Shapes

Shapes are all around us in the world! This week we will focus on many of the basic shapes and where we can find them. We will find them in our homes, at school, outside, and everywhere!

CIRCLE TIME

Collect some pictures of ANYTHING! They could be pictures from a photo album, a magazine, a story book, whatever. It is best to provide pictures that you can draw on, because it is beneficial to draw the shapes you find on the picture with a bright marker to make them easier to see. Talk about different shapes. Use the shape flashcards HERE. Next, show the pictures you collected. Ask the kiddos if they can find some shapes in the pictures. As they locate different shapes, draw the shape on the picture with a bright marker and say the name of the shape.

ACTIVITY

Shape Pizzas

You can do this with felt pieces, craft foam or construction paper. Provide a large, light brown circle for the pizza. It makes it look really good if you also provide a slightly smaller orangy-red circle for the sauce. Then provide some red circles for pepperoni, white rectangles for cheese, green triangles for peppers, black ovals for olives, and orange squares for chicken. Talk about each of the shapes. Then allow the kids to create their pizzas. Hang them on the wall to enjoy all week!



Shape Piggy Worksheet

I found this on TeachersPayTeachers.com! There are many awesome downloads on that site that you can use! Here is the: Piggy Shape Worksheet Print the worksheet. It will help to color in the color key at the top the correct colors for the kids to refer to. Have them color all the squares blue, triangles orange, circles red and stars yellow.  Then they can fill in the shape chart at the bottom.

LETTER: O o for Octagon

The letter O is perfect for this week because it is a circle! It also is the first letter of Octagon, which is a shape. http://bestcoloringpages.com/o-for-octagon-coloring-page-with-handwriting-practice_1d2411.html

Print the worksheet. Talk about the letter O and some of the words that begin with O. Words like Ocatgon, Octopus, Officer, Orange, Omelet, etc. Have the kids trace the letter with their fingers, then with a color. They can practice making Os at the bottom of the page. This is good practice since they are just circles!

READING LESSON

On Starfall: http://www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/load.htm?f

This week we sould just review the first 5 lessons and make sure we have a firm grasp of the sounds.

On Readingbear:  http://www.readingbear.org/

Also review week. Use their review of Short A to Short U.

Click HERE for a fun Short Vowel learning song you can listen to!

SCIENCE

2 Parts Equal a Whole Shape Activity

This is basically a puzzle game, but we make it science-y by incorporating how the 2 parts equals a whole.

Materials Needed:

Craft Sticks

Markers

Put 2 craft sticks side by side and draw a shape across both so that when you pull them apart, there are 2 pieces of a shape that are recognizable. Draw them as big as possible to make it easier. It helps to use specific colors for certain shapes.

Jumble them all up. Talk about how 2 pieces of puzzle will make a whole shape. Demonstrate making a whole shape with the 2 pieces by putting one of the shapes together. Then allow them to try. Once they have made a whole shape, they should tell you what shape they made.

MATH

Cheerio Necklaces

Materials Needed:

Cheerios (circles!)

Yarn or Twine

Place the Cheerios in a bowl for the children to access. Begin first by counting out numbers of Cheerios. Give them a number and allow them to count that number of Cheerios out. You can play around with this as long as they are interested. When you are ready, have them thread the cereal onto the yarn. Make sure to tie a knot in one end first, so their Cheerios don't slide off the end as they work! Once they are done, practice counting their circles together. Then they can wear them (and snack on them, if you allow it!)

Shape Patterning

http://www.education.com/worksheet/article/creating-patterns02/

You can print and use the above worksheet for this lesson. OR you can provide shapes such as blocks and do it that way. The basic idea is to create a pattern using shapes and then have the kids mimic the pattern themselves. This is more interactive and will hold their attention better if they can use the blocks to make their patterns.

ART/CRAFT

Art - Shape Art

Cut out a bunch of different sizes and colors of shapes. Provide the kids with a large piece of construction paper and some glue. Tell the kiddos they can make anything they want using the shapes! Be creative. This is a really fun activity. You may need to show them what to do and give them a little direction to get them started, but once they get going they will create something amazing! Make sure you label them so that Mommy and Daddy will know what they created!

Craft - Clown Shape Craft

This is more of a craft because they are going to make a specific thing, a clown! Print the template HERE from firstschool.com. Cut it out and follow the completed clown in the corner. Put him together while discussing the shapes that make him.

BOOKS

On Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Things-Turtleback-School-Library-Binding/dp/0613000560/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368129861&sr=1-1&keywords=the+shape+of+things

On Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/When-Line-Bends-Shape-Begins/dp/0618152415/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368131328&sr=1-1&keywords=where+a+line+bends+a+shape+begins

MUSIC

Shape Hokey Pokey

(use the shapes from the flashcards in Circle Time for this)

Put your circle in, Put you circle out, Put your circle in and shake it all bout Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around that's what its all about!

Put your square in, Put your square out, Put your square in and shake it all about. Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around that's what its all about!

Put your oval in, Put your oval out, Put your oval in and shake it all about. Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around that's what its all about!

Put your rectangle in, Put your rectangle out, Put your rectangle in and shake it all about. Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around that's what its all about!

Put your triangle in, Put your triangle out, put your triangle in and shake it all about. Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around that's what its all about!


