Group Meeting:  The Gingerbread Man brought a coloring picture of himself for us to do together.  I picked colored letters out of a bag.  The children had to find the letter on the gingerbread man and use their crayons to color it.

Story:  The story for today was The Gingerbread Man Loose at the Zoo by Laura Murray.  The Gingerbread Man, and the class that he lives with, took at field trip to the zoo.  While there, a giraffe tries to eat the Gingerbread Man.  As he escapes the giraffe's mouth, he gets lost.  How will he find his class?  On his way, he helps another animal.  Ask your child to tell you the rest of the story.

Large Group:  We practiced our program on the risers with props today.  Only one more day to practice!

Snacks:  The morning class snack person was Julia.  She brought bananas and milk.  The afternoon snack person was Jaxon.  He brought French toast bagels, cream cheese, and juice.  Thank you, Julia and Jaxon!

Group Meeting:  The Gingerbread Man hid candy kisses around the room today.  When we found them, some had numerals printed on them and some had a number of dots.  We had to match the number of dots to the numerals before we could eat them.

Small Groups:  Sorry, I can't tell you what we did today.  You'll find out on Thursday.

Story:  The story for today was Snowmen at Night by Carolyn Buehner.  In this story, a boy wonders what snowmen do at night while he is asleep.  He dreams that they meet at night in the park to celebrate Christmas.  Ask your child to tell you who visits them in the park.

Large Group:  The children practiced the program in the Great Hall today with a piano accompaniment.  They are sounding very good!

Letter Learning:  Because of the program this week, we are taking a vacation from letter learning until we get back from break.

Snacks:  The morning snack helper was Jay.  He brought grapes, Goldfish and juice.  The afternoon helper was Greta.  She brought cheese sticks, grapes, and milk.  Thank you, Jay and Greta.

Group Meeting: The Gingerbread Man brought us gingerbread cookies to decorate for Birthday Day.  We watched a video of lady decorating gingerbread cookies to give us some inspiration.

Small Groups:  The children decorated a paper gingerbread boy or girl.  These will be  props in our Christmas program next week.

Story:  Today's story was Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett.  In this story, Mattie wants to make a gingerbread man cookie.  He follows the recipe and puts the cutout cookie in the oven.  The recipe says to leave the cookie in the oven for 8 minutes, but Mattie can't wait.  He opens the oven too early. Because the cookie wasn't finished baking, it is a gingerbread baby.  The baby runs through the house and out the door.  Many animals and people try to catch him, but he always gets away.  Mattie has an idea of how to catch him.  Ask your child to tell you how!

Large Group:  The Yellow Group brought items for Show and Tell.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Ll.

Snacks:  The children decorated gingerbread cookies with frosting and mini M&Ms.  We had milk to drink.  We celebrated Jackson, Spencer and Rifa's birthdays.  

Group Meeting:  The Gingerbread Man had a nice surprise for us today.  He hid 20 candy canes around the room.  We had to find them and count them to make sure we had found them all. 

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in Monday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group

Story:  The story for today was Gingerbread Mouse by Katy Bratun.  In this story, a little mouse is looking for a new home.  She peeks in the window of a house nearby and sees a little gingerbread house.  She sneaks in and make that house her home.  One night, she hears someone coming down the chimney.  Ask your child to tell you what he brings for her and why.

Large Group:  Once again, we practiced the songs and movements for our Christmas program.  The children are bringing home invitations for the program in their backpacks today.

Snacks:  The snack person for the morning class was Jade.   She brought Goldfish and juice.  The snack person for the afternoon was Grace O.  She brought animal crackers and juice.  Thank you, Jade and Grace!

Group Meeting:  The Gingerbread Man brought us a board game today.  The game is a race to see who can get to the gingerbread house first.  Board games are a great way to work on counting skills and taking turns.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in yesterdays post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group

Story:  The story for today was If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff.  If you take a mouse to the movies, he is going to want popcorn.  When he gets the popcorn, he will want to put it on a string.   When he is finished making a popcorn string, he will want a Christmas tree to put it on.  This story continues until he remembers the popcorn string and then, of course, he will want ____?

