Happy Halloween

During center time today small groups of children followed a rebus recipe to make "Witches Brew."  During snack time we shared this concoction with our friends.  The children loved eating ghost eyes, mouse tails, and cat whiskers.  Thank you to everyone who donated ingredients for the snack.  Any extra food items we will use for snack.

Today our buddies also visited our classroom.  In the morning our buddies read us stories and in the afternoon they played Halloween BINGO with us.  Have a great weekend!
  

Monsters

Today our activities revolved around monsters.  We read the story Go Away Big Green Monster Caldecott Award-winning author-artist Ed Emberley has created an ingenious way for children to chase away their nighttime fears. Kids can turn the pages of this die-cut book and watch the Big Green Monster grow. Then, when they're ready to show him who's in charge, they'll turn the remaining pages and watch him disappear! This story allowed us to talk about some books being real and others being make believe.  Another one of his books is titled Glad Monster, Sad Monster.

During one center today the children read the story Shape Monster, Shape Monster.  Each page started out with the sentences, "Shape Monster, Shape Monster, Munch, Munch, Munch.  How about a ______ for your lunch?"  To fill in the blank a shape and its color was written.  For example, "How about a yellow square for your lunch?"  The children listened to the shape clue then glued the corresponding shape on the page.  When your child brings the book home tomorrow encourage them to try to read it to you.  Have them point under the words with their fingers moving left to right.  Also have them use the picture clue to tell about the shape.  If your child does not know the shapes, keep the book out and reread it the next couple of nights.  

 One of my favorite professional organizations is the National Association for the Education of Young Children.  On their website they have great articles titled Message in a Backpack for parents and guardians.  I have included the link to one article on how to work on sorting at home.   The other resources on this site are also helpful  http://www.naeyc.org/tyc/files/tyc/file/V5N5/Home%20Sorting%20Ideas.pdf

Today technolgy is everywhere.  This can be a good thing, as well as a bad thing.  My philosophy is that we should work to have a balance in our lives.  I have included the link to the pbs website.  This site has a varity of educational learning games.  http://pbskids.org/  Another site we visit in the classroom ishttp://www.starfall.com/   You may also want to try http://www.abcya.com/ or https://www.abcmouse.com/

Today during centers the children made a position book titled Where is Bat?  We worked on the words between, under, and on top of.  The children also journaled about what they will dress up as for Halloween.

Letter S

Today our focus was not only on identifying the letter "S," but also knowing the sound that it makes.  At one center the children floated S's.  They were each given three Skittle candies, a bowl, and a cup of water.  They poured a small amount of water in their bowl and placed their Skittles in it in a triangle shape.  They then observed what happened and drew a picture to represent what they saw.  I'm not going to give away our secret, for if you want to know what happened to the floating S's please ask your child.

At the second center the children weaved a spider web.  At the third center they searched for spiders in the room.  Each spider had a number or shape programed on it.  The children identified the object and used a dotter to record it on their recording sheet.  Today they also drew a picture of a person in shaving cream.

Apples

During one center today the children used a balance and items from the classroom to experiment with how heavy or light they were compared to an apple.  They learned that scientists explore the world around them.  As part of their exploration they make observations.  The children observed that an apple is lighter than a pumpkin, but it is  heavier than a toy car.  At our second center the children used apples to make turn taking patters; red, yellow, red, yellow, ETC.

Today both classes also met with their reading buddies.  This is a time in the week that I real look forward to.  By having buddies we are able to build a community of learners in our school.

Apple Tasting

Today during snack the children taste tested apples.  They tried red ones, yellow ones, and green ones.  They used the following adjectives to describe the apples; crunchy, juicy, sweet, sour, crisp, and even yummy.  Once the taste test was finished the children graphed which color apple they thought tasted the best.  In both the morning and afternoon the children had the most votes for yellow apples.

During centers today the children made an apple tree.  They cut out a trunk and leaves, glued them onto a piece of paper, and then made apples with paint and the eraser end of a pencil.

Today our read aloud was Ten Apples Up On Top.  This silly story offered us many opportunities to find rhyming words, like drop and top, tall, and fall, town and down.  At center time the children at my center drew a picture of themselves.  We took our time and made sure we had two eyes, a nose, a mouth, two ears, hair, and even eyebrows.  We also talked about the color of our hair and eyes.  Next the children were each given a number.  They traced over their number and then counted out the corresponding number of apples.  Lastly, they glued their apples to the top of their faces.  I am going to assemble each child's page into a class book.

Assessment

Today and tomorrow their will be a substitute teacher in our classroom.  I will be assessing the children using our state PALS assessment.  I have included a link that provides a detailed description of PALS.  http://www.palswisconsin.info/parents.shtml

During class today the children continued to learn about fall/autumn.  Today they followed multiple step directions to make a shape scarecrow.  When working with your children on following directions make sure to have them look you in the eye when you are speaking to them, as well as not interrupt what you are trying to tell them.

Laughing

Some doctors say that laughter is the best medicine.  Today the children had lots of laughs.  In the morning the children visited the gym for open gym.  They were able to toss balls, use scooters, and hula-hoop.  The afternoon class is able to use the gym on Fridays. 

The afternoon class had their laughs when they took part in an obstacle course in our room.  They climbed bridges, crawled through tunnels, and hopped on spots.

Looking for a reason to laugh?  Here are a few:

Physical Health Benefits:       Boosts immunity       Lowers stress       Decreases pain       Relaxes your muscles       Prevents heart disease Mental Health Benefits:      Adds joy and zest to life      Eases anxiety and fear      Relieves stress      Improves mood      Enhances resilience

L is for Leaves

This is another exciting week in 4K.  This week we will continue working on learning the letters of the alphabet and the sounds that they make.  Our first letters are F, P, & L.  This week we will learn that L is for leaves.

