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!