Large Group:  The children did a Count the Room activity.  They were given a paper chart with Christmas figures on it.  They had to find the corresponding figures around the room, count how many were on the picture, and print it on their paper.  I put the correct number of the back of the picture to help in numeral formation.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Jj.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Jacob.  He brought pineapple, Cheez-its, and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Grace K.  She brought cheese sticks and juice.  Thank you, Jacob and Grace!

Group Meeting:  The Gingerbread Man was back today with another note.  This time, he brought pattern block mats for us to use at the Light Table.  The children can use these to make pictures of Christmas things such as a tree, wreath, snowman, etc. 

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed below as well as the schedule for today.
Activity #1 (Red Group) The children took turns reaching into a guessing box to pull out snowballs that had pictures on them.  They had to match the beginning sounds from these pictures to make snowmen out of the balls.
Activity #2  (Yellow Group)  This activity is a secret.  Sorry, but you'll figure it out at the Christmas program. 
Activity #3 (Green Group) The children were given school items that were wrapped in tissue paper.  They had to guess what was inside without opening it.  They could feel it, smell it, and shake it.  They recorded their guesses on a paper with matching pictures.

Story:  The story for today was The Gingerbread Man Loose at Christmas by Laura Murray.  This is another book in the series that started with The Gingerbread Man Loose at School that we read last week.  The Gingerbread Man and his classmates are making cards and baked goods to deliver to the community helpers in their neighborhood.  They go on a walk to deliver them through town.  The Gingerbread Man has made a card to deliver to someone special.  Ask your child to tell you who it is and why that person is special to him.

Large Group:  The children practiced songs that we will be singing at our Christmas Program.  They're getting pretty good!

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Ii.

Snacks:  The morning snack helper was Jackson.  He brought apples, graham crackers and milk.  The afternoon helper was Freyja.  She brought bread, cheese, and juice.  Thank you, Jackson and Freyja!

We added wrapping paper, tape, ribbon and bows to the housekeeping area.  As you can see, they enjoyed it!

Group Meeting:  The Gingerbread Man brought us something interesting today.  He brought Christmas lights that had been cut from the string.  In order to get them to work, we had to put each end on a battery.  When we made the circuit complete, the bulbs lit up!

Small Groups:  The children made a booklet with a Let's Find Out Magazine about mailing Christmas cards.  We watched a holiday video that came with the magazine.

Story:  The book that I read today was a new one from our latest Scholastic Book Order.  It was a picture book about animals and snow.  The title was Best In Snow by April Pulley Sayre.   The beautiful photographs show images of native animals and birds in the snow.  There were just a few words on every page to describe what was happening.  Ask your child to remember a few of the animals in the book.

Large Group:  The Red Group brought items for Show and Tell.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Isaac.  He brought granola bars and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Emmy.  She brought blueberry bagels, berry cream cheese, and juice.  Thank you, Isaac and Emmy!

Group Meeting:  The Gingerbread Man brought a basket of Christmas cards for us to use to send greetings to our family and friends.  The children can use them at the writing table until Christmas.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in Monday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group

Story:  The story for today was Santa's Secret Helper by Andrew Clements.  Santa has a helper this year who looks and acts just like him.  Who is it?  Ask your child to tell you!

Large Group:  The children learned a few new songs for our Christmas program.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Gg.

Snacks:  The morning class snack person was Graham.  He brought Cheez-its and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Colin.  He brought blueberry muffins, coconut chips, and milk.  Thank you, Graham and Colin!

We have been feeding the squirrels in the yard.  I brought in some field corn from home. The children took it off of the cob to give to the squirrels.  We've enjoyed watching them.

Group Meeting:  The Gingerbread Man brought us new sign-in sheets today.  They were green, and instead of a smiley face in the left corner, there was a little gingerbread man.  He also brought another book to read.  It was a counting book about 10 gingerbread men. 

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in yesterday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group

Story:  The story for today was the Shoemaker and the Elves retold by  This is a classic fairy tale about a poor shoemaker who has only enough leather to make one more pair of shoes.  He cuts the leather and plans to sew it in the morning.  However, when he wakes up, he finds the shoes finished and ready to sell.  This repeats for several days.  One day, he and his wife decide to stay up late to see who is making the shoes.  Ask your child to tell you how the story ends.

