It's almost party time!

Group Meeting:  We have been in school for 129 days.  Tomorrow will be the last.  Both Kindergarten Readiness classes have been very enjoyable for me this year, lots of good kids and lots of good parents.  Thank you so much!

Story:  Our story for today was Peter's Chair by Ezra Jack Keats.  Peter has a new sister.  He notices that his parents have taken his crib and high chair and have painted them pink for her.   He is afraid that they are going to take his favorite chair and paint it pink for her too.  Ask your child to tell what makes Peter change his mind about giving his chair to his sister.

Small Groups:  The children completed a Let's Find Out magazine about ways to say good bye using animal rhymes. 

Large Group:  The children practiced the program for tomorrow one more time.

Snacks:  The morning class had Goldfish and juice brought by Jocelyn.  The afternoon class had muffins and milk brought by Mia.  Thank you!

The Countdown Begins

Group Meeting:  I reviewed the schedule for this week with the children.  Tomorrow is our field trip to the recycling center.  Wednesday will be our last "regular" day.  Thursday will be our party day at the park.  It's supposed to be a beautiful day!

Story:  Our story for today was Sam Helps Recycle by Judith Bauer Stamper.  Maya's dog Sam likes to help with recycling.  As the family collects items for the recycling center, he brings his newspaper from the yard and the water bottle that he was playing with.  However, he notices that his beloved food bowl is sitting on top of the plastic items for recycling.  Ask your child to tell you why?

Large Group:  During small group time, the children practiced the program for the last day of school.  We went to the Outdoor Classroom during Large Group time.

Snacks:  The morning class had granola bars and juice brought by Jackson.  The afternoon class had strawberries, apples, and milk brought by Leslie.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  Our seeds have been growing slowly in our windows for the past two weeks.  We are sending them home today to be put into pots or gardens.  They are green bean plants.

Story:  Our book for today was the non-fiction book Don't Lose It...Reuse It by Nancy Noel Williams.  This book gives children ideas of things that they can do with tubes, boxes, bottles, cans, paper bags, and socks instead of throwing them away.  Some of the ideas were things that the children had already thought to do in our Art Area.  A few new ideas were generated as well.

Small Groups:  We learned about Ladybugs with a Let's Find Out magazine and video.  We learned that Ladybugs go through a metamorphosis similar to butterflies. 

Large Groups:  The children completed the workbook pages for the numerals 7 and 8.

Snacks:  The children made Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Trees using graham crackers, apple slices, grapes, and letter grahams.  I've attached a few photos below.  It was Summer Birthday Day, so we also had birthday brownies. 

Group Meeting:  We have started to count down to the last day of school.  Today, we talked about the schedule for the last day and began to practice the program that we will be performing.

Story:  Our story for today was I Stink by Kate and Jim McMullen.  This is a story narrated by a garbage truck based in New York.  While you are sleeping, the garbage truck is out to eat your trash!  The garbage truck picks up all of the stinky, yucky garbage so that our city stays clean.  Ask your child to tell you about some of the trash that he picked up along the way.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in Monday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group

Large Group:  The children completed the pages and numerals 5 and 6 in  their workbooks.  They also practiced some of the songs for our last day program.

Snacks:  The morning class had bread sticks, cheese, and juice brought by Isla.  The afternoon class had Ritz bits with cheese and juice brought by Lani.  Thank you!

Story:  Our story for today was The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch.  Elizabeth is a princess who is going to marry Prince Ronald.  However, a fire breathing dragon destroys her castle, her clothes and takes Ronald to his cave.  Elizabeth puts on the only thing that she can find, which is a paper bag, and sets off to rescue Ronald.  She tricks the dragon and rescues Ronald.  However, Ronald is not grateful to be rescued by a princess wearing a paper bag.  Ask your child to tell you what Princess Elizabeth tells him.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in yesterday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group

Large Group:  The children are working on numeral pages in their workbooks.  We also went to the Outdoor Classroom.

Snacks:  The morning class had two kinds of cereal and juice brought by Hollie.  The afternoon class had granola bars and milk brought by Kullen.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  The children were invited to look at the bean seeds that they planted in zip-lock bags last week.  Most of the seeds have begun to grow roots and a few have stems.

Story:  Our story for today was The Adventures of Gary and Harry, the Tale of Two Turtles by Lisa Matsumoto.  Gary and Harry are two turtles who live in the ocean.  They love the ocean life with their friends.  One day, they were looking for something for lunch.  Harry saw jelly fish.  He went to bite one, but it wasn't a jelly fish.  Ask your child to tell you what it was.  This is a good book for learning about pollution in the water ways.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week and the schedule for today are listed below. 
Activity #1 (Red Group) The children are "writing" book reviews on some of the Dr. Seuss books that we have read during the past three weeks.  They are doing this in their journals which will be coming home next week.
Activity #2 (Yellow Group) The children sorted colored Goldfish crackers into groups.  They counted the amount in each of the groups and the sum of all the groups together.
Activity #3  (Green Group) The children played Color and Shape Bingo using 3D shapes.

Large Group:  We finished watching "The Lorax" last week.  Today, we reviewed the story and answered questions as we compared the book to the movie.

Snacks:  The morning class had cheese sticks, Goldfish, and juice brought by Gus.  The afternoon had Chex-mix and juice provided by the preschool.  Queen Kennedy was sick today. 

May Birthday Day

Group Meeting:  We had a lot to do today, so the Green Group did their Show and Tell during Group Meeting time.  This was the last day for Show and Tell.  It's been fun seeing all of the items the children have brought in.

Story:  We finished watching "The Lorax".  It was so much fun for us to see the joy on the children's faces as they saw how this movied ended.  On Monday, we will do a review and compare the book to the movie.  We will also discuss the environmental themes from this story.

Small Group:  For our snack, we made Pigs in a Blanket.  The children rolled out biscuit dough, placed a half of a hot dog in the middle, and rolled the hot dog up in the dough.  We put them in the oven and enjoyed them with ketchup and mustard.

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom.  The morning class had a group of children playing Monkey in the Middle, and the afternoon class had a group playing kick ball.  The weather was perfect.

Snacks:  The children ate the Pigs in a Blanket and had birthday brownies. 

We used the money raised at the Art Show to purchase a wind tunnel.  The children have been enjoying it this week.  Here's a few pictures.

Group Meeting:  I brought a recycle bag today to show some items that can be reused or recycled.  We talked about reusing grocery bags and taking cloth bags to the store.

Story:  We watched another installment of "The Lorax".  We should be able to finish it tomorrow.  We have had some great discussions every day with this movie.  Be sure to take a few minutes to ask your child about how the characters were feeling at the end today.

Small Groups:  We went to the Outdoor Classroom.  We needed a little time to run around :)  It's fun to watch them run and scream with smiles on their faces.

Large Group:  The children used the wet, dry, try boards to make the letter Z.

Snacks:  The morning class had granola bars and juice brought by Colin.  The afternoon class had granola bars, cheese sticks, and juice brought by Journey.  Thank you!

A New Study

Group Meeting:  This week, we will be starting a study on Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.  The children have a note in their backpacks today to explain our goals.

Story:  Yesterday and today, the children have been watching the movie "The Lorax".  This is an adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book.  It has the same theme, but a lot has been added to the movie.  We are watching this because it leads into a good discussion about caring for our environment. We will continue it tomorrow and may not finish until Thursday.

Small Groups:  Instead of small groups, we looked at a Let's Find Out magazine about garbage.  We watched a video about how garbage is collected and taken to the landfill.  Then, we learned about how we can recycle some of those items so that we don't fill up the landfill so quickly.

Large Group:  "The Lorax" took up most of our large group time today.  If the weather is better tomorrow, we will head outside.  Please send jackets if the weather is cool.

Snacks:  The morning class had pretzels, applesauce, and milk brought by Cael.  The afternoon class had cheese, watermelon, and milk brought by Holden.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  Tonight will be the Art Show.  We talked about what would be happening tonight and what the children will get to do with their families.

Story:  Our story for today was Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss.  This is a book of tongue twisters that Mr. Fox is trying to get Mr. Knox to say.  Tonight at the Art Show, the children will be invited to decorate a sock to hang on Mr. Fox's clothesline.

Small Groups:  The children completed a Let's Find Out Magazine about the parts of a plant. 

