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.