Life Cycles

We recently completed a unit on life cycles! We focused on sequencing the life stages of frogs, chickens, and butterflies! I incorporated art, music, science, math, reading, and writing in this wonderful theme. The students really enjoyed learning about each life cycle and the interactive boards I had created that allowed them to piece together the stages in different ways.

Video of a Frog's Life Cycle 

Butterfly Addition 

Caterpillar Patterns

Frog's Life Cycle Art

Disability Awareness Month Bulletin Boards

I just wanted to share with everyone the bulletin boards I made for the center this month! Enjoy!

The students are learning to focus on their abilities not disabilities. They each wrote a sentence about something they are proud of that they can do! I got the idea from this pinterest page: Click Here

This is another bulletin board I made for Disability Awareness and Autism Acceptance Month that features interesting quotes.

Autism and Inclusion

April is approaching quickly and lets not forget that April is Disability Awareness Month. What I learned in graduate school last night is that it should be renamed, "Disability Awareness" and "Autism Awareness." April 2nd is Autism Awareness Day as well so talk to your children/students about it. Let us all make a conscious choice to be more accepting of others and live/teach inclusively.

Here is a great link that shares ways to be more inclusive in the classroom:

Think Inclusive

Autism Acceptance Month has a wonderful website (much better than Autism Speaks). I also found on their site (through Dr. Broderick at Montclair State University), a wonderful word cloud for everyone to think about:

I also really love this quote and picture: 

Here is a wonderful video that enlightens us on the true capacity for learning that all children have. Please be patient and watch it till the end. It is worth it. Enjoy :)

Video: In My Language

Author Studies

 During the month of March, the students had a chance to study two famous authors and illustrators: Dr. Seuss and Kevin Henkes! We took time to read many of their books, compare and contrast the characters and events, and also to learn about different writing styles. The students had a lot of fun exploring these two authors and we even watched the Lorax by Dr. Seuss, as well as Chrysanthemum and other stories on DVD by Kevin Henkes. We also listened to stories on tape or CD. It was a wonderful learning experience for the class!

Read Across America Day (Dr. Seuss' Birthday)!

Red Fish, Blue Fish, One Fish, Two Fish Goldfish Graphing! 

(Idea from here)

 Venn Diagram of Kevin Henkes' character comparisons

(Here is a great site for ideas...) 

Interactive Author Board

 Student writing about their favorite Kevin Henkes Characters!

Kevin Henkes Movie can be bought here

Black History Month Unit

February is also Black History Month and we spent some time studying biographies of famous African Americans in history! They learned about Jackie Robinson, Louis Armstrong, Barak Obama, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and a few others.

Interactive board of famous African Americans 

Freedom Quilt

Listening to Louis Armstrong!

The students made horns like Louis Armstrong!

Dental Health Unit in February

So I am a little behind on my blog posts, sorry! We have had a busy month! During February the students learned all about dental health and we even had a dentist come visit! Below you can see pictures from the unit.

Practicing brushing our teeth!

Visit from the dentist!

"Brushing teeth" art using a toothbrush!

Chinese New Year

The children learned all about the holiday of Chinese New Year! We then celebrated with a feast using chinese chopsticks! Here are some pictures of the children using their chopstick skills (fine-motor skills).

Jan Brett Author Study

We completed a wonderful author study in January on Jan Brett! The students loved her books and illustrations. We read many of her books and put on mini-plays to act out and sequence the books using puppets! They listened to her stories on CD and even watched a video on how to draw her favorite character Hedgie! The students also enjoyed playing games on Jan Brett's website.

Animal match-up center from Jan Brett characters!

Acting out the book, "The Hat" by Jan Brett

Listening to, "The Mitten" and following along in the book!

Here are some of the books we read for the author study: