Firewise

This term we have been learning how to be firewise. Being firewise is all about knowing what to do around fire. Things like keeping safe around fireworks, treating candles carefully, rules about using lighters and matches, and what to do if there is a fire. We have looked closely at a fire alarm, we practiced how to crawl on the floor if the fire alarm goes and we really liked yelling "Fire, Fire, Fire". Using our play-phone we pretended to ring 111 (New Zealand's emergency number) and asked for the fire-fighters to come to our address.

This week we acted out the 'Fire-Fighter Song' sung to the tune of 'I'm a Little Teapot'. We had lots of fun making up the actions to the poem, especially the part where we shouted 'shhhhhh' and pretended to put out a fire.

We also made fire collages.

It was lots of fun ripping up the paper for our collage, but we made a huge mess to tidy afterward. Ripping paper is a great experience. Gripping the paper with our working fingers (our thumb, first and middle fingers) lets us practice strengthening our small finger muscles ready for gripping a pencil to write with. Listening to the cool sounds that the paper makes as it tears is also fun. Sometimes we were so busy listening we forgot to talk!

Gluing paper with sticky PVA glue is an interesting sensory experience. Some children enjoyed the sensation and were quite happy to have their fingers and hands covered in glue, others quickly wanted to wash their hands before they had even finished gluing.

We used sticks in our collage that we found during a walk around our school.

Green Fingers

During our Mountaineers Discovery session we have been busy planting seeds and seedlings in the garden. We are very lucky to have an amazing vegetable garden here at Totara Park School. Hopefully, one day we will be able to eat and sell our delicious vegetables.

These will one day (fingers crossed) grow in to yummy red onions.

We used gentle hands to plant our vegetables.

Check out our lovely neat rows of red onion, beetroot, and carrots.

We made little tags for our vegetables by cutting down ice-cream containers, I wrote on the name of the vegetable and drew a picture of it for non-readers.

La Grenouille - The Frog

As part of our Rugby World Cup Inquiry Unit we studied France. The children were fascinated to discover that people eat frog legs in France. This inspired shared reading (well.... singing) of frog poetry, a shared book about the life-cycle of a frog, and and some fantastic frog headbands with incredibly long tongues that we created as part of our French Day celebrations. 

We *heart* headbands in Room 1.

This frog headband is a super simple paper-craft activity.

You need: sellotape, stapler, scissors, a long strip of paper for the headband, a frog picture, and a smaller strip of red or pink paper for the tongue.

I found a picture of a frog from the internet. I photocopied it onto coloured card, but you could just colour it in. Crayon and dye would look great too.

Cut out the frog (practicing those very important cutting skills), and then cut one end of the frog's tongue so the end is curved like a real tongue.

Sellotape the tongue onto the frog's mouth so that it sticks up, don't worry it will curve down to hang over the front of the frog.

 Measure the headband by placing it around the child's head, then carefully take it off and staple it. I place the stapler so that the flat part of the staple is against the child's hair (on the inside of the headband). That way it won't get caught on any hair.

Staple the frog onto the headband. 

Voila! A French Frog Headband!

 You can also curl the frog's tongue for extra real-life frogginess.

Most of the 5 year olds I worked with were able to do this activity independently, with only some help needed for stapling and measuring the headband.

Here are some of the other ideas we used in our teaching syndicate for amazing French themed art and craft for our French Day celebrations:

A rooster hat.

Paper plate snails.

Sunflower collage.

A popsicle stick Eiffel Tower.

And French Flag/Eiffel Tower crayon and dye art.

Some facts about France that we learned:

• The rooster the the French national bird.
• The French flag is blue, white, and red, it is known as the French Tricolour.
• They eat snails and frogs legs in France.
• Paris is the capital city.
• The Eiffel Tower is in Paris.
• They love to play rugby in France.

The Button Snake

Another fun reading activity we enjoy in Room 1 is 'The Button Snake'. I was inspired after seeing this post.

I like this activity as it involves a practical skill (using buttons), it strengthens fingers as children practice this fine motor skill, and it is an alphabet activity (recognising and ordering letters). I used about a metre of ribbon and stitched a button on each end. As I'm not a super skillful sewer (buttons and hems are my limit), I used rectangles of felt and cut a slit for the buttonhole. I then stuck on sticky foam letters, one for each of the letter of the alphabet. You could sew on letters or embroider them.

 We use this activity as one of our reading activities, the children button on the letters in alphabetical order or use the letters to make a ribbon snake of sight words.

Elephant Collage

Who am I?

I am grey.

I make a loud noise.

I am very big.

I have a trunk.

I have 4 legs.

I am an elephant.

By Room 1

All week we have been share reading 'The Zoo' poem and talking about Zoo animals, next week we will be writing our own 'Who am I?' animal riddles for our friends to read. I love how this type of writing is so interactive. It is always fun to lift the flap to discover the answer to the riddle.

We have also enjoyed reading about the adventures of Elmer the Patchwork Elephant (by David McKee). Elmer is a kind and funny elephant who loves to play jokes on his fellow elephants. The neat part of the story is that it subtlety presents the concept that it is okay to be different.

Today we made these fabulous patchwork collage elephants, thanks to Montessori Moments for inspiration and a great step-by-step tutorial.

An elephant in progress, look at the very careful placement of Elmer's patchwork.

 This elephant is nearly ready for cutting, he is just making sure the outline is covered in patches of paper.

And finally practicing our very important cutting skills and carefully cutting Elmer out.

My class of 5 year olds were able to complete this art work almost independently, with just some help needed cutting around Elmer's legs.

Sand Tray

 I recently introduced a sand (well... salt) tray as part of our writing program. The sand tray is a great sensory experience for beginning writers. Using the laminated copy of the alphabet (from this handwriting book) the children are able to practice their letter formation. I am hoping that the sensation of the moving the sand and the larger arm and hand movements made when writing in the sand tray will discourage some of the common letter reversals (d/b, p/q, s). And that by using the first two fingers of their writing hand the children will then use the same fingers when they grip a pencil to write with.

I have one gorgeous child in particular who will request to use the sand tray everyday, he loves the extra stimulation that the texture of the sand brings. He also loves using the brush and shovel to sweep up any lost 'sand'.

Ways to extend this activity:

• Use an ice-block stick to write with.
• Draw pictures or shapes in the sand.
• Use coloured match sticks build letters in the tray.
• Create sentences or words using magnetic letters.
• Write digraphs and trigraphs in the sand.
• Or... drive cars through the sand and bury them (a current favourite in Room 1).

Tweet, Tweet, Tweet

For our Mountaineers Discovery session this week we discovered all about birds.The children had a fantastic time exploring a range of activities, including making the cutest little chicks hatching out of their eggs and creating some very colourful birds with beautiful tail feathers.

You know things are successful when you spy kids in the playground playing with their creations at lunch time.

Here are some of our hungry chicks waiting for a delicious wiggly worm.

  A chick in progress - some very careful gluing is evident.

 This beautiful bird is keeping warm in her nest of newspaper. We used coloured card for our birds and drew on the eyes and beak (you could use googly eyes too). I precut the card in to a half circle and the children stapled it in to a cone, then sellotaped on the feathers.

Another activity involved sorting and matching coloured photocopies of stamps of New Zealand endangered native birds. 

I have put copies of the stamps I used on my Printables Page.

We also had a couple of magnifying glasses out. The kids loved using these to take careful notice of small details.

We practiced walking like a 'moa' on our Bird Feet (aka Monster Stompers).