Thank you all so much for making today such a fun day for the children! They asked all day what time Mommies and Daddies were coming. It was a special treat to have you all here! I hope they you enjoyed your afternoon at with our class!
We read a book today called Thanksgiving by Brenda Haugen. It was a story that taught us about what the Pilgrims and the Indians did on their first Thanksgiving, and how that's different from the things we do now. We talked about parades, and going on trips to grandparent's houses, and eating lots of special foods. I'm not sure if what the children said that they are doing for Thanksgiving is accurate, but everyone certainly is excited about something!!
I'm sure you all made note of the rainy (are you kidding me?) weather today! So.....no pictures again! That doesn't stop us! We went on a walk around the block today rather than play on the playground. We definitely needed a little movement break, but we didn't want wet socks and pants for our special lunch. The kids sang songs and practiced their "I am thankful for..." sentences while we walked. No quiet walks around here!
Lots of art projects today. We wanted to decorate the tables so that our lunch with family could be extra special. We made Indian or Pilgrim hats. The children were actually complimenting each other on their coloring.....completely unsolicited! We made Pilgrim hat cups that can be filled with a treat for later. We put out turkey napkin rings with our names on it.....once we decided on the perfect seat for our family! I didn't even realize that would matter!
We almost all fell apart when the TK kiddos ate lunch early.....I wasn't sure we were going to be able to hold out until Mommies came.....but with some reminders and additional helper "jobs".....we did it! It was so wonderful to see how excited the children were to see their family come in the door for lunch. They have all been working so hard on the songs and sentences that we showed you today. I hope that it is as clear to you as it is to us the significant progress that your children have been making!
I didn't add my handprint to the Thankful Tree today.....but mine's pretty easy.....I am thankful for your children.....and the opportunity to be a part of their little lives everyday! THANK YOU!!
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Macaroni.....Pasta.....Noodles.....whatever you call it.....when you string it on some yarn, it makes a very fun piece of jewelry! It takes patience and persistence, which we all got a good lesson in today, but the completed necklace it well worth the effort! We can't wait to show it off tomorrow!
Our book today was Thank You, Thanksgiving by David Milgrim. It's about a little girl who goes out on an errand for her mother and while she is walking, she talks about all the things she is thankful for. In the book, there is snow on the ground and the little girl is all bundled up. It was a real contrast from the weather we've been having lately! After we read the book, the children all took turns practicing a "I am thankful for ....." sentence using picture cues to help us "read". I won't tell you too much about this activity because we hope you get to see it in action tomorrow at lunch!!
Ms. Angela came today. She had some fun warm up games where we all had to listen to the music and do the action that it told us to do. Walking, crawling, jumping, running, tip toeing, skipping, and galloping......it might have been the longest song ever created, but the kids certainly enjoyed it! The main lesson today was about hockey and hitting a puck with a small hockey stick. Everyone got a turn to pass the puck to their friends. They all waited and cheered on their friends so nicely! As a reward for such great listening skills, Ms. Angela took orange swimming noodles and stacked them up in a pile. The kids took turns jumping over the pile. It was fun to see the kids expressions when they cleared the jump, and when they knocked all the noodles down! Either way, we all left Ms. Angela laughing!
Outside time started off with a light sprinkle. The kids are getting used to being out in the rain. They hardly noticed. The funny part was that today the Weekday teachers saw us outside and hurried out to join us! We are rubbing off!! Now, I must tell you that they left.....very quickly.....when the sprinkling rain got a little heavier! We, in true TSGI fashion, waited until all the kids were seeking shelter under the climbing equipment to call it a day!! A little rain never hurt anybody!! Fingers crossed that tomorrow the Thursday curse won't continue.....we would love to finally mark pictures off the list.....but it doesn't look like the weather is going to cooperate!! We'll see......
