Wednesday, May 25

Group Meeting:  Animal Day was a lot of fun.  We took a few minutes to look at everyone's animals and admired the variety.  

Story:  The story for today was Caps for Sale by Esphyr Solbodkina.  A peddler selling caps walks through town with the caps balanced on his head.  When he gets tired, he walks to the edge of town and rests under a tree with the caps still on his head.  He falls asleep.  When he wakes up, his caps are gone.  Ask your child to tell you where the caps are and how he gets them back.

Small Groups:  The children sorted the animals into categories.  The categories were big/small, long ears/short ears, colors, collars/no collars, and noses (big and small).  The children created the categories with a little assistance.

Large Group:  The children gave their animals rides on the parachute.  One by one, the animals were placed in the middle and we lifted the parachute to see how high they could go.

Snack:  Both classes had cheese sticks, juice, and water.  Also, the morning class had apples and the afternoon class had rice cakes.  

For tomorrow, we will have the bounce houses delivered and set up.  If it is raining, we will do the program and refreshments inside, and the children can bounce if they wish.

Tuesday, May 24

Group Meeting:  Today was Letter Day.  The children all wore clothing with letters.  We took a few minutes to read the letters and words.  We exercised to Jack Hartmann's "Letter Exercises".

Story:  The story for today was The Letters Are Lost by Lisa Ernst.  In this alphabet book, the ABC blocks are missing.  We find them next to items that start with the letter.  A was in an airplane, B was in the bath, C was next to the cows, etc.  

Large Group:  The children played Marching Around the Alphabet, a game we have played before.  This time, the letters were scattered all over the room.  When the music played, they could move around the room.  When the whistle blew, the children stopped, found a letter, and told the teacher the letter name.

Let's Find Out Magazine:  The last magazine for the school year was about sand.  The video demonstrated things that the children can do with sand over the summer.  The link to the magazine is letsfindout.com Sign in as a student using the password redeemer.

Snack:  The children ate letter grahams with juice and water.

Tomorrow is Animal Day.  The children may bring a stuffed animal.

Monday, May 23

Group Meeting:  Every day this week, we will be popping a balloon to see what special activity we will be doing.  Today, our balloon message said "Balloon Day".  Please read the note in your child's bag to see what else we will be doing this week.

Story:  The story for today was A Balloon for Isabel by Deborah Underwood.  Isabel is a porcupine.  On the last day of school, all of the children get balloons, except for the porcupines.  The teacher, Ms. Quill says that balloons are dangerous for porcupines.  Isabel tries to convince Ms. Quill that she and her porcupine friends can handle balloons.  Then, Isabel has an idea.  Ask your child to tell you what it is!

Small Groups:  The children were invited to paint with balloons.  They dipped the balloon in the paint and moved it in different ways on the paper.

Large Group:  The children experimented with balloons.  I attached a straw to a balloon for each child.  We blew them up and watched them fly when we let them go.  We also went to the Outdoor Classroom today.

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

Wednesday, May 18

Group Meeting: We started the day by singing and moving to Shoo Fly. This will go along with our Art activity.

Story: I read Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems. This book starts with a bus driver asking the reader to watch his bus. As soon as he walks away, the pigeon appears. He asks if he can drive the bus. He begs and pleads to drive the bus. Ask your child to tell you if pigeon gets to drive the bus and what he’d like to drive next.

Small Groups: The children were invited to the art table to paint with fly swatters. The paint dots were flies. The children used fly shatters to smack them.

Large Group: We watched a short video about how to ride in a school bus.  After the story, the children used chairs to make a bus. They pretended to buy tickets to ride and took turns being the driver.

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

Tuesday, May 17

Group Meeting:  The children have been enjoying the Mo Willems books that I've been reading.  At arrival time, a few children have asked me to read That's Not a Good Idea by Mo.  It doesn't have many words, but has a surprise ending that makes the children laugh.

Story:  The story for today was Knuffle Bunny, Too by Mo Willems.  Trixie has grown and now attends Pre-K.  She decides to take Knuffle Bunny to school to show to her friends.  When she gets to school, she meets Sonja who also has a Knuffle Bunny.  The girls get into a fight about how to pronounce Knuffle Bunny (Mo Willems says the K is not silent).  The teacher decides to take the bunnies away for the rest of the school day.  When they go home, the bunnies are returned.  In the middle of the night, Trixie realizes something.  Ask your child to tell you what happens next.

