Apple Week

 Our Apple Week presented a fun mix of learning. I had some parents ask about the daily routine their kids were explaining to them, so here is an outline:

AM Schedule
9:00-9:15 - Free Centers. I often integrate art projects, games, and other short learning opportunities for the class to choose from besides the toys.

9:15-9:35 - Welcome/Calendar. This is our opportunity to see who is at school that day and sing a welcome song. Anyone absent we "wish well" and blow a kiss. Anyone returning after an absence we welcome back. This is also the time we discuss months of the year, days of the week, seasons, weather, and how many days we have been in school.

9:35-10:00 - Math Centers. We hone in on math for this time period and I will cover in my weekly blog update the five centers used during that time.

10:00-10:20 - Bathroom/Snack. If we make a snack or have a special celebration, we most often enjoy that during this time. Otherwise, goldfish or animal crackers are our most common snack.

10:20-10:35 - Bible Story. Mrs. Nanette teaches our story using the Bible, flannel graphs, dramas, and other creative ways to enforce the lesson.

10:35-11:00 - Lit Centers. Similar to math centers, we focus on letter recognition, sound, and writing. I will update the center rotations on the blog also.

11:00-11:05 - Music and Movement. We sing a variety of themed songs as well as fun songs that get our bodies moving and our minds working.

11:05-11:30 - Activity. These vary greatly and can range from a game we all play to a science lesson to an art project. I will post on this in the blog as well.

11:30-12:00 - Lunch. Some parents have expressed concern over their child's eating habits during lunch time. We do help all students get out their lunches and open containers they struggle with. We will not open snack-like food (such as cookies, chips, etc.) until some fruit, vegetable, and meat have been eaten. Some students choose not to eat their sandwiches and so they do not get their treats opened, leaving a larger portion of their lunch intact. But we do provide plenty of time and encouragement for the class to enjoy their lunch and still interact with their friends.

12:00-12:30 - Outdoor Play. As the weather changes, be sure to send appropriate outerwear for your child. In case of inclimate weather we will move our play to the Family Life Center's gym.

12:30-12:45 - Frog Street. We use Frog Street Press curriculum to introduce letter recognition and writing skills via song and instruction. We practice singing the song, counting our letter of the week throughout the letter book, writing our letters, and finding them in our take-home books.

12:45-1:00 - Read/Graph. To close our day, a book is read with a short discussion to follow or the class participates in graphing to reinforce math principles.

PM Schedule The same activities are used at the following schedule:

11:30-12:00 - Outdoor Play
12:00-12:30 - Lunch
12:30-12:50 - Welcome/Calendar
12:50-1:15 - Math Centers
1:15 - 1:20 - Music and Movement
1:20-1:45 - Lit Centers
1:45-2:05 - Bathroom/Snack
2:05-2:20 - Bible Story
2:20-2:45 - Activity
2:45-3:00 - Free Centers
3:00-3:15 - Frog Street
3:15-3:30 - Read/Graph



AM Orange Day



PM Orange Day

Connor and Cade enjoy painting circles during Free Centers

Apple slices were the perfect snack for apple week

Isabelle and Hank discuss what the beginning letter of a word might be

Using tongs to pick up beads helps develop find motor hand muscles necessary for good writing

Lauren, Kaylee, and Owen search for O's on the letter tree

Micah shows how to write letters of the alphabet

Thayer reads the Bible in the Reading Loft

Picking up the beads can be tricky

Eric practices writing his capital and lowercase O's

Math Centers from this week:
Estimation - How many orange objects are in the jar?
Number Sense - Trace the numbers on a birthday cake. Draw that number of candles on the cake.
Money - Shake a cup of pennies. Line up whether they fell on heads or tails. Count how many of each and then cut and glue the correct number onto your paper.
Add/Sub - Color a bus on your paper to match the bus in front of you. Count how many students are on that bus, then write that number on your paper.
Shapes and Patterns - Cut out and complete the ABAB and AABB patterns.

Lit Centers from this week:
Reading Loft
Game - Find the o's on your Letter Tree, then cover them with a sticker.
ABC - Use tongs to pick up beads to cover letters
Word Work - Examine the picture in the backpack. Write the letter that picture begins with (ex: picture of a fish, write the letter F)
Mrs. Marisha - Write all the letters of the alphabet you know.

Activities from this week:
Apple Investigation - discover the color, height, and weight of your apple. Make a print and learn how many red v. green the class had.
Octopus Windsock - cut along dotted lines to create an octopus
Apple-Oat Cookies - bake cookies for Thursday snack
Snake Paper Chain - create a snake from the Bible lesson

Our favorite songs:

Two Red Apples

(Sung to: This Old Man)

Way up high, in a tree (raise hands over head)
Two red apples smiled at me (smile)
So I shook that tree as harrd as I could (pretend to shake tree)
Down came the apples, Yumm, they were good (Rub tummy)

The Apple Seed
(Sung to: Itsy Bitsy Spider)

Once a little apple seed was planted in the ground
Down came rain, falling all around.
Out came the sun as bright as it could be
And that little seed
grew up to be an apple treeEnjoy these songs as a family! Have a great weekend!