Our book today was Thank You, Thanksgiving by David Milgrim. It's about a little girl who goes out on an errand for her mother and while she is walking, she talks about all the things she is thankful for. In the book, there is snow on the ground and the little girl is all bundled up. It was a real contrast from the weather we've been having lately! After we read the book, the children all took turns practicing a "I am thankful for ....." sentence using picture cues to help us "read". I won't tell you too much about this activity because we hope you get to see it in action tomorrow at lunch!!
Ms. Angela came today. She had some fun warm up games where we all had to listen to the music and do the action that it told us to do. Walking, crawling, jumping, running, tip toeing, skipping, and galloping......it might have been the longest song ever created, but the kids certainly enjoyed it! The main lesson today was about hockey and hitting a puck with a small hockey stick. Everyone got a turn to pass the puck to their friends. They all waited and cheered on their friends so nicely! As a reward for such great listening skills, Ms. Angela took orange swimming noodles and stacked them up in a pile. The kids took turns jumping over the pile. It was fun to see the kids expressions when they cleared the jump, and when they knocked all the noodles down! Either way, we all left Ms. Angela laughing!
Outside time started off with a light sprinkle. The kids are getting used to being out in the rain. They hardly noticed. The funny part was that today the Weekday teachers saw us outside and hurried out to join us! We are rubbing off!! Now, I must tell you that they left.....very quickly.....when the sprinkling rain got a little heavier! We, in true TSGI fashion, waited until all the kids were seeking shelter under the climbing equipment to call it a day!! A little rain never hurt anybody!! Fingers crossed that tomorrow the Thursday curse won't continue.....we would love to finally mark pictures off the list.....but it doesn't look like the weather is going to cooperate!! We'll see......
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Gobble, Gobble, Gobble! Today we started learning all about Thanksgiving....and it only makes sense to talk about TURKEYS!!
Ms. Michelle had an indoor circuit set up for us to jump, spin, rock, and carry heavy balls. Spinning was easily the class favorite, but everyone took turns doing all the activities. Then we headed outside for a special treat! Ms. Erin brought this huge box of different colored feathers for us to explore. We dug through the feathers to find some buried treasures. Did you notice it was especially windy today? To the delight of the children, every time someone mixed up the feathers a big gust of wind would carry them across the courtyard. Red feathers, blue feathers, purple and bright pink feathers......later today strangers might wonder what kind of exotic birds live near the church! Ms. Michelle had a turkey template and once we gave the turkey eyes and feet, we got to choose some of our favorite feathers to add to the picture. By the end of the activity, we had feathers all over us! In our hair, on our clothes, stuck to our faces.....who knew feathers could be so messy?? Cleaning up was kinda difficult, but everyone was laughing so much nobody really minded!
Our book today was Thanksgiving is For Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherland. In the book, the children talk about all the things that they are thankful for. They were thankful for their families, their teachers, their pets, for playing outside, and for food. Our class talked about what it means to be thankful and how lucky we are to have all the things that we do. We are going to be talking all week about being "thankful" so be sure to use that new vocabulary word at home too.
Before we sat for our art project, we went on a leaf collection walk. We gathered red, orange, yellow, green, and brown leaves in a bucket. Some were big and some were little. Ms. Tiffany and I are thankful for all the beautiful trees surrounding the church. So much variety, and so many pretty colors, in such a little space. We used the leaves as feathers for our hand print turkeys. If your child's turkey looks a little plump, it probably means that they probably had wiggly fingers while we were tracing!
We also started making a class turkey.....but he has lost his feathers!! Please help us make him some more by decorating the feather we sent home today. Use magazine clippings, drawings, words, or pictures to include things that you and/or child is thankful for. The children are all so excited about lunch with Mommies and Daddies on Thursday.....we can't wait to show off for you!!
