Can you believe the break is here???!!!! It's hard to believe!
Today was filled with fun and the children were so excited to wear their PJs today! Ms. Carol and I went as casual as we could......yoga pants! We watched Evan's skeleton PJs which glowed in the dark. Everyone watched as he danced- just like a skeleton.
We began with each child using felt characters to retell the Gingerbread Story- everyone knows it by heart. Ask your child to tell you the story.
We took a good look at the calendar today- when we return every piece will have changed- the day of the week, month, year and season! The kids KEEP asking when fall ends and winter begins- we counted today and it's only 5 days away, though it feels more like spring today.
During circle, we read If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff. This adorable little book told of a high-maintenance mouse. There are many, many fun activities that can accompany this story, but we only had time to talk about the chaos that this mouse causes!
Following our outside play, we divided into groups, with Ms. Carol leading an articulation and language (matching) game. I spent some one-on-one time with the children, assessing some math and language skills.
Ms. Carol brought gifts for the children, which we turned into a language and social activity, opening each one at a time. Thank you, Ms. Carol!
Finally, we a short movie during lunch. Following lunch, we sang Happy Birthday to Beau, who celebrates a birthday next week.
I hope each of you have the happiest of holidays. If you get a chance, write about the holiday in your journal.
Many thanks again for the super awesome gifts! You guys are the best and I'm delighted to be able to work with your family. Ellen
Friday, December 16, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
A Gift for a Friend!
Today was filled with happy holiday cheer. The children noticed right away that the room was different.....it's set up in four different 'stores' as part of our community sale.
This morning we began with play practice and assigned roles for the 'merchants'. The children practiced greeting 'customers', counting the number of items, and receiving money. What great language and social skill practice! They are excited for the real 'customers' to come tomorrow!
Today's story was The Night Before Christmas, which has many opportunities for vocabulary development (chimney, haste, dash, flash (fast), hoof/hooves, creature, St. Nicholas, nestled, visions, kerchief, clatter, and shutter). Since it's a poem we also focused on rhyming words. Using Boardmaker, we completed a vocabulary game on the computer. The children have excellent computer/mouse skills!
The greatest event today was the peer gift exchange. Each child brought a gift for a friend and exchanged it one by one. As a language activity, it was a hit! The children waited patiently for their turn, opening the gifts one at a time. The children named the gift then thanked their friends. What a great way to send holiday greetings to our friends! Great idea, parents!
We look forward to seeing you at 10:30 tomorrow for the play and community sale. Thank you for your help with our holiday celebrations!
This morning we began with play practice and assigned roles for the 'merchants'. The children practiced greeting 'customers', counting the number of items, and receiving money. What great language and social skill practice! They are excited for the real 'customers' to come tomorrow!
Today's story was The Night Before Christmas, which has many opportunities for vocabulary development (chimney, haste, dash, flash (fast), hoof/hooves, creature, St. Nicholas, nestled, visions, kerchief, clatter, and shutter). Since it's a poem we also focused on rhyming words. Using Boardmaker, we completed a vocabulary game on the computer. The children have excellent computer/mouse skills!
The greatest event today was the peer gift exchange. Each child brought a gift for a friend and exchanged it one by one. As a language activity, it was a hit! The children waited patiently for their turn, opening the gifts one at a time. The children named the gift then thanked their friends. What a great way to send holiday greetings to our friends! Great idea, parents!
We look forward to seeing you at 10:30 tomorrow for the play and community sale. Thank you for your help with our holiday celebrations!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
The Holidays Are Here!
Our class was abuzz with sights, sounds, and smells of the holiday. The children's voices are ringing with holiday songs as we practice for Thursday's show (and just have fun!).
We began our morning with play practice, letting the children choose their parts. It all worked out without any fussing! Everyone is excited for their part. Play practice ran straight to Ms. Michelle's OT session. She set the room up into centers of a long fabric tunnel and pipettes and colored water. The children enjoyed using fine motor skills to pick water up in their pipette and placing it on a individual platters with small circles. It took one pinch of the pipette to to fill each circle. What colorful, messy fun! Finally, we presented Ms. Michelle, a strong supporter of our program, with a TSGI t-shirt and handmade cloth wreath banner. We can't wait for her to return after Christmas.
