Wednesday, April 26

Group Meeting:  We have met the goal of 2000 books read for Redeemer Preschool.  Tomorrow, we will celebrate with ice cream.

Story:  The Dr. Seuss story for today was My Many Colored Days.  This is a book that is somewhat different from the typical Dr. Seuss books.  This book is about feelings and how colors can help us describe what we are feeling.  Some days are gray, but some days are bright yellow.  Some days can be so many colors that we aren't sure what we are feeling.  

Small Groups:  The children conducted an experiment with milk, liquid watercolors, and dish soap.  In groups of two or three, the children were given a pie plate with about a 1/2 an inch of milk.  They used droppers to put little spots of liquid watercolor on the milk.   Then, they dipped a Q-tip in dish soap and touched the milk.  Ask your child to tell you what happened to the colors.  Try it at home with food coloring!

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom!

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Oo.  The tub contained an olive, octopus, ostrich, otter, overalls, and oval.

Snack:  We are at the end of the month, so it was "clean the cupboard" day.  The morning class had a choice of applesauce, mandarin oranges, or peaches.  The afternoon class had rice cakes.  Both classes had milk and water.

Art Show tomorrow night!  Because we will be getting ready after school, I probably won't have time to blog.  I'll catch you up next week!

Tuesday, April 25

Group Meeting:  We are soooo close to meeting our reading goal.  I think we will reach it tomorrow.  

Story:  The story for today was What Pet Should I Get? by Dr. Seuss.  A boy and his sister have been told that they can pick out a pet.  They go to the pet store together.  There are so many choices that it is hard to make up their minds.  At the end of the story, they go home with a basket, but the reader can't tell what is inside.  The reader has to decide which pet they selected.

Small Groups:  The children colored animals in an emergent reader that was very similar to the story that we read.  When we got to the end, they drew a picture of an animal that they would pick for a pet.  They were also able to "read" the pages once they knew the repeating words.

Large Group:  The children played a musical game called "Sammy" by Hap Palmer.  Sammy's father has asked him to go to the store to buy bread.  Sammy doesn't feel like walking, so he pretends to be animals on the way.  The children moved like the animals in the song.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Ii.  The tub contained an icicle, ice cream, iron, igloo, invitation, and insect.  The children traced and printed the letter Ii.

Snack:  The snack for today was Belvita bars, milk and water.

Monday, April 24

Group Meeting:  Wow!  We received a lot of reading papers today.  We're getting very close to our goal.  

Story:  The author/illustrator for this week is Dr. Seuss.  The book that I chose to read today was There's a Wocket in My Pocket.   I chose this book because it is the perfect example of a Dr. Seuss book.  It has made up characters with fun names to say that also rhyme.  There was a wasket in  a basket, a yottle in a bottle, and a vug under the rug.  The kids giggled at some of these unusual names.

Small Groups:  The children were given a paper with a pocket printed on it.  They had to create their own unusual creature and give it a name to rhyme with pocket.  We had crockets, mockets, blockets and many more.

Large Group:  The children ran relay races while balancing a ball on a wand with a hole in the middle. 

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Ee.  The tub contained an elephant, egg, eggplant, envelope, eagle, and eraser.  The children traced and printed the letter Ee.

Snack:  The snack for today was tomato and basil Wheat Thins, cheese slices, and water. 

Thursday, April 20

Group Meeting:  We are getting closer to our reading goal.  I sent home notes and reading papers with the children today.  

Story:  The story for today was Animal Zoo by Lois Ehlert.  This is a book of animal faces made with shapes cut from the pages.  A tiger turns into a mouse by turning the page.  When the page turns again, it turns into a fox.  We used this book to demonstrate how animals can be made with shapes.  We are making something for the Art Show using a circle and a triangle.  You'll get to see it next week.

Small Groups:  Art show creations!

Let's Find Out:  The magazine for today was for Earth Day which is April 22.  The video explained how we can keep the water, air and soil clean by keeping waste in it's place.  We did not have time to do the last page.  You may do this with your child at home.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Aa.  The tub contained an apple, alligator, ant, apron, acorn, and anchor.  We traced and printed the letter Aa.

Snack:  The snack for today was apples, peanut butter or Nutella, milk and water.

Wednesday, April 19

Story:  The Lois Ehlert book that I read today was Holey Moley!.   This is the story of a mole who digs a hole in the yard.  He likes to eat worms but wants something different today.  He searches above ground for bugs that would be found the in the garden such as broccoli worms, tomato hornworms, and potato bugs.  He eats so much that his tunnel is too tight.  Holey Moley!  

Small Groups:  Art Show items.

Large Group:  The children played a listening, movement game.  They had to listen to the music with instructions on how to move.  Later, just the music played and the children had to remember the movements.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Ss.  The tub contained a sea lion, sea horse, sailboat, sun, sunglasses, and sandwich.  The children traced and printed the letter Ss.

Snack:  The snack for today was yogurt, granola, juice and water.

