Check out what we're learning and doing in the Bananas Classroom at Frankie Lemmon School!
October Roundup
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Bananas for Apples!
October was such a fun month of growing and learning for our little bananas! With the cooler temperatures, we began to focus on the changes that we see in fall, especially the produce that is harvested this time of year.
We started with learning about apples! We began the study by. seeing how we can describe apples and noticing their different features. We talked about the different colors of apples, where apples grow, and the apple life cycle. The following week we focused more on how we use apples. We did a taste test of green, yellow, and red apples and students chose which one they liked the best. We did an apple investigation by cutting open an apple and seeing what was inside. The students loved seeing the star on the inside of the apples and counting how many seeds were inside. We wrapped up our apple-icous learning by making and eating all things apple! We made applesauce and got to use Miss Susan's special apple machine that cored, peeled, and sliced the apples for us. They really loved eating the 'apple spaghetti' or 'apple worms' (these were just the spiral peels that were left over). The room smelled delicious during nap time as the apples cooked in the crockpot. We made apple cider using instant packets and sliced up an apple pie. The students were so surprised at how many things could be made with apples! If you are interested in making your own applesauce at home, this is very similar to the recipe that we used: https://spicetosauce.com/apple-sauce-recipe/
James practices sorting apples in our oat and cinnamon sensory bin
Wright is working on his fine motor skills by poking holes in an apple picture
Ali is using a flashlight to find magic letters hiding behind apples
Ja'Darius loved the apple 'noodles' we got from peeling the apples
Declan is a pro at slicing/coring/peeling the apples for our applesauce
Our apple extravaganza snack: apple cider, applesauce, and apple pie
After thoroughly investigating apples, we moved to learning about another fall staple: pumpkins! We talked about how pumpkins are similar to/different than apples and how they grow. We watched a time lapse video of a giant pumpkin growing and the students loved seeing those changes. We opened up a pumpkin and each student got to touch the pumpkin 'guts'. Some liked it, but most of them couldn't wait to was their hands! We had some pumpkin activities in our centers that helped us work on specific fine motor, math, and literacy skills. We wrapped up the week celebrating with a harvest party! Thank you to the Frankie Lemmon Foundation for making the day super special for our students.
With all of the excitement and shortened weeks, we decided to take time to review the letters we have already learned. As a refresher, we have learned A, N, I, H, and E. It is very important that you review these at home as well so your students can retain the information that they are learning at school. Below are the videos for the Letterland characters we for N, I, H, and E. The videos for A can be found in the previous blog post.
Thank you so much to all of the families that donated apples, pumpkins, and other supplies to our classroom this month! We couldn't do all that we do without your help and support. The more we get to know each other, the more fun we are having and I know this is going to be a great school year.
January Study: PETS As I've previously mentioned, it is important to me as an educator to provide the students with learning opportunities that incorporate the world around them. I want them to be able to go home and apply the lessons from school to their day-to-day lives or to have relevant conversations with family members about the topic. In that spirit, we decided to do the pet study for January! We set up the dramatic play center to mimic a veterinary clinic and pet shop. There was a waiting room with all kinds of animals; birds, snakes, hamsters, dogs, and cats. Students were able to write down the pets name and diagnosis, use a variety of tools to care for them, and shop for supplies such as leashes & collars, as well as toys and treats. The students loved this center and we loved watching the ways their imagination blossomed and how they were applying what we talked about to their play. Other centers also focused on our study. We had animal puzzles, allowed stud...
February Study: Valentines + Shapes + 100 Days Smarter With all the snow days and special events, February was such a disjointed month, but we made the most out of it! We decided to spend one week doing special Valentine's Day activities and the others focusing on shapes. After our winter assessments, I found that this was a skill that we needed to work on and it is also an objective in our Teaching Standards Gold curriculum. Many of the students knew basic 2-D shapes, but we decided to also dive deeper into learning about 3-D shapes. We didn't get a lot of photos of our shape study, but instead focused on the shapes that we see around us and they have had so many good observations! As you move through your home each day, help your child notice shapes you see every day, such as the cylinder that is a soup can or the cube that is the dice to a board game. We transformed the dramatic play area into a post office. We had different sizes of boxes and envelopes, 'stamps',...
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