Our study of Eric Carle continued this week as we read The Very Busy Spider, The Very Clumsy Click Beetle, and Draw Me A Star.  The first tells the tale of a spider who will not rest and will not play until she has spun a web, the illustrations of which are raised so that the children can feel the bump in the page.  The second describes a young click beetles persistence as he tries and tries to learn how to click and launch himself through the air.  The third follows a young artist as his imagination helps him to create an entire world, beginning with a simple star.  As we read these books this week, we tried a variety of interdisciplinary activities.

Art Projects:  Eric Carle’s books lend themselves so nicely to studies in illustration styles and different ways to use materials.  This week, we practiced painting on foil, which was noticeably different from painting on paper.  The strokes of the brush bristles, for example, were much more obvious on the foil.  We also had to use a different kind of paint that would not simply flake off the foil.  After painting several sheets of foil, we cut them into small pieces and used them to make mosaic stars of our own!  Each child used a piece of sturdy paper cut into the shape of a star, then glued on small pieces of painted foil.  The beautiful results are now adorning our classroom!

Fine Motor Projects:  As preschoolers, most of our students are really beginning to strengthen their fine motor skills.  They are mastering their ability to pinch and grasp small objects, as well as to  accurately direct their hands to do what their eyes and brains want them to.   This week, we practiced our fine motor skills by creating our very own click beetles!  The children colored their own click beetles onto paper, then cut them out and attached them to clothespins using double-sided tape.  After a few rounds of practice (just like the beetle in the story), the Tugboats were able to launch their click beetles high into the sky!  We also practiced drawing our own stars using a connect-the-dots activity designed by Peter.

Math Projects:  We continued our study of counting, one to one correspondence, and even basic addition this week with our Star Math activity.  As a group, we selected a piece of paper from a deck with “star math” equations on them.  Each sheet of paper asked us to compile groups of colored stars, with designated numbers, and then count the stars in our night sky.  The children took turns identifying the color star we needed, as well as the number of stars.  Individually, they took turns counting along as we pulled the desired number of each color.  As a group, we all counted aloud together to see how many stars we had in total.  The groups were mixed in terms of challenge level, which enabled the more independent students to mentor the students who needed more support.  For some children, the challenge of the task was identifying the color or the printed number.  Others were challenged by counting along with the group.  Others, still, practiced actually adding the numbers on their fingers or by counting the stars.