At one center today the children used droppers to drop colored liquid on a coffee filter to make fall leaves.  This activity also incorporates scientific inquiry, because the children observed what happened when the colors mixed.

At the second center the children fished for leaves.  On their turn they used a fishing pole to fish a leaf out of a leaf pile.  They identified the letter that was on their leaf.  Next, they used a dotter to record their catch on a recording sheet.  For the children who know all of their letters we played the game with pictures and worked on letter sounds.

Here are a few pictures from our trip to the pumpkin farm last week.  We were very lucky to have such a beautiful day.  The children were very well behaved as well!! 

More Pumpkin Fun

Today the children taste tested roasted pumpkin seeds during snack time.  They then graphed whether they liked them or not.  The morning children liked the roasted pumpkin seeds while the afternoon children did not.

In the morning the children made a pumpkin project to go along with the rhyme "Five Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate."  In the afternoon the children finger painted pumpkins and worked on their pincher grip by making a torn pumpkin.  During the holidays some of our lessons may be adjust to meet the class's cultural needs.

P is for Pumpkin

 When the children entered the room today they colored half of a paper plate orange.  They then glued a brown stem on it.  At centers today the children colored cards of the pumpkin life cycle.  They then cut them out and placed them in order.  I will have the children repeat the process of sequencing their cards tomorrow with a partner.  The children will then "tell" about the life cycle of a pumpkin using their cards.  Sequencing is an important skill to learn, for the children will have to use it when they retell the events of a story, and write the steps in a process.

At my center the children used scientific inquire to observe gourds.  Once they were done making their observationOur classroom is undergoing some changes this week.  

I took down the fire station and replaced it with the math and science center.  In this center I added jack-o-lanterns with numbers on them and foam seeds.  The children can look at the number on the jack-o-lantern and place the corresponding number of seeds in it.  

The children are also enjoying the pumpkin play doh that I made for them at the writing center.  I have included the recipe for your enjoyment at home!

Pumpkin Play Doh
~ 2 cups of flour
~ 1 cup salt
~ 4 tsp. cream of tartar
~ 1/4 cup cinnamon
~ 2 Tbsp. cloves
~ 2 Tbsp. nutmeg
~ 2 tsp. ginger
~ 2 cups water
~ 2 Tbsp. oil

To Make: 

1. Mix the flour, salt, cream of tartar, and spices together in a mixing bowl.

2. Add the water and oil to the dry ingredients and mix together well.

3. Transfer mixture to a medium sized saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly.

4. The dough will begin to thicken and form. When it becomes difficult to stir and is more solid, remove from heat and carefully knead the dough. {Note: dough will be hot!}

5. When dough has cooled, have fun playing ~ this is great for the holidays!!s they drew a picture of their gourd and painted it.  Lastly, the dictated sentences describing their gourd.

Letter "F"

Happy Friday!  To culminate each week the children take part in a variety of activities to go along with our focus letters.  On Thursdays I show the children items from my letter jar that begin with the same sound as our focus letter.  On Friday the children may bring in items from home that start with the focus letter.  To make this an even more in depth experience you can challenge your child to find three or seven items that start with our focus letter.  Each week the children will also make a letter page to go in an ABC book that we will be making during the entire school year.  This week the children cut out the letter F and glued it to a piece of paper.  They then picked out five pictures of objects that start with "F."This is not an easy task, for some of the pictures start with a different letter than 'F."

 This weekend take some time to use environmental print to help your child become more familiar with letters.  Environmental Print is the print of everyday life: The symbols, signs, numbers, and colors found in McDonald's, Walmart, Exxon, Pizza Hut, and 7-Up.  They offer excellent entry points for young children to begin to learn to read, write, and do math.  Books, billboards, calendars, catalogs, comics, containers, coupons, flyers, greeting cards, grocery stores, journals, labels, magazines, menus, newspapers, office supply packaging, posters, recipes, road signs, snack bags, telephone books, and websites are items we see every day.  Take some time to point out these items to your child and discuss the letters that are on them.  It is much more appealing to remember M for McDonald's then M on a piece of paper.

Firebears

Who are the rescue heroes of Fire Station Number Eight? The Firebears!Sound the siren, grab the hoses, stretch those ladders. Rescue! With Firebears on the job, no blaze is too big to brave-it's all in a day's work.

After reading this adventurous tale the children made a Firebear of their own.  They then drew a picture of their Firebear at work.  Some of the bears were saving cats, some were putting out house fires, and others were putting out building fires.

Today the children also enjoyed singing the following song:

 "Hurry, Hurry, Drive the Firetruck."

Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck
(Hands on steering wheel)
Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck
Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!
(Ring bell)

Hurry, hurry, turn the corner
(Lean to the right)
Hurry, hurry, turn the corner
(Lean to the left)
Hurry, hurry, turn the corner
(Lean to the right and left)
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!
(Ring bell)

Hurry, hurry, climb the ladder
(Pretend to climb ladder)
Hurry, hurry, climb the ladder
Hurry, hurry, climb the ladder
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!
(Ring bell)

Hurry, hurry, squirt the water
(Pretend to spray hose)
Hurry, hurry, squirt the water
Hurry, hurry, squirt the water
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!
(Ring bell)

Slowly, slowly, back to the station
(Lean slowly to the left and right)
Slowly, slowly, back to the station
Slowly, slowly, back to the station
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!
(Ring bell)

Here is the link to a youtube video that goes along with our song.  We play the song during our clean-up time to make cleaning up a little more enjoyable.  Our goal is to have the toys cleaned up before the song is over.  You may want to try this trick at home.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD3LZe7IoOo