Large Group:  The children completed the workbook page for letter Y.  The Yellow Group brought items for Show and Tell.

Snacks:  The morning class had cheese sticks, bananas, and juice brought by Ben.  The afternoon class had strawberry shortcake and milk brought by Ella.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  We have had a few students bring in Dr. Seuss books from home.   We are happy to read them when we can.  Dr. Seuss wrote over 60 books in his life time.  That's a lot of books!

Story:  The story for today was I Wish That I Had Duck Feet by Dr. Seuss.  In this story, a boy wonders what it would be like to have duck feet, deer antlers, a whale spout, a tiger's tail, etc.  There are good things and bad things about each of those.  In the end, he finds that it's just best to be himself.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in Monday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group

Large Group:  Following the story, we listed to a musical selection by Hap Palmer titled "Sammy".  The story in the music matched the Dr. Seuss story that we had just heard.  Sammy is asked to go to the store to buy bread.   He wishes that he were a bird so that he could fly, fish so that he could swim, a bunny so that he could hop, and a bug so that he could crawl.  He discovers at the end that he's glad to be himself walking to the store.  As we played the music again, the children acted out the animal movements.

Snacks:  The morning class had pancakes, watermelon and juice brought by Angel.  The afternoon class had bagels, berry cream cheese, and juice brought by Charlie.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  It's two more days until the art show.  We have started to put up some of the paintings. 

Story:  Our story for today was Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman.    This is a book that is part of the Beginning Reader collection by Dr. Seuss.  In this story, a baby bird hatches from an egg and begins searching for his mother.  He has never seen her before, so he doesn't know what to look for.  Is the kitten his mother?  Is a cow his mother?  Ask your child to tell you how he finds his mother.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in yesterday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group

Large Group:  We went to the Outdoor Classroom.  The weather is supposed to turn to cold and rainy for the next two days.  We thought we'd better take advantage of the beautiful weather today.

Snacks:  The morning class had French toast sticks, syrup and milk brought by Andon.  The afternoon class had bagels, cream cheese, and juice brought by Beckett.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  We are counting down the days until the Art Show.  I drew four paint pots on the message board.  Each day we will erase one.  This will help us remember. 

Story:  Our story for today was The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss.  This book helps us a little about opposites.  Left foot, right foot, wet foot, dry foot.  How many feet do we meet?

Small Group:  The activities for this week and schedule for today are listed below.

Activity #1 (Red Group)  Dr. Seuss' books have a lot of alliteration in the sentences.  The children used the first letter of their name to make a sentence full of words that start the same.  For example, Colin caught a caterpillar crawling on the car.
Activity #2 (Yellow Group)  The children used a picture dice to think of words that rhyme.  For example, if a child rolled a cat, they would list bat, rat, fat, etc.
Activity #3  (Green Group)  Using the theme from our story today, the children measured tape lines using their feet.  How many feet long was the blue line?  They used a paper to help them record their answers.

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom.  We took some paper out to make paper airplanes. 

Snacks:  The morning class had Apple Jacks, peanut butter Ritz, and juice brought by Adde.  The afternoon class had Lucky Charms, cheese sticks, and milk brought by Ashlyn.  Thank you!

The children are bringing home May calendars and a note about an upcoming field trip. 

Story:  Today, I read Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.  This is another classic Dr. Seuss story that most of the children had heard before.  Do you like green eggs and ham?” asks Sam-I-am in this Beginner Book by Dr. Seuss. In a house or with a mouse? In a boat or with a goat? On a train or in a tree? Sam keeps asking persistently.  Will he try the green eggs and ham?  Does he like them?  Ask your child to tell you.

Small Groups:  The children watched a video about caterpillars and butterflies.  They also created a book with their Let's Find Out Magazine.

Large Group:  The children completed the X page in their workbooks.  Then, it was the Red Group's turn for Show and Tell.

Snacks:  The morning class had muffins and juice brought by Topher.  The afternoon class had Goldfish and juice brought by Addison.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  We have been counting the days that we have been in school.  Today was number 113.  We figured out that we have 17 days left.  Wow, that went fast. 

