This website had a ton of great ideas, and if I had unlimited time, money, and skill, I would have done pretty much everything there because it looked so fun. It was good for sparking the imagination even if I couldn't do much of what was there.
Day 1:
Gathering time: Play in my improvised cardboard space shuttle. I also used this as a way to gather the kids when needed. They enjoyed it. It only lasted one day but that was enough for me.
Literacy: SEEL super space. This was very effective. The kids were finding /s/ sounds all over the place for the rest of preschool.
Math: Color and talk about shapes. Save the papers for next time.
Science: Show the kids pictures of planets and stars and moons. Show how the moon has craters. Get a bowl of flour and toss a marble into it to make our own crater. Let the kids try too. It made a nice big mess, but it was fun.
Choosing time: Pretend play with cardboard rocket
Pattern block magnets
Build a spaceship or space city with blocks
"fix the rocket" Our DVD player died just weeks before this lesson, and I just knew it was meant to be, so I saved it, removed the casing and the power supply, and let the kids have fun with screwdrivers, disconnecting and reconnecting the ribbons, and otherwise tinkering. WARNING: If you plan on doing this activity, be sure that you: 1) completely remove the power supply, so there is no chance a kid will try to plug it in while it's open; 2) use electronics or parts that you will never ever want to salvage for any reason; and 3) DO NOT USE CRT (tube-style) televisions or monitors. They store a lot of charge and could very seriously injure anyone who tries to take them apart, even if they are not plugged in. Old phones, media players, and computer parts (not monitors) would be perfect candidates for this activity.
Day 2:
Gathering time: space books
Literacy: Switch Seats from SEEL
Math: I cut out their shapes from last time and gave the shapes to the kids. The kids made a picture with those shapes. Identify them as they glue them on their papers.
Science: Making observations. I filled 6 "sample jars" with things of varying texture and color. The kids examined each substance, and drew a picture and used words to describe it. The first jar was rocks from planet earth. I had the kids guess what planets the others could have come from. One jar was filled with colored water and glitter. One had playdough (the kids decided it was playdough from Pluto, haha!). Another had cornstarch and colored water (aka oobleck). Another had colored ice. another had confetti. The key here was to only pull out one jar at a time, and to leave sealed anything that would make too big of a mess. I let the kids play in the playdough and the oobleck but not in the water/glitter or the confetti. I told them those ones came from possibly poisonous planets. They didn't believe me, but they played along. The kids also had washcloths next to them for wiping off their hands.
Choosing time: more play with the sample jars, other choices from last time.
No comments:
Post a Comment