Noah's Ark (part 1)

Our classroom has a Theme Based, Emergent Curriculum. Since we are studying animals I chose Noah’s Ark as the Theme for my project. I thought this would work because the children that were interested could participate and the other children could make other choices. Our classroom themes are in one or two week blocks. The animal theme is a two-week block. Our class schedule has free play from 9:15 – 10:10. That was the perfect amount of time form my “Play Project”. The goals of the art table were to help develop fine motor skills, develop cognitive and social skills, and to have many children participate and have fun. On the Art table I had cutouts of an ark. A child could choose to either paint it (the paint had glue and shaving cream added for texture) and or put animal stickers on it. It introduces new vocabulary with the word ARK and naming animals. At the Manipulative table my goals were the same as the art table but I also felt that it was a great place to socialize. There were puzzles of animals for children who don’t enjoy painting and I put different animals and play dough out. Both help with small motor skills and encouraged socialization. The rug area had a wooden ark with pairs of animals and soft blocks. There were also books and a felt board with the Noah’s Ark story set up. I roamed the room, sometimes observing and sometimes engaging with the children that were participating in my project. As an assistant teacher it always feels so important that the children take an interest in my ideas. If they like it I feel like a success and if I miss the mark I can’t help but feel I failed. I think this morning went pretty well. The most important thing is that I learned about the students was that they are evolving everyday.