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!

Let's Gret Ready for Halloween

Group Meeting:  It's time for us to make plans for Halloween.  The children will be making decorations for the hallway, planning games to play, and planning a snack for our party.  If you have signed up to bring something to the party, we will be letting you know soon what is needed.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week and schedule for today are listed below.
Activity #1 (Red Group)  The children played a game called "Who Will Win the Syllable Race?"  The board for this game has two race tracks on it.  One race track is for Ghost.  The word ghost has one syllable.  The other track is for Monster.  Monster has two syllables.  To play the game, the children select picture cards and determine if the word has one or two syllables in it.  Then, they place it on the correct track.  Who will get the most cards, Ghost or Monster?
Activity #2 (Yellow Group)  The children practiced making orange glue dots on a pumpkin.  This is called "Dot, Dot, Not a Lot".  It is a way for the children to gain fine motor control over the glue bottle and strengthen their hand muscles a little. 
Activity #3 (Green Group)  The children played the game "What's Missing?" using Halloween characters.  Seven Halloween characters were displayed.  One was taken away.  The children tried to remember which character was missing.  We removed one item, then two, then three.

Story:  The story for today was Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman.  A witch would like to eat pumpkin pie for Halloween.  She plants a pumpkin seed.  It grows into a big pumpkin.  How will she get that big pumpkin to her house for pumpkin pie?  Ask you child to tell you how her friends help her. 
Following the story, the morning class wanted to know how you make pie out of a pumpkin.  Tomorrow, we are going to open a pumpkin, take the seeds out, and roast it in the oven.  Everyone can try a bite!

Large Group:  The children made a list of possible snacks and games for the Halloween party.  Tomorrow, we will vote on our favorites.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Tt.

Snacks:  The snack person for the morning class was Dominic.   He brought white cheddar puffs and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Charlie.  She brought bread, peanut butter, jelly, Teddy Grahams, and juice.  Thank you, Dominic and Charlie!

Fire Prevention

Group meeting:  October is Fire Prevention month.  We chose today to talk about fire safety at school and at home.  We started by singing and moving to "Hurry, Hurry, Drive the Firetruck".

Small Groups:  The children watched a video about fire prevention that went with our Let's Find Out magazine.  Following the video, we completed the page on the back of the magazine that reminded us of things that we should not touch.  The children were encouraged to have a fire drill at home and check the smoke detectors to make sure that they are working.

Story:  I read The Night Before Preschool, which was the same story from yesterday.  Because this book is written in rhyme form, I could read the sentences and leave off the last word to see if the children could come up with the correct rhyming word to finish the sentence.  After reading the story, we looked at some picture cards of words that rhyme.

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

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Rr.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Brooke S.  She brought soft pretzels, cheese dip, and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Cameron.  He brought Cheez-its and juice.  Thank you Brooke and Cameron!

Group Meeting:  We've decided that our apple orchard needs a tree.  The morning class agreed to paint a tree trunk on a large piece of white paper.  The afternoon class added green paint to the top for leaves.  Tomorrow, we will cut it out and add apples.

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 Night Before Preschool by Natasha Wing.  This is the story of Billy's first day of preschool.  Will he make a friend?  Ask your child to tell you what happens when he forgets his stuffed animal at home and doesn't have it for nap time.  This book is part of our Read It Again PreK program.  Before I read the book, the children counted how many words were in the title.  After the story, we talked about the settings in this book.  It started at Billy's house and ended at the preschool.

Large Group:  The children went to the outdoor classroom. 

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Pp.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Brooke R.  She brought applesauce, cheese and crackers, and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Callie.  She brought Teddy Grahams and juice.  Thank you Brooke and Callie.

Group Meeting:  The children have been signing in everyday when they arrive at school.  This gives them practice in printing their names.  I've seen a lot of progress already!

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 Abiyoyo.  This is an old folk tale retold by Pete Seeger.  A man and his son are asked to leave town; the son for playing his ukulele and the father for playing magic tricks on the townspeople.  One night, Abiyoyo, a giant creature, appears.  The townspeople are afraid, but the son soothes the giant with his music and the father makes him disappear with his magic wand.  Ask your child to tell you what Abiyoyo looks like.

