Group Meeting: The children finished their October Math Journals today and are bringing them home. Please take a few minutes to look through them.
Story: The morning class had the story Where's My Mummy? by Carolyn Crimi. Little Mummy is playing hide and seek with Big Mummy when he gets lost. As he looks for her he sees a skeleton, a glob, and a vampire, but he is not afraid of them. Then he sees a little mouse. He is very afraid of it. Big Mummy comes to the rescue.
The afternoon class story was A Very Scary Jack-o-Lantern by Joanne Barkan. Elliott wants to carve a very scary jack-o-lantern. He asks his grandfather for help. Grandfather tells him that he must follow a black cat, a ghost, and a skeleton to find the witches house. She will have a pumpkin for him. This is a glow in the dark book. To see the pictures glow, we needed a dark room with no windows. We used the girls restroom. The children thought that it was very silly to stand in the girls restroom for story time, but the pictures were worth it!
Small Groups: The children learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin in the Let's Find Out Magazine. They completed the words on the back page and matched the colors. I thought that this activity would be hard for them, but they did it very well.
Large Group: The yellow group brought items for show and tell today.
Snacks: The morning class had Scooby snacks, grapes, and milk brought by Gus. The afternoon class had cheese sticks, pretzels, and juice brought by Kennedy. Thank you!
Monday will be our Halloween party. The children may wear their costumes to school.
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Group Meeting: We are learning a few songs to sing at Senior Star on Halloween. We worked on these a little bit today.
Story: Our story for today was Ten Orange Pumpkins, A Counting Book by Stephen Savage. This book started with a 10 pumpkins. A Halloween character on each page took one pumpkin away as we counted down to 1. The children enjoyed seeing the pumpkins disappear. Ask your child to tell you what animal appeared on every page.
Small Groups: The activities for small groups are listed in Monday's post. The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #1 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group
Large Group: The children participated in an obstacle course. They had to run around cones, walk across a balance beam and throw a bean bag at a ghost. It was a good gross motor game for a cold rainy day.
Snacks: The morning class had applesauce, granola bars, and milk brought by Colin. The afternoon class had peanut butter, jelly, bread, and juice brought by Journey. Thank you!
Story: Our story for today was Ten Orange Pumpkins, A Counting Book by Stephen Savage. This book started with a 10 pumpkins. A Halloween character on each page took one pumpkin away as we counted down to 1. The children enjoyed seeing the pumpkins disappear. Ask your child to tell you what animal appeared on every page.
Small Groups: The activities for small groups are listed in Monday's post. The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #1 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group
Large Group: The children participated in an obstacle course. They had to run around cones, walk across a balance beam and throw a bean bag at a ghost. It was a good gross motor game for a cold rainy day.
Snacks: The morning class had applesauce, granola bars, and milk brought by Colin. The afternoon class had peanut butter, jelly, bread, and juice brought by Journey. Thank you!
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Halloween planning
Story: Our story for today was The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams. A little old lady takes a walk in the forest to collect spices and herbs. When it starts to get dark, she turns around to go home. On her way home, she sees two shoes, a pair of pants, a shirt, a hat, a pair of gloves, and a jack-o-lantern that are making scary noises (ask your child to make the noises), but she is not afraid. When she gets back to her house, the things have followed her. What will she do with them?
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: Yesterday, the children made a list of games to play and snacks to eat at our Halloween party. However, the list was too long. Today, we voted on which games we would play and which snack we would eat. To vote, each child was given a plastic chip to put in the container next to the picture of the game that they wanted to play. The games with the most votes were; Flip Boards with Pumpkins, Ghost Bowling, and Spider Web Walking. They also voted for a snack. The winner was pumpkin cut out cookies to decorate with frosting and sprinkles. Now, we have to get to work getting things ready.
Snacks: The morning class had grapes, cheese sticks, and milk brought by Cael. The afternoon class had bread, peanut butter, jelly, and juice brought by Holden. Thank you!
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: Yesterday, the children made a list of games to play and snacks to eat at our Halloween party. However, the list was too long. Today, we voted on which games we would play and which snack we would eat. To vote, each child was given a plastic chip to put in the container next to the picture of the game that they wanted to play. The games with the most votes were; Flip Boards with Pumpkins, Ghost Bowling, and Spider Web Walking. They also voted for a snack. The winner was pumpkin cut out cookies to decorate with frosting and sprinkles. Now, we have to get to work getting things ready.
Snacks: The morning class had grapes, cheese sticks, and milk brought by Cael. The afternoon class had bread, peanut butter, jelly, and juice brought by Holden. Thank you!
