Our FAVORITE frog song....

The frog life cycle is a pretty neat thing to see....especially through the eyes of our children.  We learned all kinds of new vocabulary words that describe how a frog grows:  from egg, to tadpole, to froglet, into adult frog.  The kids had already completed a chart about all the things they knew about frogs.....which was quite a lot, but now they have some new "grown up" words to use too!

Susannah brought in a toy kit that had pieces for each stage of the frog's life cycle.  She told us all about each one as she showed them to the class.  The kids took turns talking about similarities and differences from each stage. The asked the best questions!  Turn taking, sharing, asking and answering questions, listening....it was one of those priceless (however, unplanned) teaching moments!

The book today was Too Many Frogs by Sandy Asher.  In the story, Rabbit lives alone. He cooks for himself, cleans up for himself, and at the end of the day, reads himself a story. It's a simple life, and he likes it. But one evening, Froggie shows up at his door. He wants to listen to Rabbit's story, too. While eating a snack-or three. While lounging on a pillow-or ten. And bringing over his family-dozens and dozens of frogs! Rabbit has finally had enough; Froggie will have to go! But when he sits down alone to read himself a story, Rabbit realizes something is missing: someone to listen; someone to share a wonderful story.  Froggie is missing!!

The discussion after the story turned from frogs to sharing, using warm fuzzies, and making friends.  The book is so cute, but I didn't think that the kids would hone in on the character lessons within.  I'm continuously suprised by them!  Despite all the whining, arguing, and frustrations that naturally come with a group of 4 and 5 year olds.....they truly are kind little people, and geniunely care about each other!

On a side note.....THREE MORE DAYS OF SCHOOL!!!!

Fat Frogs on a Skinny Log by Sara Riches is a simple counting book that begins with one fat frog sitting on a skinny, slippery, slimy, slithery log.  It is full of repetitive adjectives and builds from one frog, up to 10 frogs before the log turns over and everyone is dumped into the pond.  The kids thought this book was hilarious!  They even wanted to read it TWICE!!

We didn't get to play outside today because the playground was too wet from all the rain. The kids voted (our new class policy when making a decision) to do centers in the classroom.  It always shocks me that the writing and math centers are a big hit!

We found some really cute frog videos on YouTube, but this one was the obvious favorite.  The kids loved the idea of talking to an actual frog.....and, one named Francois!!  What could be more fun!

ANTS were the insects of the day!! These little bugs are easy to find outside....we've all seen them everywhere!!

We had to start the day with our science activity because it needed some time to "work"!  We made some predictions about what kinds of foods that ants might like to eat.  The kids named all sorts of things!  Then we took a paper plate and divided it into three sections....cake, cereal, and grapes.  With real food in each section, we voted again!  Cake and grapes were pretty closely matched!  The kids have really got the hang of this voting thing!  We dropped our plate off in the sunshine on our way to the playground.....hoping that some ants would find their way for a snack....

Our book of the day was one of Ms. Ellen's favorite, Hey Little Ant by father/daughter team, Phil and Hannah Hoose.  This book poses the eternal question:  to squish or not to squish!  There is a boy in the book who struggles with what to do about the little ant he finds beneath the shadow of his shoe.  The best part about this book....it ends with a question....What would you do?  The kids get to decide how it ends.  10-1 we decided to let the ant go!  I wouldn't dare say which kiddo has a small rebellious streak and wants to step on the ant.....my lips are sealed!

A check of our science on the way out to find Moms showed only a few ants!  They were on the cake when we started observing, but those ants were indecisive!  They wanted to try all the foods and crawled from section to section with no apparent favorite!  Each child walked away from our little experiment thinking that they had made the right prediction!!  Couldn't have worked out more perfect!!

I almost forgot to mention art today!  It was full of surprises!  I can't tell you about the things we made.....it's a secret....maybe the crafts will stay hidden in backpacks until Sunday.  If not, know that was the intention!!

What a happy way to spend my birthday!!  I think the kids were just as excited as I was!!  There had all sorts of questions about when my "party" would start and if my mom would bring cookies or cupcakes!  It turns out that Ms. Ellen took care of everything.....cake and cookies!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

The rain finally stopped and Mr. Jimmy got rid of all the puddles under the equipment.....so outside we went for some fresh air!  We really missed the playground yesterday!!

Today's book was The Crunching Munching Caterpillar by Sheridan Cain and Jack Tickle.  This is a story about a little caterpillar who wishes he could fly.  He envies the Bumblebee for his wings, and really wants to soar through the air like Bird.  He crunches and munches along as they all tell him he wasn't meant to fly!  His friend Butterfly comes along, and smiles a secret smile when he tells him to keep dreaming because sometimes dreams come true!!  The kids all predicted correctly.....Caterpillar turned into a butterfly and his dream came true.....he could fly!

We watched a great video....that the kids LOVED....that showed a real caterpillar spinning a chrysalis and hatching into a butterfly!  There were several requests to watch it multiple times!!

For art, we made the cutest Bug Hats and then we re-enacted the caterpillar to butterfly process.  I hate we didn't video it.....we could have had our own You Tube sensation!!

There was a definite hurry to get to lunch....the kids know how this birthday thing works!  So, we lit the candles on the cake and sang BEFORE we ate.  The cake and cookies were used as a reward for little people AFTER they ate their lunch!  You might have noticed your child's lunchbox was more empty than usual.....needless to say the plan worked!

