Thursday, April 3, 2008

Nutrition and Manners - Day 4

Meat, Eggs, and Protein

Self Selected Activities (AM 9:00-9:45..PM 12:30-1:15)

*Cut and Color Table: MEAT, EGGS, AND PROTEIN MURAL - there will be food magazines set out for the children to find meat, eggs, and protein pictures to cut out and paste. The teacher will guide and discuss with the children as they go. They can also cut out pictures of their favorite foods to make a mural of foods they love!

*Messy Table: WHEAT - We will have wheat in the messy table today. Although we are not learning about grains and bread, it's still fun to feel and explore with.

*Creative Art: EGG FRIENDS - The children will decorate their own hard boiled egg friends with googly eyes, permanent marker, yarn, etc. They can try and take extra special care of their newly found friends!

*Dramatic Play: RESTAURANT - The dramatic play area will be set up like a restaurant for the children to explore all different food groups, serve each other, order, and of course pretend to eat!!

Snack (small groups come at different times to eat during Self-Selected Activities. Unless we are making our snack, then we will eat it during large group.)

*Snack: OMELETT - Check out the recipe page for this yummy recipe!! It's so fun to cook and smell and eat snack!! Kids love to help!!

Large Group (AM 9:50-10:15...PM 1:20-1:45)

* Large Group: We'll start large group with the song can of course and get everyone settled down. Rude Rodney will join us in a toy truck and zoom around the circle in and out of children. I'll ask Rodney if I can play with his truck for a while. "NO!" Rodney yells. "It's MINE!" I'll tell the children that Rodney is not very good at sharing. He doesn't have many friends because he never lets them play with his toys. And Rodney never takes turns. He cuts in line at recess and takes toys away from other children. We'll read the story "We Share Everything" by Robert Munsch and discuss why it important to share. We'll practice our letter Uu to end large group.

Outside Play (AM 10:15-10:25...PM 1:45-1:55) *Transition: PASS THE EGG - The children will sit in a circle and two of them will have a hard boiled egg. We'll sing the ABC's and when we stop, the two people that have an egg have to answer the question, "What is your favorite food?" After they answer the class has to decide what food group it's in and then begin again.
Small Group (AM 10:30-11:00...PM 2:00-2:30)
* Small Group: We'll start small group by reading "Eggbert the Slightly Cracked Egg" by Tom Ross. This is the story of ane gg who is perfectly happy in the refrigerator until it is discovered that he has a crack. Then, he is cast out. As he discovers the world, he finds that being cracked isn't so bad. We will then do a Rubber Egg science experiment. I will have a couple of eggs in a jar covered with vinegar, they will have sat for 48 hours. Carefully we'll remove the eggs from the jar and the children can touch them carefully. They will feel like rubber. When everyone has had a chance to feel them, I'll poke one with a needle and let them watch as the insides ooze out!! The calcium on the egg is dissolved by the acid in the vinegar. The egg's membrane holds it together. We'll also discuss more about this food group - Most of the foods in this group come from animals. The exception is legumes and tofu. We will not get into a discussion how animals are killed for their meat. The children will most likely be bothered and it is not really necessary. I'll show them some examples of foods that fit into this category....pepporoni, refried beans, eggs, sausages, etc.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Nutrition and Manners - Day 3

Bread and Cereals

Self Selected Activities (AM 9:00-9:45..PM 12:30-1:15)

*Cut and Color Table: STRINGING CEREAL - There will be a variety of cereals at the cut and color table for stringing. There will be pattern cards available for the children to copy the pattern to make for their necklace. We will enjoy talking about what grain the different cereals are made of, tasting them and of course stringing them!!

*Messy Table: FLOUR GOOP - There will be squirt bottles like syrup, liquid dish soap bottles, etc. These bottles will be half way filled with flour and then filled up with water. The children can squirt these bottles to make goopy designs. If they want, they can squirt them onto squares of cardboard where the designs can dry hard and feel really neat! The teacher will guide discussions about how flour comes from wheat and is part of the breads and cereals group.

*Creative Art: BREAD DOUGH FUN - Bread dough will be placed at the creative art table for the children to smoosh, shape, squish, feel, and experience.

*Dramatic Play: RESTAURANT - The dramatic play area will be set up like a restaurant for the children to explore all different food groups, serve each other, order, and of course pretend to eat!!

Snack (small groups come at different times to eat during Self-Selected Activities. Unless we are making our snack, then we will eat it during large group.)

*Snack: HOMEMADE BREAD - Miss Chelsea will have pre-made bread for the children to see what the end product is of flour and bread dough.

Large Group (AM 9:50-10:15...PM 1:20-1:45)

* Large Group: We'll start large group by singing songs from the song can. Rude Rodney will then join us with a blanket and a pillow. It is time for Rodney's morning nap. Miss Chelsea will read a book "The Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners". As the teacher reads the book Rodney will interrupt and ringing a bell as I try and finish. First he'll ask for a drink of water before his nap, then a hug, the he'll ask for the teacher to fluff his pillow just right. After the story I'll begin a conversation with the kids about interrupting.......What does it mean to interrupt? How did Rodney interrupt? What would have been the polite thing for Rodney to do? Do you ever interrupt mommy and daddy? Who would like to come up and tell Rodney what he should do instead of interrupting? No interrupting Please, Touch Rule - This is an excellent rule for the preschool classroom and an even better rule for home. I do not believe a teacher should make a child wait for a very long time before he is responded to, but there aer times when the teacher is busy and the child has to wait. When the teacher is busy the chils is asked to lay his hand on the teacher's hand. This lets the teacher know that the child needs to speak to her. Ther teacher responds by laying her hand on the child's hand. That way, the child has been acknowledged and he knows the teacher will get to him next. When she is finished with her previous conversation she should get down on the child's level and atted to his need. This helps a great deal when on the telephone at home. But remember, it isn't fair to make the child wait too long. That will only set him up for failure. We'll then go into learning the letter Uu through song, sign language, and writing!

Outside Play (AM 10:15-10:25...PM 1:45-1:55) *Transition: POPCORN MOVEMENT - Popcorn is a foot that fits into the breads and cereal food group. I'll explain that inside every kernel of popcorn is a tiny little space that is filled with moisture. When the kernel heats up, the moisture in the center of the kernel expand and causes the kernel to explode into popcorn. The teacher will invite the children to curl up into a popcorn kernel. I will pick each child up one by one and place them into a "skillet full of oil". Slowly turn up the heat. Not all of the kernels will explode at once so the teacher will walk around the children and touch them each on the head. Tell them to pop when they are touched and then crouch back into a kernel to pop again. Small Group (AM 10:30-11:00...PM 2:00-2:30)

* Small Group: We'll start small group by reading "The little Red Hen". I will bring a variety of breads and cereals to the circle. This will include bread, pasta, rice, tortillas, and cereal. The children will touch, smell and taste some of the foods. It will be fun to show the children how some of the foods are different when they are cooked. For example, uncooked spaghetti is hard and breaks but spaghetti that has been cooked is soft and bendable. I will show them cooked rice, oats and bread, etc.