Ms. Michelle had an indoor circuit set up for us to jump, spin, rock, and carry heavy balls. Spinning was easily the class favorite, but everyone took turns doing all the activities. Then we headed outside for a special treat! Ms. Erin brought this huge box of different colored feathers for us to explore. We dug through the feathers to find some buried treasures. Did you notice it was especially windy today? To the delight of the children, every time someone mixed up the feathers a big gust of wind would carry them across the courtyard. Red feathers, blue feathers, purple and bright pink feathers......later today strangers might wonder what kind of exotic birds live near the church! Ms. Michelle had a turkey template and once we gave the turkey eyes and feet, we got to choose some of our favorite feathers to add to the picture. By the end of the activity, we had feathers all over us! In our hair, on our clothes, stuck to our faces.....who knew feathers could be so messy?? Cleaning up was kinda difficult, but everyone was laughing so much nobody really minded!
Our book today was Thanksgiving is For Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherland. In the book, the children talk about all the things that they are thankful for. They were thankful for their families, their teachers, their pets, for playing outside, and for food. Our class talked about what it means to be thankful and how lucky we are to have all the things that we do. We are going to be talking all week about being "thankful" so be sure to use that new vocabulary word at home too.
Before we sat for our art project, we went on a leaf collection walk. We gathered red, orange, yellow, green, and brown leaves in a bucket. Some were big and some were little. Ms. Tiffany and I are thankful for all the beautiful trees surrounding the church. So much variety, and so many pretty colors, in such a little space. We used the leaves as feathers for our hand print turkeys. If your child's turkey looks a little plump, it probably means that they probably had wiggly fingers while we were tracing!
We also started making a class turkey.....but he has lost his feathers!! Please help us make him some more by decorating the feather we sent home today. Use magazine clippings, drawings, words, or pictures to include things that you and/or child is thankful for. The children are all so excited about lunch with Mommies and Daddies on Thursday.....we can't wait to show off for you!!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
No pictures today! I knew when we got assigned the Thursday spot, we were in trouble! I guess they don't know about the Thursday curse!! So.....of course, you got your children all dressed up.....and it rained! We'll try again next week!!
Our community helper for the day was teachers. It was a really fun way for the kids to show off what they know! We talked about what teachers do and say and look like! We decided to do art early today because we were going to use the project for the rest of the day. We made teacher pointers. The kids have been learning the first letter of their name, so we took some letter tiles and stuck them to the end of the pointer so we could know which one belonged to which child. Oh the pointing we did!! We pointed to letters....and numbers....and shapes....and colors.....and the days of the week.....and the weather chart..... and the schedule....and our letter of the week! We pointed to pictures in books.....we pointed to items around the classroom.....we pointed to our friends names! This art project was easily the most favorite of the year so far! The funny part is that when you ask the children in your class to "be the teacher", you get to see yourself like they see you. They do what you do and say what you say. They even copy your not so attractive mannerisms! Someone famous said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. Not sure about the accuracy of that, but they sure were cute!
The book today was Teacher; Sharing, Helping, Caring by Patricia Hubbell. The book went through all the things that the teacher helps the children do and learn through the school week. We talked about how the kids in the book did some of the same things that we did everyday. Everyone was a really good listener for the whole story.
Today was an extra-ordinary, inside day! No pictures like we planned. No playground time because of the rain. No Out and About. BUT.....I think the kids had just as much fun today as any day. It's not very often that the children get to stand up and tell the whole class what to do.....and they never get to do it with the teacher's permission!!!
Our community helper for the day was teachers. It was a really fun way for the kids to show off what they know! We talked about what teachers do and say and look like! We decided to do art early today because we were going to use the project for the rest of the day. We made teacher pointers. The kids have been learning the first letter of their name, so we took some letter tiles and stuck them to the end of the pointer so we could know which one belonged to which child. Oh the pointing we did!! We pointed to letters....and numbers....and shapes....and colors.....and the days of the week.....and the weather chart..... and the schedule....and our letter of the week! We pointed to pictures in books.....we pointed to items around the classroom.....we pointed to our friends names! This art project was easily the most favorite of the year so far! The funny part is that when you ask the children in your class to "be the teacher", you get to see yourself like they see you. They do what you do and say what you say. They even copy your not so attractive mannerisms! Someone famous said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. Not sure about the accuracy of that, but they sure were cute!