Small Groups:  Our math journals have had several pictures of coconut trees with instructions to draw coconuts.  I had asked the children last week if they knew what coconuts were and if they had ever tried coconut.  Today, I brought in a coconut and some shredded coconut for them to try.  

Large Group:  Since the lunar eclipse was in the news over the weekend, I decided to show the children how to make moon dough.  While I've made this before, I used a new recipe thinking that there wouldn't be any issues.  However, once the morning class started mixing, I realized that the recipe was wrong.  We tried and tried to get it mixed, but we didn't have much success.  The children seemed to have a great time, however.  By the afternoon, we had fixed the recipe and had more success.  I am going to purchase more materials and see if the morning class wants to try again.  The recipe should be 1/4 cup hair conditioner, 1/2 cup corn starch and a little food coloring.  Mix the food coloring into the conditioner first, and slowly add the corn starch.  You may have to add a little more of one or the other to get the right consistency.  

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

Monday, May 16

Group Meeting:  The children learned a new fingerplay called Caterpillar.  Ask your child to show you the actions.

Story:  During April, we read books by my favorite authors/illustrators.  I had one more that I wanted to share with the children, so I'm reading his books this week.  Mo Willems has written books starring Pigeon, Knuffle Bunny, Elephant and Piggie, and many more characters.  Today, I read Knuffle Bunny.  Trixie is a toddler who carries her stuffed bunny, Knuffle Bunny, with her wherever she goes.  One day, Trixie and Daddy visit the laundromat to drop off their laundry.  When they are walking back home, Trixie realizes that she doesn't have Knuffle Bunny any more.  She tries to tell Daddy, but she doesn't have the words to explain.  Ask your child to tell you how this story ends.

Small Groups:  The children are helping me create a bulletin board for the new students that will be attending preschool in the fall.  They drew pictures of their favorite things to do at school.  It was fun to hear what everyone thought was the best thing about school.  

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom.  

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

The children are bringing home permission forms for the last day of school. 

Thursday, May 12

Group Meeting:  Today was Birthday Day for children with a May Birthday which means it was cooking day.  

Story:  The story for today went along with our Let's Find Out Magazine.  It was Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle.  I was happy to hear this story because we didn't get to it when we read other Eric Carle books.  A few children knew by the art work that it was from Eric Carle.  In this story, a father seahorse is carrying the eggs that the mother seahorse laid in his pouch.  As he cares for the eggs, he swims in the sea meeting other fish fathers that are caring for eggs or baby fish.  

Small Groups:  The children assembled quesadillas for their snack.  They placed shredded cheese between two tortillas.  The teachers put them on the griddle, but the children put on oven mitts to help us flip them.

Let's Find Out Magazine:  Today's magazine was about seahorses.  We watched a video in which we had to guess which animal was a fish: a salamander, a jellyfish, a dolphin, or a seahorse.  Do you know which is the fish?  Ask your child to tell you what a baby seahorse is called.

Snack:  The children ate their quesadillas with juice and water.  The morning class had birthday brownies, but the afternoon class is waiting until Monday.  The birthday boy got sick during class and had to go home:(

Wednesday, May 11

Group Meeting:   The community helpers that we learned about today were neighborhood helpers such as garbage collectors, mail carriers, and new reporters.  We discussed their roles in our neighborhoods.

Story:  The story for today was I Stink by Jim McMullan.  This story is told by a garbage truck as he drives through New York picking up garbage.  He likes all of the yucky stinky garbage that he picks up.  Ask your child to tell you where the garbage goes that is collected from New York City.  It's not the landfill.

Large Group:  After the story, we played the game Garbage.  We used puff balls to represent garbage.  I divided the room into two sections with a line of masking tape.  Half of the children were on one side and the other half were on the other side.  I threw the garbage all over the floor.  When I said go, the children had to pick up the garbage and throw it to the other side.  The team with the cleanest yard was declared the winner.  

Letter Learning:  sight word can

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

We did go outside for a short time today.  Hopefully, it will cool down a little next week so that we can stay out longer.

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Group Meeting: Today, the community helpers that we are learning about are health helpers such as doctors, nurses, dentists and veterinarians.  

Story:  The story for today was Doctor by Amanda Askew.  In this book, Dr. Amar tells about his day working at the doctor's office.  We meet his office manager, Tanya who makes appointments for the doctor.  We see several patients get care from Dr. Amar.

After the story, we watched a video about going to the dentist.

Small Groups:  Around the room, I placed four cones with a picture taped to each one.  The pictures were of a doctor, dentist, nurse, and vet.  I read a clue about one of the helpers.  The children had to move to the helper that they thought was represented by the clue.