Large Group:  Following the story, the children played "The Shoe Game".   Everyone took off their shoes.  They hid one and put the other on the rug.  Then, each child selected a shoe from the pile and had to search for the mate.  To get their own shoes back, we repeated the game.  So simple, but so fun!  It was a good game for practicing following directions.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Ff.

Snacks:  The morning class snack person was Dominic.  He brought bologna, bread, mayonnaise, and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Charlie.  She brought Cutie oranges, cheese crackers, and milk.  Thank you, Dominic and Charlie!

We have been adding several new activities to play time.  I've attached a few pictures below.

Gingerbread House

Oatmeal, cinnamon, and glitter.

What will stick to the magnet?

Cookie bakers

Painting pine cones for the tree

Our tree

Group Meeting:  As I mentioned in our newsletter, we had a visitor in our classroom today.  When I arrived at school, a gingerbread man was sitting on my easel with a note.  In the note, he asked he could join our classroom during Christmas.  He also had a book for us to read about how he was made.  He promises to bring fun things to our classroom everyday. 

Small Groups: The activities for this week are listed below along with the schedule for today.
Activity #1 (Red Group)  The children played Roll and Write.  They were given a paper with a grid to fill in with letters and a dice with letters printed on it.  They rolled the dice and printed the letter in the grid until it was full.
Activity #2 ( Yellow Group) The children did a "smoosh" painting at the art table.  They were given fingerpaint paper and were told to select a color of paint as well as a metallic color (gold or silver).  A piece of plastic wrap was placed over the paper and paint.  The children "smooshed" the plastic around the paper.  When the plastic was removed a colorful texture was created.
Activity #3 (Green Group) The children made ornaments for our tree with sparkly pipe cleaners, beads, and jingle bells.  They made patterns with the beads.

Story:  The story for today was The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy by Jane Thayer.  Petey the puppy would like a boy for Christmas.  Because he has been such a good puppy, his mother tries to find one for him. .  However, she cannot find any boys who do not already have a dog.  Petey sets out on his own search to find a boy.  Ask your child to tell you if he finds a boy of his own.

Large Group:  The children began to learn a few songs for our Christmas Program.

Letter Learning:  Our letter for today was Ee.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Brooke S.  She brought Cheez-its, watermelon, and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Cameron.  He brought Teddy Grahams and juice.  Thank you, Brooke and Cameron!

Group Meeting:  Today is the last day of November, but you'd never guess it by the beautiful weather that we have been having.  Today was also the 50th day of school.  Wow, this year is flying by already!

Small Groups:  The children were given a Let's Find Out Magazine about Autumn.   The video that accompanies the magazine gave several examples of animal adaptation to winter that went well with our topic this week. 

Story:  I read Giggle, Giggle, Quack which was our story yesterday as well.  We took a little more time to discuss the story line today, and I think the children understood it a little better.  We also learned the names of the parts of the book such as the cover, spine, cover page, etc. 

Large Group:  The Green Group brought items for Show and Tell.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Dd.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Brooke R.  She brought applesauce, cheese sticks, and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Callie.  She brought Scooby snacks and juice.  Thank you, Brooke  and Callie!

Migration

Group Meeting:  The children watched a video on migration.  We learned that in our area, ducks, geese, robins, and some other birds are flying south where it is warmer.  However, some birds like eagles and juncos are arriving to spend the winter here.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in Monday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group

Story:  The story for today was Giggle, Giggle, Quack by Doreen Cronin.  This is a story that is part of the Read It Again program.  In this story, Farmer Brown is going on vacation and has asked his brother Bob to watch the animals.  Farmer Brown warns him to watch Duck.  Duck has a pencil and changes the farmers instructions to meet the wants of the other animals.  The animals are served pizza for dinner, are given bubble baths, and are allowed to watch movies.  What will Farmer Brown say?  I'm not sure the children got the idea of the duck rewriting the notes.  We'll read it again tomorrow and see what concepts they pick up.

Large Group:  The morning class played "Are You Sleeping, Mr. Bear?"  The afternoon class played a circle game of following directions.  They both were fun!

