Our Gingerbread Musical Performance

The Gingerbread Man: The Musical

The Cub Cadets had an award winning performance yesterday for their families.  Each child did an amazing job singing and remembering all of their important parts.  We hope everyone has a wonderful winter break and enjoy this magical time of year.  

Credits:

Pat :Costume designer for the little old man and little old woman

Katelin: Musical director

Lisa: Narrator and Executive Producer

Wind and Water Unit January 5-9

Upcoming Dates

December 23-Last Day of School before winter vacation

January 5- Back to School 

Next Unit 

Wind and Water Theme

This theme allows children explore wind and water using observations, experiments,

 and books to learn more about topics such as evaporation, weather, temperature, insulation, rain, and snow

Books this week

            -Giberto and the Wind by Marie Hall
            -One Dark Night by Hazel Hutchins

Small Groups this week

-Math- Shape Bingo Game
-Science-Observing movement of objects in the wind. We will use a variety of objects and use a hairdryer with a teacher to see how objects move.  We will record our results to share with our family. A home project will come home shortly to connect with this activity.
-Games- We will be playing memory using picture cards of new unit 3 vocabulary words.  
-Pinwheel Making- We will create our own pinwheels and see how they move in the wind.
-Gilberto Letter Book- We will use vocabulary words from our unit book, Gilberto to reinforce letter sounds.

Center Activities

Art: Painting-moving paint on paper blowing straw

Easel: Painting with colors from the book Gilberto and the Wind  (black, brown and and white paint)
Writing: blank books with crayons and markers
Sand and Water: water and student and teacher created sailboats
Library: Exploring books
Puzzles and Manipulatives: Matching uppercase alphabet arch letters
Dramatic Play: play clothesline and clothes pins for dramatic play
Blocks: building with blocks

Songs, Word Play, Letters
Songs:  Come On and Join in the Game; Clap Your Hands; Bingo using Windy words, Magic C rap song
Poems:  Stand Up; My Big Balloon; Mix a Pancake; Five Little Owls in an Old Elm Tree
Literacy Skills: Naming sound game and rhyming word game

Try this at home: Observe signs of weather with your child.

When you are outside ask them to look at the sky about talk about clouds, rain, wind, and storms.

Handwriting
-We will be working on our "Magic C" letters for the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum within our workbooks as well as other hands on activities.
-Literacy Groups will begin.  Our handwriting small groups in the morning will be grouped into RTI groups so children can get the support for what skills each child is working on.  Some of our classmates will stay in our room and others will be going into kinderstars classroom.  Each group will be working on different skills but working toward the common goal of literacy(letter, sounds, writing letters)

Preschool Life Skills
We are continuing to review our previous skills 1-4.
1-When a teacher calls your name, stop, look and say, "Yes".
2-When a teacher tells you to do something, do it "Right Away".
3-When a teacher tells you to do 2 things, do it "Right Away".
4-When something is too hard, first try then say,"Can you help me please?"
5. "When you want something from a teacher or friend and they are doing something, say, "Excuse me" to get them to look at you."
New Skill with this week:
6- "When someone is in your way or has something that you want, say"Excuse me"to get their attention, and say, "May I____" to get what you want.  

Old McHolly had a farm! Ho,oh,ho,ho,ho!

Gingerbread Unit Dec. 15-23

Our End of the Year Show will be on Thursday December 18 at 11:45  Please come see "The Gingerbread-The Musical"
-Gingerbread Homework Due Friday Dec. 19-  Please have fun with you child with the at home math activity.  (Gingerbread Measuring)

- We also have an elf named Holly who will be visiting us in the month of December.  Holly be hiding in our classroom and keeping an eye on all of us.
-We are also enjoying guest readers during this unit

