Thurs Mar 8th- Field trip to the shark reef

Pictures on Facebook group page

Wed Mar 7th- #16 & Bailey's birthday

Today we practiced printing the letter G since we will not have school on Friday. The students played with little people and magnets for play time. I pulled the students aside to work on the number 16. Today I taught that the number 16 in Spanish is diez y sies. The students traced and printed the number 16 and then had to find 16 socks and color them on the worksheet. We said our pledge, Cole helped with reviewing our color words, we counted to 16 while we galloped and then counted to 16 in Spanish. We talked about our week and the date then the class sang days of the week in Spanish. I went right into weather time and then ABC boogie. We reviewed our letter G- its sounds, the sign and how it is a sneaky letter. I also talked more to the class about our word family –at. I showed them the word wheel that we would be using and taking home today. I talked about all the words on the wheel and how they rhyme because they have the same ending sound. Bailey picked out our wiggle song because she was the birthday girl today and then we had yummy cupcakes and graham crackers for snacks. Sorry for the green lips coming home- it was quiet the adventure with the March cupcakes  the kids LOVED them!! The class then looked at books and Cole shared his show and tell. I went right into class time and the number 16. I reviewed with the class how we write the number16- with the 1 first and then the 6. We practiced our counting in English and Spanish then we went over to the table to work on our counting. The worksheet was a coloring a cake and then each child had to add 16 candles to it. They really had to pay attention to how many candles they had made and how many more they would need. For sight word time, I gave each child their own word wheel and we reviewed each word that was on it. After that, we went to the table and I gave the students the “in the hat” poem page. I had the students circle the –at words that they could find. This was easier for some than others but all the students are on different levels so I am not worried. We all worked through the activity and then I read the poem and the kids had to raise their hands fast if they heard an –at word in the poem. For letter time, we practiced our sounds and sign for the G then went over to color the Goose in a Garden page that we had practiced on Monday. After they completed that, we went right into the G letter friend-Gopher. I think they were adorable! They really do enjoy making these. For the last part of class, I stamped each child’s hand as they told me the two sounds. Once we lined up, we were finished for the day!

Tues Mar 6th- #9 & Aspen's birthday

Our Tuesday started with name practice and then I had Mr. Potato Head, animals and beads. I pulled the students aside to work on tracing the number 9 and learning that it is nueve in Spanish. Once I completed that with them, I measured their height and asked them a few questions for our All about me page for March. Jax helped us with practicing our colors and shapes and then we counted to 15 jumping up and down. We also practiced counting to 9 in Spanish and doing blastoff counting. I introduced the date and we reviewed our days of the week. We sang our calendar songs and I reviewed the holidays of the month. Jax helped with weather time and did our ABC boogie afterwards. Because we didn’t have a letter this week, I had the students sing the ABC song which practices all the letters and their sounds. Once we completed that, we wiggled and ate our snacks. We celebrated Aspen’s fourth birthday today with doughnuts- thanks Melissa! Once we were all done, we looked at books and had Jax share his show and tell. I gave the kids directions for our All about Me March page and then we colored each section. For class time, I taught about the number 9. We counted in English and Spanish and sang our numeral song while practicing printing the numbers in the air. Then I sang “what’s inside the kitten’s jar?” song and there were 9 stamps. We counted those and then we went to the table to put 9 Easter egg stickers in our jars. Once we finished that, we colored a worksheet of 9 envelopes and had to add 9 “’stamps” to the corner of each one. For letter time, we read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and AlphaBeep-A Zipping, Zooming ABC book to review the letters of the alphabet. Once we completed those stories, we were done for the day!

Mon Mar 5th- gardens

My sweet students practiced their names first and last and then played with Mr. Potato Head, animals and beads. I practiced the letter G with each child individually and they finished their shape tracing on the worksheet. I also asked the students a few questions and measured their heights for our March all about me page. Cole was our star and he helped the students to review the lowercase letters we have learned so far. For calendar time, we counted in grumpy voices up to 31 and in Spanish to 15. Blastoff counting was followed with singing the days of the week in Spanish. We talked about our date then we sang our winter song. Cole helped us in weather time. We did our alphabet boogie to get ready for letter time. I had introduced the letter G and its two sounds-“ga” and “ja”. G is sneaky because he steals another letter’s sound. I practiced the song and the sign with the class. I read from my letter book words that start with the “ga” and “ja” sounds. After letter time, we reviewed our sight word “sat”. I discussed the –at word family and how if you take the –at sound and add another letter, you can make all kinds of words. Once we finished, we wiggled, ate our snack and then we had some book time. Cole shared his show and tell and then we colored our Alll about me page for March. For our class time, I started to discuss gardens. We talked about different plants that can be grown in a garden from flowers to fruits and vegetables. I had a song about gardeners and all the kind of protection they have to use in the garden. From gloves, hat and sunglasses to help them stay protected in the sun. Also you can have a garden for fun or you can garden for a job. After our floor time, we went up to the table and counted flowers in a garden. The class reviewed counting and then writing the correct number. It was great practice to print the numbers on their own. I concluded garden day by reading “Olivia grows a garden” book to the class. For letter time, the students practiced the sounds and sign of the letter G. We also reviewed our sight word for the week. I stamped the letter G on their hands and we were done for the day.