Story:  Our story for today was One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss.  This book is a collection of little poems with lots of rhyming words.  Several of them turn into tongue twisters. I'm sure that many of you remember reading this as a child.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in Monday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group

Large Group:  After reading our story for the day, the children made handprint fish by dipping their hand in paint and stamping it onto paper.  This will be on display at the upcoming Art Show.

Snacks:  The morning class had Goldfish and juice brought by Taylor.  The afternoon class had grapes and juice brought by Wesley.  Thank you!

Story:  Our story for today was Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss.  This is a beginner book from Dr. Seuss that encourages children to read all by themselves, with simple words and illustrations that give clues to their meaning.  Because there are so many rhyming words in this book, we read it together. 

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in yesterday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom. 

Snacks:  The morning class had applesauce, teddy grahams, and milk brought by Scarlett.  The afternoon class had Frozen grahams and juice brought by Vivian.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  Everyone shared their weekend events.  It sounds like the Easter Bunny made the rounds :)

Story:  Our story for today was Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire.  This is typically thought of as a Dr. Seuss book.  However, it was not written by Dr. Seuss but was included in his Beginning Books set because of the rhyming words and fun characters.  In this story, an animal wants to be part of the zoo because of his pretty spots, but the zoo doesn't want him.  When he shows the children what he can do with his spots, they have a better suggestion.  Ask your child to tell you what it is.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed below as well as the schedule for today.
Activity #1 (Red Group)  The children played a game in which they had to identify how many syllables were in a word.  They moved a game marker the same amount of spaces as syllables on a game board.  The person who reached the end first was the winner.
Activity #2  (Yellow Group)  The children went to the art table to work on an art project that was inspired by a Dr. Seuss book that we read last week.  These will be on display at our Art Show next week.
Activity #3 (Green Group)  The children played a game we call Leap Frog.  Lily pads with letters printed on them were scattered on the floor.  Each child had a frog that would jump when you pushed the tab on its back.  The frogs landed on the lily pads and the children had to identify the letter on the lily pad.

Large Group:  Following the story, the children made animal faces to look like the animal in our story, Put Me in the Zoo.

Snacks:  The morning class had granola bars, cheese sticks, and milk brought by Owen.  The afternoon class had apples, peanut butter, and milk brought by Simon.  Thank you!

Spring Party

For our games today, we had an egg race in which the children had to balance an egg on the end of a spoon.  We used real eggs for this race.  Some were hard boiled, some were not.  We put plastic eggs on our Stomp Boards to see how far we could launch them.  We did this with partners so that everyone got several turns.

For snacks, the morning class had ice cream sundaes and the afternoon class had cupcakes.  Following snacks, the children found eggs hidden in the yard.

Thank you to all of the grown-ups who provided candy, snacks, and party items for our party today.

Group Meeting:  We put the final touches on our party for tomorrow.  The children have notes in their backpacks about what time we would like a little help from the parents.

Story:  At story time, I read There's a Wocket in my Pocket by Dr. Seuss.    In this book, Dr. Seuss has fun making up creatures that have nonsense names that rhyme with items in a boy's house.  For example, there's a Nupboard in the cupboard and a Bofa on the sofa.  After reading the story, we tried to think of a few critters that would rhyme with items in our classroom.

Small Group:  I finished reading the Lorax during small group time.  After the story, we discussed what Dr. Seuss wanted us to learn from this story.  With earth day coming up next week, the lesson is very timely.

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom after completing the letter W page in their workbooks.

Snacks:  The morning class had strawberry applesauce, teddy grahams and juice brought by Mason.  The afternoon class had Clementines, carrots, ranch dip, and juice brought by Elliott.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  We looked at the pictures that I took of them yesterday wearing their Cat in the Hat hats.  They wondered why I hadn't posted the silly pictures that I took.  So, I promised them I would post the silly pictures today.

Story:  During story time, I read My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss.  This is a book that was written by Dr. Seuss, but illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fencher.  This is a book that describes emotions using colors to describe how you feel.  Some days you feel like a red horse running and some days you feel like a sleepy brown bear.

Small Group:  During small group time, we began to read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.  The Lorax is a rather long story with lots of content, so we're going to take two days to read it and discuss it.  We will finish it tomorrow, also during small group time.