Books this week

Gingerbread Friends
Gingerbread Girl
The Pancake Boy

Small Groups
-Presenting our Gingerbread Homework to the class.  Each child will have a turn to present to the large group what they measured at home with their gingerbread ruler.
-Math- We will create number books to create a predictable text book to read at home.
-Art- Creating gingerbread men using a variety of materials including cinnamon.  Then we will put them on a foil tray bulletin board.
-Math- Number puzzle.  We will cut then sort in order by number to create a gingerbread man.
-ELA- We will be creating  _an word family books in small groups.  We will  be reinforcing beginning letter sounds with manipulatives before creating our books
Center
Blocks-Blocks
Sensory Table-Snow (aka popcorn from boxes)
Dramatic Play-  Gingerbread Bakery
Library- A variety of books about gingerbread
Art Table-Painting with gingerbread cookie cutters
Easel- Water Colors
Science Table
Puzzles- Puzzles
Manipulatives- Ipad apps to make cookies
Writing Center- Writing Letters

Song, Word Play and Letters
Poems- 5 little cookies
Songs- gingerbread songs, Tale of the Gingerbread Musical Songs
Literacy Skills- Letter Sound Activities, Change and Rearrange Words

Handwriting
-We will be beginning our "Magic C" HWT books (C, G, D, O, Q) and singing a Magic C rap song

Happy Birthday Holly

Today we came to school and found streamers in our room. It was Holly's birthday. At choice time we wrote birthday cards to her.  Then at Let's Talk About It, we talked about how to ask questions. We wrote a letter to Holly to ask questions about how elves celebrate birthdays. 

Early Childhood Series Tonight

The next session of the Burlington Public Schools Early Learner Series is tomorrow, Thursday, December 11. The session will take place from 7:00pm - 8:00pm in the Burlington Early Childhood Center (BECC).  The topic for this month’s discussion is the Preschool Life Skills and Social Thinking curriculum.  We will discuss what these look like in the early childhood classrooms, and touch upon how to help support development of these skills at home. We will leave ample time to answer questions and troubleshoot any challenges you may come across in this area.  We look forward to seeing everyone Thursday night!

gingerbread week Dec. 8-12

Our End of the Year Show will be on Thursday December 18 at 11:45  Please come see "The Gingerbread-The Musical"
-Gingerbread Homework- I will be sending "homework" next week as well.  Please have fun with you child with the at home math activity.  (Gingerbread Measuring)

- We also have an elf named Holly who will be visiting us in the month of December.  Holly be hiding in our classroom and keeping an eye on all of us.
-We are also enjoys guest readers during this unit

Books this week

Gingerbread Girl
Gingerbread Boy

Small Groups
-Measuring with non-standard units of measure with our gingerbread rulers hunt in the high school
-Gingerbread Rhyming activity
-Gingerbread Sequencing in order from smallest to largest using 6 different sizes
-Gingerbread Tally Game- We will spin a spinner and record which gingerbread man it lands on. We will discuss concepts of more, less, and equal

Center
Blocks-Blocks
Sensory Table-Snow (aka popcorn from boxes)
Dramatic Play-  Gingerbread Bakery
Library- A variety of books about gingerbread
Art Table-Painting with gingerbread cookie cutters
Easel- Water Colors
Science Table
Puzzles- Puzzles
Manipulatives- Ipad apps to make cookies
Writing Center- Writing Letters

Song, Word Play and Letters
Poems- 5 little cookies
Songs- gingerbread songs, Tale of the Gingerbread Musical Songs
Literacy Skills- Letter Sound Activities, Change and Rearrange Words

Handwriting
-We will be working on our  HWT books (We are working on Big and Little Line Letters like E,F,T,L)

Holly pretending to be a teacher?

Holly was reading our unit book when we arrived at school. It looks like the action heroes are being very good listeners today. We are hoping they get a high five today. 

Holly wrote back:)

Holly wrote back to us today. It is very exciting. Today she was dressed up like Spider-Man, or should we say Spider-Elf?

Holly has arrived

An elf named Holly has arrived very dramatically in our classroom. We decided to write a letter to her to ask questions?  (Examples-do you like thanksgiving?  Do you like coconuts? Do you like presents?). We delivered it to the office and Sandy was going to send it out in the express mail. We are hoping she will write back to us. 

Go Burlington-at the BHS pep rally!!

Pinata Party Video an Pictures

Our Pinata Party!!

(Video do not always play on phones.

 If you cannot view try on a computer)

We listened to our unit book(Hooray a Pinata) with our stuffed animal friends. 

