Wow!

Wow! We say it all the time ... but these kids are amazing! We are blown away by their questions, their intelligence and their eagerness to learn! It make our job so much fun ... and easy!

We celebrated the word "MY" today. They all began making up sentences before we even asked! They were great sentences, too. We sang our song and practiced writing the word!

Ollie the fancy mouse sent us a postcard from Japan! He went all the way to Japan! We plotted his location on the map ... along with ours. We noted that he is FAR (great social studies lesson). At the preschool level, social studies involves terms like FAR, NEAR, NORTH, SOUTH and it involved learning about different cultures. The cultures portion is really just exposing the kids to the notion that there is a big world out there and many people don't do the same things we do. They can dress differently. They can eat different foods, etc. Social studies also covers things in our neighborhood. Things like businesses and community helpers.

Because Ollie was in Japan, we learned a bit about that country. We learned it's in a different continent. We learned it was far from our home. We learned their flag is similar in overall shape (recatangle) and in color. But also very different. They don't have stars. We do. They have a circle. We don't. So, we took the opportunity to put scissors in the kids' hands and had them cut a circle and paste it on a white rectangle. Viola! The Japanese flag! We plan to do this for each place Ollie visits. After the holiday break, he will return and the kids will have a "travel log" with all the maps and flags we worked on.

Our math lessons on sorting and grouping (classification) are completed. We are moving into patterning. Classification went very well. Everyone got the hang of things. There were a few instances where we started out great, then got confused. For instance, we might have four rectangles to fill. We did one and two great then got lost on three and or four. They get the concept though so no worries. Patterning will be a breeze. They are already all over this. In fact, we decided today that we will need to step it up a bit and get slightly more complicated than red, green, red, green, etc.

Mrs. Erikson came in an taught the kids about Jackson Pollock. What a great lesson today! A few children commented on his art and said, "It's just messy!" Still many others told us various pictures reminded them or made them think of things like ants underground making a path or "a maze". Suppose that is what Jackson Pollock intended? We decided maybe he was just mad all the time! We also talked about the colors he used. Do colors make you feel a certain way? They thought blue made us cold and maybe a little sad. Interesting. Whereas yellow made us happy and warm! See? We told you they are a bright group of kids!

We read the book "The Gingerbread Boy" and played a little game. The game involved a stuffed gingerbread man and a baker. The kids passed the stuffed toys around until the baker caught the boy. They were super fast and Mrs. Sapp had to help the baker in the end!

You may have noticed the reindeer outside our room. Great! We are working on name recognition and we thought it'd be fun for the kids to "find rudolph" each day before Christmas break. So when they come in, we would like them to look at the bulletin board to see if (1) they are rudolph and (2) they know who IS rudolph. Since they know their classmates, they are beginning to look at the first letter in the names and sound them out. They can easily determine what it says (reading) by looking at this letter and sounding it out. They then "pull" from their knowledge bank and decipher! Yeah!

Finally, Ollie sent a gift package with his postcard! He sent the kids some origami. They colored the paper and folded it up to discover a dog! They brought these home today so you probably have seen it by now!

Welcome Back From Break

It would seem as though everyone had a super and restful break. Although many kids had a tough time "crossing the threshold" this morning, they perked right up and had a wonderful day!

The day began with a new letter! Our letter this week is "X". We made the letter with our arms. our legs, our fingers and our bodies! Then, we practiced writing it! We also did a letter craft.

We put "new" items (many holiday-related) in the centers (shelves). Also, we have finished our math segment on "classification". We will be moving in to a new phase now. You should have received a note in your mailbox today.

We read the "Gingerbread Boy" today. The kids loved it. We followed up with an eating activity. Yes! We gave each child a gingerbread cookie. They were instructed to take ONE bite. Then, we had an accompanying construction paper cut out that the kids made look just like the cookie they bit ... if they bit the head, we took the head off the construction paper cut out. Then, the kids finished their cookie and took their cut out to the rug where we graphed the results. Don't you know all but one child ate the head off first! The friend that didn't, ate the right arm off! Funny, huh? We wanted to introduce the notion of a graph and seeing results visually but also we are working on name recognition. The kids found their name on the graph first, then figured out where to put their cut out.