Following a short outside time with our DUMC friends, we returned to the classroom to make sock snakes to stock our 'Pet Store' on Thursday. The children followed directions to pull apart small pieces of polyfill and stuff it into the bottom of their selected sock. This took concentration, fine motor skills, and lots of hard work. Once the sock was stuffed, we tied it off with yarn and added eyes. These will make slithery pets for our community store!
Because of the holiday activities, we read our story, Merry Christmas Big Hungry Bear, after lunch. The children were huddled over in anticipation as Little Mouse bravely took presents to Big Hungry Bear because he never gets presents. In the end, Little Mouse went home with a big present, a nice reward for his bravery and kind gesture. This book presented many opportunities for questioning of inferences, answering wh- questions, and predicting.
Tomorrow we are reading The Night Before Christmas, have a dress rehearsal for our play, and our gift exchange. Holiday fun!
We began our morning with play practice, letting the children choose their parts. It all worked out without any fussing! Everyone is excited for their part. Play practice ran straight to Ms. Michelle's OT session. She set the room up into centers of a long fabric tunnel and pipettes and colored water. The children enjoyed using fine motor skills to pick water up in their pipette and placing it on a individual platters with small circles. It took one pinch of the pipette to to fill each circle. What colorful, messy fun! Finally, we presented Ms. Michelle, a strong supporter of our program, with a TSGI t-shirt and handmade cloth wreath banner. We can't wait for her to return after Christmas.
Following a short outside time with our DUMC friends, we returned to the classroom to make sock snakes to stock our 'Pet Store' on Thursday. The children followed directions to pull apart small pieces of polyfill and stuff it into the bottom of their selected sock. This took concentration, fine motor skills, and lots of hard work. Once the sock was stuffed, we tied it off with yarn and added eyes. These will make slithery pets for our community store!
Because of the holiday activities, we read our story, Merry Christmas Big Hungry Bear, after lunch. The children were huddled over in anticipation as Little Mouse bravely took presents to Big Hungry Bear because he never gets presents. In the end, Little Mouse went home with a big present, a nice reward for his bravery and kind gesture. This book presented many opportunities for questioning of inferences, answering wh- questions, and predicting.
Tomorrow we are reading The Night Before Christmas, have a dress rehearsal for our play, and our gift exchange. Holiday fun!
Monday, December 12, 2011
Gingerbread Men!
Today we finished learning all about the Gingerbread Man.
This morning, we practiced identifying everyone's last name and counting the number of syllables in each name. It's fun to see the progress the children have already made in learning each other's last names. During morning circle, we also sing a days of the week song and month of the year song. The month song repeats the months FOUR times. Today, the children continued to sing the song even after the end, so we sang the months FIVE times!
We continue to practice our play each day. The children know the words now and many can 'read' the play book independently (using the pictures as cues).
During math, we practiced counting pennies to match a particular number of ornaments, and asking someone to 'pay' for each item. We have a few more days to practice, so hopefully they will get the hang of it by Thursday.
Today, the playground was abuzz with talk with our partner class at DUMC. I heard the children asking each other for help, offering to help, commenting, and questioning. Because they see the same peers each day, they are learning to befriend each other. It was really, really cold out there today. I think it's supposed to be a little warmer for the rest of the week. Feel free to send gloves when the weather is as cold as today.
Once we returned from outside, we set to work on our sequencing/language activity: making gingerbread cookies! First, Joseph added the mix, then Tucker added a stick of butter, Evan added water and Beau added the egg. We all took turns stirring and cutting out gingerbread men (and trains). While the cookies baked, we read Tucker's book: Gingerbread Pirates. It's an adorable story about gingerbread cookies shaped as pirates who try to avoid being eaten by Santa. It's full of opportunities for wh- questions and inference questions.
