Thursday, October 13

Group Meeting:  October is Fire Prevention month.  This was our focus for today.  

Story:  The story for today was No Dragons for Tea by Jean Pendziwol and Martine Gourbault.  In this story, a little girl meets a dragon on the way to the creek.  She and the dragon have a wonderful time and become friends.  The girl invites the dragon to her house for tea.  While they are eating, some pepper gets in the dragon's nose.  Do you know what happens when a dragon sneezes?  Ask your child to tell you what happens next.

This story is great for starting a discussion about what to do if there is a fire.  We learned that everyone should get out and stay out.  

Small Groups:  Today was Birthday Day.  The children made Apple Roll-ups for a snack.  Each child was given a piece of Pillsbury crescent roll dough.  They placed an apple slice on the wide end, sprinkled cinnamon sugar on it, and rolled it up.  They placed them on a cookie sheet and the roll-ups were baked in the oven.  

Large Group:  The Let's Find Out magazine for this week was about fire safety.  The morning class had time to complete it, but we ran out of time for the afternoon.   We will try to have the afternoon class finish it next week.  

Snack:  The children enjoyed the Apple Roll-ups with milk, water, and birthday brownies.

The afternoon class does not have school on Monday due to Parent/Teacher conferences.

Wednesday, October 12

Group Meeting: We learned how to sing “Apples and Bananas” using sing language. Ask your child to show you the sign for banana.

Story: The story for today was Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss.  Three animal friends practice balancing apples on their heads in this counting and rhyming book.   Someone wants to make their apples fall.  Will the animals be able to keep the apples on their heads?  Ask your child to tell you how this ends!

Small Groups:  The children watched me draw Mat Man on the Promethean board and then the children took turns by adding one feature at a time.  Tomorrow, we will draw him on paper.

Large Group:  Following the story, we tried to balance bean bags on our heads.  We moved around the room trying to keep the bags up on top.  We also balanced them on our shoulders, feet, and between our knees.

Snack:  The snack for today was cheese slices, Triscuits, milk, and water.

Yesterday, we used apples and paint to make apple prints at the art table.  Your child may be bringing one home today.

Tuesday, October 11

Group Meeting:  I started the day by telling the children a story of a little red house with no windows, a chimney on the top, and a star in the middle. See if your child can repeat some of the story to you.  They may want you to cut an apple afterwards.

Story: The story for today was Abiyoyo retold by Pete Seager.  This is an old folk tale about a boy and his father who save their community from the horrible monster, Abiyoyo.  Youtube has a video with Pete Seager telling the story.  Check it out here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPZtuPyXRfw This story is usually a favorite in the classroom.  We will read it several times.

Small Groups:  The children assembled Mat Man by listening to the accompanying song about him.  Tomorrow, we will learn to draw him.

Large Group:  The morning class was able to go to the Outdoor Classroom, but it rained in the afternoon.  The afternoon class played "The Floor is Lava".

Snack:  The snack for today was apple slices, Nutella, milk, and water.

Monday, October 10

Group Meeting:  This week, we will be learning about apples.   We started the day by singing "Way Up High in the Apple Tree".  

Story:  The book that I read today was a non-fiction book.  The title was "An Apple a Day" by Melvin Berger.  We started by talking about the phrase, an apple a day keeps the doctor away.  This pictures and words in this book tell of how apples grow on trees.  After reading the book, we made a list of things that we know about pumpkins and a separate list of things that we know about apples.  We compared the two to look for things that are similar and things that are different.

Small Groups:  The children learned about Mat Man.  Mat Man is part of the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.  Mat Man helps us learn how to draw a picture of a person.  We will do many activities with Mat Man this week.

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom.

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

You should be receiving a note about the Halloween Party that will be coming up on October 27th.  There is also a note about how to view your child's photo proofs from Picture Day in September.

Thursday, October 6

Group Meeting:  When the children arrived today, they discovered that I had cut a pumpkin in half.  Some children dug at the seeds and pulp inside.  Others said it looked yucky😊  

Story:  The book for today was a big non-fictional book about pumpkins.  The title was Growing Pumpkins by Melvin Berger.  This book contained pictures of how pumpkins grow from seed to a ripe pumpkin.  

Small Groups:  The children were given two wooden big lines.  We used them to sing and play along with the song "Tap, Tap" from the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.  

Large Group:  Our Let's Find Out magazine was about pumpkins.  It explored other things that you can do with a pumpkin besides using it for decoration and jack-o-lanterns.  You can watch the video and get other resources here letsfindout.com  Sign in as a student and use the password redeemer.

Snack:  The snack for today was whole grain waffles, milk and water.

Wednesday, October 5

Group Meeting: We have learned a chant about pumpkin foods.  Ask your child to show you how to do "Pumpkin, Pumpkin".  Be careful at the end!

Story: The story for today was The Roll Away Pumpkin by Julia Wonders and Daniela Volpari.  Marla's pumpkin is rolling away, and she can't catch it.  It rolls by the farmer, but he can't catch it, either.  Now, both of them are chasing it.  It rolls by a baker, a butcher and into the town parade.  No one seems to be able to catch the pumpkin.  It rolls towards a chef with a giant cauldron.  Ask your child to tell you what happens next.

Small Groups:  The children learned about big line, little line, big curves, and little curves.  The lines and curves are wooden pieces that are part of the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.  They will be helpful in learning how to draw a person and how to print letters.  I will share more about these pieces later.

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom.

Snacks:  The snack for today was Wheat Thins, cheese slices, and water.

Tuesday, October 4

Before I start on today's activities, I want to thank everyone who attended the field trip yesterday.  It was such a beautiful day, and the farm was wonderful.  If you'd like to visit them again, they are open most afternoons and weekends until Halloween.  Check their Facebook page for more information.

Group Meeting:  We began our day by discussing our field trip to Shady Knoll.  Our fine motor activity included apple spice and pumpkin spice playdough.

Story:  The story for today was How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? by Wendell Minor.  In this story, we have to imagine that pumpkins can grow very big.  The author uses many words to describe big pumpkins such as; gigantic as a skyscraper, monstrous as a roller coaster, and so immense that it can't hide.   Ask your child to imagine what we could do with a huge pumpkin.

Small Groups:  We used an emergent reader book to review our field trip.  We started by remembering what Farmer Gene told us about soil and how he planted a seed which grew into a sprout.  We remembered the flower that grew first and how the bees came to pollinate.  We remembered the small green pumpkins which turned orange.   The children had to follow the directions to color certain parts of the book.  They may color the rest at home if they wish.

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom.

Snack:  The snack for today was bananas, yogurt dip, milk and water.