Thank you so much for making my birthday extra special!  It is amazing that I get to call what I do with your children "work"!  I am truly blessed to have found a way to share my talent and have fun everyday!  Thank you for that opportunity!

We Voted!!

We took a break from bugs today to make the kids a little more civic minded and teach them about voting! They always think it's neat to learn about the things that grown-ups are talking about.....and grown-ups are certainly talking about this vote!!

Voting is a hard concept to introduce to kids. We started with a Scholastic book called The Pledge of Allegiance. The only words are the pledge of allegiance and it has some really great pictures. The kids all knew that they lived in the United States of America, so we talked about how in our country grown-ups get to vote who is going to be in charge and make decisions. It was really cute when I said today the people would be making decisions about who would be in charge in Charlotte and the kids immediately nominated Ms. Ellen! I think she would be great in charge too.....but her schedule is kinda full!

Another moment of confusion came when Ms. Ellen introduced the word "poll" as one of our vocabulary words. This, as you know, is slightly different from the first things the kids thought of....THE NORTH POLE! The discussion almost lost focus and headed off in it's own direction.....a Santa/Christmas direction.....but we rescued it just in time!!

The highlight of the day was our trip across the street to the poll. We had already talked about our flag and what it looked like, so when the kids spotted the flag pole, we KNEW we were in the right place! A few at a time, the kids got to go inside and check out this "voting" thing! We told them that they could tell which grown-ups had voted by the special stickers on their shirts. We gave them all "grown-up stickers" of their own for doing such a great job on our mini Out and About!

We even held our own vote on the walk back to school....lunch or art. Lunch won by a landslide. I think it was an easy vote! Even the grown-ups were in agreement on this one!!

AND......What a beautiful day outside for Ms. Michelle's last day! We met her in the courtyard and she had SO many fun things set up for the kiddos to do! They were so excited to give her the cards and presents, they needed several reminders to wait until the end!! The love giving presents.....and they LOVE Ms. Michelle!!

Thank You Ms. Michelle!! We loved "finger fun" OT this year!

Here's our word cloud that describes Ms. Michelle:  happy, joy, touch, talk, sensory, skip, hop, OT, jump, move, engage, talk, soothe, learn, excite, and communicate!

Ladybugs used to be one of my favorite insects....so cute....so harmless.....right??  That all changed one summer when my house was infested with about a million or so of the little creatures!!  Nothing is cute or harmless when they come by the millions!!  I tried to hide my personal trauma associated with today's topic....the kids certainly helped.....they LOVE ladybugs!!

Today's book was The Very Lazy Ladybug by Isobel Finn and Jack Tickle.  This ladybug is so lethargic that she doesn't even know how to fly. She decides to look for a new sleeping spot, and, since her mobility is restricted, she latches on to a number of passing animals. As she soon finds out, a kangaroo is too bouncy, a monkey's incessant swinging makes her dizzy, and a tiger's roaring makes it too noisy to sleep. Finally, she thinks she's found the perfect spot-on the trunk of an elephant. However, the elephant sneezes and the ladybug is launched into the air and has to fly at last. The kids thought that the book was SO funny! 

We made ladybug books that were all about WHERE the ladybug was in comparison to other insects.  The kids had to find the right spot so that their pictures matched what the words in the book said!  It was a great following directions activity!!  Ladybugs were everywhere!!

The most fun part was teaching the kids that you could tell how old a ladybug was by counting the spots!  They thought that was the neatest thing!  It was a huge deal and such a big decision deciding how old each ladybug in the book should be......

BUZZ!!  BUZZ!!  Today was all about bees!  The kids have this fascinated/terrified relationship with this particular insect.....so we didn't quite know what to expect!

We spent a little extra time on the playground enjoying the sunshine.....and looking for bees.  Luckily, we didn't see any.  The kids decided that it was too hot for them!

Our book was The Beeman by Laurie Krebs.  It is the story of a beekeeper.  It talks about each one of the tools he needs while taking care of the bees, like the jacket with the hood and special gloves.  It talks about the different kinds of bees in the hive and how each one has a job to do.  The book even shows how to beekeeper gets out the honey.  LOTS of new vocabulary in this book, but a wonderfully simple way to help the children understand that bees, even though they might be scary, have a very important job.

During art we made paper plate bees.  The kids all took the parts and followed directions to make their bee look just like Ms. Ellen's sample.  Waiting is so hard.....but we talked about how you can't finish your work if you don't listen for the directions.

The highlight of the day was a sweet treat!  We did a honey taste test!  We used our senses to notice it was a thick substance with a pretty gold color.  The honey was sticky too.  BUT.....everyone took a taste and LOVED it!  We even had some kids who requested a second taste!!  We all agreed that next time we saw a bee outside, we wouldn't scream or be scared, we would say "thank you" for making honey!  We'll see if that works......

Swarm of bees!

May is here! The kids are so excited as we count down the number of days left in preschool until they become "green friends"! 10 MORE DAYS!!

Today we began our discussion of Bugs Above Your Head. We talked about bees, ladybugs, mosquitos, beetles, butterflies, moths, and flys. All these bugs have something in common that helps them get above our heads.....WINGS! We talked about the three parts of an insect....head, thorax, abdomen.  Big words....but new vocabulary that the kids think is cool to use!