Ms. Ellen isn't a baker- she placed the men too close and the stuck together! Oh, well.....they still tasted great! Ask your child to tell you the sequence to baking gingerbread cookies.
This morning, we practiced identifying everyone's last name and counting the number of syllables in each name. It's fun to see the progress the children have already made in learning each other's last names. During morning circle, we also sing a days of the week song and month of the year song. The month song repeats the months FOUR times. Today, the children continued to sing the song even after the end, so we sang the months FIVE times!
We continue to practice our play each day. The children know the words now and many can 'read' the play book independently (using the pictures as cues).
During math, we practiced counting pennies to match a particular number of ornaments, and asking someone to 'pay' for each item. We have a few more days to practice, so hopefully they will get the hang of it by Thursday.
Today, the playground was abuzz with talk with our partner class at DUMC. I heard the children asking each other for help, offering to help, commenting, and questioning. Because they see the same peers each day, they are learning to befriend each other. It was really, really cold out there today. I think it's supposed to be a little warmer for the rest of the week. Feel free to send gloves when the weather is as cold as today.
Once we returned from outside, we set to work on our sequencing/language activity: making gingerbread cookies! First, Joseph added the mix, then Tucker added a stick of butter, Evan added water and Beau added the egg. We all took turns stirring and cutting out gingerbread men (and trains). While the cookies baked, we read Tucker's book: Gingerbread Pirates. It's an adorable story about gingerbread cookies shaped as pirates who try to avoid being eaten by Santa. It's full of opportunities for wh- questions and inference questions.
Ms. Ellen isn't a baker- she placed the men too close and the stuck together! Oh, well.....they still tasted great! Ask your child to tell you the sequence to baking gingerbread cookies.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Happy Hanukkah!
One of our social studies goals is to learn about a variety of traditions and cultures. Today Ms. Carol made this goal come to life with studies of Hanukkah.
During our morning circle, she read "Light One Candle", a counting book about the menorah. She brought two menorahs, a beautiful silver one that she uses at home and a cloth one with cloth candles and fire. The children each took turns placing cloth candles and fire on the cloth menorah. We learned that, since we have four children and eight candles, each child gets to place two on the menorah. Ms. Carol's book taught about the traditions of Hanukkah, special foods, gifts, and being with family.
For art, we made our own menorahs, counting out the candles needed for each child. She also brought dreidel and helped us use fine motor skills to peel and stick stickers to decorate them. After playing outside, Ms. Carol taught us how to play the dreidel game, showing us the meaning of each side. It's actually a math game. The children were so excited when she brought out an electronic laser dreidel! I was able to do some independent work with each child while the dreidel game was played.
There is a cute dreidle song we heard during lunch. You can listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQL55Y2v5Ng
Following lunch and journals, Tucker brought a Gingerbread Pirate book to share. He told us what happened on each page. Evan shared a lego creation with us, sharing it with his friends.
It's hard to believe there's only one more week of school! Next week will be busy, busy with the community sale and pajama day!
Have a great weekend and I can't wait for all the fun next week!
During our morning circle, she read "Light One Candle", a counting book about the menorah. She brought two menorahs, a beautiful silver one that she uses at home and a cloth one with cloth candles and fire. The children each took turns placing cloth candles and fire on the cloth menorah. We learned that, since we have four children and eight candles, each child gets to place two on the menorah. Ms. Carol's book taught about the traditions of Hanukkah, special foods, gifts, and being with family.
For art, we made our own menorahs, counting out the candles needed for each child. She also brought dreidel and helped us use fine motor skills to peel and stick stickers to decorate them. After playing outside, Ms. Carol taught us how to play the dreidel game, showing us the meaning of each side. It's actually a math game. The children were so excited when she brought out an electronic laser dreidel! I was able to do some independent work with each child while the dreidel game was played.
There is a cute dreidle song we heard during lunch. You can listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQL55Y2v5Ng
Following lunch and journals, Tucker brought a Gingerbread Pirate book to share. He told us what happened on each page. Evan shared a lego creation with us, sharing it with his friends.
