November 22, 2011

Announcements:

• Happy Thanksgiving!
• Book orders are due by Dec 2nd, they can be done online or bring them in to the school!
• Our carnival date is Friday February 10, 2012.  We are looking for parents that would be willing to volunteer their time to contact (by phone, email or in person) local businesses asking for donations for our silent auction/raffle for our carnival.  
• Also, if you are willing to contact your own place of employment regarding donations (i.e. tickets to sports events, local events, etc) it would be greatly appreciated!  Thank you!

Activities this week (Tuesday only!)

• Our star this week was Jazlyn!
• Art Project: we made a pine cone turkey!
• Dora's clues were: cookie cutters, flour/dough, and cookies - Dora loves to make and eat cookies!  We found a picture to color in Dora's backpack!
• We dismissed for snack by positioning pictures around a turkey!
• Book:  Thanks for Thanksgiving: we learned how children are thankful for everything in their lives!  Ask your child what they are thankful for!
• We've got mail: This week we found an experiment called "Bendy Bones" and we learned about how we need calcium to keep our bones strong!  Here is the experiment we learned about: 1) clean a chicken or turkey bone 2) dry the bone 3) put the bone into a jar and cover with vinegar - this removes the calcium from the bone 4) let it stand in vinegar about seven days 5) remove the bone and it will bend!
• Song: "Mr. Turkey": Who's that struttin' there lookin mighty perky? Looks like it might be old Mr. Turkey!  Strut Mr. Turkey, that's a fancy way to walk!  Strut Mr. Turkey, that's a fancy way to talk!
• Happy Thanksgiving!

November 17, 2011

Announcements:

• Hope you enjoy the Booklet of Experiences and the progress report that is in there also!  Enjoy!  Remember to bring the booklets back to school so we can continue adding to them - thanks!

Activities:

• Star of the week: Emma!
• Art Projects: paper bag turkey - Thanksgiving table decoration - enjoy!
• We worked on the numbers 3 and 4 in our numbers book this week!
• Mortimer the puppet introduced the letter F this week!  He had Fun Feathers!  Practice these letter sounds this week with your child!
• Dora's clues this week in our classroom were: brown marker, brown crayon, and brown paper.  We found in Dora's backpack a book about the color brown!
• Our topics this week that we discussed were: forest/woods, hibernation, and camouflaged.  Ask your child about animals that hibernate for the winter, and what animals are camouflaged in the woods!
• Books: Who is Sleeping - a fun book about hibernation, and Chameleon - we explored camouflage!
• We had mail this week:  we found a fun experiment that the children really enjoyed!  It was called "Balloon Blow Up": Put 1 tsp baking soda into a balloon, pour 1/4 cup vinegar into a 10 oz bottle.  Now attach the balloon to the mouth of the bottle.... the baking soda in the balloon will slowly fall into the vinegar at the bottom of the bottle - watch what happens!!  Amazing!  The carbon dioxide gas rises and inflates the balloon!!
• This week we dismissed for snack by: 1) We made a square on the floor with yarn and each child was given a movement direction to do with the square.  2) We stood on a certain shape and reviewed our shapes!
• Music:  "In the Forest", sung to "The More We Get Together": If you're ever in a forest, a forest, a forest; If you're ever in a forest, you might see a (bear).... repeat with other animals such as: skunk, fox, deer, eagle, bug, etc!
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November 10, 2011

Announcements:

• Remember to turn in advent calendar money and any unsold calendars this upcoming week!  We don't have extra calendars, except for any unsold ones that are turned in!  

Activities this week:

• The stars of the week were: Colten and Laine!
• We had our fieldtrip to Lau's bakery this week and had lots of fun!  Ask your child what they learned - we got to see how things are made at the bakery!
• We did a fingerplay song - "muffins in the bakery shop"!
• We worked on our booklets this week - a story called "Surprise Cake"!  You will see this when the booklets are sent home periodically during the year!
• Our puppet, Mortimer the moose, introduced the letter E this week!  He had an Egg and he had to be extra careful so he didn't break the egg!  Practice words that start with the letter E with your child!
• We also worked on a turkey art project!
• Dora's clues were: small, medium and large squares - we found a lot of squares in the backpack so we separated them by size and were excused for snack!
• Our other exercise when excusing for snack this week was matching community helper jobs!
• Books:  Barry's Big Bread, and Early Bird on Sesame Street: When he wakes up earlier than usual, Big Bird observes the morning activities of other early birds in the city.  We learned about all the people working at their jobs early in the morning, such as: the baker, veg/fruit stand, fireman, police, newspaper, and mailcarrier!
• Community helpers song: One little, two little, three little mail carriers; four little, five little, six little mail carriers; Seven little, eight little, nine little mail carriers; Ten little mail carriers bringing mail!
• We've got mail: we found an experiment to learn about weight and texture!  It was called "silly fingers" - we filled several heavy duty gloves with various sensory materials such as oatmeal, flour, water, sand, rice or beans.  The children were invited to life and hold the gloves.  Are they heavy?  How do they feel?  We also worked on describing the various textures: smooth, lumpy, hard, squishy.

November 3, 2011

Announcements:

• Advent calendars were sent home for our fundraiser - please see the red sheet sent home in your child's backpack for details!  This is a great fundraiser, and a great gift idea for grandparents to give their grandchildren at Thanksgiving!  Let us know if you are able to sell additional calendars!

Activities this week:

• Star of the day: Tyler

• We had a fun Fall week!  Besides dressing up, we also played musical carpets & carry the spider - we all had fun and we all got a prize!

• Also, check out our turkey in the entryway of the school - the children told the teachers what they were thankful for, and we wrote this on a feather and then decorated our turkey!

• We discussed night creatures this week, and learned about bats and owls.  Baby owls are called owlets; bats fly but they are not a bird!  Ask your child what else we learned about night creatures!

• Books:  The Spooky Wheels on the Bus, and Flying Bats!

• We've got mail: We learned all about magnets "instant attraction", and did several experiments with magnets!  Your child brought home a sheet of experiments that you can repeat at home: 1) put paper clips in a shallow pan and put sand over the clips - does the magnet pull the paperclips out of the sand?; 2) put the paper clips in a bottle with water, will the magnets attract and lift up the paper clips?

• Mortimer the puppet introduced the letter D!  He had a delicious donut in his mouth!  Practice some words that start with the letter D at home with your child!

• Projects:  1) Address House - we are learning our address and phone numbers;  2) we made our "Thankful Turkey"!

• Dora's clues: hat, balloon, present....... Dora wants to have a party!

• We dismissed for snack by: 1) Carry a spider on our shoulder and drop it into a container; 2) Scoop up a spider and drop it on a big spider web!

• Songs: 1) "Little Black Spider" sung to "Are you Sleeping": Are you sleeping, are you sleeping; Little black spider, little black spider?; Spin your silky web, spin your silky web; Catch a few bugs, catch a few bugs.  2) "Itsy Bitsy Spider" song