WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY 9-30-15

ASK ME ABOUT...

...the question on the Morning Message.

...what we did during Assembly.

...what book Mrs. Arner read to us at the library.

...what book I checked out from the library.

...what I did today in my Letter Group.

 Since today was the last day of September, we counted and recorded the spaces colored in on our weather graph.  Ask your child to tell you which one had the most, which had the least, and if any are equal.

Today we decorated our letter "D" with dots!

 Since we decorated our letter "D" with dots, we read a book called, the dot.

 EXTENDED DAY PRE-K~

Today we did a Discovery activity.  First we read the book, Wednesday--a story about 2 friends--Blue Square and Orange Round.  The 2 shapes transform themselves into different creations/figures.  Following the story, we gave each child a blue square and an orange circle so he/she could make his/her own creation.  Be sure to ask your child what he/she made and what the word transform means.

TERRIFIC TUESDAY 9-29-15

ASK ME ABOUT...

...the new greeting we learned and did at Morning Meeting ("Knock, Knock").

...the question on the Morning Message. 
...what I learned in Music.
...the new Station that opened for Free Choice time.
...the nursery rhyme we discussed.

MORNING MESSAGE~

Check out the question on today's Morning Message....

FREE CHOICE LEARNING~

Today we opened our "Overhead Station" and modeled how to use it.  Parents--you may recognize this machine as one that your teachers used when you were in school.  We have learned a way to allow students to use it for their learning.  Currently, we have a math manipulative called "Tangrams" to use at the Overhead Station.  Children choose a picture and manipulate the tangram shapes to fit inside of the picture.

At the Fine Motor Station, children can exercise their fine motor skills with the activity pictured below.  Using a hole punch, children are to punch only the letter that is indicated on the paper.

In the activity pictured below, children can create their own figures/designs with the various shapes or copy a figure from a card.  This exercises spatial reasoning skills.

We introduced a new activity today where children can apply their knowledge of letter sounds.  First, a child chooses a letter to trace on to a piece of white paper.  Next, the child draws 3 objects beginning with that letter sound.  Finally, the child can label the pictures using "inventive spelling"  (spelling the word the way he/she hears it).

 In the picture below of the letter "A", the child drew an alligator (spelled "alagtr"), an ant (spelled "at) and an apple (spelled "apl").

NURSERY RHYME~

Pictured below is the nursery rhyme, "Mary Had A Little Lamb" on a pocket chart.  Children can put it together on their own using words and pictures.  

Below each word of the nursery rhyme is a green dot to assist children in seeing the separation of words in the sentence.  There is a red dot below the period, indicating the end of the sentence.

EXTENDED DAY PRE-K~

Today was the first time we had to do Indoor Recess due to the wet, rainy weather.  Some children chose to put together puzzles as seen in the photos below.  After lunch, the children had Swimming Class. 

MARVELOUS MONDAY 9-28-15

ASK ME ABOUT...

...the new activities at Free Choice.

...the letter we decorated and what we used to decorate it.

...what I did in Spanish.

...the new password.

...the new "Star of the Week".

...the author we met today at the library!

MORNING MESSAGE~

Chi-Chi was the Friendly Frog today.  Since her name begins with the /Ch/ sound, we brainstormed words that begin with that sound.

 FREE CHOICE LEARNING~

 A new activity at the Alphabet Station is comparing beginning sounds.  Children choose 2 sound drawers and dump the objects from both drawers into a bowl and mix them up.  Then, they separate them according to their beginning sound.

 Sally and Lucy listen to a Mo Willems story at the Listening Station.

 New tools were added to use with playdough.

 Bella and Camille work on a mosaic together.

 

Samantha and Sydney count the new objects in the counting basket--Fall leaves.

 Max and Lyndon complete the 100-tile chart.

 Children can practice their patterning skills with the cards and cubes in the photos below.

 

CLASS BOOK~

Over the next few weeks, we have a class book that each child in our class will have the chance to bring home and share with his/her family.  Please remind your child to sign his/her first name on the page at the end of the book after sharing the book with you.  Your child should return the class book inside the special carrying bag to school the following day.

LETTER SOUNDS~

Today we discussed the letter "A" and the short /A/ sound.  We decorated our letter "A" with apples.  Be sure to ask your child to show you the motion we do when making the short /A/ sound.

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 VISITING AUTHOR~

We had a great time today with Joseph Bruchac, our visiting author.  He is a WONDERFUL storyteller.  The first story he told was about a bear and a turtle and how the turtle outsmarted the bear.  Mr. Bruchac's heritage includes being Native-American.  He played Native-American instruments for us and even had us doing Native-American songs and dances.  The children and teachers enjoyed his visit!

 STAR OF THE WEEK~

Poppy is our Star of the Week!   We learned that Poppy's favorite things include:  the color pink (favorite color); a snake (favorite animal); and chocolate cake (favorite dessert).  Poppy shared many photos with us and also one of her favorite toys--a Transformer.  Thank you for helping us get to know you better, Poppy!

EXTENDED DAY~

We did a cooking activity today and make our own individual pizza quesadillas.  They were fun to make and eat.  We also read the story, Pete's A Pizza.  Be sure to ask your child why Pete is upset in this story and how his parents cheer him up!