After the graphing activity we played a little game on the rug. We had two stuffed softies (animals). One was a baker-man and the other was a gingerbread boy. We counted to three and the kids began to pass the softies around. The baker finally caught the gingerbread boy!

By the way, we have noted that many of you are working at home with your children on their names! That is so wonderful to see. We thank you very much. Some kids are coming in the classroom asking to write their name. Others are reciting the letters in their name. Still others have begun to "sign" their work. It's just so fulfilling to watch their interests peak and really try to work through these things. It's paying off! We saw (and heard) some lovely letters today! Thanks for your help at home! It's really a joy to see!

Thank you!

A great big thank you to the parents who sent in food and helped out at our thanksgiving feast. The children enjoyed all the different foods and many stated that their tummies were quite full. We started the day by reviewing all the letters we have learned so far. We then played a game where each child received a train ticket with a letter on it. To be able to board the train(chairs set up) the children had to name the letter and then find the corresponding seat with the letter attached. The children did a great job! We also had to catch up with our letter T craft from last week. We got to visit Madame and then watch a movie about thanksgiving. The day went by so fast that instead of the kiddos asking when it will be time to go home-they asked if it was really time to go! Have a safe and happy thanksgiving and we will see you on Monday!
(Sorry for the lack of pictures, the camera battery died!)

Friday Fun With The Four Year Olds

We finished out the week with our sight word "IT" and our sight word page. We also made a surprise (shhhhh!) christmas gift for our families. Don't ask! We won't tell!

We worked on some beginning sound words. These went home Friday so you may have seen them. They were in the spirit of the season. There were two dinner plates and the kids cut out pictures and placed them on the dinner plate with the correct beginning sound -- "S" or "D".

Mrs. Eastman read a fun little flannel board story about the voyage to the new land. She talked about the items we may or may not bring on the big ship called the Mayflower. Then, she had all the kids scoot together (standing) in the center of our circle rug. She described that is what it was like -- crowded -- on the ship. Wow! They thought.

We sent home their disguised turkey's cuz so many of the kids wanted to take them home for the holidays. Thanks for your help with this project. They really enjoyed seeing each other's turkeys and the concept behind the project was not lost on the kids. They really had fun!

We strung some "beads" (dyed pasta) so we could see what it was like to be an indian making our own crafts, etc. We took the opportunity to discuss patterns with the kids and encouraged them to make a pattern with their necklaces.

We colored some fun placemats that we plan to use on Monday for our feast. As a reminder, you will not need to bring in lunch as we will have a feast together at school. Thanks to everyone who is helping out with that.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones. We will see you on the 28th!

The Letter "T"

We reviewed the letter "T" today by painting with watercolors. After using tape to form the letter "T" on a piece of paper, the children then covered the whole page with watercolors. They were very excited to see that the letter "T" was still there when we removed the tape! We followed this activity with storybook art. Today's story was Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. The kids had a blast creating their own artwork with paper shaped leaves. Mrs. Sapp then read a flannel story about our first thanksgiving. We talked about what it means to be thankful and finished up the day with an activity about what they are thankful for.

Our Sight Word Was "IT"

A new sight word! It was "IT". The kids looked at us confused ... it was "short" they said. We came up with a few sentences and got to work on our sight word books. Everyone is doing great with their handwriting! So much improvement. Just watch that pencil grip. Make sure they are sitting up in their seats and feet as close to the ground as possible (you can also put a box or something under their feet so they have something to perch upon ... this will help them a bunch!).

We talked briefly about totem poles since they are something the native americans took part in. Some kids remembered having seen some on tv or elsewhere as we began our discussion. We talked about how animals and nature (water, etc.) are prevalent in their totem pole "stories". So we made up a story of our own. The only direction given to them by their teachers was it had to have a bear in it. They did well. It began, "Once upon a time" and ended "they lived happily ever after". The guts were about bears in the water looking for sharks to eat and princess who was high in a tower above looking down on the animals. Cute! We followed up by coloring our own animal images (whale, bear, beaver, etc.) and made a classroom totem pole.

