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

October 27, 2011

Announcements for this week:

• Halloween Dress Up is Tuesday November 1st!  Your child may bring treats or items to pass out but this is not required. (there are 15 children in the class, and 3 teachers)
• **Show and Tell will be on THURSDAY instead of Tuesday due to Halloween Dress Up day!

Activities this week:

• Stars of the week were: Andrew and Norah!
• This week our puppet Mortimer introduced the letter C - he had a big carrot in his mouth!  Ask your child to tell you words that start with the letter C!
• We looked at position cards: in/out, over/under, between, open/closed, behind/in front of, up/down, and on/off. 
• We've got mail: This week we found a science experiment about rain and clouds and we tried it!  We had a bowl of water, and some dry cotton balls - we showed the students how the cotton balls (i.e. clouds) absorb the water like a cloud, and if you squeeze them out comes the rain!  We made a prediction about how many cotton balls it would take to absorb all the water - then we counted aloud to see the actual number of clouds needed to absorb all the water!  We made rain by squeezing the water out of the clouds back into the bowl.  We experimented with a variety of objects to see what other things absorb water?  Ask your child about what items absorbed water!
• Art projects this week:  Owl and acorn man!
• Show and tell: Carol brought a real sugar beet from a relative's farm!  We talked about how we can make sugar from a beet!
• Dora's clues: small, medium and large circles...... we found that Dora had a ball in her backpack!
• The students were excused for snack by: 1) The teachers rolled the ball to each child and they rolled it back to be excused for snack; 2) The children positioned a leaf on the squirrel
• Books:  16 Runaway Pumpkins, and Biggest Leaf Pile: Each leaf color thought they should be on the top of the biggest leaf pile, but the bear came along and jumped on top and so the leaves didn't have the biggest pile anymore!  They figured out that was OK because then they didn't have to argue about who should be on top!
• Music: (sung to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know it"):  Put your hands on your hips, on your hips. (clap, clap) Put your hands on your hips, on your hips. (clap, clap)  Take your hands off your hips, put your finger to your lips.  Put your finger to your lips, to your lips - Shhhhh!.  We also sang an action song: "Ha Ha This Away".

October 13, 2011

Announcements:

• There is NO SCHOOL ALL NEXT WEEK:  OCTOBER 18, 20 & 21 for MEA break.
• Thank you for helping with our pizza fundraiser - we raised $960.00 for our school - thanks so much!

School Activities this week:

• Projects: We worked on describing our feelings in our "booklet of experiences"; and the children told a story "On Halloween I'd like to......."
• Stars of the Week:  Laine and Molly!
• We've got mail:  This week we found a pumpkin and a bowl of "Mr. Potato" pieces and hats!  We made lots of fun faces on the pumpkin!!  Ask your child to describe this project to you - we had fun being creative!
• Mortimer the Moose (our puppet) introduced the Letter B - He told a story about how he had a Big Balloon tangled in his antlers!  The children learned about the words that start with the "B" sound!
• Books this week:  1) Growing Pumpkins: The farmer plants pumpkin seeds in a field and they sprout and grow into very large vines!  A yellow flower grows and turns into a tiny pumpkin.  The pumpkin grows bigger, bigger and turns orange, then a family comes to pick some for Jack-O Lanterns!!          2)Pumpkin Patch Puppy: Emily told Clifford they get to go to the pumpkin patch!  Clifford didn't know what a pumpkin patch was - he imagined lots of silly things: playground, beach, laundry room.  When they got to the pumpkin patch Clifford fell asleep in a large carved pumpkin!
• We talked about growing pumpkins in a garden, what else grows in a garden?
• Excused for snack exercises: 1) Place a pumpkin above, below, on, and beside another large pumpkin! 2) We had a pumpkin on the floor and each child got to walk around OR jump over, or walk backwards, etc. around the pumpkin!
• Music: "The Pumpkin Song" (sung to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell"): "The seed is in the ground; The seed is in the ground; Hi-ho the pumpkin patch!; The seed is in the ground."  Continue with these lines: "the seed grows a sprout", "the sprout grows a vine", "the vine grows a bloom", "the bloom grows a pumpkin", " we made a pumpkin pie!"
• Look at the Friday PreK section and photos section for more updates on our activities!!

October 6, 2011

Announcements this week:

• Pizza pickup will be October 13th at the school, from 5:45 to 6:15 PM.  Please make arrangements for someone else to pick them up for you if this doesn't work, as we don't have freezer storage for orders that are not picked up!  Thanks so much!
• The carnival date has been set at Feb 10, 2012 - this will be held at the New Prague Middle School - it is a fun family event - more details will follow!!!

School Activities this week:

• The stars this week were: Brandon and Catie!
• We started working on the letters of the alphabet - Mortimer the Moose introduced the Letter A - he had an apple in his mouth - apple starts with the letter A!!
• Dora's clues were: firetruck. ladder, water bucket...... Dora loves hearing about the fire station!
• We've got mail: There was a blue cob of corn and some blue corn chips (we learned that the blue chips came from the blue corn), and there was a white cob of corn and white corn chips (and we learned the white chips came from the light colored corn)!  We had a taste test to see which type of corn chips we liked the best - blue or white?  Ask your child which they liked - the blue or the white?
• We had a visit from the New Prague Firefighters!  They brought us each a book about fire safety.  We got to see and feel a real firefighters uniform.  Do firefighters wear alot of heavy equipment at a fire?
• We learned to STOP, DROP, and ROLL if our clothes catch on fire, and we also learned if there is smoke in a room you should crawl on your hands a knees so you can breathe and see more easily.
• We had a fire drill - the teachers blow a whistle and when the children hear the whistle they know they have to get outside!  We don't stop for our coats or our school bags, we just get outside and to to the meeting spot outside and wait for the teachers to come.
• Please take some time to discuss important safety measures that apply at home!  Knowledge of fire safety procedures could save your child's life!
• Books this week: "Firetruck", and "I Want to Be a Firefighter"
• Projects: Bouncy cutting art project - we worked on our fine motor skills with this project - ask your child to show you how it works!  We also made our firefighter hats which the children enjoyed wearing!
• This week we dismissed for snack by: 1) Separating small, medium, and large firetrucks, and 2) matching the fire equipment
• Music:  We sang:" Hurry Hurry Drive the Firetruck" - ask your child to sing it for you!  We had some fun actions too!  The words were: Hurry, hurry, drive the firetruck; hurry, hurry drive the firetruck; Hurry, hurry, drive the firetruck; ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!  Repeat this with: "turn the corner", "find the fire", "climb the ladder", and "squirt the water"!
• More photos are updated in the photos section!  Don't forget to look at the Friday pre-K class page! Have a great week!

Pizza sale prize winner!

Congratulations to Braxton's family, they sold 42 pizzas and won the gift card prize!  Way to go!!!