Monday, October 24, 2016
It's time to get ready for Halloween
Group Meeting: The children have been telling me for two weeks that Halloween is coming, and that we need to get ready. So for the next three days, we will be participating in Halloween activities and making Halloween decorations. Our party will be on Monday. For our opening song today, we did "If You're a Kid: Halloween re-mix" by Harry Kindergarten Music.
Story: The story for today was Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman. In this story, a witch has planted a pumpkin seed. It grows and grows into a big pumpkin. She would like to make pumpkin pie on Halloween, but the pumpkin is too heavy for her to move. A ghost, a vampire, and a mummy, come to help her, but it is to heavy for them as well. Finally, someone comes along with an idea. Ask your child to tell you who the hero of the story is and why.
Small Groups: The activities and schedule for today is as follows:
Activity #1 (red group) The children played a board game in which the pieces were added according to how many syllables were in a selected Halloween word. If the word had one syllable, it was added to the ghost line which also has one syllable. If it had two syllables, it was added to the monster line. To help the children understand syllables, I use clapping. A clap represents a syllable.
Activity #2 (yellow group) The children sorted pictures of monsters. They selected the categories such as color, eyes, spots, etc.
Activity #3 (green group)The children counted pumpkins, added the correct amount of chips onto a 10 frame and added the correct numeral.
Large Group: The children helped me brainstorm some ideas for our Halloween party. We thought of several game and snack ideas. Tomorrow, we will vote for our favorites. We are also learning a few Halloween songs to sing at Senior Star.
Snacks: The morning class had graham crackers and milk by Brogan. The afternoon class had Goldfish and juice brought by Ellie. Thank you!
Story: The story for today was Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman. In this story, a witch has planted a pumpkin seed. It grows and grows into a big pumpkin. She would like to make pumpkin pie on Halloween, but the pumpkin is too heavy for her to move. A ghost, a vampire, and a mummy, come to help her, but it is to heavy for them as well. Finally, someone comes along with an idea. Ask your child to tell you who the hero of the story is and why.
Small Groups: The activities and schedule for today is as follows:
Activity #1 (red group) The children played a board game in which the pieces were added according to how many syllables were in a selected Halloween word. If the word had one syllable, it was added to the ghost line which also has one syllable. If it had two syllables, it was added to the monster line. To help the children understand syllables, I use clapping. A clap represents a syllable.
Activity #2 (yellow group) The children sorted pictures of monsters. They selected the categories such as color, eyes, spots, etc.
Activity #3 (green group)The children counted pumpkins, added the correct amount of chips onto a 10 frame and added the correct numeral.
Large Group: The children helped me brainstorm some ideas for our Halloween party. We thought of several game and snack ideas. Tomorrow, we will vote for our favorites. We are also learning a few Halloween songs to sing at Senior Star.
Snacks: The morning class had graham crackers and milk by Brogan. The afternoon class had Goldfish and juice brought by Ellie. Thank you!
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Fire Prevention Day
Group Meeting: We discussed fire prevention today. Our opening song was "Hurry, Hurry, Drive the Firetruck". We conducted a fire drill following our story.
The afternoon welcomed a new student to our class. Her name is Elliott.
Story: The story for today was It's Time for a Fire Drill by Steve Metzger. In this story, Albert's preschool class is going to have a fire drill. Mrs. Dee tells them that when the alarm sounds, they should all line up to go outside. Albert is afraid of the loud alarm. Mrs. Dee tells him that although the alarm is loud, it is a good sound. It is the sound of children being safe from fire. When the alarm goes off, Albert realizes that it is not as loud as he thought it would be.
Our preschool cannot set off the alarms without the fire department being notified first. For now, we will pretend, but someday we will sound the alarm to let the children know what it sounds like.
Small Groups: The children completed the "Let's Find Out" leaflet about fire safety. Take a few minutes to review this at home.
Large Group: The red group brought items for show and tell. We also completed the letter H page in our workbooks.
Snacks: The morning class had cinnamon graham crackers and milk brought by Ben. The afternoon class had oranges and milk brought by Ella. Thank you!
The afternoon welcomed a new student to our class. Her name is Elliott.
Story: The story for today was It's Time for a Fire Drill by Steve Metzger. In this story, Albert's preschool class is going to have a fire drill. Mrs. Dee tells them that when the alarm sounds, they should all line up to go outside. Albert is afraid of the loud alarm. Mrs. Dee tells him that although the alarm is loud, it is a good sound. It is the sound of children being safe from fire. When the alarm goes off, Albert realizes that it is not as loud as he thought it would be.
Our preschool cannot set off the alarms without the fire department being notified first. For now, we will pretend, but someday we will sound the alarm to let the children know what it sounds like.
