Tuesday, November 30th

Group Meeting:  To say that we had a little excitement in the classroom today would be an understatement.  First of all, the children noticed that there was a gingerbread man standing on our easel.  We have no idea of where he came from, but he did have a note.  Apparently, he heard the story that we read yesterday and would like to be our classroom gingerbread man.  He has promised to bring some fun things to the classroom for us to enjoy.

The other excitement was watching a squirrel dig a hole in our pumpkin and eat the seeds that were inside.  He was not afraid of us watching him through the window as long as we didn't open the door.

Story:  The story for today was The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School by Laura Murray.  A classroom of children have baked a gingerbread man.  While he cools on the cookie sheet, the class goes outside for recess.  The gingerbread man thinks that they are leaving without him.  He runs through the school looking for them.  Ask your child to tell you where he finds them.

Small Groups:  The children completed a gingerbread man ordinal number paper.  I read the directions and they counted the gingerbread men to color them the appropriate color.

Letter Learning:  Zz  We have completed the alphabet for the first time.  Tomorrow, we will begin again.

Snacks:  The snack for today was strawberry yogurt, juice, and water.

Monday, November 29th

Group Meeting:  It's so good to be back in school!  Now that Thanksgiving is over, we will learning about things that we see, feel, taste, smell, and hear during this time of year.  

Story:  The story for today was The Gingerbread Man retold by Jim Aylesworth.  This is the classic tale of a little old man and a little old woman who decide to bake a gingerbread man cookie.  When they open the oven door to take the cookie out, the gingerbread man runs away.   The gingerbread runs from the man and woman, a butcher, a cow, and a sow until he meets a fox.  Ask your child to tell you how the fox tricks the gingerbread man.

Small Groups:  The children went to the art table to mix a paint color of their choice with a metallic gold or silver.  We put the paint on a piece of paper and covered it with cellophane.  The children rubbed the cellophane to mix the colors.  When the cellophane was removed, a beautiful texture was created.  We will use this paper to make baubles for a decoration.

Letter Learning: Yy

Christmas Program:  I explained the program to the children.  They selected parts for the program by reaching into a bag to pull out a picture.  The parts for the program are jingle bells, snowflakes, candles, and Christmas cookie shapes of angel, star, candy cane, gingerbread man, and tree.

Snack:  The snack for today was Goldfish or Sun chips, cheese slice, and water.

Wednesday, November 17

Group Meeting:  Today we are preparing for tomorrow's field trip to the Food Pantry.  We started our day by talking about where we are going and why we are going there.  I am hoping that the children will be able to share some of that message with you.

Story:  The story for today was Maddi's Fridge by Lois Brandt.  This book is about two girls, Sophia and Maddi, who are best friends.  One day, Sophia notices that Maddi does not have any food in her refrigerator.  Maddi is embarrassed  and tells Sophia not to tell anyone.  Sophia keeps her promise but it bothers her that she has so much food, and Maddi does not.  Finally, Sophia asks her mom for help.  Ask your child to tell you how Sophia helped Maddi and how Maddi helped Sophia.

Letter Learning:  Xx

Snacks:  The snack for today was cottage cheese, Wheat Thins, and water.

A note was sent home in your child's bag today with the times that we will be leaving on the field trip.  If you have any questions, please call me.

Tuesday, November 16

Group Meeting:  Our field trip to the Food Pantry is coming up on Thursday.  We are starting to prepare the children for what we will see.  If you haven't returned your child's permission form, please do so tomorrow.

Story:  The story for today was Turkey Trouble by Wendy Silvano.  A turkey on the farm knows that Thanksgiving is coming up.  He does not want to be the main course.  So, he decides to disguise himself as another animal on the farm.  The other animals on the farm easily recognize him.  At last he has a good disguise.  Ask your child to tell you what it is.

Fine Motor:  The children have been using playdough mats with a Thanksgiving theme.  They use the play dough to make feathers for a turkey, pumpkin pie, and other items for a Thanksgiving dinner.  Playdough is a great way for children to gain strength in their fine motor skills.

Gross Motor:  We used the wonderful weather to get outside and play.

Letter Learning:  Ww

Snack:  the snack for today was Harvest Sun Chips, milk, and water.

