Bananas Love Pets

 



Puppies and Kittens and Birds...Oh My!

The Bananas loved the pet unit in February! We talked about what makes a good pet (although many of them really wanted tigers and giraffes to live at their houses), characteristics of pets, how they communicate, and how we can best take care of our pets. We had some special visitors, including a dog trainer who showed us the appropriate way to approach a dog and what a dog's body language is telling us. 

Our dramatic play center was transformed into the Frankie Lemmon Animal Hospital where the children had the ability to take care of a wide variety of pets. They looked at X-Rays, used veterinarian materials such as scrubs, stethoscopes, and cones, and had the opportunity to go to the pet shop to purchase collars + leashes, pet treats, and other essential supplies. This was a favorite center the entire month! 

We also added some more opportunities to our writing center. Students were given the opportunity to pick a pet, trace the word, build the word, and then write the word. Each child has a journal in the writing center and they really looked forward to writing these words on their own. I think one of their favorite activities was helping create a page for our class book. Each child wrote a sentence in a way that was most appropriate for their skill level and wrote what pet they would want. They then colored the pet, named it, laminated the pages and bound them, and placed the book in our classroom library. The students LOVED looking at this book and being able to 'read' it on their own. 

Other activities within this study included building homes for animals in the block center, exploring weight and measurement with dog biscuits, and we filled our sensory table with birdseed and letters. It was so much fun to see the children learn more about each animal and we had some great discussions about pets and what a huge responsibility they are. I apologize if any of them started pestering you for a new pet everyday after school. 😉

Major builds a home for his pets

Lyla is hard at work writing and coloring her page for our class book

Children loved taking care of the pets in our dramatic play center

Dr. Ava is taking care of a puppy at the Frankie Lemmon Animal Hospital

Josephine and Campbell are matching lowercase and uppercase letters in the birdseed sensory table. 

We have also continued learning letters with Letterland! Our curriculum continues to engage and challenge the students, but their favorite part of the week is Letter Bags and sharing the items you helped them pick out. Thank you so much for your cooperation with this activity! Here are the letters we learned:



Next we will be rolling into our Wheels Study!









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