It's hard to believe there's only one more week of school! Next week will be busy, busy with the community sale and pajama day!
Have a great weekend and I can't wait for all the fun next week!
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Fun, fun, fun!
Out & About to see the Singing Christmas Bears
Oh what fun we had today! We were joined by many parent who helped make today's out and about so much fun! I couldn't help but think that this is the most fun I've had in a job.....EVER!
We began right away with a walk to the train station this morning. All of our friends were such good listeners and great friends to welcome Connor, our special visitor. He fit right in!
Once at the train station, we waited a few minutes, then jumped on the train to uptown. Seating was limited, so the children stood. The children giggled with excitement and talked with each other about all the things they were seeing.
Susannah's dad was instrumental in helping us navigate the uptown streets and corridors. He showed us secret back doors and helped us find our way in the uptown maze. We all crowded into elevators- at least 6 times! We even took the escalator twice. All without incident! On our way to the bears, we saw a huge Christmas Tree.
We finally arrived at the stage, where we found another preschool, who walked in on a rope as well. The children enjoyed a snack of apples and Chex while we waited for the show to start. Fianlly, the bears and their conductor started singing. The children attended for a while, but it was a long show with some less-than-popular children's songs. So, their attention did give out (understandably). We left early, about 30 minutes into the show. We regrouped, toured another massive Christmas Tree, found the potty, then headed back to the train station.
When we arrived back at school we had a few minutes to complete our journals, with each child giving three details about the events of the day. We ended with a short circle that focused on math skills.
Today was such a success that we will plan another train adventure soon! We look forward to a great day tomorrow.
Oh what fun we had today! We were joined by many parent who helped make today's out and about so much fun! I couldn't help but think that this is the most fun I've had in a job.....EVER!
We began right away with a walk to the train station this morning. All of our friends were such good listeners and great friends to welcome Connor, our special visitor. He fit right in!
Once at the train station, we waited a few minutes, then jumped on the train to uptown. Seating was limited, so the children stood. The children giggled with excitement and talked with each other about all the things they were seeing.
Susannah's dad was instrumental in helping us navigate the uptown streets and corridors. He showed us secret back doors and helped us find our way in the uptown maze. We all crowded into elevators- at least 6 times! We even took the escalator twice. All without incident! On our way to the bears, we saw a huge Christmas Tree.
We finally arrived at the stage, where we found another preschool, who walked in on a rope as well. The children enjoyed a snack of apples and Chex while we waited for the show to start. Fianlly, the bears and their conductor started singing. The children attended for a while, but it was a long show with some less-than-popular children's songs. So, their attention did give out (understandably). We left early, about 30 minutes into the show. We regrouped, toured another massive Christmas Tree, found the potty, then headed back to the train station.
When we arrived back at school we had a few minutes to complete our journals, with each child giving three details about the events of the day. We ended with a short circle that focused on math skills.
Today was such a success that we will plan another train adventure soon! We look forward to a great day tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Christmas Crafts!
Good Afternoon! Today was filled with fun preparing for our Christmas community sale. We completed several art projects for the sale working together and using patterning skills.
We continued practicing our play by reading our new text, Brown Reindeer, Brown Reindeer. With each reading the children are more confident and more excited about the production. On Tuesday, a copy will come home for you to practice with your child at home.
Without doubt, the highlight of today was Ms. Angela's visit. Because of the rain she set up physical stations in a room across the hall. Following our warm-up and review of last week's lesson on baseball (we have some really good batters), the children were allowed to select their choice of centers. Center choices included: throwing, jumping, crawling through a tunnel, spinning center, balancing, kicking, batting, and the favorite- ribbon sticks. Ms. Angela stayed for nearly an hour- double her normal time- which was great since the weather was so yucky! Since we will not have another visit from Ms. Angela for much of the winter, we presented her with a holiday gift of a hand-print wreath. She loved our hand-made gift and we will miss her.
During circle today, we acted out The Gingerbread Story using felt characters- without using the book or other cues! The children have memorized the text and can retell the story very well. Ask your child to tell you the story.