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Cc.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Benjamin.  He brought Goldfish, grapes, and milk.  The afternoon snack person was Brody.  He brought a cheddar snack mix and juice.  Thank you, Benjamin and Brody!

Hibernation

Group Meeting:  Today, we learned about animals that hibernate.  We watched a video about hibernation.  It featured the groundhog which is native to Iowa.  In fact, we have one in the yard at Redeemer. 

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in yesterday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group

Story:  The story for today was Bear Can't Sleep by Marni McGee.  It is time for Bear to hibernate, but he just can't get to sleep.  Lack of sleep is making him grumpy.  His animal friends notice, but are not sure about what to do.  Hare figures out what he needs.  Ask your child to tell you what Bear's friends make for him.

Large Group:  The morning class did not have enough time to play a game today, but will do so tomorrow.  The afternoon class played "Are You Sleeping, Mr. Bear?"  Ask your child to show you how this game is played.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Bb.

Snacks:  The snack person for the morning class was Ben.  He brought carrot sticks, tomatoes, ranch dip, and juice.  The snack person for the afternoon was Aiden.  Aiden was sick today, but his mom dropped off Scooby snacks and juice for us.  Thank you!

Animals in Winter

Group Meeting:  This week, we are going to learn about animals getting ready for winter.  We will be learning the words adaptation, migration, and hibernation.  Today, we watched a video about adaptation.  We learned about animals that prepare for the winter by changing their coats and storing food for winter.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed below as well as the schedule for today.
Activity #1 (Red Group)  The children played a game called "Oh No!".  They passed around a box that had letter cards inside along with a few cards marked with the words "Oh No!".  If they picked a letter, they identified it and kept it in their lap.  If they picked "Oh No!",  they had to return all of the cards to the box.  At the end, the child with the most cards was the winner.
Activity #2 (Yellow Group)  The children were given a "do a dot" squirrel.  The numerals 1-20 were printed on the dots.  The teacher would pick a card and call that number.  The children used bingo daubers to stamp that number on the squirrel.
Activity #3 (Green Group)  The children used a balance scale to weigh a few school supplies.  On one side of the scale, a school supply was put in the cup.  On the other side of the scale, the children placed plastic bears in the cup to make the scale balance.  They counted the bears and recorded it on their paper.

Story:  The story for today was Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming.   In this story,  Bear notices that it is getting colder.  She realizes it is time to crawl in her cave to sleep.  But before she does, she must tell snail.  Snail notices that there is frost on the grass.  It must be time to sleep, but first she must tell Skunk.  The story progresses with each animal telling another that it is time to hibernate.  Ask your child to tell you which animal is at the end of the story.

Large Group:  The children went outside to the Outdoor Classroom.  We don't do that often in November!

Letter Learning:  We have started learning about the letters again.  This time we will use alphabetical order.  Therefore, today was Aa.  We are using dry erase boards on which to print the letters.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Tula.  She brought blueberry bagels, cream cheese, and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Shelby.  She brought bananas and milk.  Thank you, Tula and Shelby!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Group Meeting:  The children danced to "Get Funky with Tommy Turkey" to start our day.  What a great way to start the day!

Small Groups:  The children watched a video about Wampanoag children who were native to America when the Pilgrims arrived.  We completed the back page of the Let's Find Out magazine that went along with it.

Story:  The story for today was "Who Will Carve the Thanksgiving Turkey?" by Jerry Pellotta.  It is time for Thanksgiving Dinner.  A boy wonders who will be carving the turkey this year.  He uses his imagination to come up with some unusual ideas such as a shark, elephant, and a Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Who will carve the turkey?  Ask your child to tell you.

Large Group:  The children played "The Turkey and the Farmer"game.  Children that were designated farmers had to tag the turkeys were trying to cross the field.  We had a great time with this "tag" game.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Spencer.  He brought Goldfish and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Paxton.  He brought Goldfish and milk.  Thank you, Spencer and Paxton!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Group Meeting:  The children helped me make a list of things that we learned at the Food Pantry.  We will use this list at small group time.

Small Groups:  Because of the shortened week, we will be doing one activity instead of three small groups.  The children drew pictures in their journals of things that we saw at the Food Pantry.  We used the list from Group Meeting to help us remember.