Large Group:  The children went outdoors on a fall scavenger hunt.  They had pictures of things that they were supposed to find.  We found most of them, but didn't see a few.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Ii.

Snacks:  The snack person for the morning class was Benjamin.  He brought Goldfish, grapes, and milk.  The afternoon snack person was Brody.  He brought bananas and milk.  Thank you Benjamin and Brody!

Group Meeting:  Over the weekend, Mrs. Smith and I converted the Housekeeping area into a Pumpkin Patch/Apple Orchard.  During Group Meeting, the children took a little tour of the area to see the items that they can play with.    At playtime, they had a great time!  I've attached a few pictures to let you see what's going on.

Time to pay for the apples and pumpkins

Let's take a wagon ride around the farm.

Pumpkin Spice Coffee anyone?

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed below along with the schedule for today.
Activity #1  (Red Group)The children are creating words and illustrating pictures for a class book.  The title is Where Did All of the Apples Go?
Activity #2 (Yellow Group)The children created a fall sensory bag using gel, liquid water color, glitter, silk leaves, and gems.
Activity #3 (Green Group)The children played a game called Apple Race.  During this game, they graphed how many times they spun a yellow apple, red apple or green apple.  They compared the graphs when they finished.

Story:  The story for today was How Big Will Your Pumpkin Grow? by Wendall Minor. In this story of large pumpkins, the children hear words that are synonyms with the word big such as enormous and gigantic.  Ask your child to tell you another word for big.

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Ee.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Ben.  We had graham crackers and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Aiden.  He brought yogurt and juice.  Thank you Ben and Aiden!

Group Meeting:  Today was supposed to be Birthday Day for October.  However, neither class had a child with an October birthday.   So, we changed the name to Cooking Day.

Small Groups:  The children made Apple Dumplings for a snack.  We used crescent roll dough, apple slices (from Stone's), and cinnamon sugar.  The children put an apple slice on the dough, sprinkled it with the cinnamon sugar, and rolled it up.  We baked them in the oven, and by snack time, they were cooled and ready to eat.  Delicious!

Story:  I did a re-read of yesterday's story, The Letters are Lost.   The last sentence in the book asks the children where they think the letters will go next.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear a few children putting together letters and beginning sounds of words such as "The P would hide in the pool" or "The Z would hide in the zoo". 

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

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Ff.

Snacks:  The children had Apple Dumplings and milk. 

Group Meeting:  We are getting a nice collection of items for our Apple Orchard/Pumpkin patch.  Starting tomorrow, we will begin the assembly process.

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 Letters are Lost by Lisa Campbell Ernst.  Once upon a time, all the letters of the alphabet were together. But now they're lost! One showed up in the Bath. There was one under a Hat, another one on a Quilt, and even one in the Sandbox. Where are the rest?  The hiding places all start with the letter on the block.

Large Group:  The children played a game called Four Corners.  Ask your child to tell you how this is played.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Dd.

Snacks:  The morning snack person was Tula.  She brought bagels, berry cream cheese and milk.  The afternoon snack person was Shelby.  She brought Cheez-it Mix and juice.  Thank you Tula and Shelby.

Group Meeting:  We've had a few items come in for our Apple Orchard/Pumpkin Patch.  Thanks!  We still need a few more family pictures to make our Family Tree complete.  Send them in anytime!

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 Pumpkin Countdown by Joan Holub.    In this story, the children are counting down the number of things they are doing to get ready for a field trip to the pumpkin patch.  After the story we did a comparison.  What things did they do on their field trip that was similar or different than our trip to Shady Knoll?  Ask your child to tell you.

Large Group:  The children played Duck, Duck, Goose.  This is always a favorite especially on a weather day like today.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Aa.

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

Pumpkins

Group Meeting:  The children had such a good time on the field trip that we have decided to change the Housekeeping Area in to an apple orchard/pumpkin patch.  Please take a few minutes to look at the note in your child's backpack tonight and see if there is anything that you can donate to help out.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed below. We will be learning about pumpkins.  The schedule is also included.
Activity #1 (Red Group)  The children drew a picture of Mat Man in their journal.  We pretended that he was at Stone's Apple Farm.  The children drew pictures of what they remembered about the farm.
Activity #2 (Yellow Group)  The children played Pumpkin Bingo.  The pumpkins on their card were programed with the letters that we have been learning about.  The bingo markers were pumpkin seeds.
Activity #3  (Green Group)  The children measured a variety of pumpkins.  They collected data on the pumpkin's weight, height, and circumference. 

