Opera and Talents

 Opera and Talents

Daily Question: Oo Ostrich sings opera.  Do you like to sing?

It tickles me to see the children sign in now. They are no longer self conscious or worried they "can't" write their name. I remind them that we are learning how and doing it by practicing. Writing his/her own name is a Kindergarten prerequisite. Our class is really learning!

*Karina, William's mother, mentioned that his Grandparents ARE Opera singers!

Toys: (New) Fisher Price Construction set, Airport and Airplane, and FP Village, puppet theater, and hand puppets.

Students enjoyed listening about O the Ostrich whose occupation was singing opera in front of other ostriches, "O-o-o" (students put hands together in front of them and sing oah, oah, oah).

We "painted" O the Ostrich feathers with food dye and corn syrup. This was a lot of sticky fun and left a somewhat tacky but neat looking letter. 

 





This painting fascinates me--the textures as the children pull the blue dye into the corn syrup really do give a "feather like" appearance to the paintings.








 

Talents: We enjoyed reading Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman and talking about the little black girl who loved to listen to and re-enact stories. She believed she could be (or portray) anyone and so she won the part of Peter Pan in a play. Children named talents: soccer, ballet, singing, drawing, painting, or serving others. Some of these come more easily to us and some talents require us to take classes, learn the rules, and work hard at it/them.

Circle Time Discussion:  Ostrich likes to sing.  What do you like to do?  What would you like to learn?  What do you think you will do when you grow up...?
Ethan:  A fireman (or a Knight).
Seth:  Spiderman!
Kayson:  A doctor.
William: A good pirate! 
Dade: A bad guy!  
Brody: Iron Man and a bad guy!  
Eva: A Princess!  
Miss Nikki:A Teacher (and a Mother!) 
Miss Julie:  A Mother (and a Teacher !)

Reading When I'm Big in Circle Time.

 "O" Spotting--We went outside to search for the letter Oo and also to spot any zeros/circles we could find.

Books on Talents:
*Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
Something Special
You Are Special!
You are Special by Max Lucado
When I'm Big by Nila Aye and Tim Drury

Knowledge and our Bodies

Daily Question:  Do you know what your cranium is?  The cranium is your skull (bone that covers your brain).

Toys:  Puppet Theater (Boy and Girl Puppets), Operation Game and Go Fish! Game.


Snack:  Carrots, Ritz crackers, and fruit snacks

Nutrition Discussion:  Do you know what snacks are healthy for your bodies?  Students suggest: carrots, grapes, ...

I Spy K words (or sounds); Kite, Kayson, kick, kangaroo, knee,


 Other "K" words we thought of as a class: kitty, kite, Kayson, Karate, kids, kicks, Kindergarten, etc.  (We talked about how K is a tricky letter because it can sound like copycat C in some cases.)

K the Kicking Kangaroo Art Activity:
We worked on our Kicking Kangaroos art project. K is a Kangaroo who practices Karate and says "k-k-k" while kicking. This was a fun letter to work on because it used a brad and had moveable parts!

*Parents, please help your students practice cutting (with confidence) with scissors.

Cute Quotes from today:
"When Jesus made me--I was little-a baby!" Dade
"I love my body!" Ethan
"My friend can touch his brain through his ears."  Really?!  "My mom says, 'not really'."  Dade 

What is Christmas?
"Trees and plugs!" Eva
"It's freezing and there's ice."  Eleanor
"When it's Christmas, a guy gives presents, it's snowing, when I'm sleeping reindeer come, Santa brings presents..."
"Santa comes to red robin, too."  Ethan
"My mom, my dad, my sister, and my brother have their own trees." Brody
"It is when you celebrate baby Jesus, when he was born."  William
"You can sled and put on boots to slip on the ice."  Seth

We had an indoor recess where we learned several action songs: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes and a new one called "Tony Chestnut (Toe-knee-chest-nut-nose-I love you)."

