Book Love: Bunny Slopes

Bunny Slopes by Claudia Rueda is a fun, new interactive read in a similar style to Tap the Magic Tree or Press Here (both of which I also love).  It's pretty simple, and at the same time can open up some great dialogue about winter, snow, animals in the snow, etc. 

Read-Aloud Tips: If you are reading this with your own child, one-on-one, it is great for snuggling up together and interacting with the book on your lap. In a classroom setting, I selected students one at a time to come up and interact with the prompts of the book, and then they were free to try it out individually during center time as well. 

Extension Activity: I used the bunny on the book jacket to make a small story manipulative that the kids could use. I placed it on an eraser and set it at the chalk table. (Using it on a dry erase board would be fun, too!) At first, we used it a simple invitation to draw slopes for bunny, allowing the students to practice drawing big, curvy lines. Since bunny erases the lines as he "skis" over them, it encourages them to keep drawing more lines. I introduced this as a partner activity (one person draws, the other erases), but it works just as well for individuals. 

The next day, I added a new extension by putting letters on the hill and working with students individually or in small groups. This could be adapted to all sorts of levels and skills. The example below shows a blending exercise for those blending sounds together, where students read the sounds as bunny climbs up the hill and then blends them together going down the hill.

More with Slopes: The concept of slope is such a fun idea to explore in preschool. Although we got busy with other interests this month, we will probably continue to revisit this concept. But we did try out creating some slopes with these magnetic marble tubes!

More Fun with Winter

We're starting to wind down our winter study, and wanted to share few other fun learning things we've been doing this last month. 

Snow Plow Sensory Bin

White Snow Dough

Build a Snowman Game

This collaborative game practices literacy skills (word/picture differentiation), fine motor, and spatial awareness, along with some friendship skills. Roll the dice and draw that part of the snowman on the board. 

It was always fun to see how the collaborative snowman turned out. Usually a little crazy and fun. :) 

Winter Dramatic Play

We've had lots of hot chocolate and soup making dramatic play.

The Melting Snowman

This silly-putty snowman is always a favorite. It's a bit tougher to work with than play dough, so it's extra great for fine motor exercise!

Snowball Catapult

Perfect for a play snowball fight...

 

Animals and Insects in the Winter

We read several books as we explored what different animals and insects do in the winter.

Matching Snowflakes

Another group game that focuses on visual discrimination (an important skill for reading). 

Find your matching snowflake partner!

Shiny Snow/Icicle Pictures

Painting on shiny paper turned out to be even more exciting than regular paper.

Making the Most of the Winter Snow

Winter in Utah is always a little unpredictable. 

Just when you think the weather has lost interest in snow, it comes again. 

Sometimes it only lasts for a little while, and what was white for the morning class,

becomes only wet by the afternoon class.

No matter the weather, we always seem to find something to play and learn. 

"We made paint!" They said, so we brought out some paintbrushes to use with the paint they made out of sidewalk chalk and the wet puddles in the ground.

 

Some days the snow is thin and great for footprints and mark making with sticks.

Other days it is piled high, and great for scooping and shoveling.

 "We make great snow plows!"

We never quite know how long it's going to stay, or when it will come again, so we try to make the most of the learning experiences it brings to us!

Book Love: Snowflake Bentley

Snowflake Bentley by Jaqueline Briggs Martin

Illustrated by: Mary Azarian

My husband and I have a bit of a photography hobby, and I especially love macro photography. So I was really excited when I heard about this book. It explores the life of Willie Bentley, who was fascinated by snowflakes and, through a lot of effort and patience, found a way to photograph them. The story itself might be a little too wordy for some preschoolers to sit through, and I did not read the book in its entirety to my classes. But we did read enough to get a sense for the story and how Willie pursued his interests, which I think is a great model for young children. 

Connecting Texts: I found a collection of his snowflake photography at the library called Snow Crystals , and I would definitely recommend having that available so that students can see how unique each snowflake really is. The Story of Snow is another great informational text that is really helpful in answering questions about how snowflakes form. 

Extension Activity: There are so many different ways that you can create snowflakes, and one of our favorites this year was using a variety of loose parts to design our own unique snowflakes with transient art. 

We focused on the idea that snowflakes have six sides just like a hexagon. Some snow crystals even form into the shape of a hexagon, as displayed by this page from Snow Crystals.

The children came up with many unique snowflakes, and other creations, of course. 

I was inspired by another teacher on Instagram to also add a camera to the table, so that the children could photograph their work like Snowflake Bentley. That was definitely the highlight of this activity- it brought so much extra interest and concentration to the process.