We continue working hard to prepare for the community sale. Today we put the finishing touches on a secret special project and made another project. We can't wait to share these with you.
Following show and tell (during which our children gave great details and asked appropriate questions), we prepared for tomorrow's Out & About. Ms. Cortney shared a social story about riding the train. Each child brought home a copy- read it over breakfast!
Dress warmly and we will see you in the morning! Reminder- no lunch- snack provided by us.
We continued practicing our play by reading our new text, Brown Reindeer, Brown Reindeer. With each reading the children are more confident and more excited about the production. On Tuesday, a copy will come home for you to practice with your child at home.
Without doubt, the highlight of today was Ms. Angela's visit. Because of the rain she set up physical stations in a room across the hall. Following our warm-up and review of last week's lesson on baseball (we have some really good batters), the children were allowed to select their choice of centers. Center choices included: throwing, jumping, crawling through a tunnel, spinning center, balancing, kicking, batting, and the favorite- ribbon sticks. Ms. Angela stayed for nearly an hour- double her normal time- which was great since the weather was so yucky! Since we will not have another visit from Ms. Angela for much of the winter, we presented her with a holiday gift of a hand-print wreath. She loved our hand-made gift and we will miss her.
During circle today, we acted out The Gingerbread Story using felt characters- without using the book or other cues! The children have memorized the text and can retell the story very well. Ask your child to tell you the story.
We continue working hard to prepare for the community sale. Today we put the finishing touches on a secret special project and made another project. We can't wait to share these with you.
Following show and tell (during which our children gave great details and asked appropriate questions), we prepared for tomorrow's Out & About. Ms. Cortney shared a social story about riding the train. Each child brought home a copy- read it over breakfast!
Dress warmly and we will see you in the morning! Reminder- no lunch- snack provided by us.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Getting ready.....
The days are so busy as we prepare for next week's community sale. We can barely get it all done!
We re-read our Gingerbread Man story, with the children more confident than ever when reading their parts. Later this week, we will explore other versions of the Gingerbread Man story and discuss the similarities and differences. Alternate text includes: Gingerbread Baby and Gingerbread Friends, all by Jan Brett. Gingerbread play is beginning to trickle into playground play, with the boys each taking a part and playing chase. It's fun to hear literature come alive!
As we will do every day this week, we introduced last names, presenting each name by itself on a card. The children guess whose name is written on each card, then we spell the name aloud. It's going to take a lot of practice, but it's a lot of fun!
We began practicing for next week's play, Brown Reindeer, Brown Reindeer. First, we all learn all the parts, then we will make assignments. It's so cute!
Today's big treat was brought by Ms. Cortney. Just like Mrs. Clause, she's quite the baker! She helped us make a surprise art project that involved following directions, waiting for turns, sensory experiences, thematic vocabulary, and retelling a sequence of events. I wish I could share more details, but it's top secret.....you'll just have to wait to see! Thanks, Ms. Cortney.
We began a math patterning art activity that we will complete tomorrow.
Today was a lot of fun- we look forward to a great tomorrow!
We re-read our Gingerbread Man story, with the children more confident than ever when reading their parts. Later this week, we will explore other versions of the Gingerbread Man story and discuss the similarities and differences. Alternate text includes: Gingerbread Baby and Gingerbread Friends, all by Jan Brett. Gingerbread play is beginning to trickle into playground play, with the boys each taking a part and playing chase. It's fun to hear literature come alive!
As we will do every day this week, we introduced last names, presenting each name by itself on a card. The children guess whose name is written on each card, then we spell the name aloud. It's going to take a lot of practice, but it's a lot of fun!
We began practicing for next week's play, Brown Reindeer, Brown Reindeer. First, we all learn all the parts, then we will make assignments. It's so cute!
Today's big treat was brought by Ms. Cortney. Just like Mrs. Clause, she's quite the baker! She helped us make a surprise art project that involved following directions, waiting for turns, sensory experiences, thematic vocabulary, and retelling a sequence of events. I wish I could share more details, but it's top secret.....you'll just have to wait to see! Thanks, Ms. Cortney.