Story:  Our story for today was Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey.  On the day before Thanksgiving, a group of children are on a field trip to a turkey farm.  The children love playing with the turkeys until someone notices an ax by the barn door.  When they find out what it is for, they become very upset.  What will happen to the turkeys?  Ask your child to tell you how this story ends.

Large Group:  The children made a turkey using shapes.  The body and head are circles.  The feet and beak are triangles.  The feathers are rectangles. 

Letter Learning:  We are taking a small break from Letter Learning, but will get back to it next week.

Snacks:  The snack helper for the morning class was Rifa.  She brought crackers, grapes, and juice.  The afternoon helper was Miriam.  She brought crackers and juice.  Thank you, Rifa and Miriam!

Book orders are due tomorrow!

Field Trip to the Food Pantry

I want to thank everyone who provided transportation for our field trip today.  I also want to thank all of the parents and children for their donations of food.  I will be sending home an information sheet about the food pantry with the December calendar.  Starting in December, we will be collecting a food item every month for the food pantry.  Watch your newsletter for more information.

Group Meeting:  Our movement activity for the beginning of school was the Turkey Dance Freeze.  We danced like turkeys until the music stopped.  Ask your child to show you some of his/her turkey moves.

Small Groups:  Because this week is a little off schedule with conferences and a field trip, we are not doing small groups this week.  Today, we watched a short video about the life of Pilgrim children.  A Let's Find Out magazine was completed following.  We compared a Pilgrim child's life to our own today.

Story:  To help us prepare for our field trip, I read A Feast for 10 by Cathryn Fallwell.  This is a counting book showing a family as they are shopping at the grocery story.  The items are counted into the cart, bagged, loaded into the car, and taken home to be cooked.  

Large Group:  Following our story, we talked about our favorite meals.  We drew pictures of the foods that we like to eat.  Then, I asked the children to wonder what it would be like if they didn't have any food to eat for dinner.  We want to help those who are less fortunate than us.  Tomorrow, we will bring food items to take to the food pantry to share.

Snacks:  The snack person for the morning class was Lauren.  She brought strawberries, corn/rice puffs, and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Lyndsey.  She brought crackers, cheese, ham, pepperoni and juice.  Thank you, Lauren and Lyndsey!

Group Meeting:  Today was Birthday Day.  We will be making banana muffins for our snack during small group time. 

Small Group:  The children followed a recipe for making banana muffins.  They had to peel and mash the bananas, crack an egg, stir in the flour, sugar, salt, powder and soda, and put the batter into muffin cups.  We baked them during play time and enjoyed them at snack time.  Several children asked if I could print the recipe so that they could make them at home.  I will do so next week!

Story:  Our story for today was a repeat of yesterday.  The Way I Feel  is a good book to read and discuss.  For example, after reading the page about being angry, someone said, "that's bad to be angry".  So, we discussed that being angry is a normal feeling that we have.  It's not bad to be angry, but we should not use our anger to do things that are not nice. 

Snacks:  The children enjoyed the banana muffins, juice, and birthday brownies.   We celebrated two birthdays in each class. 

Monday is conference day for the afternoon class.  There will be morning preschool, but not afternoon.  If you have not signed up for a conference, you can still do so. 

Can Turkey's Fly?

Group Meeting:  I asked the children if they thought that turkeys could fly.  They can, but not very far.  We decided to try an experiment.  We put Styrofoam balls in the wind tunnel to see if they would go up.  They did not.  We added feathers to the ball and guess what?  I managed to get a few pictures of what happened.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in Monday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1  Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group

Story:  The story for today was The Way I Feel by Janan Cain.  This is a book of feelings.  Following the story, we defined some vocabulary words that were in the book.  They were frown, shaking, soaring, drags, and growl.  We used the pictures in the book to help us come up with a definition.

Large Group:  The morning class had just enough time to complete a Let's Find Out magazine about the upcoming Veteran's Day holiday.  The afternoon class will squeeze that in tomorrow.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Yy.

Snacks:  The morning class snack person was Khloe.  She brought Teddy Grahams and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Luke.  He brought apples, cheese, and milk.  Thank you, Khloe and Luke!