We had our stuffed animal friends on the playground too.  We have them a ride.

It was a fun day!!

Hooray A Pinata

Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving

Gingerbread Unit Dec1-5

No School on December 4- Teacher conferences

-We will starting a unit on gingerbread.  We will be reading multiple versions of stories related to the tale of the gingerbread man.  
-We will also be having a family celebration in the month of December. I will be sending home a -notice and posting more information the first week we come back to school.  
-Gingerbread Homework- I will be sending "homework" next week as well.  Please have fun with you child with the at home math activity.  (Gingerbread Measuring)
-NO School on December 5 (Parent Teacher Conference Day)
- We also have an elf named Holly who will be visiting us in the month of December.  Holly be hiding in our classroom and keeping an eye on all of us.

Books this week

Gingerbread Man
Gingerbread Boy

Small Groups
-Math- Gingerbread number book- we will be using 1:1 correspondence to create a number book based on the characters of the Gingerbread Man
-Group Activity- We will be using our "rulers" to find items to measure in the high school.  This is to help give your child ideas and excite them about finding items to measure at home.
-Ordinal Position- We will be incorporating fine motor to reinforce ordinal position (first, second,....)
-Book Browsing- We will be comparing books to see which characters are in the gingerbread man stories and not in the gingerbread stories.  After discussing and looking for evidence in books we will create a graph.

Center
Blocks-Blocks
Sensory Table-Snow (aka popcorn from boxes)
Dramatic Play-  Gingerbread Bakery
Library- A variety of books about gingerbread
Art Table-Painting with gingerbread cookie cutters
Easel- Water Colors
Science Table
Puzzles- Puzzles
Manipulatives- Ipad apps to make cookies
Writing Center- Writing Letters

Song, Word Play and Letters
Poems- 5 little cookies
Songs- gingerbread songs, Tale of the Gingerbread Musical Songs
Literacy Skills- Letter Sound Activities, Change and Rearrange Words

Handwriting
-We will be working on our  HWT books (We are working on Big and Little Line Letters like E,F,T,L)

Last week of friends (Nov. 24-26)

This is our last week of our Friends Unit  (November 24-26)

Upcoming Events:
-Half Day on Wednesday (Dismissal for all students at 11:30)
-Pinata Party for students on Nov. 25 Please have your child bring in a stuffed animal for the day
-Family Party on Dec. 18 (more details to follow)

***On Wednesday have your child wear a red shirt! We will be going to the high school pep rally.  Have them dress to show their Burlington Pride!

Books this week

Hooray a Pinata
The Doorbell Rang

Small Groups
-Pinata Party!!!!
-Sorting Unit words by syllables- We will be reviewing our unit words for comprehension as well as understanding of clapping syllables in words
-Rhyming of unit words- We will be using unit words in a small group and finding words that rhyme with them.
Centers
Blocks- Blocks
Sensory Table-sand
Dramatic Play- Ice Cream Shop
Library- A variety of books about friends
Art Table-pinata paintings
Easel- Water Colors
Puzzles-  Puzzles
Manipulatives-board games
Writing Center- envelopes and markers

Song, Word Play and Letters
Poems- Five Juicy Apples, Five Little Owl in an old oak tree
Songs- Big Pig Song (Rhyming words)
Literacy Skills- Frog Jump Letters(building letters F,E, R,D, P, N,M)

Handwriting
-We will be working.on on "straight line" letters (ie. L,T,I) for the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum within our workbooks as well as other hands on activities.


Preschool Life Skills
We are continuing to review our previous skills 1-4.
1-When a teacher calls your name, stop, look and say, "Yes".
2-When a teacher tells you to do something, do it "Right Away".
3-When a teacher tells you to do 2 things, do it "Right Away".
4-When something is too hard, first try then say,"Can you help me please?"
New Skill with this week:
5. "When you want something from a teacher or friend and they are doing something, say, "Excuse me" to get them to look at you."

Circle hunt

Yesterday our class went on a circle hunt in the high school. First we talked about the qualities of a circle (has curved lines, round like a ball, not a flat circle like an oval). 