We began a math patterning art activity that we will complete tomorrow.
Today was a lot of fun- we look forward to a great tomorrow!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Run, Run, as Fast as You Can!
Today we started a new theme- The Gingerbread Man! We all enjoyed reading this text and, by the second reading, we all helped Ms. Ellen 'read' the repetitive verses! "Stop, stop- you look good to eat!" Then, "Run, run, as fast as you can. You can't stop me. I'm the Gingerbread Man!" It was so much fun to hear everyone reading together.
Tucker pointed out rhyming words in our story, which was the perfect segway to our rhyming activity. Using written words with picture cues, we found rhyming words for the -an word family: man, can, tan, ran, van, and fan. We will continue to practice these this week.
We also used a variety of holiday cookie cutters to trace, just like the gingerbread man. Then we decorated the men with eyes and buttons, just like the old lady did in our story.
Using four sequences from the story, we were able to cut out the story parts, order them, then glue them in order. Retelling the story is the most important part! Help your child tell you the story.
Ms. Carol helped each of the children make ornaments, which we will sell in our community store next week. They are beautiful!
Today we introduced each child's last name, guessing the owner of the name, spelling it, and writing it. We will continue to work on last names throughout the week.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful children and I look forward to a great day tomorrow!
Tucker pointed out rhyming words in our story, which was the perfect segway to our rhyming activity. Using written words with picture cues, we found rhyming words for the -an word family: man, can, tan, ran, van, and fan. We will continue to practice these this week.
We also used a variety of holiday cookie cutters to trace, just like the gingerbread man. Then we decorated the men with eyes and buttons, just like the old lady did in our story.
Using four sequences from the story, we were able to cut out the story parts, order them, then glue them in order. Retelling the story is the most important part! Help your child tell you the story.
Ms. Carol helped each of the children make ornaments, which we will sell in our community store next week. They are beautiful!
Today we introduced each child's last name, guessing the owner of the name, spelling it, and writing it. We will continue to work on last names throughout the week.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful children and I look forward to a great day tomorrow!
Friday, December 2, 2011
Fun, fun, quiet and peace!
Friday, December 2, 2011
Today was a calm, quiet, and productive day. We began with our new Hello Neighbor Song. Today we re-read our "A Fireman" book (everyone is a master by now). We were excited to introduce a new book, "People Who Help". This book focuses on the pronouns 'he' and 'she' while giving a great review of many community helpers. After quite a few readings today, the kids were able to each 'read' it to me! I enjoyed listening to each of the stories. We've also focused on the parts of books: front, back, and spine. Ask your child to show you each of those three important parts. The spine is everyone's favorite word to say!
During math centers, we worked with firefighters and fire trucks to create patterns, count, and match the digit to the correct number. Finally, we made ABA patterns using colored blocks. Ms. Carol and Ms. Ellen each worked with two students, so the individual attention was great.
After we returned inside from the playground, we each made our own 'People Who Help' small book to take home. Help your child read it to you!
Today we began crafts for the holidays. Ms. Carol helped us to paint our hands and stamp them on fabric to make a wreath. We will use these as gifts for our special friends- DUMC, Ms. Michelle, Ms. Angela, and a few church staff.
It's hard to believe there are only two more weeks left of school this year! We will be very busy with crafts for the community sale and play practice for the play. More details to come! We will embed our language, literacy, and math goals in these activities. Have a great weekend and I look forward to spending Monday with my little friends.
Today was a calm, quiet, and productive day. We began with our new Hello Neighbor Song. Today we re-read our "A Fireman" book (everyone is a master by now). We were excited to introduce a new book, "People Who Help". This book focuses on the pronouns 'he' and 'she' while giving a great review of many community helpers. After quite a few readings today, the kids were able to each 'read' it to me! I enjoyed listening to each of the stories. We've also focused on the parts of books: front, back, and spine. Ask your child to show you each of those three important parts. The spine is everyone's favorite word to say!
