Group Meeting:  For today and tomorrow, we will be learning about rainbows.  With St. Patrick's Day coming and Spring weather, we wanted to take some time to learn about this weather event.

Story:  The story for today was Ava and the Rainbow Who Stayed by Geb Adamson.  In this story, it is raining and the sun is coming out.  Ava knows that a rainbow will appear in the sky.  She hurries to find it before it disappears.  However, the rainbow doesn't disappear.  It decides to stay.  For a while, the rainbow is very special.  People come from far away to see the rainbow.  Souvenirs are made for people who come to see the rainbow.  Gradually, the people are so used to seeing the rainbow that it is no longer special.  This makes the rainbow sad.  It goes away.  Ask your child to tell you what brings the rainbow back. 

Small Groups:  The children did an experiment with milk, liquid watercolor, and dish soap.  I poured milk into pie tins.  The children used eye droppers to drop color onto the milk.  Then, one child put dish soap onto the end of a Q-tip and touched the milk.  Ask your child to tell you what happened next.  This is a great experiment to do at home.  You can use food coloring instead of the liquid watercolor.

Large Group:  The children in the Green Group brought items for Show and Tell. 

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Rr (for rainbows, just a coincidence).

Snacks:  The morning snack was blueberries and cheese cubes brought by Laurel.  The afternoon snack was blackberries and Cheerios brought by Rory.  Thank you, Laurel and Rory!

Group Meeting:  The children talked about the field trip and things that they saw at the fire station.  We made a list of everything that we saw.

Story:  The story for today was I Drive a Fire Engine by Sarah Bridges.  This book was a great review of things that we learned yesterday.  Following the story, we talked about fire safety at home and at school.

Small Groups:  The children drew pictures in their writing journals of things that we saw at the fire station.  We included the simple machines that we saw as well.

Large Group:  The children learned a song that we had not sung at school yet, "Five Green and Speckled Frogs".

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Nn.

Snacks:  The morning snack was apples and peanut butter by Sawyer.  The afternoon snack was yogurt, mini chocolate chips, and bananas brought by Ryan.  Thank you, Sawyer and Ryan.

A note went home today about Parent/Teacher Conferences.  An email will be sent out tomorrow linking you to the sign up site.

We had a great time at the fire station today.  Thank you, grown-ups, for taking the time to get us there in the rain!!  I managed to take a few pictures.

Group Meeting:  Our field trip will take place on Monday.  We talked about where we are going and what we will be looking for at the fire station.

Story:  The story for today was Moving Day by Robert Munsch.  A family is packing boxes because the moving truck is coming to move them to a new house.  Danielle wants to know how she can help her parents.  Her mother tells her to grab something and put it in a box.  Ask your child to tell you what she puts in the box and where the boxes go before they open them.

Large Group:  The children watched a video explaining the life cycle of a frog.  This went along with our Let's Find Out magazine.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Mm.

Snacks:  The morning snack was Belvita bars, mandarin oranges, and milk brought by Nora.  The afternoon snack was granola bars and cheese sticks brought by Tate.  Thank you, Nora and Tate!

A note went home with your child today concerning the field trip.  Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Group Meeting:  The children have been adding glass beads into a jar as we add numbers to our coconut tree.  Today, we reached number 10.  So, we wanted to know how many glass beads would be in the jar all together.  We dumped the beads onto the floor and put them into groups of 10.  We counted by 10's and had 5 left over for a total of 55 beads.

Story:  The story for today was A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams.  Rosa and her mother are saving money.  They put coins into a jar every day to save up to buy a chair.  When the jar becomes full, they take the money to the bank to convert it into paper money.  They take the money to the furniture store and buy a new chair.  Ask your child to tell you why they needed to buy a new chair.

Small Groups:  The children in the Yellow Group brought items for show and tell.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Ll.

Snacks:  The morning snack was apples, cheese and juice brought by Ram.  The afternoon snack was applesauce and Goldfish brought by Vivienne.  Thank you, Ram and Vivienne!

Special Visitor:  The afternoon class had a special visitor today.  Ian's dad, Mr. Fah owns a moving company.   He showed us how levers, wheels, and axles make his job easier especially when moving heavy things like furniture and pianos.  Thank you very much Mr. Fah!

Story:  Yesterday, I read The Three Little Pigs.  Today, I read The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas.  This story is a twist on the classic.  This time, it is three little wolves who leave their home to build their own houses.  The villain is the big bad pig who wants to destroy their homes.  Ask your child to tell you how this one ends.  Following the story, we did a comparison.  We made a list of things that were the same in both stories and things that were different. 

Small Groups:  The children got into their groups to try to build a home for a pig.  One group had straws (I didn't have access to real straw, so we improvised),  one group used sticks (popsicle sticks) and one group used Duplo blocks.   After looking at each other's houses, we tried blowing them down.