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom.   It was a little cold, but it didn't seem to bother anyone.  We are watching the flowers bloom and the trees bud.

Snacks:  The morning class had granola bars and juice brought by Kolsyn.  The afternoon class had Clementines, Goldfish, and juice brought by Paxton.  Thank you!

Art Show-Dr. Seuss

Group Meeting:  It is time for us to start preparing for our upcoming Art Show.  The theme for this year's show is "Dr. Seuss and Friends".  Some of the art on display will be inspired by the writings and illustrations of Dr. Seuss. 

Story:  The story for today was The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss.   This is the story of two children who are sitting at home on a cold wet day with nothing to do until The Cat in the Hat appears at their door.  The Cat has wonderful ideas of things that they could be doing, but their pet fish warns them that they should not have someone in the house while mother is gone.  Ask you child to tell you about how this book ends.

Small Groups:  This week we will not be breaking into small groups.  We will be taking some time to explore Dr. Seuss and his books.  Today, we used  a Let's Find Out magazine to learn more about Dr. Seuss.  The children learned that his real name was Theodore Seuss Geisel. 

Large Group:  As the children prepared for story time, they put on Cat in the Hat headbands.  We posed for the pictures below.

Snacks:  The morning class had cheese sticks, Cheez-its, and juice brought by Kairon.  The afternoon class had Clementines and milk brought by Nora.  Thank you!

If it is not raining, we will be going outside tomorrow.  Please bring jackets.  It is supposed to be a little bit cooler than today.

Birthday Day

Group Meeting:  Today was Birthday Day.  We celebrated five April birthdays in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Story:  I read The Three Little Pigs, which I also read on Tuesday.  The children really enjoy the classic stories.  This time, they recited the parts of "little pig, little pig, let me in" and "not by the hair of my chinney chin chin".  They also huffed and puffed to blow the houses in.

Small Group:  For our Birthday Day snack, the children made Rainbow Toast.  Each child was given a slice of bread.  They used colored milk to paint a rainbow or any design on the bread.  I put it in the oven to toast.  We enjoyed it with butter.  This is an easy, fun activity to do at home.  Use food coloring to color the milk.  You can use pastry brushes or brushes from watercolor kits.  It can be put in the toaster.

Large Group:  The Green Group brought items for Show and Tell. 

Snacks:  The children enjoyed their Rainbow Toast with milk and Birthday Brownies.

Group Meeting:  We have placed two new water explorations in our discovery area.  One is a tornado tube.  The children flip the water bottles over and a tornado starts to spin in the water.  The other activity is creating a rain cloud by dropping water onto cotton balls.  When enough water is soaked up, "rain" starts to fall in the jar.

Story:  Our story for today was The Rain Came Down by David Shannon.  Once on a sunny day, the sky clouded over and the rain came down. The chickens squawked, the dog barked, the baby cried, the traffic snarled, the groceries fell, the people bickered and still, the rain came down.  But suddenly, everyone was happy.  Ask your child to tell you what happened to change everyone's mood.

Small Group:  The activities for this week are listed in Monday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group

Large Group:  The children completed the Let's Find Out magazine pages about earthworms.  We also watched a video about worms, bees, and ladybugs.  In the afternoon, the children noticed an earthworm clinging to our window.  I brought it in for us to view.

Snacks:  The morning class had cereal bars and juice brought by Jocelyn.  The afternoon class also had cereal bars, raspberries, and milk brought by Mia.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  Yesterday, we read the book The Windy Day by Pat Hutchins.  Because of the author studies we did last month, the children wanted to know who had written that book.  Today, I had a picture of Pat Huchins so that the children could see what she looked like.  I found it exciting that they are interested in authors and illustrators.


Story:  Our story for today was The Three Little Pigs retold by Bonnie Dobkin.  This is the classic story of the three pigs who went out into the world to build their own homes.  I am guessing that the children would be able to tell you the whole story.  They really enjoyed it!

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in yesterday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group

Large Group:  Following the story of The Three Little Pigs, the morning class used masks and the afternoon class used puppets to retell the story.  The masks and puppets will be available in the story area tomorrow.