Tuesday, April 18

Group Meeting:  As of today, we have read 910 books.  We are going to need everyone's help to get to get 1090 more books read by next week.  While that sounds like a lot, we can easily do it if everyone brings one more paper to school.  We will be sending home more reading papers to help everyone get on track!  

Story:  We are reading books by Lois Ehlert this week, but for today, I am reading one written by Traci Dunham called The Oyster's Secret.  I am reading this book to help us prepare for the Art Show next week.  In this story, an oyster sits silently at the bottom of the ocean.  The other sea animals visit him and talk about the things that they can do.  The oyster tells them that he is doing something wonderful, too.  They will soon discover what it is.  Ask your child to tell you.

Small Groups:  Art Show projects!

Large Group:  The children moved to the song "Animal Action".  We dance to the music and became the animals that are mentioned in the song.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Gg.  The tub contained a guitar, gorilla, goat, gum, game and gift.  We traced and printed the letter Gg.

Snack:  The snack for today was waffles, cinnamon butter, milk and water.

The children are bringing home their green bean plants today.

Monday, April 17

Group Meeting:  The green bean seeds that the children planted grew a lot over the weekend.  The children were surprised to see how big they had gotten.  We will be sending them home tomorrow.  

Story:  The author/illustrator for this week is Lois Ehlert.  The book that we read today was Fish Eyes, A Book You Can Count On.   This is a counting book with colorful fish.  Lois Ehlert uses a lot of adjectives to describe the fish such as skinny, spotted, and flashy.  

Small Groups:  The children drew the faces for the last day T-shirts.  I think they are going to look great!

Large Group:  The children played "Fish in the Ocean".  We used a parachute to represent the ocean.  The children were the colorful fish.  Each child wore a necklace with a colored fish on it.  When I named a color, those fish "swam" in the ocean which was the parachute being held up by the other children.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Cc.  The tub contained a cookie, cat, camel, corn, camera, and car.  We traced and printed the letter Cc.

Snack:  The snack for today was whale crackers, cheese sticks, and water.

A note was sent home today about a field trip that will be held on May 3.

Thursday, April 13

Group Meeting:  We are doing well with our reading goal.  We are half way there.  Keep reading!

Story:  The story for today was It's Mine by Leo Lionni.  Three frogs live on an island.  One frog said, "the water is mine".  The second frog said, "the land is mine".  The third frog said, "the air is mine".  The quarreled amongst themselves until they met a wise toad.  The toad told them that they shouldn't argue.  After the toad left, it began to rain.  It rained so much that the island was flooded.  The frogs scrambled to find dry land.  Together, they found a big rock to sit on together.  When the water receded, they discovered that they were not sitting on a rock, but were sitting on the toad.  Ask your child to tell you what they said after they had shared sitting on the toad together.

Small Groups:  We're working on Art Show items.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Yy.  The tub contained yarn, yellow, a yak, a yo-yo, yogurt, and a yield sign.  The children traced and printed the letter Yy.

Large Group:  The children made scrambled eggs for our snack.  Each child cracked an egg into a cup.  The used a fork to scramble the egg.  The eggs were poured into a frying pan to cook while the children buttered their toast.  

Snack:  The children ate the scrambled eggs, wheat toast, milk and water and enjoyed birthday brownies to celebrate the May birthdays.

Wednesday, April 12

Group Meeting:  Our second story yesterday was Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni.   This was a story about a worm.  Mrs. Crawford brought some earthworms into the classroom today for the children to see and touch.  We fed them leaves and carrot shavings.  

Story:  The Leo Lionni story for today was Fish is Fish.  A tadpole and a minnow are friends in the pond.  The minnow is surprised to see that the tadpole is beginning to turn into a frog because he will stay a fish when he is grown.  When the frog is full grown, he leaves the pond to see the world.  He returns with great stories of birds, cows, and people.  The fish would like to see those things.  One day, he leaps out of the pond, onto the dry ground.  What will happen to the fish?  Ask your child to tell you.

Small Groups:  Again, we are working on art show materials.  No sharing secrets today.

Let's Find Out:  We typically do this magazine on Thursdays, but we will be making a snack tomorrow for birthday day that will take a little more time.  So, we completed this magazine today.  Our magazine was about insects and how they protect themselves.  If you'd like more resources, go to letsfindout.com  Login as a student and use the password redeemer.

Snack:  The snack for today was white cheddar rice cakes, milk and water.

Tuesday, April 11

Group Meeting:  We spent a few minutes at arrival time to talk about the weekend.  Many children wanted to share stories about the Easter bunny and how many eggs they were able to find.

Story:  This week, we will be reading stories written and illustrated by Leo Lionni.  We started with Swimmy.  Swimmy is a little black fish.  He likes to swim with his brothers and sisters who are red.  One day, a big tuna fish comes along and eats all of the red fish.  Only Swimmy is left.  He swims through the ocean noticing the jellyfish, sea anemones, and seaweed.  He finds another school of fish just like his family.  He asks to join them to swim and play, but these fish are afraid of the big fish.  Swimmy has an idea of how they can trick the bigger fish.  Ask your child to tell you about Swimmy's idea.

