Reading, Writing, and Math, Oh My

There is a lot happening in the classroom these days!  Some snippets from this week:

Filling in the missing beginning sound of words using the Language Step Board.

Pink Tower/Brown Stair exploration.

Lining up the locks and keys by size and practicing opening and closing them.

Reading and sequencing numbers and days of the week with the May calendar.

Bow tying practice.

Sorting pictures by season with the Seasons Timeline lesson.

Reading practice with the Mac and Tab early reader series.  This child is using a 'reading stick' to help track the words on the page.

Linear and skip counting practice using the Short Chain of Four.

A display of wildflowers we found on our outdoor excursion.

Addition with the Colored Beads.

Handwriting practice - copying a poem onto lined paper.

Clay sculptures - the children enjoy story telling to go along with their creations.

Pairing bottles by aroma - Smelling Bottles.

Science:   exploring and experimenting with hardness of rocks.

Retrieving quantities of golden beads and counting them on a tray.

Playing the Memory Game of Numbers with items from around the classroom.

All about Australia at the sign-in table.

A Silent 'e' lesson.

Coloring a flag of Australia.

Polishing Metal - I placed a different piece of silver out on the shelf and one child remarked, "I just love the rose on top of the lid, it's so beautiful!"

Still enjoying the Aboriginal Dot Painting activity.

Phonemic awareness, pre-reading activity - placing a stone for each sound in a word.

Using all four Solid Cylinders - extra fun with a friend!

Sounding out and writing words with the Large Moveable Alphabet.

Addition facts with the Math Drawers.

Solids - Hard As Rocks

Here is another engaging science lesson recently introduced the children.  This lesson is part of our ongoing studies of states of matter and can be found in the book shown in the the link.

The materials set up at a table:  Instruction card, tray with various rocks, small jar containing a large nail, work mat.

Ready for exploration and observation!  

Front

Back

Sweet and simple, yet opens the eyes of the child to further investigate, understand, and appreciate the world around him.  

A Little Peek

It's been very busy in the classroom getting ready for Mother's Day - we've been making necklaces, painting cards, and making muffins…  Here is a little peek at what we have been up to:

Cards painted with watercolors...

…and necklace with poem on the inside.

Back from Spring Break

After a week long spring break, we are back in the classroom and have been busy all the while!  Mother's Day preparations have already begun and we have still been hosting visitors to our classroom on several mornings.  As a result, I have had fewer opportunities to take photos.  Nevertheless, here are a few photos I was able to take.  The children were eager to be back in the classroom and enjoyed several new lessons which were prepared during the break:

Painting flowers at the easel (using a fork for prints).

The children are enjoying this math maze with helps with linear counting and number symbol recognition.

Building fine motor skills and concentration with a Locks and Keys activity.

Making a quiet moment with the Individual Silence Game.  Afterward, this child asked me for a new lesson with the clock (see book in photo).  :-)

Transferring and sorting with a small soon.

Practicing pairing and folding socks.

Learning about odd and even numbers with the Cards and Counters math lesson.

Comparing height with the Knobless Cylinders.

Dot painting activity to go along with our Australia studies.

Practicing middle vowel sounds with the Language Step Board.

Shape exploration with the Constructive Triangles.

Solidifying the concept of zero with the Spindle Box math lesson.

Wet, Dry, Try writing practice.

Matching 'peace' cards.

Working on ending sounds with the Language Step Board.

Drawing a picture and writing a story.

Australian Aboriginal Dot Painting

Since our return from last week's Spring Break, we have been continuing our continent studies and learning about Australia.  One activity the children have been introduced to is an Australian Aboriginal art lesson.  Prior to having this lesson available on the art shelf, we looked at illustrations depicting the art of dot painting.  We have been enjoying the stories and illustrations from this book in particular:

Aboriginal Dot Painting art activity on the shelf:
Basket of various Aboriginal outlines (available HERE); cotton swabs; tray with paints and pencil (for name writing).

The work in progress (this is my youngest son who was eager to give it a try while I was setting up the classroom over spring break!).

A completed Aboriginal Dot Art project.