Books About Our Bodies: 
From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
Hooray for Hands! (Begin Smart)Books
The Hair Book by Graham Tether, Ill. by Roy McKie
The Eye Book by Dr. Seuss (Theo LeSieg), Ill. by Joe Mathieu
The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss
The Tooth Book by Theo LeSieg (Dr. Seuss), Ill. by Joe Mathieu
Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins, ill. by Eric Gurney
The Shape of Me and Other Stuff by Dr. Seuss
Giggle Belly (A Rookie Reader) by Page Sakelaris, Ill. by Richard L. Torrey
Dr. Frankensteins Human Body Book: The Monstrous Truth About How Your Body Works (DK)
Parts by Tedd Arnold
Even More Parts by Tedd Arnold
All About You (With Inspector McQ from World Craft--Childcraft)
Wonderful You! by Linda and Alan Parry
Ouch! How Your Body Makes it Through a Very Bad Day (DK--CD Rom)
The Human Body (Reader's Digest, Pathfinders, Large book).  

Other Books:
We read and talked about a simple book called,Giving, and learned that we can give someone a smile, make Mom or Dad a picture, give/share apple slices, etc.

Jamming With Sea Animals

Jamming With Sea Animals 

Daily Question: Do you like jelly fish?

Snacks: Grapes, pretzels and cheese cubes.

Toys: ABSeas, Sea Creature Stencils,Cranium Under the Sea Memory Game.

We learned about J the jellyfish who liked to jiggle her arms and say "j-j-j" (jah, jah, jah) as she danced at the Jellyfish Jamboree in June. 

Christmas Counting Chain Craft

Seasonal Books

Sea Animal Books:
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
Wish for a Fish; All About Sea Creatures by Bonnie Worth and Aristides Ruiz
Down at the Bottom of the Deep Dark Sea* by Rebecca C. Jones, ill. by Virgina Wright-Frierson
(*Book deals with a boys fear of water)
Look Inside the Ocean (A Poke & Look Learning Book)
Gilbert the Great by Jane Clarke and Charles Fuge (audio CD)
Let's Go Swimming with Mr. Sillypants by M. K. Brown
What's Up, What's Down? by Lola M. Schaefer, Ill. by Barbara Bash
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Phister

Our Thanksgiving Feast!

Do you know why we celebrate Thanksgiving?

There were some cute responses to this:  "Yes! It's because we eat chicken and share chicken!"
"The pilgrims got washed away to the Indian Island!" Ethan informed us.

Toys: Potato Heads, Color Puzzles, and Foam Blocks.

 Ethan has his "pirate face" on!

 Cute turkey bum!

Snack: ( In the place of our snack, each student brought a part of our feast!  Thank you Moms for your support.)  "We all brought things for our class feast--that makes us friends!"

We had fun singing songs today:
Janeen Brady's, "The Pilgrims and the Indians"
It's Autumn-Time
and the storybook/song, "I'm a Turkey" by Jim Arnosky.

Show N' Teach:

William--"I'm thankful for my Star Wars guys!"
Brody--Thankful for Nursery Rhymes
Eva--Turkey shirt!
Kayson--"I brought a Cat's Thanksgiving; I like the cats chasing the mice and making pies (parts in the book)."
Ethan--"I brought a turkey because the Indians brought wild turkeys."
Dade--10 Fat Turkeys

On Thanksgiving Day
By Rochelle Nielsen-Barsuhn

 
I put rolls in a basket,
crisp and warm,
stirred the gravy,
buttered the corn.
I watched the turkey cook golden brown.
I mashed the potatoes while Mom sat down.
In fact,
I was such a big help today that before we bowed our heads to pray,
Mom whispered, "I'm thankful for you."

We reviewed the First Thanksgiving. You can find and print out pilgrim and Indian pictures here (click on the purple link) or here: http://printables.scholastic.com/printables/detail/?id=28485

Indian Corn helped save the Pilgrims after their first crops did not grow. Samoset, Chief of the Massasoit Indians, and Squanto, an Indian who had traveled to England and spoke English well, taught the Pilgrims many things and helped them survive after the first harsh winter*. (Some credit him and the Indians for saving the Pilgrims and being sent by Heaven). Squanto taught them how to tap the maple trees for sap, differentiate plants were poisonous and which had medicinal powers, and how to plant the Indian corn by heaping the earth into low mounds with several seeds and fish in each mound. The decaying fish fertilized the corn. He also taught them to plant other crops with the corn.
*Over half of the 102 Pilgrims died the first Winter in America. There were four women alive in the spring and most of the fifty people remaining were the children.