COOKING

Shape Crackers

Provide round crackers, such as Ritz. Use cheese slices and cut out different shapes from them. Provide the cheese shapes and crackers and allow the kids to create shape crackers! YUM

FIREFIGHTERS! And Fire Safety (Feb 4 - 8)

A seriously fun topic for all kiddos, girls or boys! We are going to talk about the community helpers and what they do, and also what they drive. Fire trucks are awesome! If you have the ability, take your kids to a fire station to check out a real one. They will have the best time :)

LETTER: F f


http://bestcoloringpages.com/f-for-fire-coloring-page-with-handwriting-practice_1d2324.html
Talk about F. Have the kids trace the letter with their finger, then with a crayon. Color the page. If they are able, practice writing the letter at the bottom of the page.



COMMUNITY

Firefighters
Firefighters put out fires in homes, stores, forests, and anywhere else they occur. They do their best to help their communities and to help people! They provide emergency medical care for people who are hurt. Firefighters must be brave and strong. Their job can be very dangerous.

What should you do if there is a fire?

In case there is a fire where you are, it is important to know some safety steps. (If you feel comfortable teaching your kids about 911, please do so. I think mine are a little too young to learn about this just yet. For some great tips on how to teach your child to use 911, go HERE)

STEP 1: Pre plan a meeting place in case of emergency.
STEP 2: Practice fire drills at home and at school.
STEP 3: Don't hide! GO OUTSIDE!
STEP 4: Fall and Crawl when escaping a fire. The air near the floor will be easier to breathe.
STEP 5: Stop, Drop & Roll if your clothing catches on fire. This is the best way to put yourself out!



GROSS MOTOR

FIRE DRILL!

To set this up, pre-plan a meeting place and escape routes for everyone to follow. If you can, draw out a map for them to look at also. If you already have these in place, good for you! This will be a great practice. For those who don't, it is very important to provide this information to the kiddos. If you have practiced this, a real emergency will be much less scary for them.

Show everyone the way to get out and where you should be meeting once outside. Talk about the above steps and how important it is to go outside as quickly as they can. Crawl on the ground. Roll if you need to.
Now practice! Tell them you are going to pretend there is a fire emergency and they need to follow the safety steps. Say GO! They should follow the escape route and go outside to the meeting place. Talk about how they should look for the Firefighters and let them know they are safe. Remind them that their job is to make sure they get outside. Do not EVER go back inside a burning building. It is the Firefighter's job to go inside the building and make sure everyone has gotten out safely. They will let you know when it is safe to go back inside.

Go back inside and talk about Stop, Drop and Roll. Have them practice the moves. It is fun for them, but remember that since they have practiced this, if an emergency warrants it, they will remember how to do it.

Once the kiddos have mastered this skill, you can give them these certificates that say they are Stop, Drop and Roll experts! Let them be proud that they know such an important skill!

Certificates

MATH

Fire Truck Numbers

Print the cards from MakingLearningFun.com. Set the fire station at one end of the table and then put the numbered fire trucks out of order on the table. Count the fire trucks out loud with the kids. Then work together to put them in the right order. Use as many trucks as your kids are able to count!

Fire Truck Number Activity

Less Than, More Than

It is time to start learning this concept. It can be a tricky one to master so I like to use visual aides to help it make sense in their heads!

You can use ANY objects you wish. I like to use blocks or Legos. Have 2 pieces of paper that you can place the items on to keep them separated. Start basic: place 1 Lego on 1 paper and 2 Legos on the other. Count them together. Ask them which paper has more Legos? 2 is more than 1! Which paper has less Legos? 1 is less than 2. Add 1 Lego to each paper so that you have 2 and 3. Continue this line of questions and answers. Work up until there are around 5 on one paper and 1 on the other. Revisit this lesson often, as it will take some time for some children to grasp. This is the beginning of learning how to add and subtract!



PRETEND PLAY




Be a Firefighter!

This is a total no-brainer! Get some cheap firefighter hats at a dollar store or print them from DLTK's website: http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/miscellaneous/mfiremanhat.htm
Provide them with some paper towel rolls, rolled up paper, old hose, or whatever else you can use as fire hose. Have them go around putting out "fires".  Have them rescue some stuffed animals or dolls and put bandages on them.



SCIENCE

The Fire Triangle

The fire triangle is the "recipe" for fire. Every fire needs 3 "ingredients" in order to burn: air, heat and fuel. Take any of these away and the fire won't burn.

EXPERIMENT!
Take a long candle, such as an emergency candle. Find a jar that the candle will fit inside, make sure the jar has a lid. Melt the bottom end of the candle so you can stick it to the inside of the lid of the jar. Light the candle with the jar lid under it sitting on the table. Explain that the fire can burn because there is heat, fuel and air. If we take away the air, the fire will go out. Place the jar over the candle onto the lid and watch as the fire goes out!
**CAUTION - please use caution when using fire around the kiddos and NEVER leave them alone with it!


MUSIC

I'm A Fireman

I am a fireman, I'm dressed in red
With my fire hat on my head
I can drive the fire truck and fight fire too
And help make it safer for you!

(sing to I'm a little teapot)



CRAFT

 

Shape Fire Truck

I have borrowed this one from another site! No Time For Flashcards has a great step by step for this craft HERE!



BOOKS

Stop, Drop & Roll (available on Amazon!)




I Want to be a Firefighter (available on Amazon!)





FINE MOTOR

Bead Sorting

Use an egg carton, a muffin tin, a divided vegetable tray, or anything else you think will work! Set out a selection of different colored beads. Ask the children to sort them by color. Put all the red ones in one container, blue in another, etc.


COOKING

Camp Fire Snack

Ingredients:

Pretzel Sticks

Velveeta Cheese, melted

Pile the pretzel sticks in a triangle pattern, as if you were setting up a campfire. Use a spoon to drizzle cheese onto the pretzels. This will look like a glowing campfire!