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! 

Airplane Derby Today

Related to our unit book Oonga Boonga we had an airplane derby. We folded paper in a fine motor small group to create our own paper airplanes. Daniel in our book created airplanes and flew his outside. We created a long number line from 1 to 7 on the rug. Then one at a time each child flew their airplane on the rug. The number they flew their airplane closest to was the number of stickers they put on their plane. It was a fun way to reinforce math skills and motor skills as well. Your child can try to fly their airplane at home too.  

Silly Willy Scarecrow Today

Today we read the book The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything.  We used the clothing to tell the story. At the end of the book the little old lady told the clothes to come together to make a scarecrow. We did the same. We stuffed the scarecrow with shredded paper to build our own. Then we chose a name. We all chose Silly Willy.  Willy is the name of the dog from our unit book Peter's Chair. It was a fun activity!!!