Our introductory book today was The Bugliest Bug by Carol Diggory Shields. It's a story about a bug contest in the woods to find the "bugliest" bug. Each bug takes a turn to show off their special talent to the judges. One plain, tiny bug named Dilly watches. Dilly notices something strange about the judges, but it's too late. They turn out to be spiders who want to eat the insects. The spiders throw a web over all the bugs. Dilly tells them the only way to escape is for every bug to do what it does best. So.....the stink bugs stink, the ants march, the flys fly, and the mantis' pray. The spiders get scared and run away. All the other bugs decide that, no matter how plain, Dilly should be named The Bugliest Bug.

Ms. Michelle came today and worked on letters again. Each child was given a picture with a letter puzzle piece missing. They rode the scooter out into the room to find their missing letter. After riding back, they used magnet pieces to form the letter and, then, took turns writing the letter on the dry erase board. It was a team activity that required waiting for your partner and cheering them on. The kids all love writing and wanted to show every grown-up the letters that they could write.

Finally the playground was back to normal. Nice, spring, sunny weather outside. We spotted some bugs out there too! We also took a short walk today to watch the tree workers cut down the big tree in front of school. A crane picked it up by the roots! The kids LOVED it! I think they could have stayed out there all morning. But they came back inside comparing mosquito bites and talking about flys on their shirts.....guess that's the bad news about spring.....BUGS!!

Young Athletes Field Day Celebration!

Thank you Ms. Angela! You are awesome!

Rainy days inside make for LONG days at preschool!  Lots of grumpy faces arrived at school this morning which was not a happy way for the teachers to start the day!  We worked through all that in a morning circle time where everyone expressed their feelings and we gave each other COMPLIMENTS!  That was an unexpected vocabulary bonus for this week.....the kids love using big words and really understanding what they mean.....and it's kinda neat for us to hear too!

We learned some new weather songs today in a special music time.  The rainy weather interfered with our playground time, which turned out not to be a huge deal.  The kids haven't had a free-play, center time in so long, we decided that might be a good thing to do.  There were puzzles, farm animals, blocks, books, and a writing center.  I think everyone took a turn at the writing center.  Drawing, writing, tracing, coloring letters.....guess that's not really "work" to them yet!!

Our book today was Storm is Coming by Heather Tekavec.  It's a story about farm animals who get very scared when the farmer tells them to hurry to the barn because Storm is coming!  They don't really know what a "storm" is, but as each sign of the storm appears (wind, rain, thunder, and lightning), they are reassured that those things will scare Storm away.  It is a cute book and the kids listened so intently.  Then everyone took a turn sharing about a storm that they could remember.  Some days it's REALLY hard to tell that this is a communication preschool.....and that makes me smile!!

Thankfully the sun came out today, so we could explore the lesson on shadows!  The kids enjoyed running and jumping and watching their shadows move in the same way. We looked at shadows of trees, playground equipment, the church.....and did you know.....even sticks have shadows??  After a short experiment, the kids all now know that you need bright light or the sun to make a shadow.  We tried really hard to find our shadows in the shade and in the dark.....but, they weren't there!

Ms. Michelle came today and played a really fun letter game with us.  Each child picked an animal card, named the animal, and identified the written letter on the back of the card.  Ms. Michelle helped everyone trace that letter, then find the matching letter from the floor.  After that, the child had to find their letter in the alphabet and put it in the correct spot.  Then....they had to find a puzzle letter from a tub of beans and put that piece in the puzzle.  MANY STEPS.....but they each knew their letter when they were done!  Lots of practice with the same thing, in a bunch of different ways!!  Ms. Michelle also brought the tunnel and some circles that make sound when you jump on them.  The kids were breathing hard after a couple turns at each! 

The book today was Guess Whose Shadow! by Stephen Swinburne.  It a book that explains what shadows are and how everything has a shadow of it's own.  At the end of the book it shows different shadows and the kids have to guess what is making that shadow.  Once they got the hang of it....they got every one right.  They even started high-fiving each other!

13 more days.....

Recycle, reuse, and conserve! All new vocabulary words that we've learned this week!! The kids are really excited about learning how to "take care of the Earth"!

I have to admit that the teachers found out something new today too. Dilworth is a much cleaner neighborhood than we thought when we headed out for a Litter Pick-Up Walk! We had BIG plans to rid the streets of all kinds of trash! It was a fairly unproductive trip.....the eagle eye children did find some tiny pieces of paper, and there was the occasional rare find of a bottle top, but overall, the sidewalks to and from the park are trash-free!

The highlight of the trip was teaching the kiddos about the buddy system. Everyone had a partner for the trash walk. Each set of children was given a plastic bag for collecting. Learning to work together, take turns, and stay with your partner was probably more valuable than any actual trash that we might have picked up!

Evan brought a book from home called Protect The Earth that we used as our literature for today. It was a great story that had all of our vocabulary words from the week. The kids were all able to talk about what each word meant and give examples about how we could help the earth. It was very exciting to see how much they remember from our discussions earlier in the week. And lunch time was a whole new experience....no more throwing all the trash away.....the kiddos insisted that we start recycling some of that trash!! To protect the Earth, of course.....wow.....they take this learning thing VERY seriously!!

The Touch and Feel this morning was all the recyclable products that we collected over the weekend. I wasn't sure what the children were going to do with the stuff, but their imagination far exceeded my expectations. They found pretend telephones, telescopes, the makings for a really great tea party....and, of course.....musical instruments!! Who knew that trash could be so much fun!

To "clean up" from the morning mess, we sorted all the recyclables into categories: paper and plastic. The children did very well with this.....and they thought it was great to cheer each other on during this process.