Snacks:  The morning class had cheese sticks, teddy grahams, and juice brought by Jaxson.  The afternoon class had muffins and milk brought by Libby.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  For the next two weeks, we will be talking about Spring and making plans for our Spring party which will be held on Thursday, April 13th. 

Story:  Our story for today was The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins.  The wind blew, and blew, and blew! It blew so hard, it took everything with it: Mr. White's umbrella, Priscilla's balloon, the twins' scarves, even the wig on the judge's head. But just when the wind was about to carry everything out to sea, it changed its mind!  Ask your child to tell you how the story ends.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week and the schedule for today are listed below.
Activity #1 (Red Group)  The children are designing a T-shirt for a year end project.  They will be drawing their faces on to a piece of paper which will be transferred to a shirt.  More information about this project will be coming home soon.
Activity #2  (Yellow Group)  The children dropped liquid watercolor onto some spring shapes to make decorations for our windows.   It was fun to watch the colors blend.
Activty #3 (Green Group)  The children played a game called "Kaboom".  The children took turns picking sticks from a cup.  If it had a number on it, they identified it and kept it.  If the word "kaboom" was written on it, they had to return it along with the other sticks that they had picked.  After 5 minutes, the person with the most sticks was the winner.

Large Group:  The children picked a snack and games for our party.  We made lists of ideas and voted on our favorites.   I will be sending home a note with the details.

Snacks:  The morning class had chocolate chip waffles and milk brought by Jackson.  The afternoon class had bagels, cream cheese, and juice brought by Leslie.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  We read another Mo Willems book, Knuffle Bunny Too.  I would have to say that the children have really enjoyed the Mo Willems books this week.  They are funny and require you to do a little thinking about how the characters feel.

Story:  At story time, I read Pigeon Finds a Hotdog by Mo Willems.   Pigeon loves hot dogs.  Duckling has never had a hot dog before.  She wonders what it tastes like.  Pigeon begins to wonder if Duckling is just trying to take the hot dog away from him.  Ask you child to tell you who ends up with the hot dog.

Small Groups:  Our schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group

Large Group:  The children completed the workbook page for the letter N.  Then we held a discussion about Grown-up Day.  I wanted to them to know what to expect.

Snacks:  The morning class had pretzels, cheese sticks, and juice brought by Isla.  The afternoon class had muffins and juice brought by Lani.  Thank you!

It was the 100th day of school!

Group Meeting:  Everyday, we add a sticker to a 10 frame chart to keep track of how many days we have been in school.  Today, we reached 100.  Wow, it seems like we just started school. 
We also read the book Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late by Mo Willems.

Story:  At story time, I read Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems.  Trixie is a toddler that has a stuffed rabbit named Knuffle Bunny.  She takes Knuffle Bunny everywhere she goes.  One day, Trixie and her dad go to the laundromat.  Trixie takes Knuffle Bunny along.  After they load the laundry into the machine, they walk back home.  However, after just a few blocks, Trixie realizes that she is missing Knuffle Bunny.  Trixie doesn't know how to talk yet.  Ask your child to tell you what she does to get Daddy's attention.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in yesterdays post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group

Large Group:  The children went through an obstacle course that included hoops to jump into, a tumbling mat to tumble on, and a tunnel to crawl through.

Snacks:  The morning class had a cereal mix and juice brought by Hollie.  The afternoon class had cheese sticks, crackers, and juice brought by Kullen.  Thank you!

Mo Willems

Group Meeting:  Our author/illustrator for this week is Mo Willems.  I read Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.   Check your child's backpack for a note about Mo Willem's books.

Story:  At story time, I read Duckling Gets A Cookie!? by Mo Willems.  Duckling is a friend of Pigeon.  Duckling gets a cookie.  Pigeon would like to have the cookie, but instead of asking, he moans and groans about not getting a cookie.  At the end of the story, Duckling gives the cookies to Pigeon.  Ask your child to tell you why?

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed below along with the schedule for today.
Activity #1 (Red Group) The children have learned to print their names with uppercase letters.  This week, we will begin learning to print with an uppercase and lowercase letters.  This will help them prepare for Kindergarten.
Activity #2 (Yellow Group) The children painted a picture of their choice at the art table.
Activity #3 (Green Group) The children played a game using the characters from today's story, Pigeon and Duckling.  Both characters want the cookie in the middle of the game board.  The children take turns rolling the dice to move the cookie back and forth until it reaches one of them.