The gobble, gobble game we played today was a letter recognition game. We play this every year at this time and it can be a challenge for the kids as they haven't been introduced to all the letters yet. Our group did sooooo well. The children stand on the circle rug (in a circle). They march to a cute phrase and we call their name to see if they can locate the colored "feather" (construction piece of paper with a letter on it) with the letter we cite. Keep up the good work at home. Towards the end of the year, we will bring in the lowercase letters, too and totally confuse them!

Mrs. Erikson came in today and spoke to the kids about Mr. Rembrandt. She discussed how in his day there were no such thing as cameras and how if we wanted a photo of our family some artist had to paint it. So they tried their hand at making a family portrait with oil pastels. Mrs. Erikson encouraged them to use lots of color and include all family members. Many included their pets. They turned out beautiful.

We ended the day by making native american headresses. The kids kept calling them "hats" but they understood the "indians" from our country wore them long ago. We have discussed how the indians taught us how to use all the parts of the land and all the parts of the animals they hunted. We also learned how the indians and the pilgrims were friends and shared things.

We spent the last 10 minutes of the day in "centers" making free choices about where, what and who to play with. Interestingly enough, this class really doesn't have "teams" or "favorites". They all play well together! It's wonderful to watch.

Don't forget that your teachers have posted all the photos taken thus far on a snapfish group account. See your teachers for that information if you didn't receive it last week. We will continue to upload photos as we move through the year. In the past, we have asked for donations and printed off about 10 pics for you to have at the end of the year. Typically, they were just pics of your child. This way, we figure you can print off any pic you like. And, there are so many.

So Cute

These little guys and gals are just moving through the year with ease. We have seen so much growth in just a few months ... it's so fascinating.

Our gluing has improved two-fold. The kiddos are gluing down their paper without details from us. So independent.

We celebrated the letter "T" today by making a HUGE class "T". Check out our pics of the letter we made with our bodies ... all of them.

We also made turtles in light of the letter T from construction paper and the letter itself!

We read The Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly. The kids LOVED this book. They were rhyming along with Mrs. E. as she read. They couldn't believe she ate so much. And the things she ate! Afterward, we did a quick sorting project together on the rug. All the things we can eat (pie, turkey, etc.) and all the things we can't eat (rug, plate, etc.). The kids took images of these items and put them in the appropriate place. Then, we colored our very own Old Lady and put her atop a paper bag. The kids got the same images to take home in their bags so they could sort at home, too!

Finally, we played a little Gobble, Gobble game (kind of like duck, duck, goose). Mrs. E. read a rhyme. One kid was the turkey who walked around the room. She or He said, "gobble, gobble, gobble" and when they stopped behind the next kid, he/she became our new turkey!

Plum Ran Out Of Time

It was definitely a Monday. Lots of ground to cover and so little time!

Our letter this week is "T". The kids celebrated by Taking a "T" Ticket off the Tree and finding it's match. When they did so, they got a Tootsie Pop! We followed up with a writing page.

We introduced the kids to The Pilgrims, The Native Americans and The Mayflower today! See why we say we had a lot of ground to cover! We talked about the big boat that brought the pilgrims to this country. Naturally, they had a lot of questions. Using the Mayflower as a prop, we talked about things we eat at Thanksgiving dinner and tried to determine how many syllables were in each word. They did wonderfully with this. We went around the circle and each child got a word. There were words like: corn, stuffing, turkey, Mayflower, cranberries, etc. on our list.

We also read a book on the First Thanksgiving and made a pilgrim craft afterward. This project required them to revisit their scissor-cutting skills and they all did a fabulous job! It's amazing how well they all have improved in so little time. We were quite impressed!

Our Yellow Room teacher -- Mrs. Gascon -- came in the room and shared some pictures of the Native Americans and the pilgrims. She talked with the kids about the houses they lived in and the clothing they wore as well as the chores everyone had!

Finally, in our science lessons, Mrs. E has been teaching the children about air. Where it comes from. How is affects us, etc. So today we put some bubbles of colored water on a piece of wax paper and let the kids blow it around (with the air from their bodies) and see what shapes they could make. Or, try to push all the little bubbles around to create one big bubble. It was fun.