We used clip board to help us record our data. We stopped and colored a circle on our sheets every time we found a circle.  It was a fun way to spend a rainy day. 

Friends Unit Nov. 17-21

Pinata Party- Nov. 25 Children will be "inviting" stuffed animal friends from home.  We will be creating a pinata in school for our party.  Please look for the Pinata party notice next week.

In 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 identify 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

Hooray a Pinata
Dandelion
The Doorbell Rang

Small Groups
-Phonemic Awareness- We will be playing sound hopscotch.  Children will label letters on a hopscotch board on the rug. Then they will find an object that begins with the letter.   After they find each object and place it on the board, they will also place a sticker on their paper.  When everyone finds the objects in the group, we will all play the hopscotch game together.
-Grocery Store List- We will each choose 3 objects from a supermarket flyer that we would like to buy.  Then using "ear spelling" we will write the letters we hear. We are not expecting words to be spelled correctly.  We are listening for the letters we hear in each word.
-Turn taking game- We will be playing a board game in a small group to reinforce waiting for our turn and turn taking language.
-Math- Sharing cookies with the hungry monkeys.  We will be introducing the concept of dividing objects to share with our friends.  In groups, we will share 12 bananas with 2 hungry monkeys. How many will each monkey have? Then we will change the number of bananas and see how the numbers change.

Centers
Blocks- Blocks
Sensory Table-yellow yarn to cut for a Dandelion mural
Dramatic Play- Ice Cream Shop
Library- A variety of books about friends
Art Table-painting fish scales for a mural
Easel- Water Colors
Puzzles-  Puzzles
Manipulatives-tangrams
Writing Center- fancy pens

Song, Word Play and Letters
Poems- Five Juicy Apples, Five Little Owl in an old oak tree
Songs- Big Pig Song (Rhyming words)
Literacy Skills- Frog Jump Letters(building letters F,E, R,D, P, N,M)

Handwriting
-We will be working.on on "straight line" letters (ie. L,T,I) for the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum within our workbooks as well as other hands on activities.
-Friendship Bracelets Envelopes
-Self Portraits

Preschool Life Skills
We are continuing to review our previous skills 1-4.
1-When a teacher calls your name, stop, look and say, "Yes".
2-When a teacher tells you to do something, do it "Right Away".
3-When a teacher tells you to do 2 things, do it "Right Away".
4-When something is too hard, first try then say,"Can you help me please?"
New Skill with this week:
5. "When you want something from a teacher or friend and they are doing something, say, "Excuse me" to get them to look at you."

RTI in Preschool

As part of our integrated learning model, speech, occupational, physical and behavioral therapists are working in all classrooms. These therapists are a great resource for our program. Our therapists are supporting all students with speech, language, fine motor, gross motor, social, and behavioral development. Because of this model, your child may participate in groups with our therapists to aid in the generalization of these skills in all classrooms. Additionally, we will be working closely with other classrooms to incorporate an integrated model to build social skills in a learning environment. Your child will have an opportunity to play with new friends in our classroom or visit another classroom for a short period of time. If you have any questions or concerns about this integrated model of learning, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Our classroom has been playing during our playground time with the Kick Start Kindergarten Kinderstars.  We have recently joined each other's story times and now we are integrating our choice times.  

November 12-14 Friends Unit

No School Reminders:  Nov.10(Teacher PD), Nov. 11(Veteran's Day)

In 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 identify 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

Hooray a Pinata
Dandelion

Small Groups
-Math- We will be discussing the concept of money(coins).  We have been playing grocery store and now we will cut, sort, and paste coins. (penny, dime, quarter)
-Phonemic Awareness- We will be clapping syllables of words in Matthew and Tilly. Then we will build ice cream cones with the number of syllables for each word.
-Sequencing- We have read A Letter to Amy multiple times and now we will recall the events in the story and sequence up to 6 pictures.