Small Groups: The children completed the "Let's Find Out" leaflet about fire safety. Take a few minutes to review this at home.
Large Group: The red group brought items for show and tell. We also completed the letter H page in our workbooks.
Snacks: The morning class had cinnamon graham crackers and milk brought by Ben. The afternoon class had oranges and milk brought by Ella. Thank you!
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Group Meeting: As the children arrive at school, one of their tasks before Group Meeting is to sign in. I've noticed that the children have improved greatly in printing their names. Please encourage your child to practice at home, remembering to start all letters at the top. They have learned a song to help them remember this.
Story: Our story for today was Tomas' and the Library Lady by Pat Mora. Tomas' family are migrant workers. In the winter, they pick fruit in Texas. In the summer, they help the harvest in Iowa. As Tomas' travels back and forth, his grandfather shares stories with him. However, Tomas' has heard all of grandfather's stories. Grandfather encourages him to visit the library. Tomas' has never been to the library before. He is amazed at the size of the building and amount of books in the library. A very nice library lady helps him find books that he enjoys. Now as he is riding back and forth in the car, he has books to help him enjoy the ride. Ask your child to tell you what Tomas' favorite book topics are.
Small Groups: The activities for small groups 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: Yesterday, we made a list of things that we know about roads. Today, we came up with a few things that we would like to learn about roads. I'll be sharing that soon.
We also did Wet, Dry, Try for the letter H.
Snacks: The morning class had oranges, animal crackers, and juice brought by Angel. The afternoon class had pretzels and juice provided by the preschool. Charlie was supposed to be the snack helper today, but was ill. We hope he is better soon.
Story: Our story for today was Tomas' and the Library Lady by Pat Mora. Tomas' family are migrant workers. In the winter, they pick fruit in Texas. In the summer, they help the harvest in Iowa. As Tomas' travels back and forth, his grandfather shares stories with him. However, Tomas' has heard all of grandfather's stories. Grandfather encourages him to visit the library. Tomas' has never been to the library before. He is amazed at the size of the building and amount of books in the library. A very nice library lady helps him find books that he enjoys. Now as he is riding back and forth in the car, he has books to help him enjoy the ride. Ask your child to tell you what Tomas' favorite book topics are.
Small Groups: The activities for small groups 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: Yesterday, we made a list of things that we know about roads. Today, we came up with a few things that we would like to learn about roads. I'll be sharing that soon.
We also did Wet, Dry, Try for the letter H.
Snacks: The morning class had oranges, animal crackers, and juice brought by Angel. The afternoon class had pretzels and juice provided by the preschool. Charlie was supposed to be the snack helper today, but was ill. We hope he is better soon.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Group Meeting: Mrs. Hoogheem was absent again today. She has grandchildren from Michigan visiting her. She will be back tomorrow. It is also her birthday tomorrow, but don't tell her that I told you:) Our sub for today was Mrs. Smith. Some of the children were familiar with Mrs. Smith from last year, but for some, she was a new teacher.
Story: The story that I read today was Hooray, A Pinata by Elisa Kleven. Clara is planning her birthday party. She will have cake, balloons and a pinata. Her friend, Samson goes with her to the pinata store to pick one out. She selects a puppy pinata. Clara becomes very fond of her pinata, treating it like a real dog. When it's time to get ready for the party, she doesn't want to break it. Samson has a solution. Ask your child to tell you what he does to make Clara feel better.
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: Now that we have talked about roads for a few days, we made a list of everything that we know about roads. Tomorrow, we will think of things that we want to learn about roads. I will share the lists when we are finished. We also went to the Outdoor Classroom. We never know how many more nice days were are going to get.
Snacks: The morning class had peanut butter crackers and milk brought by Andon. The afternoon class had oyster crackers, apple slices, and milk brought by Beckett. Thank you!
Story: The story that I read today was Hooray, A Pinata by Elisa Kleven. Clara is planning her birthday party. She will have cake, balloons and a pinata. Her friend, Samson goes with her to the pinata store to pick one out. She selects a puppy pinata. Clara becomes very fond of her pinata, treating it like a real dog. When it's time to get ready for the party, she doesn't want to break it. Samson has a solution. Ask your child to tell you what he does to make Clara feel better.
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: Now that we have talked about roads for a few days, we made a list of everything that we know about roads. Tomorrow, we will think of things that we want to learn about roads. I will share the lists when we are finished. We also went to the Outdoor Classroom. We never know how many more nice days were are going to get.
Snacks: The morning class had peanut butter crackers and milk brought by Andon. The afternoon class had oyster crackers, apple slices, and milk brought by Beckett. Thank you!
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