During math centers, we worked with firefighters and fire trucks to create patterns, count, and match the digit to the correct number. Finally, we made ABA patterns using colored blocks. Ms. Carol and Ms. Ellen each worked with two students, so the individual attention was great.
After we returned inside from the playground, we each made our own 'People Who Help' small book to take home. Help your child read it to you!
Today we began crafts for the holidays. Ms. Carol helped us to paint our hands and stamp them on fabric to make a wreath. We will use these as gifts for our special friends- DUMC, Ms. Michelle, Ms. Angela, and a few church staff.
It's hard to believe there are only two more weeks left of school this year! We will be very busy with crafts for the community sale and play practice for the play. More details to come! We will embed our language, literacy, and math goals in these activities. Have a great weekend and I look forward to spending Monday with my little friends.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Visit with Officer Wade and his Cool Car!
Officer Wade was a big hit today! Oddly enough, the children LOVED being handcuffed! Maybe Officer Wade will let Ms. Ellen borrow the cuffs for use in our classroom (just kidding)!
We were honored to be joined by a special friend, Ms. Leigh, who helped our class today in Ms. Cortney's absence. Ms. Cortney is on her way to New Your for a big weekend. Ms. Leigh jumped right in and was a good new friend. Thanks, Ms. Leigh!
Today we read "A Visit to the Police Station" by Patrica Murphy. This book has simple text and clear pictures. The children were on the edge of their seats with excitement just to hear the story. The story helped us learn what police officers do, showed us special tools police officers use, and gave a look inside the places police officers work. We touched on police vocabulary words: squad car, commander, station, jail, handcuffs, and uniform.
We finally found time to make our Firefighter Take-home books. In school, we have practiced pointing to each word as we read it (and everyone can 'read' most every page!). Have your child 'read' the book to you.
We learned a new big word 'Scavnanger Hunt'. Ms. Ellen is a big fan of Scavenger Hunts because of the literacy component, so we will use them often. Today's hunt was of police car vocabulary, and it gave the children a particular job (of finding the items). While the kids were climbing around (in and on) Officer Wade's car, I heard, "Ms. Ellen, I found a mirror!", "I found the computer!", "I see the blue lights!". We kept record of each item on a clipboard then transferred the data to individual sheets once back in the classroom.
Finally, we ended with show and tell and our daily journals. If you have any daily journal sheets at home, send them in and we will keep them in the classroom until the end of the year.
Have a great afternoon and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. We will review all the community helpers and complete a few activities that we haven't had time to complete this week.
We were honored to be joined by a special friend, Ms. Leigh, who helped our class today in Ms. Cortney's absence. Ms. Cortney is on her way to New Your for a big weekend. Ms. Leigh jumped right in and was a good new friend. Thanks, Ms. Leigh!
Today we read "A Visit to the Police Station" by Patrica Murphy. This book has simple text and clear pictures. The children were on the edge of their seats with excitement just to hear the story. The story helped us learn what police officers do, showed us special tools police officers use, and gave a look inside the places police officers work. We touched on police vocabulary words: squad car, commander, station, jail, handcuffs, and uniform.
We finally found time to make our Firefighter Take-home books. In school, we have practiced pointing to each word as we read it (and everyone can 'read' most every page!). Have your child 'read' the book to you.
We learned a new big word 'Scavnanger Hunt'. Ms. Ellen is a big fan of Scavenger Hunts because of the literacy component, so we will use them often. Today's hunt was of police car vocabulary, and it gave the children a particular job (of finding the items). While the kids were climbing around (in and on) Officer Wade's car, I heard, "Ms. Ellen, I found a mirror!", "I found the computer!", "I see the blue lights!". We kept record of each item on a clipboard then transferred the data to individual sheets once back in the classroom.
Finally, we ended with show and tell and our daily journals. If you have any daily journal sheets at home, send them in and we will keep them in the classroom until the end of the year.
Have a great afternoon and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. We will review all the community helpers and complete a few activities that we haven't had time to complete this week.
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