Centers
Blocks-Block and trucks to go to the supermarket
Sensory Table-Beans
Dramatic Play-Grocery Store
Library- A variety of books about friends
Art Table-painting ice cream cones
Easel- Water Colors
Puzzles-  Puzzles
Manipulatives-tangrams
Writing Center- fancy pens

Song, Word Play and Letters
Poems- Five Juicy Apples, Five Little Owl in an old oak tree
Songs- Big Pig Song (Rhyming words)
Literacy Skills- Frog Jump Letters(building letters F,E, R,D, P, N,M)

Handwriting
-We will be working on on "straight line" letters (ie. L,T,I) for the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum within our workbooks as well as other hands on activities.
-Friendship Bracelets Envelopes
-Self Portraits

Preschool Life Skills
We are continuing to review our previous skills 1-4.
1-When a teacher calls your name, stop, look and say, "Yes".
2-When a teacher tells you to do something, do it "Right Away".
3-When a teacher tells you to do 2 things, do it "Right Away".
Skill we are continuing with this week:
4-When something is too hard, first try then say,"Can you help me please?"

Gerbils in their balls

Today we had our gerbils in their balls. It was so to see them rolling on the rug. 

Election Day predictions

Today our class voted in a mock election.  Each child voted secretly in the library. Then we created a graph to see the results. We discussed who had more and less votes as well.  I told them every year the cub cadet classes predict the winner in upcoming elections. Looks like Charlie Baker will be our next governor(according to our class).  

Week 2 Friends November 3-7

No School Reminders: Nov. 4(Election Day), Nov.10(Teacher PD), Nov. 11(Veteran's Day)

In 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

Matthew and Tilly
A Letter to Amy by Ezra Jack Keats

Small Groups
-Math- We will be flipping colored chips(red/green).  We will record which color the chip lands on by coloring a sheet.  We will discuss which color we landed on the most and least.
-Uppercase Letter Matching- In our book Matthew and Tilly, two friends play store.  We will be creating store signs to play with by cutting and then matching uppercase letters to role play with.
-Pizza Books- We will be counting the correct number of toppings for our pizzas in pizza books.
-Writing- We will be "rainbow writing" the words open and closed to reinforce starting our letters at the top.  We will place a dot marker at the top of each letter to remind us to start at the top.

Centers
Blocks-Block and Dinosaurs
Sensory Table-Magic Sand with molds
Dramatic Play-Grocery Store
Library- A variety of books about friends
Art Table-building our boxes to create instruments for  "jazz" band
Easel- Water Colors
Puzzles- Vegetable Puzzles
Manipulatives- letter tiles for vocab words to match
Writing Center- chalk writing

Song, Word Play and Letters
Poems- Five Juicy Apples, Five Little Owl in an old oak tree
Songs- Big Pig Song (Rhyming words)
Literacy Skills- Frog Jump Letters(building letters F,E, R,D, P, N,M)

Handwriting
-We will be working on on "straight line" letters (ie. L,T,I) for the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum within our workbooks as well as other hands on activities.
-Hope Punching Letters (E eats everything strips)
-Theraputty
-Friendship Bracelets

Preschool Life Skills
We are continuing to review our previous skills 1-4.
1-When a teacher calls your name, stop, look and say, "Yes".
2-When a teacher tells you to do something, do it "Right Away".
3-When a teacher tells you to do 2 things, do it "Right Away".
Skill we are continuing with this week:
4-When something is too hard, first try then say,"Can you help me please?"

Pictures from our dress up parade

Pictures from our dress up parade

Pictures from our dress up parade. We went to the central offices today. We visited Mr. Larkin, Ms. D'Amato, and business offices. Our final stop was to visit Dr. Conti who gave us high fives dressed as a minion. It was a fun day! 

Storybooks came alive today in our classroom

Today at choice time Katelin read The Very Hungry Caterpillar as the caterpillar. 

Pat read Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus as the pigeon. Lisa read the bus driver part. She was dressed as a different book, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! 

Today all of our favorite books came alive. 

Meet the newest Cub Cadets

Natasha and Claire from the science center will be visiting our classroom. We will be observing these gerbils and taking care of them. 

