• Building Study 

    Week of April 13 - April 17, 2020

    Focus Question: What are buildings made of? What makes them strong?

    Question of the Day: What was your favorite part of our Buildings Study? 

  • Read-Alouds

    Starting on Monday, watch and read along with one title each day.

     The Three Little Javelinas Click on the title to listen to and watch a read-aloud of The Three Little Javelinas.

     Building A House  Click on the title to listen to and watch a read-aloud of Building A House.

     Build It From A - Z  Click on the title to listen to and watch a read-aloud of Build It From A - Z.

     Dreaming Up Click on the title to listen to and wathc a read aloud of Dreaming Up.

     Construction Cat Click on the title to listen to and watch a read-aloud of Constrution Cat.

  • Make Time for...

    Outdoor Experiences

    Continuing to Observe a Building's Shadow

    • Invite your child to observe your home's shadow at different times of the day. 
    • Have them trace around the shadow with sidewalk chalk. 
    • Repeat this process at differnt times of the day for a few days.
    • Talk about how the shadow's size and position are different from those observed during previous observations.

    Wow! Experiences

    • Walk around the neighborhood to investigate the materials used to construct neighborhood buildings and houses, and try to identify problems.

     

    *cited from Teaching Strategies: The Creative Curriculum for Preschool, featuring the Buildings Study.

  • Interest Area Activities

    This is where you can find some fun activities to do with your child.  These activities can be done with materials you already have at home, or items similar to what you have at home.  Choose one activity each day starting Monday.

    1.  Be a city planner! Using paper and a pencil or crayons, draw up your vision or idea for your perfect neighborhood.  Be sure to include anything you might see outside or things that are important to you - streets, sidewalks, parking lots, movie theatres, parks, trees, buildings, homes, etc.   

    2.  Build a neighborhood or city using empty boxes you have around your house (shoe boxes, cereal boxes, etc.).  Cover the boxes in paper using glue or tape, and draw on doors, windows, addresses and more!

    3.  Using toothpicks and playdough or clay, construct houses and buildings.  Use small bits of dough to connect the toothpicks.  Use other materials you might have as well, such as tissue paper, popsicle sticks, q-tips or construction paper. 

    4.  Using blocks, legos or anything else you can build with, try building a strong and sturdy building.  Try different approaches, such as large blocks compared to small blocks.  Is your building sturdy or weak with a strong foundation ("foundation" is another word for base or bottom floor)? For example, does it make a difference if you are building on carpet or a table/hard floor?

    5.  Grab some paper and a pencil or crayons and take a walk around your house (inside or out) looking for different shapes.  Can you find a circle?  What was the item that was circle shaped?  What about a square?  What was the square shaped item?  What other shapes can you find?  When you find a shape draw it on your paper.  Can you find 4 different shaped items?  Can you find more?

  • Please visit the Learning Resources page for related materials.  The construction of Marlin Stadium is particularly interesting during our Buildings Study!