It was another great day of learning for Super Learner Alexandra!
Project Initiating Activity:
After reading The Jellyfish Who Lost its Glow to Alexandra, we talked about problem solving and working as a team. Alexandra told me how she once dropped a toy and it rolled, and her dad helped her to find it. Problem: lost toy. Solution: asking for help and working together to solve a problem.
I gave Alexandra three jellyfish body templates and jellyfish tentacles. She helped to organize and select the tentacles. The plan was to glue the short-stringed tops to the jellyfish, so that the long-stringed ends of the tentacles would be at the bottom. We compared short and long. Alexandra did a great job identifying the differences. She added four tentacles to each jellyfish. She used her brush and cup of glue in a very efficient way and glued the tentacles on each jellyfish.
While the tentacles dried, she ate a snack, and we looked at sea life books. She did some letter identification and spelling of words like shark, sea horse, puffer fish, and octopus.
Then we painted each jellyfish. Alexandra chose her paint colors and used the wet-on-wet painting technique. We talked about how the red and blue made purple when mixed. Alexandra wanted to hear music while she painted to hear the colors she would paint. We did this activity yesterday, so it was great to hear her ask for music to listen to while painting. She asked me several times what colors I was hearing. We had a lively dialogue about colors and sounds. After the jellyfish were painted and drying, we moved onto the mermaid activity.
Alexandra chose three different mermaid bodies, fins, bathing suit tops, and hair. She was able to glue each front and back piece with a little help. She was able to glue the hair and eyes she selected. She drew the smile for each mermaid.
While those were drying, we went back to the jellyfish. Since the jellyfish in the story lost his glow, Alexandra gave each jellyfish wonderful sparkles and googly eyes.
Then we went to the carpet area and sang and danced to some jellyfish songs. We listened for the directions and moved as instructed. Alexandra was very engaged in the songs and dancing. She held two yarn jellyfish that I made to accompany her dancing.
It was a great third day!
Book Reference:
Waddle, J. (2022). The jellyfish who lost its glow. Little Hippo Books.
VA:Cr1.1.PKa
Engage in self-directed play with materials
VA:Cr1.2.PKa
Engage in self-directed, creative making.
VA:Cr2.1.PKa
Use a variety of artmaking tools
VA:Cr2.3.PKa
Create and tell about art that communicates a story about a familiar place or object.
VA:Cr3.1.PKa
Share and talk about personal artwork
MU:Cr2.1.PK
With substantial guidance, explore favorite musical ideas (such as movements, vocalizations, or instrumental accompaniments
Assignment
N/A
Session Minutes
120
Minutes Student Attended
120
Lesson Comments
I am very proud of the work that Alexandra is creating! She is very engaged and dedicated to her learning!
Calendar Talk Calendar Writing Phonics Daily Sentence Puzzle Sight Words Phonics Games
Lesson Outline
Alexandra completed her calendar talk and calendar writing, put together her daily sentence puzzle, read her sight words, played phonics games, and completed her phonics activities.
Plants Plant Book Plant Parts Reading Comprehension Storybook about a Bean
Lesson Outline
She listened to and discussed a book about a bean, "The Cool Bean." She made a booklet about the life cycle of a bean. She checked on the corn and bean seeds she planted yesterday. She reviewed what plants need to survive, and the parts of a plant. She completed a sequencing activity about a bean story.
Strengthen number sense and problem-solving skills
Lesson Outline
This afternoon, we continued to make math fun and engaging through hands-on interactive learning activities. Today's examples included counting a jar filled with small items, building a number city with blocks, a shape scavenger hunt, and using math playing cards. With Alexandra's help, I also created a number line with chalk and had her jump or hop on numbers, using simple addition and subtraction problems and dice. We did this in the Pre-K classroom to avoid the excessive outdoor heat. Our exercises today incorporated addition, subtraction, skip counting, patterns, real life scenarios, and logic puzzles/exercises for individualized differentiated learning and skill-building. As Alexandra had fun playing math Bingo the other day, we played another game before she left for the day. As the caller, I announced simple addition and subtraction math problems and tasked Alexandra with solving them and marking the corresponding answers on the Bingo card that I created and laminated. When she got a pattern of five counters in a row by correctly solving the math problems, she enthusiastically shouted out "BINGO! and earned a sticker. These exercises reinforced and consolidated Alexandra's developing sense of numbers and, logic, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills.
I challenged Alexandra with different Kindergarten and first grade hands-on math activities. One involved composing shapes together with pattern blocks, another involved counting steps and then asking Alexandra to guess how many steps it would take to walk a certain distance - (how many steps will it take for you to go from your classroom to Ms. Judie's office)? I then let Alexandra count her steps to see if her guesses were accurate - and then see if her guess was higher or lower than the actual number of steps. We also cooked an imaginary pizza which I divided into four slices. Alexandra was to add her favorite toppings and add additional topping to 1 of the 4 slices (Alexandra chose pepperoni). This was an activity designed to integrate and synthesize Alexandra's preliminary understanding of parts of a whole - or fractions. When she ate her lunch, we used the compartments in her lunch box to figure out how many compartments of the whole were empty and how many were left after she finished the contents of her snack - green beans, cheese, and grapes. Next, we played a math bingo game. I created a Bingo board with numbers on from 1 -20 on it, and Alexandra had to add or subtract numbers and cover her board with counters after she she figured out the answers. Alexandra used the counter manipulatives and my fingers to count and then determine if that number was on the board. Alexandra grew excited when she created a diagonal line, solving the math problems, and getting BINGO! This activity was helpful in reinforcing basic addition and subtraction skills, and to improve her familiarity with math terms and help reinforce her understanding of patterns. Today was a fun way to help practice, reinforce, and consolidate her number sense skills in fun, hands-on ways.
Calendar Talk Calendar Writing Emergent Readers Daily Sentence Puzzle Sight Words Phonics Games Phonics
Lesson Outline
Alexandra completed her calendar talk and calendar writing, finished her phonics activities, played phonics games, read her emergent readers, put together her daily sentence puzzle, and read her sight words.
Alexandra watched a Brain Pop video about plants. She learned about the different parts of a plant. She learned what plants need to live. She planted corn seeds and bean seeds in a paper greenhouse to put in a window and wait for the seeds to sprout. She completed several activities reinforcing these concepts.