Friends Unit Week 1 Oct.27-31

Dress Up Parade This Thursday (October 30)
No School Reminders: Nov. 4(Election Day), Nov.10(Teacher PD), Nov. 11(Veteran's Day)

In 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

The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza)
A Letter to Amy by Ezra Jack Keats

Small Groups
-Science/Math- Exploring "Pizza Dough"- Children will be given "pizza dough".  It is really play dough.  They will use language to describe they observations such as how does it feel and what does it look like. They will be encouraged to knead the dough and shape it just like at a pizza shop.  We will be adding toppings to our dough and talking about math concepts as we create our pizza. (more/less; counting how many; equal; comparing our pizza with a peers)
-Math- Pizza Books- We will put toppings onto pizzas, count, then write the number for each pizza.   -Language
-Phonemic Awareness- Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza Beginning Sounds in unit words sorting activity.
-Pumpkin Fine Motor Activity- We will cut on lines and assemble an oval from the pieces to create a pumpkin.  Children can add eyes, nose, and mouth to create a jackolantern if they wish.
-Memory Game- We will be playing a memory game using the names of our friends.  They will only see the text without a visual.

Centers
Blocks-Block and Dinosaurs
Sensory Table-Washing Dishes with soap and sponges
Dramatic Play- Pizza Shop
Library- A variety of books about friends
Art Table-Painting Boxes to create instruments for  "jazz" band
Easel- Water Colors
Puzzles- Vegetable Puzzles
Manipulatives- Stringing Beads to make friendship bracelets
Writing Center- Creating Handmade Stationary

Song, Word Play and Letters
Poems- Five Juicy Apples, Five Little Owl in an old oak tree
Songs- Come On and Join In To The Game, Down by the Bay, Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
Literacy Skills- Clap out our names(counting the syllables in our friends names), If your name starts with a __  raise your hand, Chiming in with rhyming words.

Handwriting
-We will be working on on "straight line" letters (ie. L,T,I) for the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum within our workbooks as well as other hands on activities.
-Magnet Tracing Boards, Wooden Letter pieces, and chalk boards

Preschool Life Skills
We are continuing to review our previous skills 1-4.
1-When a teacher calls your name, stop, look and say, "Yes".
2-When a teacher tells you to do something, do it "Right Away".
3-When a teacher tells you to do 2 things, do it "Right Away".
Skill we are continuing with this week:
4-When something is too hard, first try then say,"Can you help me please?"

Science Center Visit

Rainy day exploration at the Burlington Science Center

Back To School Presentation

October 20-24 Last week of Family Unit

Book Bag Program Starting next week(A notice will be sent home to explain how it works)
We also will be sending home our next class book: Clapping Syllables in our Names

Children will be exploring and talking about families and the many different ways families relate to and help one another. Through the Story Time books, children will hear about a boy who helps his family take care of his baby sister, a boy who realizes how much he has grown when a new baby arrives, a girl who behaves badly when she want attention, and a lonely stuffed bear who finds a new friend. Besides listening to stories, children will begin to recognize initial sounds in words and identify rhyming words as they build vocabulary and comprehension skills. They will also be participating in a variety of music, poetry, mathematics, science, and art activities during Center Time and in Small Groups.
Theme Concepts:
*Family members have role names: mother, father, sister, and so on.
*Some family members live together; some live in other places but are still family members.
*Grown-ups in a family take care of the children. Younger children need more care. Older children can help take care of younger brothers and sisters.
*Children sometimes get angry at parents and may feel that their parents don't love them as much as their siblings.
*Sometimes grown-ups in a family don't like things that children do and tell them to stop or be quiet.
*Families do things together that are fun.

Books This Week:
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats

Small Groups:
Story Sequencing- We read the story The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything.  We then created a life sized scarecrow based on the story.  Now in a small group, we will sequence the order of the story to retell it.

Math- We will play a 1:1 correspondence/number identification game.  Using a number cube we will roll it, identify the number then take the correct amount of baby bottles to place on a game board
Science- Flashlight Exploration- In Corduroy, the night watchman used a flashlight to search in the store.  We will find a dark space in the school (the big room with the lights out) and search for letters in the room.
Unit Vocab Books- We will continue with our vocab books.
Alphabet Bingo- We will complete our family unit as we play a large group bingo game.