Our Feast: Popcorn, Corn-meal Muffins, Yams,
Turkey, Craisins, Fruit Salad, and Pumpkin Pie with cream.

Eva offered a prayer and we ate up our feast!



During our feasting we passed around a glitter turkey and played the Grateful Game counting all the things we were thankful for.


Ethan said during the feast, "This is the BEST feast!"
 













Today was a special preschool because we worked together to prepare for our feast and remember 
the First Thanksgiving between the Pilgrims and the Indians (Native Americans--especially Chief Massasoit, Squanto, and Samoset ).

We missed Eleanor, Seth, and Theo and hope to see them on Tuesday!

Thanksgiving Books:
The Most Thankful Thing by Lisa McCourt, Ill. by Cyd Moore (Scholastic)
The Story of the Pilgrims by Katherine Ross, Ill. by Carolyn Croll
Arthur's Thanksgiving by Marc Brown
It's Thanksgiving by Jack Prelutsky, Ill. by Marilyn Hafner
Thanksgiving With Me by Margaret Willey, Ill. by Lloyd Bloom
The Night Before Thanksgiving by Natasha Wing, Ill. by Tammie Lyon
The First Thanksgiving Feast by Joan Anderson, Phots by George Anacona
The First Thanksgiving by Jean Craighead George, Ill. by Thomas Locker
Thanksgiving Day by Anne Rockwell, Ill. by Lizzy Rockwell
Sarah Morton's Day; A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl by Kate Waters, photos by Russ Kendall
The Pilgrims of Plymouth by Marica Sewall
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky Ill. by Susan Jeffers
I Am The Turkey (I Can Read! 2) by Michelle Sobel Sprin, Ill. by Joy Allen
I'm a Turkey! by Jim Arnosky
10 Fat Turkey's by Tony Johnston, Ill. by Rich Deas
All the Places to Love by Patricia Maclachlan, Paintings by Mike Wimmer
Thank you, Grandpa by Lynn Ploude, Ill. by Jason Cockcroft
Grandad's Prayers of the Earth by Douglas Wood, Ill. by P.J. Lynch

Online fun--Thanksgiving Websites:

• Hubbard's Cupboard--The First Thanksgiving
• Scholastic page on The First Thanksgiving (great wealth of information and pictures)
• First School--Alphabet Printable Activities, "Turkey"

Horses and Farm Animals

Daily Question:  Hh  Have you ridden a horse before?

This morning we went back to signing in our names.  See how far we have come?
 
Toys:  Buckin Broncos, (new) Farm Floor Puzzle, felt Barn Activity book, Play House, (new) large ABC puzzle mats. 

 Giant Puzzlers!

Guess what letter Seth found?

 

 It's a good morning in our Play House.

 We all cleaned up together.

Snacks: Pretzels and Animal Cookies

Letter H Show N' Teach:

 Eleanor: Horse Peaches and a "Magic Pretty Pony".
Ethan and Kayson: Fire Helicopter and a Police Helicopter

Seth: Green Goblin, William: Hans Solo and Jabba the Hut toy

Brody: Hero toys and Eva: favorite Horse stuffed animal.

I Spy "H" Game:
hog, hero, horse, hospital, hornet, huffs, hay.

Letter H Activity:
We learned that H the horse is stung by a hornet and has to hurry to the hospital. "H h h" in the sound his hooves make (children move arms up and down with hands curved like horses hooves while making the Ha ha ha sound).
 
Children help H the Horse make it through a maze to get to the hospital.

Songs: 
It's Autumntime!
Old Macdonald Had a Farm.
 

