Lesson - Sun

This week, my printer was broken so we couldn't do any activity sheets.  So I did things a little differently and we had a great lesson.  Instead of a letter and number of the day, we had a color and shape. 

Welcome Song

Announce Date

Theme
Ask: What do you know about the sun? Did you know that our sun is a star? It looks much bigger because we are much closer to the sun than we are to the other stars.

The sun warms the planet and provides us with light during the day. Plants need sun, along with nutrients in the soil and water, to live. People get Vitamin D from sunlight. But what happens if we get too much sun? That’s right, we get sunburned. Some people burn more easily than others. But even if you only tan, you can still get skin damage from the sun. So it’s important to wear sun screen when we are going to be in the sun for a long time. A hat can protect our head and face from the sun. Sunglasses protect our eyes from the sun.

Story
Great Day for Up 
by Dr. Seuss
I chose this book because it starts with the sun getting up and then has the sun on nearly every page.  So I asked the kids to look for the sun as we read and on some pages had someone point to the sun.

Color of the Day - Yellow
Ask: What color is the sun in the book we just read?

(I read part of another book on Colors.  It is an out of print book we had, but any book on colors will do.  The reason I liked the one we read is that it first talks about Red, Yellow, and Blue and then talks about what colors you can make by mixing them.  So I read the part about mixing red with yellow to make orange, and then we stopped.  I read that part because our craft will involve swirling colors together, specifically yellow and red.)

Activity
I pulled out all of our yellow Duplos and got out a set of yellow Kapla planks for the kids to use to make suns and stars.  Here is a little of what they did:

Song
Ask: Remember we said the sun is a star?  Do you know any songs about a star?  (I expected the kids to guess Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, but one boy actually made up his own song on the spot.)

Sing Twinkle Twinkle Little star and encourage the kids to use their "twinklers" (i.e. to do the hand motions) as you sing.
 
Shape of the Day - Circle
Ask: What shape is the sun?  (Some kids said round, some said circle)

Story:
See and Spy Shapes 
by Julie Aigner-Clark

We read this book and on each page I had a different child come point out the shapes on the page.

Craft
Our craft incorporates the theme, the shape and the color.  I gave each child a paper plate with a small hole punched out near the edge (for the hanger).  In the center of the plate, I poured yellow tempura paint, a drop of red and a drop of white.  Then they swirled it around and covered the plates.  While the paint was still wet, they applied small rectangles of yellow tissue paper that I had cut out.  I got the idea from SIZZLING SUN PICTURES on Jean Warren's preschool site.  We attached chenille stems for hangers after the plates dried.

My sample project. 

Take home project
Preschool didn't last long enough to do this one during our time together, so I gave the kids each a piece of black construction paper to take home and explained how to make sun prints (also on Jean Warren's website here.)  Here's one I did for Audrey:

The wind blew the letters and numbers around so I had to take it out of the sun sooner than I would have.

Lesson - Bugs

Welcome Song

Announce Date

Theme
Ask: Who likes bugs? What are your favorite bugs?

Some bugs are insects. Sometimes we use bug and insect to mean the same thing, but bugs can include things are aren’t insects, like spiders and roly polies (which we’ll talk about in a minute). Insects can look very different from each other. Some have wings, like butterflies, and some don’t, like silverfish. But all insects have a hard exoskeleton. That means, unlike us, their skeleton is on the outside. We have soft skin on the outside and hard bones inside. All of our bones inside our body make up our skeleton. But insects have what is called an exoskeleton. The outside of their body is hard and the inside is soft. All insects also have six legs and two antennae and hatch from eggs. If you see a bug that has 6 legs, you know it is an insect. Grasshoppers, ants, butterflies, ladybugs, flies, bees, silverfish, earwigs (or pincer bugs), beetles, mosquitoes, these are all insects.

Spiders are not insects. They are arachnids, just like scorpions, and have 8 legs. Like insects, they have an exoskeleton and hatch from eggs.

Pillbugs (or roly polies) are also not insects. They are crustaceans, like crabs, lobsters and shrimp! They have 14 legs. But just like insects and spiders, they have an exoskeleton and hatch from eggs. Also, like insects, they have antennae.

Insects, arachnids and crustaceans are all arthropods. All arthropods have an exoskeleton.

