Blue + Yellow = Green

Today, in Explorations (a science class with Mrs. Armfield) the kids heard the story of Little Blue and Little Yellow. Here's the condensed version of the story: Little Blue and Little Yellow were friends who lost each other. They were so happy when they found each other, that they hugged. Do you know what happened when they hugged? They made green! :-) The students were given two globs of white frosting. Mrs. Armfield had them put blue food coloring in one glob of frosting and mix it together to make blue. Then, they put yellow in the other glob of frosting and mixed it together to make yellow. Lastly, they mixed the blue and yellow frosting together to make green. Then, they got to spread it on a graham cracker and enjoy the tasty snack.
We also did some ice painting today. I put food coloring in ice cubes, and they used the ice cubes to paint the letter "I" for their alphabet scrapbooks.

Mrs. Armfield showing them how to mix the food coloring into the frosting

Mixing the blue into the frosting

Mixing the yellow into the frosting

After she mixed the blue and yellow frosting together - It's green!

One of the tables enjoying the tasty green frosting on their graham cracker

Ice painting

Fall Cookout!

We didn't let cold weather ruin our fall cookout last Friday. Instead, we brought the cookout inside. Some family members came and ate with us too! It was a very enjoyable experience. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

A Very Musical Day

Today, I taught the students the song, "The 5 Little Pumpkins". We sang it several times, and then I brought out 5 pumpkin masks. I had some of the students come up in front of the class and help act out the song. They loved it! We'll definitely be singing it all month. Later in music class, they got to play on xylophones with Mrs. Baer. They all did a great job waiting for their turn, since there were only 5 xylophones. Then, Mrs. Baer brought out the rhythm sticks. Mrs. Baer would play a pattern, and then the students would repeat the pattern. Mrs. Baer and I thought they were excellent little musicians. Here is the song "The 5 Little Pumpkins" for you to sing along with your kids at home (don't worry, they'll help you):

5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate
The 1st one said, "It's getting late."
The 2nd one said, "There's witches in the air."
The 3rd one said, "I don't care."
The 4th one said, "Let's run and run and run."
The 5th one said, "It's time for some halloween fun."
So ooooo went the wind and out (clap) went the lights and the 5 little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

5 Little Pumpkins

Playing on the xylophones


Playing with rhythm sticks

Leaf Hunt and Bowling!

Today, we went on a leaf hunt. The students did a great job staying where they were supposed to. They were to find red, yellow, and brown leaves and place them in the bag they decorated. When we came inside, they sorted their leaves and counted their leaves in order to see which color had the most and which color had the least. Then, every student was given their own graph. I picked a bag, and we counted and graphed that bag together. Later in the day, they bowled in P.E. with Mr. Zeikle. I think everyone hit at least one bowling pin and some knocked all three down!

On the leaf hunt




Sorting the leaves

One of our friends holding up her graph

Bowling in the gym (you can see Mr. Zeikle in both pictures)

Weighing items on a balance scale

Today, we used a balance scale for the first time in math. On one side of the scale we had 10 popcorn kernels, and on the other side we put in different items such as a penny, rubber band, crayon, cotton ball, etc. I had the students guess every time which one would be heavier. After we weighed them, they had to color in the picture of the item that was heavier. They became very good at guessing which item was heavier. At the end, we even tried comparing weights of other objects.

Our balance scale with two items in it (Can you tell which one was heavier?)

Coloring in the picture that was heavier

Tree art project

Today we did another art project. The students were given trees that they had to color in. Then, they got to finger paint leaves onto the trees. We have been talking a lot about the colors that the leaves turn in the fall. In fact, I am planning on having them go on a leaf hunt next week (weather permitting). Anyways, they did a great job on their trees, and they are proudly displayed in our hallway. Later in the day, we did math centers. The centers were making pictures out of pattern blocks, sorting, building patterns with cubes, and another pattern game. Of course, the post wouldn't be complete without pictures from the day. :-)

Finger painting the leaves


Some of the students proudly holding up their finished trees


Making a picture with the pattern blocks

Creating a pattern with the cubes

Playing the pattern game

Here Kitty,Kitty!

We finished the books we have been working on in reading groups today. Hopefully, they have already shared them with their families. They were very proud of their books, and they loved the song that went along with the book. One of the students even said, "I can't believe it, I'm reading!" I thought that was so great. Books set to songs are some of the best things for kids when they are first learning to read. In the pictures, you'll be able to see other reading groups in the background. This will give you an idea of what our reading groups look like. By the way, I was only going to take a picture of one group with their books, but everybody want a picture of course. :-)

Working on their books



All three of the reading groups proudly holding up their completed books