The cheering continued as we went outside to join Ms. Angela. After a much needed warm-up (the weather was a little chilly), we practiced our hockey aims. There was a course set up and the kids took aim, and made their way through the courtyard. The object was NOT to use their hands.....but that didn't come very naturally to any of them! Ms. Angela is so much fun....the whole time is filled with laughter!

Our book today was Are We Hurting The Earth? by Margie Burton and Friends. This book reviewed all the ways that we could help keep the Earth clean and healthy. We talked about how at Preschool we could only use one squirt of soap in the bathroom, one paper towel, and make sure the lights were off when we left the room. TSGI is on a mission to do our part to take care of the Earth!

Art was a big hit! We took the recycled materials and made Trash People. The kids had so much fun designing their person. Some even found hats and earrings for their people! With a little direction, they created some great art!

We ended the day by celebrating Gianni's birthday with cookies. The kids all sang very loudly.....they have been getting lots of practice lately! LOTS of birthday kiddos this time of year!!

Trash People!

Trash OR Treasure?

What is the EARTH and how can we take care of it?  We learned that turning off the lights when we aren't in a room, using both sides of a piece of paper, planting trees, picking up litter, and recycling are just a few ways to help keep our Earth happy and healthy!

Today's book The Earth Book by Todd Parr gave some specific examples of why we should take of Earth.  We save water so that the fish will have plenty of water to swim in.....we don't throw trash on the ground so that the animals will have clean homes.....and we turn off lights to save energy.  So much to learn and the kids were so interested.  (Earlier in the year, we made them all germ aware and gave them healthy food knowledge .....and now we may have created little "green" children who are socially conscious!!)

We spent some time during language circle talking about why everyone uses green and blue when they draw the Earth.  Green for the grass (and land) and blue for the water.  We needed these facts to help us complete our art today.....which was Earth Art.  We decorated coffee filters with green and blue markers.  They didn't look all that spectacular UNTIL we sprayed them with a water bottle!  The colors started to bleed together to make beautiful works of art.  We keep them overnight to dry.....but I can't wait for you to see!

Ms. Michelle had an obstacle course with balance beams and bowling for everyone to complete.  We made wind with the big parachute and tried to keep several balls from falling off the top while we each held a handle and shook it up and down.  It was a workout!!  She also had some bandannas for us to practice folding into shapes.  Ms. Michelle explained that folding into a rectangle and a triangle are age appropriate skills for our kiddos!  It was definitely a difficult task for all of them.....so now you can request special help with folding the laundry.....as a therapy activity!!

16 more days!!!

Learning the Parts of a Plant Through Dissection!

Now I know the secret.....if the kiddos are having a bad day.....we are going to invite Mr. George the photographer to come to school!  He was like magic today!  I have never seen such a group of picture hams!!  I will be surprised if anyone gets individual shots.....the kids were on top of each other trying to get his attention!

The book we read today was called The Story of a Seed.  It showed how all plants come from seeds, but seeds come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.  We learned how seeds grow....first the roots, then the sprout, and then the plant.  We practiced being seeds and growing with our bodies.  First, down for the roots, then up, for the plant.  The kids LOVE when we take a story and put some movements to it to help us remember! 

I would like to take a moment to thank the Gerber Daisy that sacrificed itself today in the name of a wonderful science lesson.  Flower Dissection!  We completely took the plant apart.....roots, stem, leaves, and flowers.....to show the class each separate part.  Once we studied it carefully, each child glued their plant back together on a piece of paper to take home.  I couldn't believe how pretty this science/art project turned out to be!! I took the remnants home to plant in my garden.....we'll see if a recovery is possible!!

17 days until SUMMER!  Yes....the teachers keep count too!

Despite the chilly weather outside, we spent all day learning about spring! 

We read How A Seed Grows by Helene Jordan.  This book tells how a seed changes and grows into a plant.  It explains the planting process…..and examines the seed at each change.  We could see the seed burst open and start to grow the roots.  Next the stem started to grow up from the dirt.  Then leaves started to unfold.  And finally, a flower bloomed.  The kids watched and listened intently, so anxious to find out what was going to happen next.

For our science lesson, we learned the parts of a plant.  Flower, stem, leaves, and roots.  We found a cute Dr. Jean song, to which we added body motions, that could help us remember.  I have added it below so that you do it at home!

Then we HAD to get dirty….so we gave out cups and dirt…..and got to planting!!  Everyone chose a seed from our multitude of seeds (sunflower, popcorn, bean, grass, and pumpkin) that they wanted to plant.  We gave our plants all the things on our list from yesterday…..and now we wait!  Keep your fingers crossed that we can actually grow something!

Ms. Angela came today and we practiced kicking, trapping the ball, and balancing.  The entire time she promised the kiddos that if they listened and followed directions, she had a GREAT, BIG surprise at the end.  She built the suspense as they kicked a soccer ball, trapped it with their feet, passed to a friend, and shot the ball in the goal.  Then…..she brought out this HUGE, multi-colored ball.  Each child took a turn sitting on top of the ball and balancing while Ms. Angela rolled it from side to side.  Some children needed more encouraging (and hand holding) than others…..but everyone took a turn!

We’ve started a countdown to the end of school…..only 18 days left!!  The kids love the countdown activity, but they all say that they don’t want to have summer……they want to come back to this school!!  EVERYDAY!!  As endearing as that is…..I think I’ll let you spend some time with them this summer!!

Planting Seeds!