The book today was Teacher; Sharing, Helping, Caring by Patricia Hubbell. The book went through all the things that the teacher helps the children do and learn through the school week. We talked about how the kids in the book did some of the same things that we did everyday. Everyone was a really good listener for the whole story.
Today was an extra-ordinary, inside day! No pictures like we planned. No playground time because of the rain. No Out and About. BUT.....I think the kids had just as much fun today as any day. It's not very often that the children get to stand up and tell the whole class what to do.....and they never get to do it with the teacher's permission!!!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Dr. Wheelock's got nothing on us!! Today WE were the vet for all the animal puppets. We checked out their eyes, noses, mouths, felt their tummies, gave them shots, band-aids, and big hugs! There were sick turtles, and sick bears, and sick birds....even a sick kangaroo!!
Our book today was Sally Goes to the Vet by Stephen Huneck. It's a story about a dog named Sally that is playing with her friend Bingo the cat. She is running and doesn't see the tree in front of her. She bumps her head and falls down. Her people daddy takes her to the vet, who checks her out. After a shot, he sends her home and tells her she will feel better soon.
In art we made Sally puppets. Everyone colored spots on their "Sally", then we gave her two eyes, one nose, and a red tongue. We had fun putting the puppets on our hands and barking at all the other dogs in the room!
Ms. Angela came today. We did more catching and throwing. It was tricky this time because we had to stay inside because the courtyard was occupied. After our warm-up, Ms. Angela gave everyone ribbons on a stick. We had to listen closely to the directions and twirl the ribbons where she said. We moved them high, low, and side to side. Then we switched hands and did the same thing! The kids loved it....and it sure was pretty to watch all the different colors flying around the room. Then Ms. Angela had four catching/throwing stations set up around the room. The kids could choose from bean bag toss, basketball, throwing to a friend, and velcro tennis target. I think that all the kids took a turn at each activity, with some teacher prompting, but it was clear by the end that everyone had a specific favorite that they kept coming back to. Ms. Angela is so encouraging and patient.....AND she is teaching us so much!
We caught up on Show and Tell today too. The kids are really improving in their ability to listen and ask questions. There was even some follow-up conversation between kids as we walked to dismissal! It's really neat to think back to the first day we did Show and Tell and remember how much talking the adults had to do.....now there's always a kid taking the lead!
Our book today was Sally Goes to the Vet by Stephen Huneck. It's a story about a dog named Sally that is playing with her friend Bingo the cat. She is running and doesn't see the tree in front of her. She bumps her head and falls down. Her people daddy takes her to the vet, who checks her out. After a shot, he sends her home and tells her she will feel better soon.
In art we made Sally puppets. Everyone colored spots on their "Sally", then we gave her two eyes, one nose, and a red tongue. We had fun putting the puppets on our hands and barking at all the other dogs in the room!
Ms. Angela came today. We did more catching and throwing. It was tricky this time because we had to stay inside because the courtyard was occupied. After our warm-up, Ms. Angela gave everyone ribbons on a stick. We had to listen closely to the directions and twirl the ribbons where she said. We moved them high, low, and side to side. Then we switched hands and did the same thing! The kids loved it....and it sure was pretty to watch all the different colors flying around the room. Then Ms. Angela had four catching/throwing stations set up around the room. The kids could choose from bean bag toss, basketball, throwing to a friend, and velcro tennis target. I think that all the kids took a turn at each activity, with some teacher prompting, but it was clear by the end that everyone had a specific favorite that they kept coming back to. Ms. Angela is so encouraging and patient.....AND she is teaching us so much!
We caught up on Show and Tell today too. The kids are really improving in their ability to listen and ask questions. There was even some follow-up conversation between kids as we walked to dismissal! It's really neat to think back to the first day we did Show and Tell and remember how much talking the adults had to do.....now there's always a kid taking the lead!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
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