Centers
-Dramatic Play-Toy Store (like in the book Corduroy)
-Sensory Table- Water Fountains. (Containers with holes and funnels provided)
-Art Table- Leaf Rubbings
-Writing-Stuffed Animal drawings
-Blocks- Zoo Animals
-Math/Manipulative- Puzzles and Paint Chips
-Science- Instruments to explore (listening to different sounds)
-Library- Reading to babies

Let's Talk About It
-Practicing new things
-Life Skill discussion
-Role Play of new life skill/practice
-Social Skills- Talking about the "group plan"

Songs, Word Play, and Letters
-Syllables in words (our names, character names, unit words)
-Rhyming Words Song
-Ear Listening Game
-Peter (bingo version)
-If your name starts with ____ raise your hand, jump, clap your hands (following directions game)

Handwriting
-We will be continuing our color books for the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum. We will focus on proper grasp holding our stubby crayons. We are will be focusing on Mat Man and how we use different lines to build him.

Preschool Life Skills
We are continuing to review our previous skills 1-2.
1-When a teacher calls your name, stop, look and say, "Yes".
2-When a teacher tells you to do something, do it "Right Away".
3-When a teacher tells you to do 2 things, do it "Right Away".(multi-step directions)
We will talk about our new skill this week:
4-When something is too hard, find a teacher and say "Help me please."

Social Thinking-Reading The group plan book

October 14-17 Family Unit

Save The Date: Back to School Night October 15 at 6:30
Book Fair will also be open during open house night
No School Monday Columbus DayFamilies Theme
Children will be exploring and talking about families and the many different ways families relate to and help one another. Through the Story Time books, children will hear about a boy who helps his family take care of his baby sister, a boy who realizes how much he has grown when a new baby arrives, a girl who behaves badly when she want attention, and a lonely stuffed bear who finds a new friend. Besides listening to stories, children will begin to recognize initial sounds in words and identify rhyming words as they build vocabulary and comprehension skills. They will also be participating in a variety of music, poetry, mathematics, science, and art activities during Center Time and in Small Groups.
Theme Concepts:
*Family members have role names: mother, father, sister, and so on.
*Some family members live together; some live in other places but are still family members.
*Grown-ups in a family take care of the children. Younger children need more care. Older children can help take care of younger brothers and sisters.
*Children sometimes get angry at parents and may feel that their parents don't love them as much as their siblings.
*Sometimes grown-ups in a family don't like things that children do and tell them to stop or be quiet.
*Families do things together that are fun.

Books This Week:
Noisy Nora byRosemary Wells
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats

Small Groups:
Marble Play / Exploration- We will explore marbles using magnifying glasses, mirrors, and flashlights.  We will draw what we see and talk about our observations.
Sorting Buttons- We will be coloring a variety of buttons. Then cutting, sorting, and gluing by the number of holes the buttons have.
Alphabet Bingo- We will play alphabet bingo in small groups.  We will reinforce letter identification and letter sounds.
Unit Vocab Books- We will continue with our vocab books.

Centers
-Dramatic Play- Laundromat- Related to Knuffle Bunny.  We will look for Knuffle Bunny in the washing machine like in the story
-Sensory Table- Water Play with Squirt bottles.
-Art Table- Knuffle Bunny Laundry Art Project
-Writing- unit words
-Blocks- Block Play with animals to reinforce that animals are part of a family (baby/mother)
-Math/Manipulative- Puzzles and Paint Chips
-Science- Magnifying Glasses
-Library- Reading to babies

Let's Talk About It
-Pets as members of your family
-Who has a stuffed animal at home (related to Corduroy)
-Piggy Banks (related to Corduroy) preview of how we are going to make them
-Social Skills- What are kind words we can use to our friends

Songs, Word Play, and Letters
-Syllables in words (our names, character names, unit words)
-Rhyming Words Song
-Dr. Jean Alphabet
-Down by the Bay
-If your name starts with ____ raise your hand, jump, clap your hands (following directions game)

Handwriting
-We will be continuing our color books for the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum. We will focus on proper grasp holding our stubby crayons. We are will be focusing on Mat Man and how we use different lines to build him.

Preschool Life Skills
We are continuing to review our previous skills 1-2.
1-When a teacher calls your name, stop, look and say, "Yes".
2-When a teacher tells you to do something, do it "Right Away".