What a GREAT first day back at school from Spring Break!  The kids all had so many fun stories to share with their friends about things that they did and places they visited.  It was so good to see them all again.....and by the looks of their suntans, many of you spent some of the break outside!

Today's book was Grow Flower, Grow by Lisa Bruce.  It's the story of a little girl named Fran who decides to grow her very own flower.  She tells it to grow, and when that doesn't work, she decides it must be hungry.  Fran feeds the flower all of her favorite foods: pizza, cheeseburgers, chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, and spaghetti.  The flower still won't grow.  By this time, Fran is very frustrated and throws the flowerpot outside.  It rains on the flower...the sun shines on the flower....the wind blows on the flower....and to Fran's surprise.....a beautiful flower grows!

We spent the time after the story, talking about what plants need to grow.  Although the kids all thought it was funny to feed the plants "people food", we agreed that it's not really what plants need.  We made a chart of the FIVE things that plants need.  We will need that chart tomorrow when we start our planting.  As always, we found a song to make learning those five things a little more fun!!

Ms. Michelle came today and we got to be outside!!  She had stations set up with different coordination activities.  Everyone's favorite seemed to be bouncing a balloon on a small, hand-held trampoline-like things.  The courtyard gave plenty of room to run after the balloons......the wind also helped make this activity a little more challenging! 

I think that we sent all the children home tired today....getting back into the routine is SOOO difficult! 

Butterfly Release

Looks Just Like A Real Construction Crew!

Just Enough Water To Test Our Boats....

We all watched patiently while the teachers tested the styrofoam boats we made at the creek in the park. There was just enough water.....and they all floated!!  The funniest part was watching Ms. Ellen and Ms. Cortney try to catch the boats before they floated away!  Those two have all the fun!!

Where Did The Caterpillars Go??

The morning observation of our caterpillars was SUPER interesting! We all watched closely as Ms. Cortney and Ms. Ellen transferred each chrysalis to the butterfly home! Some of them were even wiggly!! It won't be long.....and we'll have butterflies!!

Sink or Float??

When the day starts out with a shaving cream activity.....you know it's gonna be a FUN day!  It's so fun to watch the children when they first sit down at the table.  They always investigate the pile of shaving cream first.....then they might touch it with one finger....some even need some hand over hand to get started.  But once they get going.....it is everywhere!  In the hair...up to the elbows...on the face....on the shoes??  I can't really explain it all, but they LOVE it!! 

Today we read Curious George, The Boat Show by H.A. Rey .  This book was a perfect lead in to our main purpose of the day, which was to introduce the opposite concepts of sink and float.  George's friend Bill asks the troublesome monkey to watch his model boat before the boat show.  George accidentally sinks the boat.  He experiments with some other objects to find things that float so that he can make another boat before the show.  The kids all listened to Ms. Cortney read the story and then voted on their favorite kind of boat.

Science was a sink or float experiment that didn't quite turn out like expected!  After a vocabulary lesson, to make sure they understood the concepts.... something that floats stays on top of the water and something that sinks goes under the water.....the kids were ready to get near the water.  We had some visual cues to help us track the results of our experiment.  I really did think that a pencil and a wooden block would sink....but today I saw it with my own eyes....they float!  That just proves how important science experiments really are.....sometimes even grownups don't know all the answers!!

Ms. Angela came back today!  Her activities were all about running and jumping.  We practiced our crunches and jumping jacks from last time.  She was really impressed at how the kids have improved.  She had jumping balls that you could sit on.....the kids raced those in groups of two.  There were some falls, but everyone always gets up laughing with Ms. Angela.  She had a relay race, which is always fun!  This week she let everyone help start the races by yelling "GO"!  We ended the morning with one big jump off the high barrel.  The trick was that each kid had to stand on top and count to three before jumping!  I remember the first time she brought that barrel and some of kids cried because it seemed so high!  No tears this time.....and there were even several requests for TWO turns!!

How many pennies will your "boat" hold?

Boats by Byron Barton introduced us to many different kinds of boats.  The kids were amazed at how many different kinds there were.  I attempted to draw some of them on our Water Transportation list, but my artist capabilities aren't really that skilled!

For science, we took some aluminum foil and predicted whether that would be a good material for making a boat.  Some liked it because it was shiny and some said it would be good because it was not heavy and would float.  They are getting better at making plausible predictions!!  Ms. Ellen demonstrated several ways to manipulating the foil....wadded up in a ball, with the sides folded up like a cup, and flat out.  The kids job was to decide which was the best boat and could hold the most pretend people.  We separated out into small groups (always a good idea when there is any quantity of water involved) and experimented.  I think my group liked sinking the "boat" and rescuing the pennies better than anything!!

Ms. Michelle came today!  She had some neat fine motor tasks that really keep the kids attention.  There were plastic hammers and nails with a train picture on top of thick foam.  The object was to find the dark circles and put the nails in using the hammer.  There were also tiny plastic fish and tweezers for the kids to move from one tub to another.  AND....She brought scooter boards this week!  The kids all remembered the vote and were so excited that Ms. Michelle followed through on her promise!  In groups of two, they took turns, holding on to long ropes and being pulled up and down the hallways on their tummies.  They quickly learn that they go faster if they extend their bodies and get their legs up off the ground!  Such a fun and good sensory activity for the kiddos.....and a good workout for the adults!!

