Dear Parents,
Each week I will try to give you a snapshot of what would have happened in the classroom. We are putting together a special YouTube playlist just for our class. This includes videos of me reading stories, as well as other stories and educational videos that go with each week's theme. You can save this playlist and return again and again: https://rebrand.ly/ccpteacherandy
This week we would have read the book Elmer by David McKee.
Elmer is a unique, kind elephant who loves to play tricks on the other elephants. There are many Elmer books that you can find on Youtube.
I really like the book Elmer and the Hippos because they end up cooperating and solving a problem. At this point in the school year the class is usually cooperating quite well and I like to point that out. I read this book for your children on video.
Here are some ideas for learning through play at home:
Math games - patterning using anything you might have (beads, pompoms, rocks, paper squares, ribbon)
Playdough - make a batch and bring in rocks and sticks along with small jungle animals
Sensory Bin - put sand in a tub along with jungle animals and rocks and sticks
Build & Craft - Turn your recycled boxes or cartons into jungle trees or caves
Lego / Blocks - Try to build a lego jungle
Movement - Jungle yoga from CosmicKids Yoga
Art - Direct draw an elephant (step by step with Mo Williams)
Draw a big elephant to put on an easel to paint
Use sidewalk chalk and color an elephant or make a pattern
Use the three primary colors (red, blue, yellow) to make the secondary colors with paint, chalk, or markers
Science - Fill a jar or glass with water then draw a rainbow on a small piece of paper. As you move the rainbow behind the glass you will see it appear in the glass.
Put m&m’s around a plate making a pattern. Pour a small amount of water on the plate and watch the colors bleed to make the rainbow.
Suggested At-Home Project: Cut or make salt dough into an elephant. Once the salt dough is cool, paint it. Salt dough Recipe: 1 cup salt 2 cups flour 1 cup water In a large bowl, mix salt, flour and water together. On a floured surface, roll dough to about ¼ inch thick and cut into the shape of an elephant or make an elephant. Place dough on a cookie sheet bake at 350 for 30 minutes Cool and paint These are the things I would have done at school. If you can give some of the ideas a try! Hope you have a good week. Take good care and I hope to chat with you sometime this week.