Large Group:  The children voted for flavors of ice cream that they would like to have on Thursday.  We made a list of ice cream flavors.  I gave each child two stickers.  They could place the stickers next to the ice cream(s) of their choice.  The flavors with the most stickers were the winners.  The morning class will be having cotton candy, mint chip, and chocolate chip/m&m.  The afternoon will be having Superman, marshmellow, and chocolate.  We will also have vanilla on hand.

Snacks:  The morning class had cheese sticks, muffins, and juice brought by Gus. The afternoon class had Clementines and milk brought by Kennedy.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  Before we started our Group Meeting, we danced to Ants in Your Pants.  It's always fun to start the day with a wiggle dance.

Story:  The story for today was Pie in the Sky by Lois Ehlert.  The child that is narrating this story tells us that there is a tree in their new backyard.  Dad says that it is a pie tree.  Do pies grow on trees?  As the story proceeds, we see cherries growing on the tree.  The birds and raccoons eat a few, but there are enough left to make a cherry pie.

Small Group:  The children made a book about animal habitats using the Let's Find Out magazine.  They watched a video of animals in the polar, mountain, desert, and rainforest habitats.

Large Group:  The children completed the workbook page for the letter M.  The Yellow Group brought items for Show and Tell.

Snacks:  Both classes had granola bars and juice.  The morning king was Colin.  The afternoon queen was Journey.

Group Meeting:  Some children are still bringing reading papers to school.  We will continue to collect those that are brought, but we will not be sending home any new ones.  The children are very excited to share their ice cream day with the grown-ups that will be coming on that day.

Story:  Our story for today was Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert.  In this story, the door was left open and the family cat has escaped.  He would like to catch a bird for lunch.   However, the birds are smart and know that when they hear his bell that they need to fly away.  Lois Ehlert creates beautiful pictures of familiar birds in this book.  Following the story, we identified the birds and tried to see if we could make their call.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in Monday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group

Large Group:  We watched a video about ducks.  I asked the children if they knew what makes a duck float on the water.  We did a little experiment with water and oil to see that oil floats on the top of the water.  Ask you child to tell you what makes a duck float.

Snacks:  The morning class had oranges, Pirates Booty, and juice brought by Cael.  The afternoon class had Goldfish, carrots, and juice brought by Holden.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  The children have met our reading goal!  This afternoon, we reached 1000 books.  We will celebrate on Thursday, March 30th with an ice cream party.  This is also Bring a Grown-up to School Day.  Lucky grown-ups!

Story:  Our story today was RRRALPH by Lois Ehlert.  The family in this story has a dog that can talk.  He can say his name. RRRALPH.  He know what is on the top of his house, ROOF.  He sees a bird in a tree that has BARK on it.  Ask your child to tell you what other words Ralph can say.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in yesterday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom.

Snacks:  The morning class had bananas and milk brought by Brogan.  The afternoon class had Goldfish and juice brought by Ellie.  Thank you!

Yesterday, we experimented with air by using a vacuum to blow air through tunnels.  Today, I let the children control the building and blowing.

Lois Ehlert

Group Meeting:  We took a few minutes to get reacquainted after our week of spring break.  We are very close to meeting our reading goal.  We just need a few more scoops of ice cream to make our goal of 1000 books.
Our author/illustrator for this week is Lois Ehlert.  A note was sent home about her today.

Story:  Our story for today was Holey Moley by Lois Ehlert.  A mole is digging a hole in the yard.  He knows that people don't like it.  He is trying to hide from them.  He digs holes looking for earthworms and grubs.  He digs in the garden and sees vegetable plants and their roots.  He needs a new home.  Can he stay with you? 

Small Groups:  This week, each teacher will have a Lois Ehlert book to read and have an activity to go with it.
Activity #1 (Red Group) The book was Eating the Alphabet.  This is an alphabet picture book of vegetables and fruits.  After the looked at the book, the children played a matching game of vegetables and their beginning sounds.
Activity #2  (Yellow Group)  The book was Oodles of Animals.  In this book, Lois Ehlert makes animals using various shapes glued together.  After looking at all of the animals, the children selected shapes to glue together to make their own animal.
Activity #3 (Green Group)  The book was Color Zoo.  This book was also a book using shapes to create various animals.  The children used parquetry blocks to create animals and spring shapes.

