Dear Family,
Our unit for the next week is “Learn Every Day about Dinosaurs.” Your child will learn
about dinosaurs through exploring and experimenting with fossils. He/she will name
some dinosaurs and describe their physical features.
We will discuss the characteristics of dinosaurs as they relate to food, habitat, and
physical attributes. Your child will learn how fossils were first discovered and what led to
the name dinosaur being used. We will talk about theories that explain what caused the
dinosaurs to die out. Your child will also learn how dinosaur species were alike and how
they were different.
Here are some activities we have planned:
Art Center: Create dinosaur rubbings and dinosaur egg paintings; make T-Rex tails from
old pantyhose and newspaper; and create collages using plant materials such as those
eaten by herbivores.
Fine Motor Center: Work together to prepare a supersaurus salad for lunch.
Literacy Center: Work together to make a class book about bringing a dinosaur to
school; and play a letter sound association game using dinosaur and alphabet picture
cards.
Math Center: Measure children’s thigh bones and cut out paper bones of the same size;
and compare their thigh bones to a paper representation of a four-foot-long dinosaur thigh
bone.
Sand and Water Center: Fill the sand table with clean sand and plastic dinosaurs and
talk about how when the dinosaurs died they were covered by layers of sand, silt, and
earth and eventually became fossilized.
Discovery Science Center: Sort plastic “dinosaur” eggs according to weight; learn more
about extinction theories by performing an experiment in which one of two identical
plants is not given sunlight for a period of time; and weigh toy apatosaurus with elephant
tokens in a bucket scale.
Outdoor Activities Center: Explore the playground with magnifiers to look for fossils;
attempt to walk like a dinosaur in giant T-Rex footprints; and wear the T-Rex tails
children made in the Art Center while playing and talk about if the tail helps or hinders
them as they run.
At home you can:
Talk with your child about what he/she is learning at school.
Compare the size of items in your home with the T-Rex footprint your child
brings home.
Serve leafy green salads so you can all eat like an herbivore.
We are very excited about the activities we have planned. As always, thank you for
sharing your child with us. Please don’t hesitate to call or email with any questions or
concerns.
Sincerely,
