G is for Graph

We learned about how to make graphs during letter G week. I provided a paper with all the kid's names listed at the top and a bar graph below that. We counted the number of letters in each name and made a bar graph based on how many letters were in the name. 

Here are a few things I did to make this lesson go more smoothly:

1. When putting the names at the top of the page, I made each name a different color. Since most of my kids can't read, I could ask them to look for the blue name or red name, etc. and then we would count the letters together. 

2. I made a large graph that I displayed and filled in as the kids were filling in theirs so they could check if they were doing it right.

3. At the beginning we did the first 3 names together. The kids who were able to work more independently moved on and the kids who still needed help continued to do it with me. 

 

Grassheads!

Is anyone else bummed about the groundhog's six more weeks of winter? Here in Utah, the weather is just teasing us. Yesterday it was sunny and 65 degrees. This morning we woke up to snow. Being a California girl at heart, I was not very excited. I tried to convince my husband that I wasn't getting up until it stopped snowing, but he didn't think that would go down with the kids very well. 

If you are missing the beautiful green of spring and summer like me, I have just the solution for you!

We had a lot of fun growing grass this year and creating some fun characters with some funky hair. (Sorry about the bad pictures, I had to snap a few before these guys went home the next day.) We like to use clear cups so the kids can observe the roots and grass as it starts to sprout.

We found this fast growing grass seed at home depot and they weren't kidding. It did grow really fast.

I printed some cartoon eyes and mouths on sticker paper. I used the kind that you find in the address labels section that is a full sheet. I also printed each child's name so they could watch their grass head grow.

We filled the cup half way with dirt

Push seeds into the dirt.

Filled the rest of the cup and put it in the window to get sunlight. I watered it every other day and pretty soon we had some long haired grass heads.

Brandon thought it would be fun to cut his hair into a mohawk.

G is for Giraffe

I got the idea from this website. http://missmarensmonkeys.blogspot.com/

G is for Graph

 We counted the letters of each child's name and graphed how many letters there were. It was a great way to work on a couple of skills simultaneously.  I printed each child's name in a different color to help the younger kids identify which name we were looking at so we could count the letters together.

I got the idea from this website. http://www.teach123school.com/2014/06/back-to-school-books-and-freebie.html

G is for Growing Grass

 We are so excited to have some new class members in our class. They aren't the smartest bunch in the class, but they are going to have some awesome hair in a couple of weeks!

Meet the Grass Heads

We planted these during letter G week and talked about how seeds grow. Since grass starts with G, we decided to plant some. To make it more fun, we added faces to our containers and the kids are having fun watching their hair grow. It's like the poor man's chia pet. ; )

This is what they look like after a week and a half. (Sorry for the poor quality picture. I think I might need to ask Santa for a new camera this Christmas. )

The cool thing about these guys (once their hair grows in) is you can practice those awesome scissors skills like we talked about before, here. The kids can cut their hair or style it. however they want. It's pretty fun! I'll keep you posted on how they are doing. 

 Making one is pretty easy too! 

• Print out some cartoon faces. I printed some out from here. 
• Glue them onto a clear cup. You want to use clear because then you can see the roots grow.
• Add some dirt, a thick layer of grass seeds, then another layer of dirt. 
• Water it about once a day and watch your grass heads grow their own hair!

Grocery Shopping with Kids

I don't know about you, but grocery shopping is not my favorite time of the week. I am in love with those car carts that hold multiple children - greatest idea ever! However, the store we frequent doesn't have them. :( Hence, our shopping trip success greatly depends on what kind of mood my preschooler is in since she usually walks next to the cart while my toddler rides.

So, to make things a little more smooth, I hired my own personal shopper. She's really cute and is about 3 feet tall and she likes to call me mom. 

I made a list of what we are going to buy and then we looked in the weekly ad for our store to find pictures of some of the items. My personal shopper cut out the pictures and glued them onto a paper. While we were shopping, she looked for the items we needed. Then she crossed them off when we put them in the cart. 

It was a win - win. We talked about numbers and letters while we shopped. She had fun looking on the shelves for the things we needed. My preschooler was more engaged and I was able to take something mundane and turn it into a game where we were playing together and she was learning. Plus she was focused on the things on her list instead of asking for the hundred other things she usually wants and asks for during the trip. Instead, I just asked her if it was on the list. When it wasn't, she was okay with that.  So the next time you have to go shopping with your kids, just hire your own personal shopper to help get the job done!