Large Group:  I have a small hand held vacuum that the children can use to experiment with wind and it's properties.  I have tubes and connectors for the children to use to create tunnels.  The children will take turns making tunnels and using the vacuum to blow balls (puff ball, marble, bouncy ball, etc.) through the tubes to see where they will go.  I demonstrated it today.  Tomorrow, they will use it during play time.

Snacks:  The morning class had cheese sticks, Goldfish, and juice brought by Ben.  The afternoon class had pizza Bagel Bites and juice brought by Ella.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  I read the Eric Carle book Pancakes, Pancakes.    In this story, Jack would like a pancake for breakfast.  His mother asks him for help.  He cuts the wheat, gathers an egg, milks the cow, churns the butter, gathers the wood for the fire, and brings strawberry jam from the cellar.  Then, mother makes a pancake for Jack's breakfast.

Story:  Because of the many activities that we did today, we did not have time for a second story.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in Tuesday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group

Large Group:  The children completed the workbook page for the letter A.  The Red Group brought items for Show and Tell.

Snack:  We made pancakes to go along with the Eric Carle book that we read at Group Meeting.  However, we didn't have to do all of the work that Jack did.  We mixed water with the pancake mix and fried them on the griddle.  We ate them with syrup and milk.   We also had birthday brownies.

I put an extra reading slip in the children's cubbies today to use over Spring Break.  I hope that everyone has some time to relax and read a few good books!

Group Meeting:  I read The Very Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle.  I asked the children if they ever were grouchy.  They assured me that they weren't, but seemed to know that when you are tired and/or hungry that you might become grouchy :)

Story:  At story time, I read The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle.   In this story, a firefly is looking for a friend.  It sees a light and thinks that it is another firefly, but it is a lightbulb or a flashlight or a lanturn.  Finally, it sees many lights that turn out to be firefly friends.  The children are beginning to notice the type of art work that Eric Carle uses.  I have heard people refer to it as "painted paper" art.  We are trying it at the art table this week.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in yesterday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group

Large Group:  I read the book From Head to Toe by Eric Carle.  In this book, children are imitating animal movements.  I read the description and the children did the movements to match.  We also went to the Outdoor Classroom for a few minutes.

Snacks:  The morning class had waffles, syrup and juice brought by Angel.  The afternoon class had granola bars and juice brought by Charlie.  Thank you!

Eric Carle

Group Meeting: The author/illustrator for this week is Eric Carle. Most of the children were familiar with The Very Hungry Caterpiller.  I read it and we looked at the art work.  Quite a few children have been bringing their reading papers to school.  The children have read 470 books already.  Maybe we should have set the goal higher!

Story:  The story that I read during story time was Little Cloud by Eric Carle.  This book is about a little cloud that can change it's shape to look like things that it can see below such as trees, rabbits, sharks, etc.  We held a discussion on looking at the big cumulus clouds in the sky and trying to decide what they resemble.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week and schedule for today are listed below.
Activity #1 (Red Group)  The children rolled two large foam dice and added the dots together.  Then, they found the numeral to match on their bingo card. 
Activity #2 (Yellow Group)  The children learned to paint using an Eric Carle technique.  They brushed paint onto a paper and used combs to create a texture that could be fur, stripes, grass, etc.
Activity #3 (Green Group)  The children listened to the story of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See by Bill Martin Jr.   Eric Carle did the art work in this book.  Then they created a page for a classroom book of Children, Children, Who Do You See?  

Large Group:  Following the story, we created clouds on the table using shaving cream.  The children used their fingers to create shapes with the shaving cream.  I've included some pictures below.

Snacks:  The morning class had French toast sticks, syrup and milk brought by Andon.  The afternoon class had Ritz crackers, cheese, and juice brought by Beckett.  Thank you!

Fire Station

We enjoyed our field trip to the fire station. The fire fighters were very friendly. We saw several simple machines that the fire fighters use. Thank you, grown-ups for taking us on this trip.