Hippo Headlines: Popcorn!

POP! POP! POPCORN!

Wow! What a week we had learning and having fun with popcorn! The word of the week was POP!
The students loved reading it, coming up with words that rhyme with it, and pretending to pop like popcorn with their bodies! At center time we pretended to be kernels popping by jumping on a mini trampoline! We had to count and jump 10 times then get back in line for another turn. During gym we played the POP game in which we showed the students different letters of the alphabet and when they saw the letter P for popcorn they jumped up and said POP! There were many letter P cards in our alphabet pile!! The hippos enjoyed using a parachute and balls as we sang our popcorn song. (goals-gross motor, letter identification, following directions, rhyming, number 10).

During circle time we talked about the different ways to make popcorn such as on the stove, in the microwave, and using an air popper. All of us were able to watch a real air popper change the kernels into popcorn. We practiced scooping the popcorn into popcorn boxes and rolling yellow playdough into popcorn balls during center time. We also felt the weight of a water bottle filled with kernels and a water bottle filled with popped popcorn. This led to a discussion of heavy and light as we placed them on a scale. We discussed how the kernels changed into popcorn when adding heat. The students also painted a big box white and cut out and pasted red strips to make a popcorn box. Each student named a letter and a number on a piece of yellow paper then crumbled it up (representing popcorn) then threw it in our popcorn box. We also looked at a cup with 15 kernels and another with 15 popped pieces of popcorn. I asked the students which cup they thought would have more. This lead to a discussion about size and volume! (goals- cutting, fine motor strengthening, counting, contributing as a member of a group, curious behavior, number recognition, letters)

During center time, the students picked up the popcorn and put it back into the box using grabbers! This is a fun way to work on fine and gross motor as well as being responsible to clean up the popcorn off the floor!! We planted popcorn kernels in dirt and watered them with a squirt bottle! We also opened up yellow crumbled paper (popcorn) with a letter on it and used a yellow dauber to find the letter on our popcorn sheet. It was fun to fill up the entire sheet! In addition, we placed butter (yellow water) on packaging noodles (popcorn) using pipettes. It was fun to make popping sounds with bubble wrap! In addition, we signed in to the question, "How do you like your popcorn? Do you like it plain, with butter or with salt?" We also played by number game by recognizing the number and counting that many pieces of popcorn and placing it in a popcorn container. In addition, we blew popcorn across the table using a straw. (gross motor, fine motor, following 2 step directions, comparing numbers)

The letter of the week was the letter G for girl, goat and green. Our 2nd steps lesson talked about the feeling of being worried and what our body is doing when we are worried. We may breath faster, our heart may beat faster and we may have a tummy ache. We found out it was good to talk to an adult when we have this uncomfortable feeling.

Our highlight of our week was having Cailin's dad come in to talk about Veterans day and how he served in the military! We thank you for your service and protecting our country!

Books We Read:
Popcorn Shop

Popcorn

Curious Geoge-Popcorn Problems

Questions to Ask:
1. How do we make popcorn at our house?
2. What did we plant in the dirt and then water? (kernels)
3. What did we play with during gym? (parachute and balls)
4. What is your favorite thing to do on the playground?
5. Sing the popcorn song with your child! (I'm a piece of popcorn put me in the pan, shake me, shake me, as fast as you can, then.. I... will..... POP!)

6. What rhymes with POP? (pop - hop, or pop - go)

Important Reminders

Monday 11/17-Thursday 11/20 Our own Hippo canned food drive

Wednesday 11/26-Sunday 11/30 Thanksgiving break

Thursday 12/18 Winter party at 11:00 in the Hippo room-all are welcome!!

Next Week:
Turkeys and Thanksgiving!

Below is all the fun we had while learning and exploring!! Enjoy! Thank you for all you do for us!

The hippos worked on their cutting skills.

Everyone loved the gum ball grab game.

After planting the kernels, we watered them.

We picked a number then counted that many popcorns
and placed it in the container.

After recognizing numbers and letters on paper,
we crumbled them to look like popcorn, then
used the grabber to pick it up and place
it in the box we made.

The hippos love looking at the book with their
family pages.

Which cup has more?
They were both equal.

Show and Tell

Parachute fun!

We popped the popcorn (balls).

Art fun!

How do you like your popcorn?

We continued working on counting and
matching the candy corn to the correct number.

Each student received a sheet with a number on it
and another sheet with a letter on it. We practiced recognizing
them. We then crumbled them up to look
like popcorn.

Music fun!

It was fun to use grabbers to pick up the popcorn.

The hippos loved jumping on the bubble wrap
to hear the popping sound.

The students played with real popcorn in the
dramatic play area.

We put pretend butter on our pretend
popcorn using pipettes.

Everyone planted kernels.

The students pulled out a crumbled piece of paper,
opened it up and recognized the letter, then
used a dauber to find that letter on their popcorn sheet.