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.