Sunday, January 29, 2012

Mittens

I hope to have my camera up in working order for next week...I've been having a few issues, but want to get some of our great activites posted on here again soon!

Math Centers:
  • mitten patterns with ABAB, AABB, and ABCABC formations
  • pennies: heads or tails? counting and sorting activity
  • number recognition and 1-1 correspondence assessments
  • counting "how many kittens lost their mittens?" (like our song!)
  • estimating "how many white objects?"
Lit Centers:
  • ABC order winter mugs, and record missing letters
  • mitten book with positional word learning
  • locating sight words and sounding them out
  • reading loft
  • assessment of days, months, seasons, shapes, rhymes
 Sight words introduced:
  1. I
  2. a
  3. to
  4. the
  5. he
  6. she
  7. we
  8. you
  9. us
  10. can
  11. see
  12. yes
  13. no
  14. like
  15. be
  16. it

Other Activities:
  • read The Mitten by Jan Brett
  • decorated paper plates as us dressed up in coats and mittens
  • sharing day
  • "God cares for me" flower pot magnet
  • listing how God provides for us
  • discuss 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4 using pretzels and oranges for snack
Songs from the month:

Snowy Snowman (our favorite!!!)

I am a snowman made of snow (stand still)
I stand quite still at Ten below.
With a big long carrot for a nose (point to nose)
And worn out shoes to make my toes (point to tose)
I have two apples for my eyes, (point to eyes)
And a woolen coat about this size. (measure with hands)
I have a scarf that's warm and red. (grab neck)
And a funny hat upon my head. (tap hands on head)
The sun is coming out…… Oh dear! (Look worried)
The sun is melting me I fear (slowly sink to floor)
Oh my, I was so nice and round,
Now I'm just a puddle on the ground! (sit or lay on floor)


Penguin
I know a bird
That cannot fly: 
Penguin is its name.
 
It cannot fly,

But it can swim 
With speed that wins it fame!
 
I know a bird

That lives on ice 
And waddles by the sea.
 
It looks so cute
 
In its black and white suit,
 
As handsome as can be!
Five Little Cookies

Five little cookies With frosting galore.
(Child's Name) ate the red one, then there were four.
Four little cookies, Two and two you see
(Child's Name) ate the green one, then there were three.
Three little cookies But before I knew,
(Child's Name) ate the white one, then there were two.
Two little cookies, Oh what fun,
(Child's Name) ate the brown one, then there was one
Snowey Pokey
You put your right mitten in, You take your right mitten out,
You put your right mitten in and you shake it all about.
You do the Snowey pokey and you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about.
Note continue with additional verses:
You put your left mitten in
You put your scarf in
You put your right boot in
You put your left boot in
You put your hat in
You put your snowself in
Three Little Kittens
Three little kittens,
They lost their mittens,
And they began to cry,
Oh, mother dear,
We sadly fear
Our mittens we have lost.
What! Lost your mittens,
You naughty kittens!
Then you shall have no pie.
Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.
You shall have no pie.

The three little kittens,
They found their mittens,
And they began to cry,
Oh, mother dear,
See here, see here,
Our mittens we have found.
What! Found your mittens,
You darling kittens!
Then you shall have some pie.
Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.
You shall have some pie.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Polar Animals

Last week we focused on our friends in the North and South Poles. We got to do a cool experiment to find out how penguins (and other animals) stay warm with the layers God gave them. Check out the other activities we did this week:

Math Centers:
1. arranging #1-20 in order, then practice writing the numbers
2. color snowmen to create the designated pattern
3. complete a time worksheet telling hour and half hour
4. measure "how many snowflakes tall?"
5. work together to do a floor puzzle

Lit Centers:
1. alphabetize "snow" words and record them
2. work on a "months of the year" book
3. reading loft
4. test letter recognition and letter sounds
5. match rhyme cards and record

Additional activities:
1. make a penguin out of hearts
2. penguin experiment
3. make a polar bear mask
4. Venn Diagram whales and penguins


AM White Day

PM White Day

Friday, January 13, 2012

HyVee

Thanks a MILLION to all of the wonderful parents who attended our HyVee field trip!!!! You all were SO HELPFUL!!!! You made the trip a fantastic experience for our class, and we truly appreciate your help!

Photos soon to come!