Story:  Our book for today was a non-fiction book.  It was Growing Pumpkins by Melvin Berger.  The photos in this book show the growing stages of a pumpkin from seed to Jack-o-Lantern.  

Large Group:  The children were given a Let's Find Out magazine about growing pumpkins.  They watched a video about pumpkins and colored the shapes on the back to make a Jack-o-Lantern.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was S.

Snack:  The morning snack helper was Rifa.  She brought Goldfish and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Mirium.  She brought wheat Ritz crackers and juice.  Thank you, Rifa and Mirium!

The picture proofs are ready for you to view.  Your password to the website is in your child's backpack.  If you have any questions, please contact Kristin Geerts.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  We did a review of our field trip.  The children took turns telling what they liked best about the trip.  I was pleased with how many things that they could remember.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week were 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 Little Mouse and the Big Red Apple by A. H. Benjamin.  Little Mouse has found an apple.  Getting the apple home proves to be challenging.  However, he has many friends to help him.  His friends look at the apple longingly, but Little Mouse does not want to share.  Little Mouse just about has the apple home, when it rolls away.   Who will get to eat the apple?  Ask your child to tell you how the story ends.

Large Group:  The Red Group brought items for Show and Tell.  Following that, we released the butterflies that we have been watching for the past week and half.  We are guessing that they are on the way to Mexico!

Snacks:  The snack person for the morning class was Meier.  He brought banana bread and milk.  The afternoon snack person was Melanie.  She brought blueberry bagels, cream cheese, and juice.  Thank you, Meier and Melanie!

A wonderful day!

I thought that we had a wonderful day at Stone's Apple Farm.  Dan the Apple Man explained things very well to preschool aged children.  Thank you, adults, for taking the time from your busy schedules to provide transportation for us. 

Field Trip Tomorrow!

Group Meeting:  Last week, Jacob (morning class) brought three chrysalis to school.  We have been watching them, waiting for the Monarch butterflies to emerge.  When I arrived at school today, one butterfly was out, drying her wings.  During the morning class, another butterfly left the chrysalis.  There is still one chrysalis left.  I'm guessing by Thursday, we will have three butterflies to release.  Thank you, Jacob for sharing this experience with us.

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:  In preparation for our field trip tomorrow, I read Apples for Everyone by Jill Esbaum.  This non-fiction book explains how apple trees grow blossoms that eventually become apples.  It emphasizes the importance of bees to this production.  It ends listing all of the things that can be made with apples.  

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom. 

Letter Learning:  Our letter for today was K.

Snacks:  The snack person for this morning was Kinsley.  She brought Goldfish, cheese, and juice.  The afternoon snack person was Lynae.   She brought Chocolate Belvita biscuits and juice.  Thank you Kinsley and Lynae!

Group Meeting:  This week we will be learning about apples, including our field trip to Stone's Apple Orchard on Wednesday. 

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed below along with the schedule for today.
Activity #1 (Red Group)  The children were given a 10 frame and circles that are red on one side and yellow on the other.  I displayed a numeral for the children to identify and place that number of red circles on the 10 frame.  Next, they filled the remaining squares with yellow circles.  We counted how many yellow circles that it took to fill the 10 frame.  Simple addition.
Activity #2 (Yellow Group) The children looked at a "Let's Find Out" magazine about apples and completed the coloring on the back.
Activity#3  (Green Group)  The children played a game called "Find the Worm".  The teacher put paper apples on the floor that were programed with letters of the alphabet.  The children closed their eyes while the teacher hid a paper worm under two of the letters.  The children took turns guessing which apple had a worm under it. 

Story:  The story for today was 10 Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss.  Three animals are trying to balance as many apples as they can on their heads.   When they reach 10, other animals come along to try to knock them off.  Ask your child to tell you what happens when they run into a cart full of apples.  While reading this story, I left off the ending rhyming word to see if the children could "fill in the blank".  If you are reading a book with rhyming words in it at home, give it a try!

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom.  Beautiful weather!

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was G.

Snacks:  The morning 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!