Monday, November 15

Group Meeting:  For the next two weeks, we will be learning about Thanksgiving.  We started today by talking about turkeys.  We learned the song, "The Turkey is a Silly Bird".  I'm hoping that your child will be able to sing it to you after a few more days.

Story:  The story for today was Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherford.  The children in this book tell about things for which they are thankful.  They explain that being thankful means that you are happy.  After the story we took turns telling about things for which we are thankful.

Fine Motor:  The children picked a construction paper feather and drew a picture of something for which they are thankful.  We took these feathers into the hallway and took turns putting them on our class turkey.

Letter Learning:  Vv

Snack:  The snack for today was applesauce, milk, and water. 

Thursday, November 11

 Group Meeting:  Today was Veteran's Day.  While event is a little difficult for preschoolers to understand, we wanted to stress the importance of thanking those who keep our country safe.

Story:  The story for today was Veteran's: Heroes in our Neighborhood.  After learning about veterans in school, a young boy discovers that heroes live all around him: the butcher, barber, librarian, and many other members of his community who have helped protect our freedom and liberty by serving in various branches of the American military.  We found that we have several heroes in our preschool family!

Let's Find Out Magazine:  The video that accompanied the magazine was about all branches of the military.  The magazine was about the Coast Guard and how they rescue people in the water.  Please take a few minutes to read through the magazine and help your child complete the last page.

Letter Learning:  Nn

Snack:  Today was Birthday Day.  Since we talked about harvesting corn last week, we decided to make corn muffins.  The children helped put the ingredients in the bowl, mixed everything together, and scooped the batter into the muffin cups.  We enjoyed these with juice, water, and Birthday Brownies.

Wednesday, November 10

Group Meeting:  At our meeting, we retold the story from yesterday.  We have placed the puppets from the story in the block area.  The children were invited to use the items during play time to build houses for the pigs and see if the wolf could blow them down.

Story:  The story for today was The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas.  This is a twist on the story that we read yesterday.  This time, it is the wolves that are trying to build a home and the pig is trying to get in.  There were things that were different, including the ending.  Ask your child to tell you how this story ends.

Letter Learning:  Mm

Large Group:  The morning class went outdoors but by the afternoon, it was raining.  So the afternoon class participated in a STEM activity where they tried to build a house for the little pig that would not blow away.  They used toothpicks and gum drops.  Once the house was built, I used a hair dryer to be the Big Bad Wolf and see if it would blow away.  I'll share pictures of this activity after the morning class has the opportunity to do it as well.

Snack:  The snack for today was Cheerios, milk, and water.

Tuesday, November 9

Group Meeting:  For the next few days, we will be doing some activities with The Three Little Pigs.  This story is a favorite with the children and leads to some fun games and learning opportunities.

Story:  The story for today was The Three Little Pigs retold by Bonnie Dobkin.  This is the classic tale of three pigs who go out into the world to build homes of their own.   I like this version because it tells how the first two pigs built flimsy houses because they didn't want to work hard to build a sturdy house.  In the end, the pig who took the time to work hard had the house that saved them all! 

Story Retell:  After I read the story, the children used puppets to take turns retelling.  Tomorrow, I will put the puppets in the block area so that the children can build houses and see if the wolf can blow them down.

Small Groups:  The children played the game "what's missing?".  I placed 7 items on the table.  The children took turns closing eyes and taking away items to see if they could remember what was on the table.

Letter Learning:  Aa

Snacks:  The snack for today was wheat bread, fruit spread, milk, and water.

Monday, November 8

Group Meeting:  Our focus today was on our tree for the Festival of Trees in Davenport.  While I usually don't want to start Christmas too early for this age of children, we need to have it done by Friday.  I'll share a picture as soon as it's done.

Story:  For the story today, I read a Christmas book that was the inspiration the tree that we are decorating.  The name of the book is Christmas Cookies: Bite Sized Holiday Lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  This book is filled with some big vocabulary words such as: anticipation-waiting to make cookies with your family, tradition-doing the same thing with your family year after year, and frustration-leaving the cookies in the oven for too long and now they are burnt.  

Small Groups:  Our Let's Find Out magazine from last week had a rhyming words video game that the children could play.  We didn't have time last week, so we played it today.  The children had to select a picture word that rhymed with the word that the owl would say.

