Friday, March 23, 2012

Transportation March 26-30

Books This Week:
Subway Sparrow
The Adventures of Taxi Dog
How Will We Get to the Beach?

Small Groups For This Week:
1. Phonemic Awareness- Transportation Letter Sorting- We will sort objects that need to be transported by their beginning sound.
2. Science- Sink or Float Experiment- We will observe and record a variety of objects to see if they will sink or float
3. Math- Building Towers- We will use 1 inch cubes to build a tower.  We will record how high our tower was before it fell. We will then observe our results using math vocabulary; most, least, equal.
1. Language- Uppercase and Lowercase Letter Go Fish Game
2. Math- Rocket Ship Blast Off- We will put numbers in order from the highest to lowest as we create a rocket ship countdown strip
3. Engineering/Science- We will use paper, cardboard, and wood to create a bridge.  We will attempt to create bridges to hold the most amount of pennies.  We will then record and observe our findings.
Centers
Rug Activity- Land, Sea, and Air Transportatin
Science- What can spin? Exploring wheels, tops....
Art Table: Spin Art
Blocks: building bridges
Sensory Table:Sink or Float Exploration
Book Area: books about transportation
Writing Table: making street signs
Dramatic Play: Cub Cadet Travel Agency
Puzzles and Manipulative: puzzles about transportation

Let's Talk About It
-How do people travel?
-Choosing the best kind of transportatation for where you need to go?
-What gets transported besides people?
-Space Travel (I want to Be an Astronaut)
-Transportation for recreation or run

Handwriting
Letters with diagonals- N, R, V, etc.
We will continuing a program called Handwriting Without Tears. It's focus is on letter formation and letter awareness. This program reinforces proper grasp and trying to strengthen fine motor muscles.

Preschool Manners
-When someone is in your way or has something you want, say "Excuse Me" to get their attention, then say"May I _____" to get what you want.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Perfect day for a picnic

Happy Spring!!!!
Today the cub cadets had a picnic lunch. It was a beautiful day and we wanted to enjoy every moment.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Leprechaun Hunt Today!!!!

Pat has been telling the children this week that she has a leprechaun in her backyard named Sean McFlarety.  She found his rocking chair and bicycle on her porch, even his very small bowling set that she shared with us all week.  We also have been busy this week writing him letters and drawing him pictures too. Today we tried to catch him.  We made special hats and wore  special leprechaun searching glasses.  Louise saw Sean run in her office, so we searched all through the central offices.  We couldn't find him anywhere.  When we returned to our classroom, we were surprised he left us a note and a piece of gold. It was a fun day!
Enjoy the Videos

March 19-23 - Week 2 Transportation

Books This Week:
Fritz and the Beautiful Horses
Mr. George Baker
Night Driving

Small Groups For This Week:
1. Hoop Gliders- We will make and race hoop gliders.
2. How many ways to count 5.  We will think about how many different ways we can count to 5 using the theme of transportation.
3. Transportation Bingo
1. Land, Sea, Air Transportation Sort- We will sort vehicles by their mode of transportation.
2. Uppercase and Lowercase Letter sort
3. Fine Motor Activity-Cut shapes then glue them to create a truck.
Centers
Rug Activity- Building train tracks
Science- gear exploration (inspired by the bicycle that Pat's leprechaun left behind)
Art Table: making traffic lights
Blocks: building bridges
Sensory Table:sailboat races (with a fan to blow them)
Book Area: books about transportation
Writing Table: making stop signs
Dramatic Play: train station with props
Puzzles and Manipulative: puzzles about transportation

Let's Talk About It
-How do people travel?
-Pedestrian safety
-What gets transported besides people?
-Bus safety
-Transportation for recreation or run

Handwriting
Letters with diagonals- N, R, V, etc.
We will continuing a program called Handwriting Without Tears. It's focus is on letter formation and letter awareness. This program reinforces proper grasp and trying to strengthen fine motor muscles.

Preschool Manners
-When someone does something nice to you, look at them and say, Thank you.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Transportation Unit Starting Monday

We are starting a new unit this week: Transportation
Books This Week:
Fritz and the Beautiful Horses
Mr. George Baker
Small Groups For This Week:
1. Ramp Bowling- using a ramp we will roll a ball to knock down the pins. We will change the height of the ramp to see if it changes how the ball rolls.
2. Guess my tool book- We will finish a book from our last unit of community helpers
3. Transportation Spinner Graphing Game- we will spin a spinner to see which mode of transportation it lands on. Then we will graph our results.
1. Land, Sea, Air Transportation Sort- We will sort vehicles by their mode of transportation.
2. Uppercase and Lowercase Letter sort
3. Fine Motor Activity-Cut shapes then glue them to create a truck.
Centers
Rug Activity- Train station with tickets and conductor
Science- ramp exploration
Art Table: making paper airplanes
Blocks: building roads
Sensory Table:construction site
Book Area: books about transportation
Writing Table: traffic light
Dramatic Play: cooking in the kitchen
Puzzles and Manipulatives: puzzles about community

Handwriting
We will continuing a program called Handwriting Without Tears. It's focus is on letter formation and letter awareness. This program reinforces proper grasp and trying to strengthen fine motor muscles.

Preschool Manners
-When someone does something nice to you, look at them and say, Thank you.

A firefighter vists the cub cadets!!

 Fireman Fricke (aka Matthew's Dad) came into our classroom to tell us all about the tools a fireman uses.  He brought in his boots, pants, coat, mask, oxygen tank, helmet, ax and a sling.  The children loved every moment.  It was so interesting to see all of the tools a fireman uses.  He told us what to do in an emergency and how to have a safe meeting spot outside of your if there is an emergency.  He put on all of his equipment and explained not be afraid and hide if there is a fire.  He even let us put the oxygen tank on our backs so we could feel how heavy it is.  Thank you so much Fireman Fricke!! We cannot thank you enough for coming into our school and all that you do as a community helper!!                          
Fireman Fricke showed us a demonstration of how he uses a sling to help people out of a building.

 
 

Friday, March 2, 2012

March 5- 9 Community

***Picture Day on Tuesday March 6***
Books This Week:
Harry and the Bucket of Dinosaurs
Wilfred Gordon McDonald Patridge

Small Groups For This Week:
1. Rectangle Attributes- We will discus in small groups the attributes of a rectangle. Then we will go on a rectangle hunt around our school. 
2. Size Order- Inspired by Dr. DeSoto. We will be putting teeth in size order from smallest to largest. We will discuss which teeth would belong to each animal.
3. Community Helpers Bingo- We will have to look at just the word to get clues to see which helper we put our cube on. This will reinforce beginning letter sounds.  
-Journal WritingWe will also have a small group based on Wilfed. Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, a rather small boy, lives next door to a nursing home in which resides Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper, his favorite friend, because she has four names as well. When Miss Nancy "loses" her memory, the intrepid Wilfrid sets out to find it for her. We will write and illustrate a page based on this book.
- Art Show- We are going to have an "art show" and we are inviting our preschool friends from other classrooms to come. We will
 Centers
Art Table: painting roads with cars
Blocks: blocks
Sensory Table:dinosaur dig with dino bones, sand, and dry brushes
Book Area: books about communities and community helpers
Easel:watercolors
Writing Table: creating signs for the art show
Dramatic Play: Cub Cadets Cafe (restaurant)
Puzzles and Manipulatives: puzzles about community

Handwriting
We will continuing a program called Handwriting Without Tears. It's focus is on letter formation and letter awareness. This program reinforces proper grasp and trying to strengthen fine motor muscles.

Preschool Manners
-When someone gives you something, look at them and say, Thank you.