Afternoon stick house

Afternoon brick house

Afternoon straw house

Morning brick house

Morning straw house

Morning stick house

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Ff.

Snacks:  The morning snack was apples and cheese sticks brought by Tristan.  The afternoon snack was Cheerios and juice brought by Cade.  Thank you, Tristan and Cade!

I want to thank all of the grown-ups who attended preschool with their children on Thursday.  We had a great time.  I was very happy to see how much the grown-ups liked to play!

Group Meeting:  Starting a new month means putting new stickers on the 10 frame and starting new math journals.  I can't believe that we have only three months left.

Story:  The story for today was The Three Little Pigs retold by Bonnie Dobkin.  This is the classic tale of the three pigs who build homes of straw, sticks, and bricks.  The big bad wolf comes to their house to "huff and puff and blow it down".  Ask your child to tell you how the story ends.

Large Group:  The children re-enacted the story using puppets and cardboard cut-outs of the three houses.  Every child had a turn to be a pig or the wolf.  Tomorrow, I will put the props in the story area for them to use if they would like to be a different character. 

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Zz.

Snacks:  The morning snack was Belvita bars, grapes, and juice brought by Weston.  The afternoon snack was mixed fruit and bunny grahams brought by Caroline.  Thank you, Weston and Caroline!

Pulleys

Group Meeting:  The last simple machine that we will be talking about is the pulley.  We watched a short video about how a pulley works.

Story:  The book that I read today was Pull, Lift, Lower: A Book About Pulleys by Michael Dahl.  This book gave several examples of working pulleys including a crane, window blinds, and elevators.  The children in the book used a pulley to lift things into their tree house.

Small Groups:  The children from the Red Group brought items for Show and Tell.

Tomorrow is Bring a Grown-up to School Day.  We have several things planned for children and adults using simple machines.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Tt.

Snacks:  The morning snack was Goldfish and cheese sticks brought by Andy.  The afternoon snack was Goldfish and juice brought by Charlotte.  Thank you, Andy and Charlotte!

Wheels

Group Meeting:  The simple machine that we discussed today was the wheel and axle.  We watched a short video about how wheels make work easier because there is less force needed to perform the work.

Story:  The book that I read today was the non-fiction book /Wheels and Axles by Kirsten Chang.  The pictures in this book demonstrated how wheels can make a job easier.  A man moving boxes can do it easier by using a cart with wheels.  A girl planting flowers can move the dirt easier with a wheel barrow. 

After the story, I had a duffel bag that was filled to make it heavy.  We pretended that I was going to the airport with my heavy bag.  It would be hard to carry it all the way through the airport.  Then I put it on a dolly with wheels.  The wheels made it easy to pull the bag.  The children took turns trying to carry and then pull the bag.

Large Group:  The children did relay races with beanbags.  It's always nice to see how much they enjoy this simple game!

Letter Learning:  The letter for the day was Pp.

Snacks:  The morning snack and the afternoon snack were exactly the same; Belvita bars and apples.  Thank you, Blake and Eleanor!

I took a few pictures of interesting things that were happening in school today.

Teeth

Group Meeting:  February is Dental Health month.  Many of our activities for today revolved around taking care of our teeth.

Story:  The story for today was The Tooth Book by Dr. Seuss.  People and most animals have teeth.  We use our teeth to eat, talk and smile.  Our teeth are important, so we should take care of them.  Ask your child to tell you what you should not do with your teeth. 

Large Group:  The children watched a video about animal teeth.  Some animals are carnivores and have sharp teeth.  Some animals are herbivores and have flat teeth.  After the video, the children cut their magazine to make a little book.  Then, they circled the things on the last page that are good for healthy teeth.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Kk.

Snacks:  The morning snack was strawberries and Wheat Thins brought by Brea.  The afternoon snack was cheese sticks and applesauce brought by Eliza.  Thank you, Brea and Eliza!

Group Meeting:  The children noticed that there were 3 20's in today's date.  They are getting very good at reading the day, month and number that is on the message board.

Story:  The story for today was Hammer and Nails by Josh Bledsoe.  Darcy had scheduled a play date with a friend.  When her friend is sick and can't come, Dad steps in to suggest a Darcy-Daddy day.  Darcy had a list of things that she had planned to do with her friend.  Daddy has a list of things that he needs to do around the house.  They take turns doing things on each other's lists.  Daddy dresses up in a tutu.  Darcy helps mow the lawn.  Daddy plays Hair Salon. Darcy helps fold socks.  Darcy helps daddy put nails into the fence to fix it.  Ask your child to tell you what kind of nails Daddy does with Darcy. 