Group Meeting:  We reviewed what we had learned yesterday about how to gain a friend's attention.  We are hoping that the children will use this to enter a play situation. 

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in yesterday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group

Story:  The story for today was How Do Dinosaurs Stay Friends? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague.  What happens when two friends have a disagreement?  This book explores how to and how not to deal with a friend after you have had a fight.  This led to a great discussion on being polite even when someone has hurt your feelings.

Large Group:  The children practiced putting on their coats and zipping them with little or no assistance.  Ask your child to tell you what we can pretend when trying to do the zipper.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Xx.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Kenedy.  She brought pretzels, cheese, and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Liam.  He brought Goldfish and juice.  Thank you, Kenedy and Liam.

Group Meeting:  The children are going to be decorating a tree for the Festival of Trees.  Today, I read the story The Mitten Tree by Candace Christiansen (no relation:).   This is a story of an elderly lady who notices that some of the children who are waiting for the school bus do not have warm mittens.  She decides to knit mittens for the children and hang them on a tree near the bus stop for them to find.  We are going to use this story as a theme for our tree.  The children will be decorating wooden mittens during small group time to hang on the tree.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed below as well as the schedule for today.
Activity #1  (Red Group) The children will use duplos to solve simple math problems.  Following picture cards, they counted a number of colored blocks, but them together to make a tower, and counted them.
Activity #2 (Yellow Group) The children used paint, rickrack, jewels, and glitter to decorate wooden mittens for the Festival of Trees tree.
Activity #3  (Green Group)  The children sorted dinosaurs into various categories such as color, type of dinosaur, horns/no horns, long neck/short neck, etc.

Story:  I read the story Corduroy by Don Freeman.  This is the story of a bear who lives in a department store.  Lisa would like to buy him, but he's missing a button on his shoulder strap.  At night, Corduroy wanders through the store looking for the button.  Ask your child to tell you if he finds his button. 

Large Group:  Following the story of Corduroy, we had a discussion on friendship.  The children are going to be learning a new way to get a friends attention.  We practiced tapping a friend on their shoulder and saying their name.  Please take a few minutes to look at the note that was sent home in backpacks today about this program.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Ww.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Julia.  She brought Goldfish and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Jaxon.  He brought French toast bagels, cream cheese, and juice.  Thank you, Julia and Jaxon. 

Group Meeting:  Yesterday, the children told me that Halloween was over and now it was Christmas time.  As I walked through HyVee this morning, I can see why they have made that assumption.  We will talk a little about Christmas next week as we are preparing a tree for the Festival of Trees that needs to be completed by November 12th.  I will send home more information about that next week. 

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in Monday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group

Story:  Today's story was a repeat from yesterday.  I read The Mitten as told by Jan Brett.  Following the story, we talked about the sequence of the animals entering the mitten.  We retold the story together trying to remember which animal found the mitten first, second, third, etc. 

Large Group:  The Yellow Group brought items for show and tell. 

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Vv.

Snacks:  The snack person for the morning class was Jay.  He brought Goldfish, grapes, and juice.  The snack person in the afternoon was Greta.  She brought cheese sticks, grapes, and milk.  Thank you, Jay and Greta!

Group Meeting:  Today is the first day of November.  We are switching to fall stickers to help us count how many days that we have been in school.  We started new math journals.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in Monday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group

Story:  The story for today was The Mitten as told by Jan Brett.  Nikki's grandmother knitted him white mittens.  The first time that he wore them, he dropped one in the snow.  One by one, animals find the mitten and decide to share it to keep warm.  Ask your child to tell the last animal that entered the mitten and what happened next.

Large Group:  The children completed an obstacle course in which they had to throw, balance, and crawl.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Uu.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Jade.  She brought Goldfish, graham crackers and juice.  the afternoon snack person was Grace O.  She brought graham crackers and juice.  Thank you, Jade and Grace!

Halloween!

For our Halloween party, the children played three games, tossed ghosts in the parachute, enjoyed cake, and went to Senior Star.  I managed to take a few pictures to share.   We want to thank all of the adults who went to Senior Star with us.  The children sang beautifully!

