Gingerbread Theme November 29 - December3

During the month of December, we will be exploring a thematic unit of the gingerbread man.  We will be reading various versions of the gingerbread man.  We will also addressing various preschool skills and concepts while focusing on the theme of gingerbread.  This is a favorite unit for students and teachers.We look forward to having fun and learning during the month of December.

Book this week:
The Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth

Small Groups
-Art- We will be creating our own gingerbread man to attach to our "cookie sheet" bulletin board.
-Journals- We will be writing and drawing our favorite part of the Gingerbread Man book in our journals.
-Math- We will be measuring our bodies and items in our classroom using gingerbread man "rulers". A home extention will be sent home for this activity.
-Games- Candyland and/or Candyland Castle
-Positional Book- Each child will create a positional book, "Where is the gingerbread man?" Positional words include on, above, next to, below,between, and behind.
-Math- We will be rolling a number cube, identifying the number, then finding the same number on our gingerbread men paper.  Then we will put a sticker on the number. 

Centers
Blocks- Blocks
Art- gingerbread man collage
Sensory- sand
Easel-  brown paint and paper
Dramatic Play- materials for role playing the gingerbread man story
Writing center- vocabulary words
Puzzles- various puzzles
Library- gingerbread men felt for storytelling

Songs
Five Gingerbread Cookies
The Gingerbread Man Finds Shapes
The Gingerbread Man
Gingerbread, Gingerbread (tune of: Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear)

Pinata Party Pictures

We had our pinata party today.  Our stuffed animal friends came to school to listen to a pinata book then we took them outside to the playground to open our class pinata.  After we collected our pinata toys, we played with our stuffed animal friends on the playground.  It was a fun day. We also sent home their pinatas they created at the art table during choice time. 

November 22-24

Books this week
The Enormous Carrot
Small Groups
-Art- We will be creating a special turkey handprints for our families
-Language- We will be creating a postional book called "Where is the turkey?"
-Math- We will be playing a 1:1 turkey correspondence game.  We will roll a number cube, count the dots, then find the correct number on our turkeys.

Centers
Blocks-Farms and animals from the farm
Sensory Table-corn kernels
Dramatic Play- Baking Pies for Thanksgiving using crust colored playdough and pie pans.
Library- A variety of books about friends and construction
Easel- Turkey pictures to paint
Art-Collage materials to make tissue paper carrots and corn on the corn with kernels
Puzzles- puzzles
Writing Center- name cards

Song, Word Play and Letters
Poems-Mix a pancake
Songs- Come On and Join In To The Game, Hello Mr. Turkey, Bananas Song
Literacy Skills- Beginning word sounds game

Unit 2 September 15-19

Reminders:
-Pinata Party is Thursday. Please have your child bring in a stuffed animal friend from home to school.
-No School on Friday for conferences.

Unit 2, children will be talking about friendship, how to be a good friend, and ways to resolve conflicts with friends. Through the Story Time books, children hear about the importance of being who you are, helping friends, enjoying special times together, and getting along. In addition to listening to stories, children will learn to idenify rhyming works and beginning letters and sounds in words, as they build vocabulary and comprehension skills. They will also participate in a variety of music, poetry, math, science, and art activities.


Theme Concepts:
-A friend is someone we like and want to spend time with. Friends like to do things together. They enjoy each other's company.
-We can have more than one good friend, and we might like to do some things with one friend and other things with other friends.
-Friends usually share with and help one another.
-Friends may have arguments and get mad at one another. Usually, friends work out their problems and continue to be friends.
-We can make new friends and also keep old friends.

Books this week
Road Builders
Dandelion
Hooray for Pinata
Animals in Winter
Small Groups
-Science- Making Lemonade-We will be exploring and observing lemons and using our fine motor muscles to squeeze lemons. This is connected to the characters in Matthew and Tilly
-Language and Literacy- Matching pictures from our unit 2 story books with words. We will be using our phonemic awarness skills to try to determine what words go with which pictures. Long words, short words, beginning sounds and ending sounds.
-Alphabet Matching Names- We will cut and glue the letters of our name in order
- Let's Feed the Hungry Monkeys- We will be using cookies to expose children to the concept of dividing.  They will be equally dividing a cookies in to two equal sets.  We will also problem solve when we have an extra cookie.  We will discuss the term one-half. 
-Picture Memory- We will be playing a memory game using pictures and vocabulary words from our books from unit 2.
-Gross Motor activity- Children will be using gross motor skills on equipment such as a balance beam, tricycles, and pulling baskets up the ramp.
***Please note that some small group activities have continued from last week.

