Welcome back! I hope that everyone enjoyed a nice, long weekend!
We had a great day in school!
Check out what we did today!
We started the day by investigating maps! We discussed what a map is and why we use maps. We also discussed different types of maps. We read a book called, Follow that Map! The book helped us learn how to use different types of maps!
We looked at the map below of our classroom. We worked in small groups to discuss what we observed about the map.
We then used this map to lead us through our classroom. We first had to decide what door to begin our hunt. The children looked at the map and decided that we needed to use the door by the cave because the cave is the first stop on the map and it is closest to that door. They are beginning to develop map skills! We then continued on our hunt throughout the classroom. At each stop, we received a letter clue. At the end of the hunt, we used the letters to sound out the word MAP.
We investigated maps in the block center; the children manipulated the maps and blocks to explore. Mrs. Povich explored and investigatde alongside the children in order to ask questions to help them to learn through their explorations. The goal of this activity is to allow the children the freedom to ask questions, investigate, and explore, and also learn to find answers to their questions through their explorations. Hands-on, child-initiated learning such as this can help foster the love of learning!
Some of the children were inspired to draw their own map!
We then practiced recognizing letters as we used our pencils to draw a path on a letter map. The children had to follow a series of upper and lower case F's on one map and upper and lower case Y's on the other map. They had to be sure not to confuse the F's and Y's with the other letters on the map! The children are not only practicing recognizing letters, but they are also developing fine motor skills!
We painted using model cars too! The children made their painting into anything they wanted. Some made a map for the cars, while others explored the cars and paint by creating a different picture. Allowing children to express creativity in this way encourages cognitive development!
Some of the children worked together to create a collaborative map of our classroom! The children practiced symbolic representation as they drew pictures of different classroom items and areas.
We also started discussing real and fictional bears. We discussed how we can decide if a bear if real or fictional. We decided that a fictional bear is one we would not see at the zoo and a real bear we would see at the zoo. The children sorted between real and fictional bears. Sorting is a foundational math skill! They also exercised their fine motor skills as they cut out the different pictures of the fictional and real bears.
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