We will continue our new skill this week:
3-When a teacher tells you to do 2 things, do it "Right Away".(multi-step directions)

Social Thinking-We will be using thought bubbles on sticks to role play our feelings.

Harmonica's in the classroom

In our unit story Oonga Boonga, grandpa tried to play his harmonica to help the baby to stop crying.  We created our own harmonicas with the help of The Burlington Science Center.  Thanks so much to Mr. Musselman for helping us make connections to our unit books.
Click on the link below to view our video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZdVxwWmltw&list=UUohjOb2xVyr8VrPu8JAI8ug

Family Unit October 6-10

Save The Date: Back to School Night October 15 at 6:30

Families Theme
Children will be exploring and talking about families and the many different ways families relate to and help one another. Through the Story Time books, children will hear about a boy who helps his family take care of his baby sister, a boy who realizes how much he has grown when a new baby arrives, a girl who behaves badly when she want attention, and a lonely stuffed bear who finds a new friend. Besides listening to stories, children will begin to recognize initial sounds in words and identify rhyming words as they build vocabulary and comprehension skills. They will also be participating in a variety of music, poetry, mathematics, science, and art activities during Center Time and in Small Groups.
Theme Concepts:
*Family members have role names: mother, father, sister, and so on.
*Some family members live together; some live in other places but are still family members.
*Grown-ups in a family take care of the children. Younger children need more care. Older children can help take care of younger brothers and sisters.
*Children sometimes get angry at parents and may feel that their parents don't love them as much as their siblings.
*Sometimes grown-ups in a family don't like things that children do and tell them to stop or be quiet.
*Families do things together that are fun.

Books This Week:
Noisy Nora byRosemary Wells
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats

Small Groups:
-Alphabet Train Letter Matching- We will match uppercase letters to create a train. The trains will look like paint chips to remind us of painting Peter's Chair
-Sound Cans- We will be listening to objects in a can and try to guess what the object is by listening to the sound.  We will then cut and paste to create a chart to show our results.
-Beginning Letter Sounds- Using unit vocabulary words we will listen to the initial sound in words then identify the letter that beginnings the word to create a small letter book.
-Math- Ordinals- Which bear is first? We will color then place bears on a road and talk about ordinal position (first, second, third, fourth, fifth).
-Unit Vocabulary Books- We will continue to create unit 1 vocab books by matching and writing uppercase letters.


Centers
-Dramatic Play- Laundromat- Related to Knuffle Bunny.  We will look for Knuffle Bunny in the washing machine like in the story
-Sensory Table- Marble Mazes
-Art Table- Paint exploration/airplane making
-Writing- unit words
-Blocks- Block Play with dogs to make them home
-Math/Manipulative- Puzzles and Paint Chips
-Science- Mirrors to look for our reflections
-Library- Reading to babies

Let's Talk About It
-Time for Bed book
-Paper Airplanes and other folded paper objects
-Mixing paint and paint chips (related to Peter's chair)
-Cook Books and Recipes (related to Noisy Nora; when she follows a recipe with her mom)

Songs, Word Play, and Letters
-Syllables in words (our names, character names, unit words)
-Rhyming Words Song
-Dr. Jean Alphabet
-Down by the Bay
-If your name starts with ____ raise your hand, jump, clap your hands (following directions game)

Handwriting
-We will be continuing our color books for the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum. We will focus on proper grasp holding our stubby crayons. We are working on our color and shape books.

Preschool Life Skills
We are continuing to review our previous skills 1-2.
1-When a teacher calls your name, stop, look and say, "Yes".
2-When a teacher tells you to do something, do it "Right Away".

We will continue our new skill this week:
3-When a teacher tells you to do 2 things, do it "Right Away".(multi-step directions)

Social Thinking- We have been discussing our feeling by talking about thought bubbles.  We have been working on thinks that make us feel happy, sad, mad, and scared.

Happy birthday Pat

Today it was Pat's birthday. We made her a special crown and made her cards at choice time.  She read us her favorite book, gave us all Popsicles, and even gave us special mystery bags. It was a very fun day!