A Visit to The Carolinas Aviation Museum

Airplanes, jets, hot air balloons, hang gliders, blimps, helicopters, and rockets are just a few of the things we added to our transportation "through the air" list!  Rockets and spaceships were the class favorite.  We had a momentary diversion where we had to talk about ailens and little green men, but we recovered quickly and got back on track!!  So many questions from the children....and never a dull moment!!

Today's book was Flying by Gail Gibbons.  This book reviews all the ways that people can travel by flying.  We learned a big new vocabulary word: aviation.  It's so funny to watch the children experiment with a fancy new word!  The kids were so excited to add each one to our list. 

Our rocket ship art was held together with A LOT of tape and a few prayers!  It had way too many pieces and steps to be deemed "easy to do", and I thought the finished project looked a little like a dragonfly.....but, the kids loved blasting them off into outer space.....so it turns out they were just perfect.  Lesson for today....true art really is about perspective!!

Outside time was quite warm today.  No jackets needed.  I even saw some beads of sweat on the foreheads of some of the boys.  It was so beautiful and sunny.  Ms. Angela was out sick today so we spent some extra time outside to burn off some of the Wednesday, middle of the week weather. 

We ended the day with Ms. Cortney's stomp rocket.  WOW!  The kids really liked seeing another way that air can make things go.  They each took a turn and ran to get the rocket, reloaded, and launched!  We must have counted backwards from 5 at least 20 times today! 

Ms. Michelle's Shamrocks!

Shamrock sensory activity

Today we started talking about a whole new method of transportation.....things that go by AIR!  Naturally, the children all immediately thought of airplanes, and that's where we began our discussion, but we have so much more planned this week! 

Olvina Flies by Grace Lin was our book of the day, and although it talks about an airplane it has a little twist.  Olvina, the chicken, gets invited to a bird conference in Hawaii.  Olvina doesn't know how she will get there since chickens can't fly.  Her friend, Will, persuades her to take an airplane, but Olvina is nervous because she has never flown before.  Olvina is very brave and goes to the airport, buys her ticket, goes through security, and finds her seat on the plane.  Her seatmate turns out to be another bird friend headed to the conference....a penguin!

Science was a big hit.....and it was all an experiment watching balloons move by air.  Ms. Ellen was so amazing as she blew up an orange balloon.  The kids laughed....oohed.....ahhed.....it was simply fascinating! (Fascinating for the children.....the adults were watching carefully to make sure Ms. Ellen had enough oxygen for this activity!!)  Once she let the balloon go and we all watched what happened.....she hit rock star status!  They loved it!!  We repeated this at least 10 times....and could have done it 10 more times without any complaints.

Ms. Michelle brought her special shaving cream/glue mixture, made fancy with green glitter.  The kids used it to paint shamrocks.  They all took turn bowling.....you wouldn't believe how patient they have gotten.  The catch was that after your turn bowling, you had to crab walk or log roll back to the line for another turn.  Very motivating way to incorporate exercises!!  At the end of the lesson, Ms. Michelle took a vote.  We have been doing so much voting lately, I think the kids are finally starting to understand.  They voted on which activity she would bring next week.  Scooter boards or a parachute.  Hands down....scooter boards won.  Not even really a contest!!

Growing Butterflies

Meet our new "class pets".....at least until it's time to release them!!  Some of the caterpillars have already gotten really sleepy, while others have started the journey to the top of the jar.  We will be watching close to see what happens next!!

Riding the BUS!!

We navigated the Transportation Center today to find the bus that would take us back to school for lunch.  Thank you #19!  The kids LOVED the ride.....we will definitely do it again!!

Wow!!  What a busy day!! 

Right after morning circle, we headed out for a day FULL of things that go by wheels!  We walked....and noticed cars and trucks and buses and police cars!  We go to the train station.....and noticed, just like in our book, the wheels on the track!  We even saw a group of bike riders out the train window!  Wheels are everywhere!

ImaginOn is always so much fun!  This time we joined the larger storytime group with many other kids that we didn't know.  And guess what the theme of storytime was.....transportation!!  We didn't even plan that!!  The leader was wonderful!  The kids were engaged and sang and participated appropriately.  She read three books:  Monkey Truck, Friday My Radio Flyer Flew, and Rocket Countdown.  She ended with bubbles....and the kids joined right in the chaos of children popping bubbles and laughing at each other. 

After that was over, we headed out for another walk.  This time our destination was the Transportation Center.  We told the kids that this is where all the city buses parked.  I'm not sure they understood what they were going to see, but they were excited!  I must tell you how very proud of them I was as we navigated through the noisy buses to find the exact one that would take us back to school!  Route 19!! 

The bus ride was a new experience....and one that the kids LOVED!!  I think the other passengers enjoyed the fresh perspective of little people riding the bus for the first time!  We looked out the windows, read the signs of things not allowed on the bus, and thanked the bus driver as we got off.  As we walked from the bus stop back to school for lunch....they all wanted to know when we could ride again! 

We usually do more walking on our Out and About trips than we did today.....but, finding new transportation through the city sure is fun!

Everyone's heart gets racing while watching a good roller coaster, right?  Whether those feelings come from a place of fear or excitement or anticipation or happiness or shear terror depends on the person!  Today's story, Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee, took the kids through one little girls experience with a roller coaster.  She waited in line....and was a little nervous since it was her first time on a roller coaster.  The ride went up, down, and around and around.  At the end of the story she liked it so much, she decided to ride it again!