-Mrs. Marisha

Winter, Snow, and a New Year

We celebrated a new year, 2012, and introduced the concept of telling time. We've thus far practiced counting by 5s, all the way to 100, and this week discussed "hour" and "minute" hands. Ask your child to identify the difference--which one is tall? Which one is short? Who in your family would be the hour hand: mom or dad? Questions like this at home help that new knowledge stick!

Last week, we had the following activities and centers:

Math Centers:
  • Graphing "Fun in the Snow" people. Which one had the most? Which one had the least?
  • Matching snowflakes to the correct number, then create patterns using foam snowflakes
  • Create a New Year's Book counting down from 10
  • Practice basic addition by spinning twice, drawing the number of cookies each time, then counting the total
  • Roll a die and add the correct number of "sprinkles" to "cookies"
Lit Centers:
  • find 10 words hidden around the room. What do they describe? That is the word! (ex: window, pencils, calendar, etc.)
  • write your name in shaving cream
  • snow and polar animal books in the reading loft
  • practice writing capital and lowercase letters in hot cocoa powder
  • make snow!
Other activites:
  • snowman out of a paper bag
  • snowflake out of craft sticks
  • treasures of the Christian life chest
  • Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear? by Bill Martin Jr., Eric Carle
  • snowball fight!
  • popsicle treats
This week (Jan. 10-12) included these activities:

Math Centers:
  • Helping dinosaurs escape from the ice entrapping them
  • practice writing numerals in "My Number Book"
  • complete a sequence "How to Bake Cookies"
  • Estimation: "How many animal crackers?"
  • practice one-to-one correspondence and number recognition by playing a game
  •  
Lit Centers:
  • write your birthday and draw a picture for our birthday book
  • write your name using a white crayon on white paper, then color over to reveal the hidden message
  • reading loft
  • sort pictures based on their beginning sound
  • complete ABC order dot to dot, which don't belong work sheets
     
  •  
Other activites:
  • Jesus washes me white as snow lamb handprint
  • HyVee field trip
  • snowflake paper cutting
  • read If you give a moose a Muffin, by Laura Numeroff, Felicia Bond
  •  


Alexa counts out sprinkles

Connor concentrates on his spin

Charleigh cuts out her "most" snow person

Look at the snow we made!

Friends read together

Cade carefully forms letters

We love textures to help us practice writing!

Where's Eric's pattern?

Mrs. Nanette helps Ashley and Cameron count snowflakes

Lydia and Keaton decide if it's an 8 or a 1

Micah gives the die a toss

messy fingers create fun

what a great E!


Looking at the window...what could that word be?

Ready for a snowball fight!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Christmas - Final Week of 2011!

Merry Christmas! Check out all we did our final week in December:

Math Centers:
  •  Shapes and Patterns: make a candy cane and learn about its true meaning
  • Games: sort red, white, and green beads using tongs
  • Number Sense: cut and paste the correct number of sheep for each shepherd
  • Puzzles: dot to dots and mazes
Lit Centers:
  • Mrs. Marisha: Wisemen handprint craft (following directions, listening to a story)
  • Reading Loft
  • ABC: letter roll and trace
  • Writing: make a Christmas card for a friend or family member
Other Activities:
  • decorate a gingerbread man
  • sharing day
  • watch VeggieTales Christmas movie
  • stamp Christmas scene
  • decorate a felt Christmas tree
  • pin the nose on Rudolph
  • nativity dramatic play
  • make a gingerbread house
  • book exchange
Thanks for all your contributions to making a great week!
 



sorting beads using fine motor skills


Connor cuts squares for his candy cane

Santa came to visit! Charleigh gives her wish list

Hank checks out Santa's bells

The morning class with Santa and his candy cane treats

Nicholas tells Santa what he wants for Christmas

The afternoon class with Mr. Clause

Ashley glues one of her sheep

Cameron names the letter rolled

Micah shows off his handprint

Jade works on her candy cane pattern

Alexa enjoys her birthday treats

Palyn rings her jingle bells while we sing

snacks and a movie!

Cade enjoys a gingerbread man

Lauren watches those silly vegetables

Re-creating the nativity scene

Where will Kaylee get Rudolph's nose?

Kacie squeezes icing onto her gingerbread house

Covering anything with candy makes it great, right?

Brianna reaches for some Nerds

Brynn colors on her stamped scene

Thayer enjoys the movie

PM Party Time!

Keaton and Lydia enjoy VeggieTales

Book exchange helped us pratice right and left