Letter Learning:  The sight word for today was see.  We circled the word see with one color and like with another color.

Large Group:  The children played in the Outdoor Classroom.  We didn't stay out too long.  I can't believe it's almost too hot!

Snack:  The snack for today was bagels, cream cheese, milk, and water.

Monday, May 9

Group Meeting:  The children have noticed that the 10 frame chart that we are using to count the days of the school year is starting to fill up.  Today, they noticed that there are only 11 days left.   Some children were disappointed to see that.  To make things better, we talked about the big party on the last day.

Story:  The story for today was Keeping You Safe, A Book About Police Officers by Ann Owen.  This book told of things that police officers do on the job.  We used this to talk about how officers keep us safe.  We discussed emergencies and how to dial 911 but only for emergencies.  We discussed how officers help keep us safe by making sure that everyone is following the rules.

Small Groups:  We have learned about two safety helpers; police and fire fighters.  The children sorted pictures of things that police officers and fire fighters use on their jobs.  Some of the items were just for police officers, some were just for fire fighters, and some were items that both use.

Large Group:  We went to the Outdoor Classroom.  Please remember to put sunscreen on your children.  We are planning to go outside every day this week unless it gets too hot.  

Letter Learning:  We circled the sight word my and read sentences with I like my...

Snacks:  The snack for today was bananas, peanut butter, milk, and water.

Thursday, May 5

Group Meeting:  We talked about all of the things that we saw at the fire station yesterday.  It was a very good field trip, and we learned a lot!

Story:  The story for today was Firehouse Dog by Amy Hutchings.   Firehouse Dog is a true story of Hooper, a Dalmatian, that lives at a New York Fire Station.  Hooper watches the firefighters check their gear and practice getting ready for a fire.  He sees them exercise to stay fit.  Hooper gets a bath because he is going to the nearby school to teach the children about fire safety.  When they return, Hooper watches the firefighters make dinner but their dinner is interrupted by a fire call.  Hooper stays behind and guards the station and the dinner.  At the end, Hooper watches the firefighters return to the station clean up and go to bed.

Letter Learning:  We reviewed the two sight words that we learned this week:  I like

Small Groups:  The children are making decorations to put in the school windows.  We will have beautiful flowers by next week.

Let's Find Out Magazine:  The magazine for today was about bald eagles.  The video told us about American symbols such as The Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell and the bison.  Here's the link to play the game online. letsfindout.com  log in as a student and use the password redeemer.

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

Wednesday, May 4

We had a wonderful field trip to the Fire Station.  Thank you parents for taking the time to be with us today.  

Tuesday, May 3

Group Meeting:  We prepared for our field trip tomorrow.  I explained what will take place.  We made a list of questions that we will ask when we get to the fire station.

Story:  We listened and watched the book Neighborhood Helpers by Jennifer Blizin Gillis on the Promethean board.   This is a non-fiction book about community helpers.  Community helpers are people who work to keep our community safe and healthy.

Large Groups:  The children answered the question, "Have you ever met a community helper?"  At first, we had some yes answers and some no answers.  After we talked about doctors, dentist, teachers, and librarians, everyone realized that they had met a community helper.

Letter Learning:  We are starting to identify sight words.  The first sight word is I.  We looked at several sentences that had the word I in them.  Then the children circled the word I on their papers.  The pictures on the paper make it easy for them to read.

Snack:  The snack for today was apples, fruit dip, milk and water.

We will be leaving for the fire station at 9:45 and 1:45.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

Monday, May 2

Group Meeting:  I cannot believe that we are starting the last month of school!  For the next two weeks, we will be learning about our community and the helpers in our community. 

Story:  The story for today was We're Better Together, A Book About Community by Eileen Spinelli.  This book is told by children.  They describe how we play together and help each other.  We help friends clean up when we spill.  We help our neighbors when they are sick.  The world is better when we work together.  This book will lead us into our discussion about community helpers.

Large Group:  I displayed three pictures of our community; a residential section with houses together, a business section with tall buildings including apartments, and a rural area with farms.  The children identified which part of the community that they live in.  Then, I passed out cards with various pictures on them.  The children had to decide if that was something they would see in our community.  

Small Groups:  This week, we will start learning a few sight words.   We will continue to identify letters, but will also see how the letters can be put together to make words.  Our activity today was to sort a pile of cards.  Some cards had only one letter on them.  Some had letters together making words.  We made a pile or letters and a pile of words.

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