Roller coasters didn't make our initial list of things with wheels, so we had to go back and add it!  It's so neat to keep a list of all the things we are learning posted and add to it as the week progresses.  They often take the initiative to remind me to add things to our list!!  The kids also heard the TK kiddos talking about a wagon from their story, so we added that too!  If parents have eyes in the back of their heads.....kids have a million set of ears!!

Since we've been talking about wheels all week, we did some art with our new vocabulary word "tracks".  We took cars and trucks of all shapes and sizes and dipped the wheels in paint to make Track Art.  I can honestly say that this painting experience was much less traumatic for me than some of the others.....most of the paint was actually on the paper!! 

Ms. Angela returned today with some cool new activities and some of our favorites from the fall.  We started by learning some new warm up activities.  Sit ups and jumping jacks!  WOW!  She means business!  We practiced each one individually, then added it to our warm up song!  We raced our friends in a "Can you find?" race, where everyone had to listen and find the colors Ms. Angela called out.  We did some limbo....going over and under a pole and ended with a BIG obstacle course all around the courtyard!  We were all so excited that Ms. Angela was back!  We missed her so much!

Tinker Toy Fun!

Looks like a bunch of random pieces to me....but Ms. Cortney figured it out! She was definitely the "engineer" of the day!!

Transportation is a VERY big word with lots of letters and FOUR syllables!  (And an obvious favorite topic!!)  After we practiced saying it several times, we talked about things that go using wheels.  Lots of everyday things use wheels.....and the kids could name a whole bunch of them!  We talked about cars, trucks, vans, bicycles, tricycles, unicycles, buses, jeeps, trains, and motorcycles.  I didn't realize that they knew so many!

Today's book was My Truck is Stuck by Kevin Lewis.  It's a story about a truck that's accidentally driven into a gopher hole. All kinds of different vehicles (car, van, bus) arrive to try and pull it out, but none can help until the tow truck arrives!  The whole time the drivers are trying to get the truck unstuck.....the gophers are working to empty the dump truck's load of bones!  At the end the tow truck pulls out the dump truck and everyone goes on their way.....but the dump truck is empty!

We explored all kinds of cars and trucks during centers today, and even went out to look at the wheels on the big transfer truck in the parking lot.  We determined that it was missing some wheels and place for the driver to sit.....so that truck is stuck......just like the one in our book.  It's nice when something real life happens to support the vocabulary and literature in the classroom!! And we didn't even plan it that way!!

Taste Test

Are you listening?? What does it sound like?  Today we learned all about the sense of HEARING!!  The adults are pretty clear that there is a difference is hearing and listening....but to the kids, it's kinda all the same thing!!!

We've introduced some new things into the morning circle because now everyone knows the days of the week and the months of the year!  We still review them everyday, but it goes much faster now!  We are learning more specific calendar vocabulary like yesterday and tomorrow, practicing each other's last names, and even starting to talk about some letter sounds!!  I can't believe how much progress they have made from the beginning of the year!!

I know you all came to school prepared for warm, sunny weather.....but outside playground time was quite chilly today!!  There were lots of other children on the playground and it's so neat to see our classes blend in naturally.  A class favorite is definitely the bikes.....for those that can't yet ride alone....no worries....there are two-seaters available!!

Our book today was We Hear With Our Ears by Melvin and Gilda Berger.  We learned that sound travels through the air and deep inside our ear. Our ears "talk" to our brains to help us figure out what we are hearing.  We took the rest of the language circle and listened to all different kinds of sounds and guessed what animal or object produced it.  We listened to some animals, and some sirens and a even heard a song about letter sounds.  This just proves it....the kids can all listen really well....when they want to!   

After lunch, we had a special surprise!  Each child took turns and recorded a sentence video on the iPad.  When everyone was finished, the kids listened (using only their ears.....we didn't show the video part) and guessed whose voice they heard.  They were really good at this game!  The best part was watching their beaming faces when they recognized their own voice and saw themselves on the screen! 

Using our sense of SMELL!

There are so many wonderful activities about The Five Senses!  Today we started with an overview of all the senses and what those associated body parts help us do!  We read You Five Senses by Melvin and Gilda Berger during our morning circle.  This book helped us learn some new vocabulary that the kiddos probably aren't used to using.  For example, we talked about sight instead of seeing....taste instead of eating...hearing versus listening...sniffing....LOTS of new words!!  Since today was all about smelling, we challenged the children to pay close attention to their sense of smell while on the playground!

Ahhhh.....the playground!  It was so beautiful outside today!  We made everyone wear their coats outside, but it didn't take long until there were more coats on the table than on little bodies!!  We even stopped for a cold drink of water on our way inside!  I hope this early warm weather isn't indicative of the summer we have coming!!

Our book of the day was You Smell With Your Nose by Melvin and Gilda Berger.  The book talks about smells that are strong and weak, smells that are sweet and sour, and smells that are good and yucky!  The children listened to the story, but were very eager to share the things that they "smelled" outside.  I have to tell you that I personally, did not smell any distinct smells, but the children.....they smelled everything!  Flowers, sand, grass.....and someone must have been eating ice cream nearby, because we smelled that too!!!

We will be science instead of art all week!  The kids acted disappointed at first, but they LOVED today's activity so much that they quickly forgot to be upset!  We had a variety of smells, each in a ziploc bag. There was grass, cinnamon, garlic, perfume, oranges, coffee, and vanilla.  We passed each bag around for smelling, then voted (thumbs up or thumbs down) whether we like it or not!  We have some VERY sensitive noses in our class!  Our adult predictions didn't hold true....I don't know why we even make them....they are never right.....the children liked smells that they probably shouldn't have and didn't like the ones that we thought they would! 

