Dear Sis,
Our Daily Reading
Today fiction selection, Hey, Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose, is about a boy who is about to squish an ant. The boy and ant enter in conversation and each argue their cases. In the end, the ants fate is up to the reader. Usually William lets the ant live; today he was less generous:)
Today’s non-fiction section, The Life and Times of the Ant by Charles Micucci, introduces the ant in prehistoric times, discusses how colonies form, work together, and communicate, depicts the body structures of the ant and how they function, and more! There is so much content, it may be more than the attention of a, 3 or 4-year-old allows, but the writing style makes it easy to pick and choose what content to read and what to skip over, based upon the child’s interest.
A is for Ant Observation Activity
Parent Preparation
- Print A is for Ant Coloring Page, from Super Coloring.com, on card stock.
- Supply honey, a foam brush, and a magnifying glass.
Student Participation
- Paint honey on the letter “A.”
- Place the honey coated A is for Ant card outside in the grass. Place a few rocks on the corners to keep it from blowing away.
- Wait a few hours until lots of ants find the honey, then observe them with a magnifying glass.
Song of the Day
The Ants go Marching lyric printable is available on Teach Children ESL.com. We sang the song once and moved on to our counting activity.
Ants in the Grass Counting Mats
Activity Materials
- Ant In The Grass Counting Mats by Tag Sis, You’re It!, printed on card stock and laminated for durability.
- Melissa and Doug Numeral Puzzle
Our Process
- First, we matched the numeral puzzle piece with the numeral on the counting mat.
- Then, we counted the number of objects beneath the numeral on the puzzle.
- Finally, we placed the correct number of ants on the counting mat, counting aloud with each addition.
- To make clean up more fun, we sang The Ants go Marching song as we worked: putting away a puzzle piece, the card, and the ants during it’s respective number verse.
Ants on a Log Snack
Ingredients and Preparation
- Spread peanut butter or cream cheese in the hollow of celery sticks, to make the log.
- Top with raisins or dry cranberries, acting as the ants.
Ant Observation Time
Our yard is slopped, so our honey ran. In hind site, a flat spot would have been more ideal. Also, we only put rocks in two corners, instead of four. After sitting a few hours in the grass, our page was folded in on itself a bit too much to facilitate observation. We moved our sheet to the front step to solve this problem, but in so doing, disturbed the ants. Consequently, our ants were on the run instead of feeding and interacting. Lessons learned! We’ll do it better next year:)
Love,
b