Let’s look at some pictures of bugs. (I printed out these photos of bugs which I got from Microsoft Word clip art and let the kids pass them around):

Story
I Like Bugs by Margaret Wise Brown
Simple rhyming book that is a beginner reader.  The kids enjoyed pointing out the bugs they recognized.

Spanish Vocabulary
Some words related to bugs:

insectos = insects
abeja = bee
mariposa = butterfly
mariquita = ladybug
saltamontes = grasshopper
araña = spider

Letter of the Day - B
Bug starts with B. Can we name some bugs that start with B? (Bee, butterfly, beetle)

Worksheet: Match Letter B p.8 in Kindergarten Language Arts Success

Number of the Day - 6
Insects have 6 legs. Let’s count to 6 and show 6 on our fingers.

Worksheet: I made two worksheets using clip art from Microsoft Word.  You can download a copy here.  The first page has the kids circle bugs that are not insects (have more than 6 legs).  The second page lets them draw 6 legs on 6 different insects.

Craft
We made butterflies out of paper plates, colored tissue paper, and a pipe cleaner.  This was my own invention.  I cut out the butterfly shapes ahead of time, but older children could do that step themselves. although you might want to draw the template on the plate for them.

Supplies

Fold paper plate in half and cut out butterfly shape

Open it up

Let the kids rub glue stick all over the plate.  Then rip up pieces of tissue paper and apply them to the glue.  Some of the kids also used crayons to color parts of the butterfly.  The tissue paper can overlap and cover the entire butterfly or leave space as we did below.

Finished butterflies

After the design is done, take a pipe cleaner (or chenille stick as they call them now) and fold it in half.  Then put the butterfly between the two ends of the pipe cleaner and twist, making antennae out of the two ends.  Curl the ends and it's done.

Closing Song
Baby Bumblebee Song (traditional)

I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee,
Won't my mommy be so proud of me,
(Cup hands together as if holding bee)

I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee,
Ouch! It stung me!
(Shake hands as if just stung)

I'm squishing up the baby bumblebee,
Won't my mommy be so proud of me,
('Squish' bee between palms of hands)

I'm squishing up a baby bumblebee,
Ooh! It's yucky!
(Open up hands to look at 'mess')

I'm wiping off the baby bumblebee,
Won't my mommy be so proud of me,
(Wipe hands off on shirt)

I'm wiping off the baby bumblebee,
Now my mommy won't be mad at me!
(Hold hands up to show they are clean)

Lesson - Summer

Welcome Song

Announce Date

Theme 
Summer is one of 4 seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall)
Summer officially starts on June 21, also called the Summer Solstice
It is the longest day of the year and the shortest night
Summer is the warmest season. Although we can grow a garden year round where we live, in many places where it snows in the winter, people plant gardens in the spring that will have vegetables to eat in summer. Some common summer veggies are: tomatoes, squash, peas. Do you have vegetables growing in your yard?

In the spring, the fruit trees and plants had flowers. Now they are getting fruit. Some fruits that are ready to eat in the summer are: plums, peaches, apricots, berries

Story
Jamberry by Bruce Degen
Cute rhyming story with lots of berries.  Summer is the time of year for berries.

Spanish Vocabulary
Some words and phrases related to summer:

verano = summer
el sol = the sun
hace calor = it is warm
la playa = beach
parque = park

Letter of the day - S
Seasons, Summer and Sun start with S.
Can you name some other words that start with S? (swim, strawberries, sea)

Worksheet: S Hide and Seek p.77 in Kindergarten Language Arts Success, S tracing p.104 in Brain Quest Workbook: Pre-K

Number of the day - 4
There are 4 seasons in the year. Count to 4 and show 4 fingers. Name some animals that have 4 legs.

Worksheet: Summer Dot to Dot p46. in Big Activity Ages 4 & Up

Craft
Blackberry craft

I cut out the branch and leaves ahead of time and had the kids glue those on first before painting on the blackberries.  The berries can be made by dipping fingertips into the paint (I used red, blue and a little white tempura paint), but my son refused to get paint on his hands so we used a paint brush.

Closing Song
by Me
Tune: “Row, Row, Row your boat”
Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall
Are seasons of the year
The days are getting warmer now
‘Cuz summer’s almost here.
(Substitute "finally" for "almost" if you sing this after June 21)