Books:
Two Cool Cows by Toby Speed (audio book/Play on Mother Goose Rhymes)
Old McDonald Had a Farm Ill. by Pam Adams (Child's Play-Jumbo Book).
Number Farm (Jumbo Book) by Stephen Holmes
What's Happening on the Farm? by Heather Amery & Stephen Cartwright
Once Upon a Farm by Marie Bradby, Ill. by Ted Rand
Rooster's Off to See the World by Eric Carle
No Milk! Jennifer A. Ericsson, Ill. by Ora Eitan
The Smallest Cow in the World (I Can Read, Lvl. 3)by Katherine Paterson & Jane Clark Brown
Animal Sounds (A Sturdy Golden Book), Ill. by Aurelius Battaglia
Robert The Rose Horse by Joan Heilbroner and P.D. Eastman
The Three Pigs by David Weisner
Pigs in the House by Steven Kroll, Illl. by Tim Kirk
Emmett's Pig (An I Can Read Book) by Mary Stolz, Ill. by Garth Williams
A Huge Hog is a Big Pig; A Rhyming Word Game by Francis McCall & Patricia Keeler
My Goose Betsy by Trudi Braun, Ill. by John Bendall-Brunello
Barnyard Banter by Denise Fleming
Down by The Pond by Margrit Cruickshank, Ill. by Dave Saunders
"Not Now!" Said the Cow by Joanne Oppenheim, Ill. by Chric Demares
Inside a Barn in the Country: A Rebus Read-Along Story by Alyssa Satin Capucilli & Ted Arnold
Spot's Noisy Walk by Eric Hill (Play-a-Sound)

It's Autumn Time!

Do you like Autumn?

Toys:Fisher Price Village, Cars and Car Rug.

Snacks: Animal Crackers, apple slices

Happy Un-Birthday to SETH!  (10/30)

Our very own Spider-man loving Seth, has a birthday soon!  Seth likes green and blue.  He loves Spider Man and is excited about a web-slinging toy he hopes to get (or invent?) for his birthday.  Seth has a younger brother, Luke, and two older brothers and two older sisters.  His Dad works on computers and his mom makes "food" and sometimes cookies.  Seth is one lucky little man!

Activity:  Colorful pumpkins and leaf gathering walk.

Autumn Leaf Hunt!

Leaf Art Activity:  We took our leaves and made pictures with them!






Songs: Today we gathered leaves and then sang this action song--
 It's Autumn Time (See Youtube link to song)

“It’s Autumntime,” Children’s Songbook of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 246

Brightly

1. It’s autumntime. It’s autumntime.
The leaves are falling down.
It’s autumntime. It’s autumntime.
It’s all around the town.

2. It’s autumntime. It’s autumntime.
There’s yellow, red, and brown.
It’s autumntime. It’s autumntime.
Bright colors can be found.

Words: Rita Mae Olsen, b. 1932. © 1966 IRI

Kayson's "Monsters."


 It's autumn time, it's autumn time ... sway side to side above head

the leaves are falling down ... slowly lower leaf as if falling

It's autumn time, it's autumn time .... sway side to side above head

It's all around the town ... circle leaf above your head

 

It's autumn time .... sway side to side above head

yellow, red, brown ... raise leaf when color is said

It's autumn time .... sway side to side above head

colors can be found ... shake leaf above head

Five Little Pumpkins (review) 

Five Little Pumpkins
(Tune: “Five Little Ducks”)

Five little pumpkins sitting on the gate. (Hold up 5 fingers.)
The first one said, “Oh, my it’s getting late.” (Hold up thumb.)
The second one said, “There are witches in the air.” (Hold up index finger.)
The third one said, “But I don’t care.” (Hold up middle finger.)
The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run.” (Hold up ring finger.)
The fifth one said, “I’m ready for some fun.” (Hold up pinky.)
Ooooo! Went the wind, and out went the light. (Blow through hands, then clap.)
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight! (Roll hands behind back.)

Autumn Harvest Books:
I See a Leaf (Scholastic Reader, 1) by Grace Maccarone, Ill. by Laura Freeman
Sam the Scarecrow (A First Start Easy Reader) Troll
October Smiled Back by Lisa Westerberg Peters, Ill. by Ed Young (Months)
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams,Megan Lloyd*
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
What Happens in the Autumn; Books for Young Explorers, The National Geographic Society.