Small Groups:  The children started a project that you will get to see at the Art Show.  So, for now, it's a secret.

Large Group:  We watched a video of Leo Lionni's Inch by Inch.  It is the story of an inch worm.  After the story, we measured pictures of worm using cubes.  We also enjoyed some gummy worms.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Qq.  The tub contained a quail, quarter, question mark, quartz, quilt, and queen.  We traced and printed the letter Qq.

Snack:  The snack for today was carrots, peanut butter, ranch, milk and water.  If you have never had peanut butter on carrots, you might want to try it.  We find that children will eat more raw carrots if they have a little peanut butter to dip them in.

We spent all of play time outside today.  We are planning to do that again tomorrow.  Please put sunscreen on your children before school as we cannot do it here at school.

Thursday, April 6

Group Meeting:  We started the day by dancing the "Easter Bunny Freeze Dance" by Jack Hartmann.  

Story:  The Eric Carle story that I read today was A House for Hermit Crab.  Hermit Crab has outgrown his shell.  He needs to find a new home and must do so before the other sea creatures see him.  He finds a larger shell, but it is too plain.  He decides to decorate it with a sea anemone, a star fish, a piece of coral and other sea creatures.  He loves his new home and the friends that he has made, but he is growing again.  Now he must find another new home.  He doesn't want to leave his friends behind.  Ask your child to tell you how this story ends.

Let's Find Out:  Our magazine was about chickens.  The video told of the life cycle of hens, roosters, and chicks.  We did not complete the back page.  Please do this with your child.  More information can be found at letsfindout.com  Login as a student and use the password redeemer.

Large Group:  The children went to the play yard for an Easter egg hunt.  They were told to find four eggs that were different colors.  They emptied the contents of the eggs into a bag to take home.

Snack:  The morning snack was a decorated cookie and the afternoon snack was a decorated cupcake.  Both classes had milk and water.

Thank you to the party parents for providing all of the goodies today and for hiding the eggs.

No school on Monday.  Bettendorf Schools are not in session on Monday as well.

Wednesday, April 5

Group Meeting:  We have had a few children bring in their reading papers.  When a child returns a reading paper, we add one scoop of ice cream to our bulletin board display.  I've had many children tell me that they are listening to a lot of books.  Great!

Story:  We have been reading books by Eric Carle.   In the past two days, we have read Mister Seahorse, The Mixed-up Chameleon, Have You Seen My Cat?, and The Tiny Seed.  We enjoy the stories and look at the art work.  The children are getting good at picking out which books have been illustrated by Eric Carle.

Small Groups:  After hearing the story Mister Seahorse and looking at the beautiful pictures in the book, we tried a paint method to replicate the art work of Eric Carle.  A teacher squirted shaving cream on each child's tray. The children dropped liquid watercolor on the shaving cream.  Next, they used a popsicle stick to swirl the colors slightly.  Then, they put a paper on the shaving cream and pressed down.  When they peeled the paper back, it left a beautiful color pattern on the paper.  They used scrappers to remove the shaving cream.  

Large Group:  Eric Carle's book, Head to Toe, is a movement book.  The children listened to the animal descriptions and acted out the movement.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Xx.  The tub contained a box, fox, ax, xylophone, x-ray, and six.

Snack:  The snack for today was applesauce, milk and water.

Tuesday, April 4

Not long after the morning class arrived, the storm sirens began to blow indicating that we should seek shelter.  We immediately went to the basement until we could determine that it was safe to return to the classroom.  So, the morning class did different activities that we did in the afternoon.  

Below, I am listing the things that both classes were able to do.  Tomorrow, we will catch up and I will share all of the activities.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Rr.  The tub contained a robot, ring, rainbow, rat, rose, and radio.  We traced and printed the letter Rr.

Snack:  The snack was a choice of banana or orange, milk and water.

Monday, April 3

Group Meeting:  Thank you for all of the birthday greetings that I received today.  The staff and children went above and beyond this year with celebrating.  The children made pictures for me and made a wonderful bulletin board display.

During Group Meeting, I explained to the children that we would be reading lots of book this month.  At school, we will be reading books by my favorite authors and illustrators.  Please read the note that was sent home about our reading challenge.  

Story:  This week, we will be reading books that were written and illustrated by Eric Carle.  The first book that I read was The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Many of the children had heard this story of the caterpillar who eats too much before changing into a beautiful caterpillar.  Later in the day, I read The Very Lonely Firefly.  A firefly is flashing his light, looking for a friend.  He finds other lights such as a flashlight, a candle, and headlights.  Ask your child to tell you if the firefly finds a friend.

Large Group:  After reading The Very Lonely Firefly, we turned off the lights and pretended to be fireflies dancing in the night sky.  We listened to the song "Firefly Lullaby". 

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Nn.  The tub contained a newspaper, nose, net, necklace, notebook and nest.  We traced and printed the letter Nn.

Snack:  The snack for today was bagels, cream cheese, milk and water.