Fri Mar 2nd- #15

Usually Fridays are letter review but instead I had the students complete patterning sets at the table. I had magnetic shapes, cars and trucks and shape puzzles out for play time. I also had a new addition to our class- 30 caterpillars. We will be watching their growth for the new few weeks as they turn into butterflies. I brought students over to work on the number 15- printing it and then learning that 15 in Spanish is quince (keen-say). They had to find the necklace with 15 beads and color that on the worksheet. After clean up, Sally helped the class work on their colors and shapes and then we counted to 15 marching the whole time to celebrate our new month. We also practiced counting to 15 in Spanish. I was excited to share all the changes we had had in classroom since our last class. All of the decorations were different and our calendar showed us a new month- March! After that we sang the Days of the week in Spanish and then I showed them that March is a longer month with 31 days instead of the 28 or 30 days in other months. I also shared all the birthdays, holidays and special events of the month. We completed weather time, alphabet boogie and singing ABC song with doing our signs together. Fridays are individual sight word practice so we went over all the words we have learned so far. After we wiggled, we ate our snacks and explored all of our new March books. Sally shared her show and tell and I started to teach our new poem for the month- about a caterpillar. This is also in each student’s folder for review at home. For the number 15 day, we first counted in English and Spanish. Then I gave each student a whiteboard and I had them practice writing the number 15 on their own. Some students had a harder time with the number 5 but we were all doing it on our own towards the end of the practice. I brought all the students to the table and they colored a squirrel then used finger paint to give the squirrel 15 “acorns”. I have been working with the students on perfecting their counting in the teens. Some students skip some numbers as they count. Please work on this skill with them at home. For letter time, I put the lower case letters we have learned out on the table. Then each child would pull an uppercase letter out of a paper bag. Their job was to find the match. As a class we would then review the letter and the sound(s) it makes. We had a chance to play a few quick games of letter of the week bingo and review our sight words before class was done.

Thurs Mar 1st- Opposites: big/little

Our class started with scissor time and then the class played with magnetic shapes, shape puzzles and cars and trucks. Aspen was ill so Miss Alisha was the star. We reviewed our colors by looking at their name cards. After that we counted to 15 with our new March calendar marching all the way. The class counted in Spanish and did blastoff counting. I reviewed our new calendar and the holidays and special days coming up in March. We sang our calendar and weather song and then talked about the weather. We boogied to the ABCs and reviewed our letter T. We tapped out together and then had our wiggle song to get ready for snack time. After snacks, we explored our new library of March books. We practiced our new nursery rhyme – Hickory Dickory Dock. I showed them actions as we listened to the song the first time. Then we went over to the table to color our nursery rhyme booklet as we listened to the song again. After everyone finished coloring, we listened to the song as we looked at our books. I think this will be an easy rhyme for them to remember. For our class topic, we talked about the opposites big and little. On opposites day, we sing the opposites song before we begin. Then I read the book “Big and Little” to the class. I showed the students a variety of different items that they had to tell me which was the big one and the little one. Then we practiced making our bodies big and little. For our art time, we painted with big and little paintbrushes with the paints. Each student made a beautiful piece of art! For T time, we practiced our sound for the letter T and I stamped each child’s hand with the lowercase t. After that I read a few stories that started with T- first we learned about tadpoles turning into toads and then I read the story “Touch that!” which taught about the sense of touch. We reviewed our sound of the letter T again and we were finished for the day.

Wed Feb 29th- patience

Wednesdays are the great chance for us to work on our scissor skills. I had tinker toys, food and links out for play. Sally helped the class work on reading our color sight words and spelling them. After which we leaped like frogs to 29 in honor of leap year and then counted to 14 in Spanish. I reviewed our date- February 29th and how it comes along once every four years. We sang our days of the week in Spanish and then reviewed the days. We sang our winter song followed by weather time and dressing our weather friend for the day. ABC boogie was next and then we worked on our sign language alphabet. I reviewed the sight words of the week and then we wiggled to a song that Sally picked. The class ate their snacks and then explored the books as it was the last day of the February library. Sally shared her show and tell and I read a few stories to the class. We discussed patience- what it is, when you need it and why. I talked about growing seeds and what things you need for them to grow-water, sunlight and soil. After that, we went to the table to complete a patience book about seeds and how we have to wait for them to grow but the payoff is beautiful! For letter time, I read Alphabet Mystery and reviewed our sight words of the week.