For the record there was no clear winner on the class favorite smell!  Everyone had a different favorite!  It was a good chance to talk about how everyone's nose is different.....and nobody is right or wrong about how something smells!!

One last book for an "emotional" week!  We have learned so many new vocabulary words to describe our feelings.....our conversations with each other have really changed!!  Today's book was Brave Lion, Scared Lion by Joan Stimson.  This is the story of two twin brother lions who have very different personalities.  One afternoon, ignoring their mother's directions, they head out to the river.  One brother jumps rocks across the river, while the other brother notices all the crocodiles.....that look like rocks. The brother on the shoreline races off to help his brother to safety.  Hence the name of the book....one brave lion and one scared lion!  This was also a good story to help remind us how bad things can happen when we don't listen to grown-ups!  We can never get enough reminders about that!!

It was such a beautiful afternoon.....we couldn't possibly spend the day inside.  We took our lunches to the park for a play day and a special picnic!  Since our last picnic was inside.....sitting at actual picnic tables.....outside.....like a real picnic....was a new experience!  The kids enjoyed the bigger playground at the park.  It was nice to watch the appropriately interact with other kids at the park. 

I have to tell you a funny story from the park.  There was an unnamed boy at the park with his mother.  He was eating a snack of apples while taking a break from playing.  His mother got up to push a sibling on a swing and the little boy decided he needed another apple.  At this exact moment....several of our kids happened to be in the area watching.  The boy dropped the apple slice.....picked it up.....blew it off....and ATE IT!  The gasps of horror from our kids was laughable!  They have internalized this germ business!  They ran over to tell the adults (in whispered voices) that the boy was going to have germs in his tummy.  He was definitely going to get sick.  We agreed that eating that apple was yucky.....but none of our business!!!  I guess that's a whole different lesson we haven't taught yet!!

Hip Hip Hooray! We made it 100 days!!

Well.....our class hasn't exactly been to school 100 days yet.....but....we certainly weren't going to miss out on the opportunity to have a celebration that centers around counting!!  What could be more fun....and educational, of course!!

Our massive undertaking of an art/math project today was making 100 day hats!  They turned out really cute and the kids LOVED making them, but the adults had their work cut out for them managing 100 objects for EIGHT children!!  Ms. Ellen, Ms. Cortney, and I each ran a center that the kids rotated through.  In each center, the children put 10 of each object on a blue strip.  There were stickers, cotton balls, noodles, rice, letters, dots, and beans.  After they had been to all the centers, each child had 100 items.....and had counted to 10 what seemed like a million times!!

What great fun.....and SOOOOO much math!!

What does 100 look like???

Feelings.....Feelings.....I think that's a song.....well, today it was topic of discussion!  You wouldn't believe all the feeling words the kids brainstormed first thing this morning.  We started with words like happy and sad, but once they got going.....we ended up with nervous, silly, frustrated, angry, and sorry.  Your children may not always be able to voice how they are feeling, but it's not because they are lacking the words to use!!

Drop off this morning was especially crowded.  With CMS out of school today, we had lots of class visitors.  Connor and Hope, Ms. Ellen's children, Roya, Ms. Cortney's daughter, and Ms. Maria an intern from Germany all spent the day with us!  Susannah was super happy with the addition of two other little girls.  She made fast friends, but she wasn't the only one enamored with our guests!!  Let's just say they were VERY popular with everyone!

We read two books today.  The first was When Sophie Gets Angry- Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang.  It's a story about a little girl who gets very angry when her sister takes her toys.  She yells, stomps her feet, and throws things....all Cold Pricklies.  After a short walk, she calms down and plays nicely with her family.  We talked about things that make us angry, how we act when we get angry, and how that makes our friends and family feel.  Our second book was Ruthie and The (Not So) Teeny, Tiny Lie by Laura Rankin.  This is a story about Ruthie finding a camera, that she loves, on the playground.  She lies and tells the teacher it's hers, even with her friend claiming that it's his. The teacher gives them time to think about it at home before she decides what to do.  Ruthie gets very nervous about telling a lie, cries to her mother, and in the end, is brave and decides to tell the truth.  LOTS of emotions.....and a good character lesson all wrapped in one story!!

No shoes for Ms. Michelle today!  The kids LOVE that....it's an unexpected treat to take your shoes off at school!!  She had a sensory maze lined with bumpy hand and footprints for the kids to follow.  She even had a bumpy balance beam!  We cut up straws to practice our cutting, then strung the pieces together on yarn make a beautiful piece of jewelry.  We tried blowing through straws to spread globs of paint across paper.....and by "tried" I mean attempted for a second!  You see.....straws and for sucking....and it was hard to change that.....and once the colored paint got on the end of the straw it was hard to keep out of the little mouths.....well.....you get the picture.....it was doomed from the start!!

Art was a beginning to the 100 days celebration!!  Even though the PK kiddos haven't actually been in school for 100 days.....we are celebrating with the Green Friends!!  The kids took different color markers and filled in 10 dots in 10 pre-drawn circles.  Math disguised as art.....and they didn't even know it!!  That is success!!

I'm always amazed at how much we get accomplished in one day....I don't really notice how busy we are until I stop to recount all the activities!  Today was jam packed!  Rest up.....lots more fun planned for tomorrow!!

Ms. Kelly, Ms. Ellen, and Ms. Tiffany present at the Augmentativecommunication Association Conference in Durham.