FANTASTIC FRIDAY 12-13-13

ASK ME ABOUT...

...where I went and what I did for Work Stations.

...the question on the Morning Message.

...what I did in P.E.

...what I did in Spanish.

...what I drew/wrote about during Writer's Workshop.

...the story, The Christmas Star.

FREE CHOICE LEARNING~

We had busy builders today in the Construction Zone.

 

 Nate exercises his spatial reasoning skills using a cube puzzle.

 

 Emily working with the peppermint-scented playdough.

 HOLIDAYS AND LIGHTS~

Today we read a story about Christmas called The Christmas Star.  Stars are another source/symbol of light used during holiday celebrations. 

THRILLING THURSDAY 12-12-13

ASK ME ABOUT...

...whose 1/2 birthday we celebrated!

...where I went and what I did for Work Stations.

...the letter we practiced writing in our handwriting books.

...the story, Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Birthday.

...the gift I would choose to give Mrs. Spolter on her birthday.

...the missing number game we play at Calendar.

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

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

  
FREE CHOICE LEARNING~

Maya enjoys working with the peppermint-scented playdough and using drinking straws in her creation.

 CALENDAR~

 We have started a new activity during Calendar called, "Missing Number".  Each day, the teacher takes away one of the numbers from our "Number of Days in School".  At the end of Calendar, the Friendly Frog is asked to identify the missing number. 

 HANDWRITING~

In their handwriting books, children learned and practiced the correct way to make an upper case letter "O".

 AUTHOR SHARING~

Today was our first day of "Author Sharing".  Children who have created a story with words and/or pictures sat on a special frog stool and shared their books with their classmates.  When a child finishes sharing his/her story, he/she chooses 2 different friends to ask a question or give a compliment about his/her book.

 BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION~

Today Pre-K "A" surprised Mrs. Spolter by celebrating her half-birthday (since her real birthday is in June).  Mrs. Spolter's daughters came and read to the class one of Mrs. Spolter's favorite childhood stories.  Then we sang our birthday song to Mrs. Spolter.  During Free Choice time, we gave Mrs. Spolter homemade cards and ate frosted sugar cookies for snack!

 

STORYTIME~

 Since we were celebrating a birthday today, we read the story, Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Birthday.  Then, we drew a picture inside a present of what we would give Mrs. Spolter for a birthday gift. 

WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY 12-11-13

ASK ME ABOUT...

...the snowman glyph we did with our buddies yesterday.

...our new "Star of the Week"!

...where I went and what I did for Work Stations.

...what I did in Music.

...the details Mrs. Spolter drew/wrote in her Writer's Workshop book.

...what I drew and/or wrote about during Writer's Workshop.

 

STAR OF THE WEEK~

Our Star of the Week is Maya!  Today we learned about some of Maya's favorite things including her favorite restaurant:  Olive Garden; favorite dessert:  chocolate; and favorite place to visit:  COSI.   Thank you for helping us to learn more about you Maya! 

 SNOWMAN GLYPH~

Yesterday we met with our second grade buddies and each of us completed our own snowman glyph.  See the photos below to learn more about the glyph.  Ask your child to tell you what his/her snowman looks like.

MARVELOUS MONDAY 12-9-13

ASK ME ABOUT...

...the question on the morning message.

...what I used and what I did in P.E.

...where I went and what I did for Work Stations.

...the story, Elmer.

...what letter we learned how to write.
...the new password.

HANDWRITING~ 

 Children learned learned and practiced the correct way to make an upper case "C".

 

PRE-K AUTHORS~

We held a discussion today about what authors do--write books--and how they might get their ideas for books they write.  We also discussed that there are books that have just words, books that have just pictures, and books that have words and pictures.  There are now blank books available at the Writing Station where Pre-K children can become authors! 

 Once a child completes the words and/or pictures to a story, he/she puts it in the Author Bucket.  Most days we will set aside time for children to share their books/stories with their classmates.

After sharing his/her story/book with the class, the child will bring home the story to share with family.  Children should return their books/stories to school the following day because.....

...we have a special portfolio for them to keep the books they write this year.

THRILLING THURSDAY 12-5-13

ASK ME ABOUT...

...the question on the Morning Message.

...where I went and what I did for Work Stations.

...how many days we've been in school.

...what we made to celebrate Zero the Hero day.

...what I did in Spanish.

...what I did in P.E.

...the story, Many Ways.

FREE CHOICE LEARNING~

 ZERO THE HERO~

Today we celebrated our 70th day of school!  Brett and his mom provided us with a great way to celebrate--making dream catchers!  Brett's mom explained to us what a dream catcher is and does and then the children got to work designing their own dream catchers.  Thank you for a great activity.  Sweet Dreams!

HOLIDAYS AND CELEBRATIONS~

Today we read the book, Many Ways.  This book was published in an effort to help young children become aware of the diversity of spiritual traditions and of the similarities and differences between their families' beliefs and the beliefs of others.  This book was useful as we are discussing many different holidays and celebrations that occur during this time of year.  At the end of the book, it mentions that no matter what your beliefs, celebrations, observances, etc., the following lesson is the same for all of us, "Love and care for one another and for our beautiful earth.".

WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY 12-4-13

ASK ME ABOUT...

...the question on the Morning Message.

...where I went and what I did for Work Stations.

...what letter we practiced writing in our handwriting books.

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

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

...the people patterns we did.

 FREE CHOICE LEARNING~

Owen works on creating a gumdrop structure at the Creation Station.

 Children enjoy using the river rocks and artificial trees we added to the Construction Zone.

 

 Walker exercising his artistic skills painting at the easel.

 Vivian and Avery count to 100!

TERRIFIC TUESDAY 12-3-13

ASK ME ABOUT...

...the question on the morning message.

...the new greeting we did during our morning meeting.

...where I went and what I did for Work Stations.

...what I did in Music.

...the story, OOPS Beautiful!.

...what I drew in my book during Writer's Workshop.

NEW WORK STATIONS~

We started a new round of Work Stations today......

 

The activity pictured in the photo below is a spatial reasoning task using Geoboards.  The child copies the shape(s) on the card on to the Geoboard.

 The activity pictured below is a cube puzzle.  Children use the card as a pattern and turn cubes to match the pattern on the card.

 

 At the Writing Station, children trace 5 previous passwords in different colors.

 At the Overhead Station, children play a connect four game with our passwords.

 At the Project Station, children work together to copy a design from the card using the wooden puzzle pieces.

 At Games Galore, children use an I-Pad to play the game Rush Hour--a task involving problem-solving and strategy!

 

 At Math Magic, children choose numbers and then color them in on a 100-chart.  Some children are working on numbers 1-30, while other children are working on numbers 31 -100.

 

 Some children are using a chart with numbers 1-200 and cards representing base ten blocks.  Once a child counts the number of "cubes" on the card, he/she colors in the number on a chart.  The amount on the card pictured below is 101.

 

 At the Alphabet Station, children roll a die and then choose a password with the corresponding number of letters and record it on their paper.

 

FREE CHOICE LEARNING~

 Maya and Sophia work together to complete this magnetic mosaic picture of a fish.

WRITER'S WORKSHOP~

Today we read the story, Beautiful OOPS!.  This is a wonderful book about how to correct/fix your mistakes when engaged in various art activities (painting, drawing, coloring).  After reading the book, children drew in their "Drawing and Writing" Books and then shared their stories with a partner.