Brazil

I taught Brazil this morning, and we had a blast. I brought a basket of things over to the Pool House last night (thanks A.)...and that made this morning so much smoother. The kids pencil boxes and file folders with their things were all at the tables. The morning started with our routine of The Pledge of Allegiance, America the Beautiful, and our verse, Psalm 113:4. Then we broke into groups. The K kids started with the Flag of Brazil. There was a green sheet of card stock as the field. The kids connected dots to make a rhombus, then cut the shape out. I had pre-cut blue circles, then the kids glued the pieces together and decorated with star stickers.

We then sat on the floor together to get a closer view of the map. I had a "feelie bag" with things that I wanted to talk about. The kids took turns putting their hand in the bag and pulling out a blue frog: the poison dart frog, a soccer ball: Brazil's love of soccer and many World Cup wins, Brazil nuts: Shelled and still in the pod, a map of the US: Brazil is the 5th largest country and just smaller than the US, an iguana, and a parrot. While I read a poem (found this online somewhere...but now I can't remember where.) about the rainforest, the kids sponge stamped rainforest trees, then put stickers of the rainforest creatures in appropriate zones. "Rainforest Animals"

by Meish Goldish

Where can you find a toucan?

In the rainforest you can!

High up on a limb is where it

Can be seen with the monkey and parrot.

Squirrels leaping from tree to tree,

While bats go flying free.

There's a bee, mosquito, and moth.

Look up, there's a hanging sloth!

Down on the rainforest floor

Are big and small creatures galore.

The antelope, deer, and hog,

Plus termites and ants on a log.

Every day, hour by hour,

Butterflies float on a flower.

Lizards and snakes also play

In rainforest plants all day.

We had snack outside. Brazil nuts, Popcorn, and Watermelon juice. Then we potted a terrarium. The kids each got to dump in a cup of rocks, then a cup of dirt. I placed the plants, and then the kids patted moss around them. We followed with a good watering. We'll check in on our terrarium next week when we study Panama.

We clean up our hands, and stamped our passports.

I talked to the kids about the collage pieces in their folders that should help the kids to talk to their parents about Brazil. I planned the collage pieces to match the things that were in our "feelie bag" to help the kids remember what we talked about. L, T and I did their collages at home. L's favorite pieces were the money and the stamps. L's favorite part of the day was using his ruler and cutting. L also liked gluing the flag. He remembers the shape of Brazil, and that it's a BIG country. His friend E lives there now. The boys both brought their marshmallow guns for share time. They built these shooters with their dad. They are made of PVC pipe, and you blow to launch the mini marshmallow. They demonstrated their skills outside as we loaded the car.