This week we went back in time to the dinosaur age! We began the week by reading the facts the students brought from home! Each student enjoyed coming up in front of the class to share his/her dinosaur fact! Boy, did we learn some cool facts about dinosaurs. On Tuesday, we looked at pictures of a dinosaur habitat and compared it to our habitat. We then sorted pictures of the dinosaur habitat and our habitat. During center time we constructed our class dinosaur habitat out of all kinds of recycled materials including cardboard, tissue, paper towel tubes, tins, cups, and much more! After the habitat was completed we brought in the dinosaurs and enjoyed pretending and playing with our friends! The students went on a hunt to find dinosaurs in the classroom. When they found a dinosaur they marked it off on their sheet. (goals-participating as a member of a group, confident behaviors, fine motor, making decisions independently, sorting, voice volume)
On Wednesday we learned plant eaters are herbivores and meat eaters are carnivores. Some dinosaurs are omnivores that eat both plants and meat. The hippos enjoyed learning facts about the stegosaurus from our poster, book and our video. Everyone had fun singing our dinosaur song by Laurie Berkner and pretending to be different dinosaurs during transitions. Our letter of the week was A for apple, alligator, and many of our friends in class! We went over the sound and words that begin with this letter. Next week we will construct our letter with dinosaur bones (q-tips). We made the stegosaurus out of our handprint by painting our hands and will add a tail, legs, spikes, a face and its habitat next week. In addition, we put boney plates on a stegosaurus using clothespins. We had to put the boney plates on in numerical order. We also put dinosaurs puzzles together by placing the pieces in numerical order. (recognizing numbers, fine motor, sequencing numbers, letter recognition, sensory, following 2 step directions)
The hippos signed in to the question, "Do you want the dinosaurs to come back?" Yes or No. During group time we learned about fossils. Paleontologists dig for fossils! After reading a book, watching a video of paleontologists finding fossils and showing pictures of paleontologists, the students had fun making their own fossils with model magic! The hippos also dug for bones in sand trays using sifters, and brushes. In addition, the students loved painting with dinosaur feet and making fossils (penne noodles) in playdoh! During gym we practiced walking like dinosaurs as we played red light/green light. (fine and gross motor, answering questions, counting and comparing numbers)
Your child may have mentioned the term "WOW" words. These are words that are for older kids! We talk about what they mean and repeat the word after the teacher. Our "WOW" words this week included: habitat, herbivore, carnivore, paleontologist and extinct. We will focus on these words more next week!
Our 2nd steps lesson focused on waiting. Sometimes it is hard to wait for others. We can find things to do when we wait such as counting people or things or singing the alphabet song. We practiced our 4 steps to calming down and then brainstormed the things we could count. (listening, respectful behavior, taking turns to answer questions)
Books We ReadCurious George Dinosaur DiscoveryYoutube video- Story Bots Stegosaurus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=633OgEaFbDkCurious George and the DinosaurStegosaurus, The Friendlisest Dinosaur
Fun Dinosaur Facts
Questions to Ask
Does stegosaurus have a big brain or a little brain? (little, size of a nut)
What do dinosaurs eat? (plants and meat)
What does a paleontologist study? (dinosaurs)
What does the stegosaurus do with his spikes on his tail? (protects himself from T-Rex)
Is stegosaurus a meat eater or a plant eater? (plant)
Next Week:More Dinosaurs!
Important Reminders