Tues Feb 28th- restaurants & grocery stores

Our class started with name practice and then played with food, tinker toys and links. I worked on the letter T with each of the students- printing the letter and practicing the T sound. Aspen was our star and she helped with the colors and shapes practice. After that we counted to 29 on our tip toes and reviewed our Spanish up to 8. I reviewed our calendar and the date. We sang days of the week and months of the year. Aspen helped with weather time and then we boogied to the alphabet. I taught the students about the letter T and the sound it makes. We practiced the sound like we were tap dancing. I also read from my letter book a variety of different words that begin with T. We wiggled, ate our snacks and looked at our February books for the last time. For lesson time, we got right into our lesson on restaurants and grocery stores. I asked the students what some of their favorite places to eat were- we got on the tangent of ice cream and what kinds that we liked. I had to refocus and talk about food places that we eat dinner or even lunch at. McDonalds, Panera Bread, Panda Express were some of the favorites. I then talked about our theme for the month- All around the town. I had a small story that I shared about different places that we will be discussing throughout the month. After that, I talked about grocery stores and where moms buy our food. I got from many students that they don’t like the grocery stores because they take too long and are boring. We talked about what kinds of foods are at the grocery store and how important they are for us. I then showed a picture of a chef and they knew what the chef does- I sang a song to go along with a chef and they we imagined that we were chefs and we had our own restaurants. For letter time, we tapped our toes while singing the letter T song. Then we read our T story about Tilly Turtle went to tea and she broke the table and they made her into the table.

Mon Feb 27th- seeds

Our Mondays start with name practice and then the students played with duplos, babies and magnetic letters. I pulled the students aside to work on the sight word on and is by printing them and getting them stamped on their hands. After clean up, Sally helped the students review their letters. We counted to 29 doing karate chops which were Sally’s request as well as counting to 100 by 10s. We reviewed our date on the calendar and we started to learn our days of the week in Spanish. Sally helped with weather time and we alphabet boogied. Because we were reviewing our letters, we sang our ABC song. I also introduced our sight words and we practiced sounding them out and saying them together. We wiggled to get ready for snack time and then after we ate, the class had book time and Sally shared her show and tell. Our theme for the month is All about nature. I wanted to start with seeds so that we can see the process of the seeds and their growth. To start our lesson, I read the Eric Carle book “The Tiny Seed”. We talked about what seeds need to grow- sunlight, water and soil. We did a role play of a seed growing towards the sun with our bodies- they really grew well! I showed the students some different seeds and then we started growing some seeds ourselves. I had some beans soaking and we made our own planter bags with paper towels, a ziplock bag, spray bottle to get our towel wet and 3 seeds. I taped them to the window so that we can chart our progress. I had a variety of different seeds of different vegetables and fruits. For fun, I cut up many to let the students see where they are located. Some fun ones were the avocado seed and the mango pit. After we explored the seeds, I read the book “A sunflower grows up” and we talked about how seeds work and we started one more science project with our seeds. This one required soil so each child helped with adding soil and wheat kernels so we can see wheat grass grow. They can grow above the ground so the students can see the roots and the grass as they grow in class. For letter time, we sang the ABCs and then reviewed our sight words since our seed science projects took up the majority of the class.

Fri Feb 24th- #14

We began our Friday with letter E printing practice. Once they finished, the class played with big blocks, puppets and tweezers with puffs. I pulled the students aside to work on the number 14- printed the number as well as counted for an activity on the page. I also taught them that 14 in Spanish is catorce. Once the class cleaned up, Rome reviewed the colors and shapes with the class. For counting time, we exercised to 29- jumping jacks to 20 and then running from 21-29. We counted to 14 in Spanish and then reviewed the calendar and our date. The class sang months of the year and then we listened to the song in Spanish. We also listened to the days of the week in Spanish too. Rome helped with weather time and then we boogied to the ABCs. I did individual sight word practice with the students. All of the main sight words are in your child’s folder. The character names are not. Please work on the sight words with your child. If they are having a problem, review the sounds with them. This will help in their efforts in the story books they are reading. We also reviewed the sounds and sign for the letter E. We talked about the importance of E in our alphabet. Rome picked a wiggle song and then we eat snacks and explored our library books. Rome shared his show and tell and then we started with our lesson on the number 14. I had them all stand and we counted to 14 in English and Spanish. We did an art project with polka dotting 14 dots on a t-shirt worksheet. This project seemed to work our listening skills as it proved difficult for some. I will keep working on improving our listening skills in following verbal directions. For letter time, the class reviewed the sounds and sign for the letter E. The students then completed their Ellie Elephant worksheet with counting eggs and matching them to their correct number as well as coloring Ellie. After that I read a book about Earth and we discussed the different parts of the planet. The class then went back to the table to complete their E letter friend- Elephant. For the last story, I read The Enormous Elephant Show and we found the pictures that began with E. After that, I had the class line up, gave them their stamp and we were done for the week!