple Orchard!
We had another great week in 5-Day. This week was all about apples. The dramatic play center has changed into an Apple Orchard! The children loved playing there. They had a busy week building math, literacy, science, and social skills during our play.
Science is everywhere at an apple orchard! We read Apples and How They Grow and learned all about the life cycle of an apple. We also learned the parts of an apple: stem, leaf, skin, flesh, seeds and core. Cathy and the children conducted a science experiment to find out what would happen to an apple when placed in different liquids. After they cut an apple and examined all the parts, each child put a piece of apple into water, oil, vinegar or air. We observed how the apples changed during the week at the science center.
With our apple theme, students are also developing many math concepts! Students have been sorting apples by color, counting money, reading numbers on snack orders, and ordering drinks by size. The children also enjoyed following a recipe and making delicious apple sauce. They also worked in small groups to practice number recognition and one-to-one correspondence by dotting Ten Apples Up on Top.
Literacy is embedded in their play, too! Students read the labels (pictures) on the shelves, on various props, and on snack menus. Students are also developing their oral language skills when they communicate their thoughts and ideas to each other. We also traced letters on apples with dry erase markers and with our fingers in the sand.
The children were also busy creating lots of beautiful art. They made prints by painting with apples. They created cute caramel apples with puffy paint and fun textile apples by gluing scrapbook paper in red, yellow or green. We also extended our friendship theme by creating buddy paintings. Take a look at our outside bulletin board to see their lovely creations.
During pretend play, students will be developing many social skills. Students will be developing skills related to self-regulation, taking turns, sharing, waiting, and controlling their impulses as well as expressing their feelings and ideas through appropriate gestures, actions, and words. You can support your child’s pretend play by giving them the experience of going to a real orchard. If students can be a real visitor at a real orchard, then, they can come back to the classroom and use their real experiences to take their play to the next level.
The children also enjoyed their first music class with Steve, singing some of our favorite songs. We also had a blast playing hockey with Coach John. We celebrated birthdays with Reid and Eli.
Some of our favorite books this week were Peanut Butter & Cupcake, Clifford’s Manners, I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More and Can I Play Too?
We would also like to thank the Backes Family for the awesome water bottles!
Caroline & Cathy