Art:  The children painted and added glitter to the play dough cookie that they cut last week.  They could choose any color of paint and glitter.

Letter Learning:  Kk

Snack:  The snack was Goldfish, cheese sticks, and water.

Thursday, November 4

Group Meeting:   The children were surprised to see a Christmas tree drawing on the message board today.  See below for more information about this.

Story:  The story for today was Owl Babies by Martin Waddell.  Three baby owls wake up to find that their mother has left the nest to search for food.  They try to be brave while she is gone.  When mother owl returns, she assures them that she will always come back. The smallest owl, Bill, says the same thing throughout the book.  Ask your child to tell you what Bill says.  After the story, we talked about how our parents have to leave us sometimes, but they always come back.

Small Group:  We have been invited to submit a decorated tree to the Festival of Trees.  Because it needs to be delivered on November 14th, we had to start making the decorations today.  The children used cookie cutters to cut shapes out of play dough.  After they dry, we will paint and glitter them.   I will send  a note home with details next week.

Letter Learning:  Rr

Let's Find Out Magazine:  Our magazine was about owls.  The accompanying video was about nocturnal animals.  We used scissors to cut the magazine and make a book.

Snack:  The snack for today was cinnamon Bevita bars, juice, and water.

Wednesday, November 3

Group Meeting:  Today, we watched a video made by a farmer from Iowa.  This video showed how corn is planted, grows, and is harvested.  We put some new farm toys in the block area with farm animals.  The children have been making fields and fences.

Story:  The story for today was All the Factors of Why I Love Tractors by Davina Bell.  In this story, a boy goes to the library to get some books with his mother.  When he goes to the library, he always picks out books about tractors.  His mother tries to persuade him to pick different selections; so he tells her of all of the wonderful things about tractors.  What I like about this book is that at the end, the librarian tells him that as long as he's reading something, it doesn't matter what it is about.  Good point!

Small Group:  The children counted kernels of corn onto a paper cob on which a numeral was printed.  We used numerals 1-10.  We practiced lining up the kernels so that it would be easier to count them.  

Letter Learning:  Bb

Snacks:  The snack for today was a whole wheat bagel, cream cheese, milk, and water.

Tuesday, November 2

Group Meeting:  We danced to "If Animals Could Dance" by the Learning Station.   This is a good movement song to get our wiggles out and our brains charged up!  We picked out which animals were farm animals.

Story:  During story time, I read the non-fiction book Corn by Margaret Hall.  By reading this book we learned that corn is a grass, that we eat sweet corn and animals eat dent corn (if you look at the top of the kernel, there is a dent), and that many things that we use and eat are made with corn.  At the end of the book, we found a recipe for corn bread.  We will make corn bread next week on Birthday Day.

Writing Journal:  Our assignment was to draw something that you would grow if you were a farmer.  We started with a discussion of things that farmers grow.  We discovered that pretty much everything that we eat is grown on a farm.  Even french fries and peanut butter start on a farm.  

Letter Learning:  Pp

Outdoor Play:  It was brisk, but we went outside.  Please have your child wear a coat just in case we go out.

Snack:  The snack for today was apples, peanut butter, milk, and water.

Monday, November 1

Group Meeting:  For the next two weeks, we will be learning about corn.  This may seem simple, but Iowa produces the most corn of all of the states in the United States.  What happens to all of this corn?  We are going to find out.  We looked a corn that I brought in from a farm.  They felt how hard it was and how it could be picked off of the cob.

Story:  The story for today was The Cow That Went Neigh by Rory Feek.  The cow in the pen sees a horse running in the field.  He wishes he could be a horse and begins to neigh.  The horse sees a duck and wishes he could swim.  He begins to quack.  This story continues with each animal wanting to be another.  At the end, the cat wishes to be a human and says hello to the farmer.  What does the farmer do?  Ask your child to tell you.

Small Groups:  The children played a game in which they had to decide if a picture word started the same as the p in pumpkin.  An activity like this helps the children learn to isolate the beginning sound of a word.

Letter Learning:  Dd

Snack:  The snack for today was graham crackers, juice, and water.

Tomorrow is election day.  The church is a polling sight.  Please be careful in parking lot during arrival and dismissal.