Small Groups:  The children are preparing for Grown-up Day which is next week.  Today, they drew pictures of what they will look like when they are grown-up.  These pictures will be on the bulletin board next week.

Large Group:  The children danced The Chicken Dance.  The music is slow at first and then gets very fast.

Snacks:  The morning snack was apples, peanut butter and milk brought by Callie.  The afternoon snack was Teddy Grahams and bananas brought by Elizabeth.  Thank you, Callie and Elizabeth!

Wedge

Group Meeting:  We are back to learning about simple machines.  This week, we are learning about the wedge.  The most common wedges are knives and axes.   Next week, we will learn about wheels and axles.  Then, we will review and wrap up this study.  Part of our wrap up will be a field trip to the fire station.  A note about this is in your child's bag today.

Story:  The story for today was Spoon by Amy Rosenthal.  Spoon wishes he could do things that the knife and fork can do.  His mother helps him realize that he can do his own special things such as dip into ice cream, measure, and stir tea.  At the end of the story, Spoon does something with his parents that the other utensils can't do.  Ask your child to tell you what it is.

Small Groups:  The children rolled play dough into long ropes.  Then, they used plastic knives to cut the ropes into pieces.  This was a good fine motor skill activity.

Large Group:  The children pretended that they were tight rope walkers and walked across the balance beam while listening to circus music.

Letter Learning:  We are back to learning about the letters.  This time, the children will print the letters on paper.  They will also find the letters in a sentence that is printed on the paper.  The letter for today was Bb.

Snacks:  The morning snack was cheese sticks and apples brought by Cooper.  The afternoon snack was Belvita bars and milk brought by Ian.  Thank you, Cooper and Ian!

Valentine's Party

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day.  We started by completing a Let's Find Out Magazine about Valentine's Day.  Then we had a short play time followed by opening our Valentines.  Our snack was frozen strawberry yogurt pops in the shape of hearts.  After snack, we played musical hearts with 5 large cardboard hearts that were placed on the floor.  When the music stopped, the children had to find a heart to stand on.  Because there were only 5 hearts, the children had to share.  One by one, the hearts were taken away until everyone had to share the last heart.  At Senior Star, the children sang beautifully and gave away the hearts that they had made.  Thank you, grown-ups for taking us to Senior Star.  I took a few pictures of snack time and the game that we played.  If anyone took pictures at Senior Star, I would like to have a few for our files.  If you're willing to share, please send them to our email address.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  Our opening song for today was "Rhyming Words, Dance and Freeze".    We danced when two words rhymed, but had to freeze when we heard words that did not rhyme.

Story:  The story for today was Hugs and Kisses by Christophe Loupy.  Hugs is a puppy on a mission.  He travels around the farm yard asking animals to give him a kiss.  When he gets back home, Hugs finds the answer.  Ask your child to tell you what Hugs was trying to find out and what he learned.

Large Group:  The children in the Yellow Group brought items for  Show and Tell.  We also practiced our songs for tomorrow one more time.

Snacks:  The morning snack was Belvita bars and milk brought by Grace.  The afternoon snack was Teddy Grahams and cheese sticks brought by Isabelle.  Thank you, Grace and Isabelle!

Tomorrow, weather permitting, is our Valentine's Party.  We will be leaving for Senior Star at 10:30 and 2:15.  If class should be canceled due to weather, we will move our plans to Tuesday (Monday is President's Day). 

Group Meeting:  We have been working with rhyming words this week.  Yesterday, I put two pictures on the easel.  If the picture words rhymed, the children put their thumbs up.  If not, they put their thumbs down.  Today, I had three pictures on the easel.  Two rhymed, one did not.  They had to pick out the two that were rhyming words.  Try this at home.  Say two words and ask your child to tell you if they rhyme.  Say a word and ask your child to think of something that rhymes with it.  Nonsense words are fine for this activity.

Story:  The story for today was The Valentine Bears by Eve Bunting.  Mr. and Mrs. Bear have never celebrated Valentine's Day before.  They have always been hibernating.  This year, Mrs. Bear sets her alarm clock for February 14th so that she can surprise Mr. Bear with a Valentine.  Ask your child to tell you what happens when she tries to wake up Mr. Bear.

Small Groups:  The children sorted items according to their beginning sounds.  The items that we used were from the letter of the day tubs.  Each child selected an item and made the beginning sound.  They made groups of the items that had the same beginning sounds.

Snacks:  The morning snack was watermelon, cucumbers, and juice brought by Hattie.  The afternoon snack was Belvita bars and milk brought by Isla.  Thank you, Hattie and Isla!

Valentine's Week

Group Meeting:  I told the children what we would be doing for the rest of the week to prepare for Valentine's Day.  We talked about our party and what we would need to make during class.  We will be taking Valentine hearts to Senior Star, so we started making them today.