Centers
Blocks-cars and race tracks on the rug
Sensory Table-Goop (corn starch and water)
Dramatic Play- Construction Zone (hammers, nails (golf tees), wrenches, screws and other building materials.
Library- A variety of books about friends and construction
Easel- Writing invitations like Dandelion using feathers to dip into paint.
Art-decorating our bags for our pinata party
Puzzles- construction puzzles
Writing Center- writing invitations
Song, Word Play and Letters
Poems-Mix a pancake
Songs- Come On and Join In To The Game, Five Little Moneys, Bananas Song
Literacy Skills- T-I-L-L-Y(We will be singing this song inspired by bingo then changing the beginning letter to make new words such as silly, Billy, Milly.

Pinata Party and Recipe

Our class has been reading the book Hooray A Pinata.  We created invitations and envelopes to invite our stuffed animal friends back to school on November 18 for a pinata party.  They are very excited.

We have also been creating pinatas in small groups and individual ones at the art table at choice time. If you would like to create them at home it is messy but easy. We cut newspaper and had the children soak the newpaper in a flour and water solution. (1 part flour and 2 parts water) Then they put the newpaper on an inflated balloon. We will then paint them and decorate them before sending them hope to share with you.

Unit 2 Novemeber 8 -12

Unit 2, children will be talking about friendship, how to be a good friend, and ways to resolve conflicts with friends. Through the Story Time books, children hear about the importance of being who you are, helping friends, enjoying special times together, and getting along. In addition to listening to stories, children will learn to idenify rhyming works and beginning letters and sounds in words, as they build vocabulary and comprehension skills. They will also participate in a variety of music, poetry, math, science, and art activities.


Theme Concepts:
-A friend is someone we like and want to spend time with. Friends like to do things together. They enjoy each other's company.
-We can have more than one good friend, and we might like to do some things with one friend and other things with other friends.
-Friends usually share with and help one another.
-Friends may have arguments and get mad at one another. Usually, friends work out their problems and continue to be friends.
-We can make new friends and also keep old friends.

Books this week
Road Builders
The Door Bell Rang
Dandelion
Hooray for Pinata

Small Groups
-Math- Making 3D Pinatas- We will be creating and decorating pinata. We will be working together to create and decorate our pinatas. We will be focusing on cooperating with our peers to make decisions and relating our discussions to our class book.
-Language and Print Awareness- We will be making party invitations for our pinata party. We will be inviting our stuffed animals to come to school to our pinata party. I will send how a note with more details of our upcoming pinata party. We will alsobe working on following two step directions to create folded envelopes along with addressing envelopes to invite our stuffed animal friends.
-I Touches- We will be exploring letter apps in small groups.
-Science- Making Lemonade-We will be exploring and observing lemons and using our fine motor muscles to squeeze lemons.  This is connected to the characters in Matthew and Tilly
-Language and Literacy- Matching pictures from our unit 2 story books with words.  We will be using our phonemic awarness skills to try to determine what words go with which pictures.  Long words, short words, beginning sounds and ending sounds. 
-Alphabet Matching Names- We will cut and glue the letters of our name in order

***Please note that some small group activities will continue next week.

Centers
Blocks-construction vehicles and blocks to scoop up
Sensory Table-Dandelions Barber Shop-cutting yellow yarn and materials
Dramatic Play- Grocery Store is open (this is a favorite activity)We will be assisting the children making grocery lists to go and shop at the grocery store to find the same items on the shelves.
Library- A variety of books about friends and construction
Easel- crayon resistance with watercolors-We will write our names and observe how watercolors react with the crayon
Art-making pinatas- this should be fun and messy
Puzzles- fruit puzzles
Writing Center- Writing grocery lists using word cards and ads from the supermarkets

Song, Word Play and Letters
Poems-Mix a pancake
Songs- Come On and Join In To The Game, Down by the Bay, Head, The More We Get Together
Literacy Skills- T-I-L-L-Y(We will be singing this song inspired by bingo then changing the beginning letter to make new words such as silly, Billy, Milly.

Parent / Teacher Conferences - Nov. 19

Hello Parents,

On November 19, there will be no school for students. This is a day that you can schedule a time to meet with me to discuss the progress of your child. Below are times that you may choose from. Please give me your first and second choice for a time that is convenient for you to come to our classroom. I will do my best to accommodate you.
Please remember this is a time for us to discuss your child's progress. This is easier if your child or siblings are not present during our discussion.
Please email me or write a note in your child's folder to let me know what time you would like to meet with me.

8:00-8:15
8:15-8:30
8:30-8:45
8:45-9:00
9:00-9:15
9:15-9:30
9:30-9:45
9:45-10:00
10:00-10:15
10:15-10:30
10:30-10:45
10:45-11:00
11:00-11:15
11:15-11:30

Lisa Bottiglio