The Mitten Reenactment

 In Pre-K, "Retelling a story" is an important standard. Retelling can be done by simply recalling scenes from the story, or drawing a picture or reenactment using props. We decided to reenact "The Mitten".

The Mitten by Jan Brett is a very good book to read and is perfect if your theme of the week is "Winter". It is a story about a little boy who looses a mitten in snow and some animals make that mitten their home until the mitten stretches and pops. It is a cute little story about winter animals trying to get ready for their long sleep! There are few versions of this title.... and most of them have similar animals. 

We got our masks from Jan Brett's website . All you have to do is print them, laminate for longevity and use them. Pre-K 4 kiddos enjoyed it..... We did not have Jan Brett's version. Our version had just 5 animals, so we had to do this reenactment several times in order to give everyone a chance. 

Our version book came with CD. So we listened to the story during large group time. At this time we retold story by sequencing the events in the story. 

Later in the day, we did reenactment. We sat in a circle, and the 5 masked animal friends waited while Ms. J read the story.

As the animals were called, they got into the mitten (Blanket for us).

 We insisted they hold their masks up.... just for fun!! and the picture too ;)

As the mitten popped.. all the animals jumped out of the blanket and went back to their spots.

Kiddos loved waiting for each animal to get under the blanket and then for all 5 to pop out.... for them that was the most exciting part. However, 5 rounds later...... all kiddos could retell the story :D

A simple thing like reenactment makes learning so much fun. Lucky for us it was super cold that day, so this was perfect activity to keep us busy during our outside play time. 

Besides masks, using puppets or pictures glued on popsicle sticks make retelling fun!!

Until next time,

Cheers =)

Instant Snow Experiment

The past week one of our small group activity was Instant Snow Experiment. The idea behind this experiment was to understand how adding water changed the powder into something new. Now ideally Insta Snow by Steve Spangler would be ideal...as the reaction is instant and the powder actually doubles very quickly. However, the brand I got was not Insta Snow...I bought mine from a local teacher supply store. Like I said, our key was for them to understand how adding water changed the original substance. 

For this experiment I had:
Instant Snow Powder
2 clear plastic cups ( 1 with water and 1 empty)
2 Bowls (1 lined with paper towel and the other empty)
Spoon
Measuring cup-1/4 cup
Recorder (optional)
Recording sheets - 1 per student. 

In the empty bowl we scooped out some powder for them to touch and see. I encouraged them to think about the color, what it looked like, how it felt. At this point I give them few seconds to draw out what the powder looked like before we added the water. After they drew, I asked them to describe what they drew. I wrote what they told me under the picture.

Next, I told them we were going to mix this powder with water. This snow powder required mixing 1/8 tsp of powder in 1/4 cup of water and stirring. I added a little more than 1/8 tsp so that the snow would form faster. (1/8tsp required for a longer stirring). 

As you start stirring, the water starts to slush up...

 
At this point, I ask them if they see any change.....most of them said they could see something floating in there.

As you keep stirring, this thing becomes thicker and thicker. However, this stuff did not turn into snow...it remained more like ice :(

So we scooped it out in the bowl... again I encouraged them to think about what happened to the powder, the color, and the texture. I asked them to draw how the powder looks after adding water and wrote what they told me under the picture. 

Some of the things they told me were:
Before: "It looks like salt", "It is crunchy", "It is white and soft", "It looks like soap powder."

After: Most of the students understood "the powder has become big", "It looks like Ice", "It is still white", "It looks like frost that we scrap from the car in the morning" 

Overall, the students could observe the change and see how adding water changed the powder. So I thought it was a pretty good experiment. However Insta Snow would have been more fun! (will be more proactive next year :D)

Our recording sheet was a simple sheet that Ms. A made and we made copies. We did this activity in small groups. So I used a recorder to record the whole conversation/experiment so I could go back and make notes to see who understood the concept.

Recording sheet:

Successful week for us :))

Until next time,

Cheers :)

Fake Snow In Sensory Table

This is Winter themed Sensory Table idea.... super easy... not to hard on pocket.... Absolutely doable... whether 22 kids are playing with it...or just 1.... It is a wonderful idea. 

So I got the idea from Modern Parents Messy Kids via Pinterest!

All you need is:

2 boxes of cornstarch
1 can of foaming shaving cream

if making at home then a container or box that will hold it. 

 

Just dump the cornstarch in the container (sensory table in my case) and spray the shaving cream over it. Mix it (if you are doing this with your child at home, letting them mix would be fun. I just couldn't have 22 kiddos wanting to mix).

 While I was doing this Ms. S could not just watch.... so she started to help me (she was as excited about it) :D As you start mixing, it might feel it is not mixing, but keep working... it feels soft and crumbly. 

When I told my piglets about the fake snow....they were sooo excited. My sensory table can only have 2 friends at a time playing in it. We are on day 3 of using it and they love it. 

They have been scooping and trying to make sand castles out of it :))

Yes it holds its shapes pretty well.. just like Snow :))

SUCCESS!!! 

It is the best indoor snow experience to provide in a classroom or home I think. I hope it last for all my 22 piglets to play with it. I have another box of cornstarch and shaving cream to mix in, just in case ;) 

Until Next time,

Cheers =)