Story:  The story for today was Will You Be My Valentine? by Steven Kroll.  Thomas likes Gretchen more than anyone else in his preschool class.  However, Gretchen doesn't like him.  When Thomas selects Gretchen's name in the class Valentine drawing, he hopes that his homemade Valentine will change her mind.  Thomas' mother arranges a play date for them.  Will Gretchen and Thomas become friends?  Ask your child what happens during their play date.

Small Groups:  The children in each group were given a number of simple machines.  They had to sort them into three groups; inclined planes, screws, and levers.

Large Group:  The children learned 3 songs that we are going to sing at Senior Star.

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class was strawberries and cheese sticks brought by Hudson.  The afternoon snack was vanilla yogurt and Life cereal brought by Julian.  Thank you, Hudson and Julian!

Birthday Day

Group Meeting:    Every day before group meeting, the children print their names in their name journals.  We finished another name journal this week.  Most of the children can print their names without any help and just a few need a little assistance. 

Story:  The story for today was a re-read of How Do You Lift  Lion? by Robert E. Wells.  I read this one again, because it gives good examples of how simple machines work. 

Small Groups:  It was Birthday Day.   The children made quesadillas for a snack.  We used two simple machines to make them.  The children used tongs to take the tortillas off of the plate.  After they added cheese, they brought them to the griddle to heat them and melt the cheese.  If they wanted, the children could put on oven mitts and use a spatula to flip the quesadillas.  Ask your child to tell you what kind of simple machines they were using.

Large Group:  The children watched a video about groundhogs.  This went with the Let's Find Out Magazine for this week.

Snacks:  The children had quesadillas and juice for a snack.  We also had birthday brownies!

Group Meeting:  During group meeting time, we've been taking a few minutes to review syllables.  We use our hands to clap out how many syllables are in a word.  Tomorrow, we will count the syllables in animals names.  Try this at home.  See if your child can clap the syllables in their name and the names of those in your family.

Story:  The story for today was a re-read of Owen by Kevin Henkes.  Before I read the story for the second time, we did a retell by having the children tell me what had happened in the story.  This is a good way for me to check comprehension.  When you read books at home, take a few minutes to ask some questions.  This will help your child understand what was taking place in the story.

Small Groups:  The children were given containers of play dough.  They flattened it onto the table top.  They took different types of screws and pressed them into the play dough.  When they removed them, they could see the thread patterns of the screws in the dough.  They also pressed the head of the screw into the play dough.  Then they could see the type of screwdriver that would be needed to turn the screw.

Large Group:  The Red Group brought items for Show and Tell.

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class was crackers, cheese and juice brought by Jake.  The afternoon snack was beef hot dogs, bread and ketchup brought by Logan.  Thank you, Jake and Logan!

Group Meeting:  Yesterday, the simple machine that we discussed was the screw.  Today as the children arrived, I had several examples of screws for them to try.

Story:  The story for today was Lola Loves Stories by Anna McQuinn.  Lola loves to go to the library with her daddy.  She picks out books to last for a week.  Every day, mom or dad read a new book and the next day she acts out the story.  Lola pretends to be a fairy princess, a tiger, a farmer, etc.  After the story, we talked about going to the library to pick out books.

Small Groups:  The children counted cubes into two small sets.  They compared the sets by which had more and which had less.

Large Group:  The children played "Marching Around the Alphabet" by Hap Palmer.  The children listen to the music as they march around letter cards.  When the whistle blows, they have to stop and pick up the letter card that is next to them.  They name the letter if they know it or the teacher helps them identify the letter.

Letter Learning:  Yesterday, we finished the alphabet with the letter Z.  We will take a little break from letters and work on a few other skills.

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class is bananas and Belvita bars brought by Kinsley.  The afternoon snack was cheese sticks and crackers brought by Lydia.  Thank you, Kinsley and Lydia!

Group Meeting:  This week, we will be learning about screws.  This is part of our simple machine study.  We are also going to start preparing for Valentine's Day.  If you child has not brought their box to school yet, please do so soon.  Valentines can be brought at any time.

Story:  The story for today was Drew the Screw by Mattio Cerato.  In this book, the pencil draws lines.  The saw can cut.  But unlike everyone else in the garage, Drew the screw has no job.  Finally, Drew finds his job.  Ask your child to tell you what it is.

Small Groups:  The children will be working in their small groups this week decorating their mailboxes for Valentines Day.

Large Group:  The children played a variation of Musical Chairs.  The chairs in this variation were not removed.  After sitting down, the children were asked to identify the shapes that were hidden under their chairs.

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class was Belvita bars and apples brought by Laurel.  The afternoon snack was Belvita bars, cheese sticks, and milk brought by Madelyn.  Thank you, Laurel and Madelyn!