The Gingerbread Man

We had fun talking about gingerbread men and gingerbread houses this holiday season. 

 

We read the gingerbread man book. Then, we made our own running gingerbread men finger puppets. I got the idea from another blogger and liked it so much. 

Here's What You Need:

• empty cereal boxes
• crayons
• hot glue gun
• scissors
• gingerbread man cookie cutter

Here's What You Do:

1. Trace the gingerbread cookie cutter onto the back of a cereal box but make the legs a lot longer and straighter. 
2. Cut out the gingerbread man.
3. Cut out two strips about 3/4 inch tall and long enough to fit around your finger.
4. Hot glue the strips into a rolled tube.
5. Color your gingerbread man.
6. Hot glue one circle to the back of each leg to insert your fingers to make it run. Bend the legs and run, run, run as fast as you can!

G is for Ghost

  We made ghost projects for the letter G week and to celebrate Halloween. I did two different projects for the different age groups. The first ghost I did with my older kids. It takes some cutting skills so make sure your kids know how to use the scissors before trying it. 

 

To make it, print out the image below to whatever size you prefer. Add a face and then cut it out. Cut the tail along the dotted line and make sure to stop on the dot. 

 

For the younger class, we did a different kind of ghost. It was fun because the kids kept calling the stuffing ghost fluff. One of the kids didn't want to touch it, but I finally convinced him that it wouldn't hurt. : )

Here's What You Need:

• Stuffing
• Black construction paper
• Googly eyes
• White crayon
• Liquid glue

Here's What You Do:

1. Draw a ghost shape on the black construction paper.
2. Cut out two eyes and a mouth out of another piece of construction paper.
3. Glue the stuffing onto the ghost shape.
4. Glue on the eye and mouth cut outs.
5. Glue the googly eyes over the eye cut outs.

G is for . . .

. . .golfing!

. . . green glue! We decorated letter G's with green glue. To make, just add some food coloring to a bottle of liquid glue. 

. . . green! We tried mixing different things that were blue and yellow. Blue and yellow food coloring, blue and yellow paint, blue and yellow see through plastic pieces, blue and yellow play dough, etc. The kids guessed what color it would make each time before we mixed the things together. Then we made these Venn diagrams.

 

Art Hanger

All year long, we have been sending the kids home with fun art and now there is a place to put it! We made these art hangers for our mothers for Mother's Day.

Here's What you need:

• 6 popsicle sticks (skinny or fat or a combination of the two)
  
• Hot glue gun
• Markers
• Black Yarn
• Giraffe head cut out
• 2 Mini clothes pins (You can find them at Walmart or at craft stores.)
  

Here's What You Do:

1. Color the popsicle sticks orange and add big brown spots. Color "hoofs" on the bottom of 4 of the sticks.
2. Color and cut out a picture of a giraffe head.
   
3. Use the hot glue gun to glue the 4 legs and a neck to the back of one of the sticks.
   
4. Glue the head at the top of the neck.
5. Glue a clothes pin on each of the outer legs. (The inner two don't need one.)
6. Cut a length of string and tie a knot in each end. Glue it between the legs to act as a hanger.
7. Braid three short lengths of yarn and knot each end. Glue to the end of the body as a tail.
   

G is for Garden Graph

As part of our month study on plants, we talked about gardens.
We read the book Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens.

Then we taste tested different vegetables that grow in gardens. The kids decided if they liked the vegetable and then we graphed the results. We tasted carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, and peas in a pod. It was good to help the kids take a step out of their comfort zone, to try new foods. I was surprised that cauliflower seemed to be the most popular vegetable. Interestingly enough almost all the kids said that they liked each vegetable they tasted. I have a sneaking suspicion that they wouldn't be as amiable if these vegetables were served at dinner.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures, maybe next time!

G is for ground and grows

Wow! I have a whole month of activities to catch up on. Maybe it has something to do with having a new baby or something like that, I don't know. Anyway, thanks for being patient! I hope you enjoy the things we did this month as much as I have!

We talked about plants this month and did a lot of fun plant activities.

The first day we read the book A Tiny Seed by Eric Carle and talked about how plants grow in the ground. Then we made these parts of a plant pictures. The activity is pretty self explanatory.
As an extension, you could have the students label the parts of a plant.