Group Meeting:  We have been counting down the days until Halloween.  Only one more day left.  Our plans are made, games are ready, and I'll pick up the cake tomorrow.  We are ready for a fun day!

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed below along with the schedule for today.
Activity #1 (Red Group)  The children were given two large dice that had rhyming word pictures on them.  After rolling them, they had to determine if the two pictures were rhyming words.
Activity #2 (Yellow Group) The children rolled a number dice, counted how many dots were on the dice, and found the corresponding numeral on a large spider.  We used M&Ms as markers.
Activity #3 (Green Group) The children were given Halloween characters and a haunted house picture.  The teacher gave directions as to where the characters were supposed to be on the house.  This is an activity for practicing positional words such as under, over, next to, etc.

Story:  Our story for today was the Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis.   Three children find a large pumpkin up on top of a hill on Halloween.  As they cut it from the stem, it starts to roll down the hill.  As it rolls through the farm, the family members think about pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, and pumpkin bread.  When the pumpkin stops, they take it into the house.  What will they do with the pumpkin?  Ask your child to tell you.

Large Group:  The children practiced the songs that they will be singing at Senior Star tomorrow.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Qq.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Jacob.  He brought Teddy Grahams and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Grace K.  She brought apples (from Stone's) and milk.  Thank you, Jacob and Grace!

Group Meeting:  The children added hayride tickets to the Pumpkin Patch today.  They took turns selling tickets, buying tickets, being the tour guide, and driving the tractor. 

Small Groups:  The children watched a video about bats and other nocturnal animals.  This was part of the Let's Find Out magazine that they are bringing home today.

Story:  I read If You Give a Moose a Muffin.  I read this story yesterday as part of the Read It Again program.  Following the story today, we looked for words that have two syllables.  We found blackberry, homemade, chilly, sweater, muffin, and puppet.

Large Group:  The Red Group brought items for Show and Tell.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Oo.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Jackson.  He brought apples, crackers, and milk.  The afternoon snack person was Freyja.  She brought Teddy Grahams, cheese sticks, and juice.  Thank you, Jackson and Freyja. 

Group Meeting:  We are working on Halloween songs to sing at Senior Star next week.  So far, we've learned "10 Little Monsters" and "If You're a Monster and You Know It". 

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in Monday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group

Story:  Our story was If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff.   This is a book from a series that started with If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.  If you give a moose a muffin, he will want jam to go with it.  When you give him the jam, he eats all of the muffins and wants more.  To get more, you will need to go to the store.  He will want to go with.  At the end of the story, the moose sees blackberry bushes.  What will he want now?  Ask your child to tell you.
Following the story, we discussed four vocabulary words:  homemade, chilly, loose, and old.

Large Group:  The children played "Teacher, May I?"  I had a list of gross motor movements that the children could do.  Before they could start, they needed to ask, "Teacher, may I?" and wait for the answer.  This is a good exercise in self-regulation.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Nn.

Snacks:  The snack person for the morning class was Isaac.  He brought Scooby Snacks and juice.  The snack person in the afternoon was Emmy.  She brought bagels, cream cheese, and juice.  Thank you, Isaac and Emmy!

Group Meeting:  As the children entered the classroom today, they voted for the classroom Halloween snack.  In both classes, the winner was....ask your child to tell you!  I will be sending home notes tomorrow to the parents who volunteered to bring items for the party.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in yesterday's blog.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group

Story:  The story for today was The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda D. Williams.  Once upon a time, there was a little old lady who was not afraid of anything! But one autumn night, while walking in the woods, the little old lady heard...clomp, clomp, shake, shake, clap, clap.What was following her home?  Was the Little Old Lady afraid?  Ask you child to tell you how the story ends. 

Large Group: After our story yesterday, the children wondered how to make pumpkin pie out of a pumpkin.  Today, we scooped the seeds out of a pumpkin, scraped out the pulp, and put the pumpkin in the oven for 1 hour.  When it was completely cooked, I scooped the pumpkin out, added a little butter, and offered a taste to everyone.  It wasn't pumpkin pie, but the children could see where pumpkin comes from to make a pie.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Hh.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Graham.  He brought Cheez-its and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Colin.  He brought bread, cheese, ham and juice.  Thank you, Graham and Colin!