Thurs Feb 23rd- #8

The students came into class and I had them each work on their names. After they finished, they played with wooden blocks, transformers, star wars characters and magnetic dolls. I pulled each child aside to work on the letter S and number 8. We discussed the sound the letter s makes and that 8 in Spanish is ocho. Chelsea helped with circle time responsibilities and then we counted to 8 in English and Spanish slithering like a snake (or stomped our feet). The class and I reviewed the date and the calendar and then we sang months of the year. Chelsea helped dress our weather friend and then we boogied to the ABCs. I talked about the letter s and how it is found in so many words. I allowed the class to relax as I read from our letter book all the words that begin with this popular letter. We practiced the sound of S and then we did our wiggle song. Chelsea had brought an S themed snack and we also had doughnuts to celebrate Kayden’s birthday! After snacks, we went right into show and tell and our nursery rhyme time. The class sang to Hey Diddle Diddle and Jax and Logan were able to pass off this nursery rhyme too. We also sang to our planets song to practice it. For out instructional time, we practiced counting to 8 in English and Spanish and then sang our numeral song practicing our numbers in the air. Because 8 is a harder number to do, we practiced it a few ways. We sang our “what’s inside the kitten’s jar” song and counted the balls in the jar-8. Then I had all the students come to the table and add the 8 planets into their jar on the worksheet. Then I had made a big 8 on the floor with tape and each child had a chance to walk the number 8 to try to understand how it is made. They seem to enjoy this activity. After all the students finished, I read “8 spinning planets” book to the class and we counted all the planets and then we sang the planets song again. As I prepped for our planet poster activity, I had the students look at books as they didn’t get to earlier. I divided the class up on to my two tables and we colored each planet one at a time as I discussed each one. Each child did a great job completing their posters. I hope they enjoyed showing them to you. After we finished, we sang the planet song again. For letter time, we practiced the sound of the letter S and I read Seal’s Silly Sandwich story and I had all the students come and pick out an S word from the story. I did individual S sound practice with the students as I gave them their stamps and we had finished our day.

Wed Feb 22nd- Opposites: buy/sell

We came back from our long weekend to start our day with practicing our names- first and last. After they completed that, they played with wooden blocks, transformers, star wars characters and magnetic dolls. I pulled each child aside to practice the letter Ee and its sounds. Rome helped with reviewing color words and then we worked on our counting. We counted to 29 by waving our “trunks” like elephants. We reviewed our date and calendar and then sang days of the week. I also have started to work with teaching the class the days of the week in Spanish. We will start teaching them next week- we listened to the song this week. Weather time with Rome was next followed with ABC boogie. We reviewed our sight words as a class and then I taught the sounds and sign for the letter E. The class and I found E on our alphabet wall and I talked about how it is a vowel and its importance. I also read from our letter book many words that begin with E- even our own Ella! After that we wiggled, ate our snacks and had book time. Rome shared his show and tell and then we got into our lesson. We sang our opposite song and I read our opposites book- I read one action and the class has to tell me its opposite. For the opposite buy and sell, I read about famers markets selling the fruits and vegetable of the farm as well as selling wool, cotton and livestock. To practice the opposites, I put the students in teams of two or three then they pretended to be the farmer and the customer. I gave four “dollars” to each of the customers and then they went and bought fruits and vegetables from the kinder-tots farmers market. They then had to take the dollars and items to the farmer to pay. The farmer had to count the items and make sure they paid the right amount of money. Then we switched places allowing the other friend to play the role. They enjoyed this activity. For letter time, we practiced the sounds and sign for letter E again. We colored our eagle with an egg printing page from earlier. The class also watercolor painted and “Easter egg” cutout for our art in April. Afterwards, I did an individual practice of the sounds as I gave them the E stamp on their hand. In line, I had the class review the sight words and we were done for the day.

Fri Feb 17th- Presidents day

Our last day of the week is always letter printing practice. We reviewed the letter Rr and then played with foam blocks, trains, Lincoln Logs, coin rubbings and nuts and bolts. I pulled each child aside to have them stamp stars on their 3 corner hat in honor of President Washington. Garrett helped with color and shape review and then the class blast off counting, Spanish to 13 and then we rowed a boat like we were going over the Delaware River like Pres. Washington to 29. We reviewed our date and sang our songs. I did individual sight word practice with the class- calling on a student and then showing them the word. If they are having a hard time, I review the sounds and we work through it together. We practiced our ABC song and I added the signs we have learned this year- I was impressed that they could keep up! We wiggled, ate snacks and explored our February library books. For class time, I discussed our two presidents that we celebrate on Presidents day and their birthdays. I read a My First Biography of George Washington and we talked some highlights of his life. The class then went to the table to color a picture of George. After we completed that, we read a story called Abe Lincoln- the boy who loved books. This was a longer story so I sent home the Abraham Lincoln coloring page for fun. For letter time, each student colored their rabbit by the river worksheet that we had completed on Wednesday and then each student created their R letter friend- the rabbit! Once all the students finished we reviewed our sign, sound and sight words of the week then we were off for a long weekend!

Thurs Feb 16th- STAR day

Thursdays begin with scissor practice at the table and then the children played with Lincoln logs, Littlest Pet Shop and puzzles. We were missing two of our friends so it was a small class today. I worked on two things with the kids today- we were busy! We practiced tracing, recognizing and coloring a star and printing the letter R. Kayden helped us start to review our color words and then we counted hopping like rabbits to 25 and up to 7 in Spanish. During our calendar time, we reviewed the date, sang our songs and talked about our weather. For alphabet time, we boogied and then practiced our letter R by reviewing how to print it and the sound. We sang our ABC song to review all the letters and their sounds. After we finished, we wiggled, ate snacks and looked at our books. Kayden shared his show and tell- bowling which all the students tried out. For nursery rhyme time, we sang our nursery rhyme and I had the kids did it by themselves. If I saw them singing the whole song, then they were able to pick out a prize in my prize box. They all did a great job! For class time, we reviewed and sang our planet song. I talked about the difference of a star in outer space and the shape of the star. I read “There was a bold lady who wanted a star” and then we went to the table to complete our star page. They colored the shape and then added star stickers all over it. I also gave each student a big super star sticker to wear. For letter time, we read Rosie Rabbit’s Radish and found all the words that start with the letter R in the story. We completed our R page from the morning by coloring a rainbow. I had a rainbow song that I played for the class as they colored. To review R a little more, we practiced the sound and then read “If I had a robot” story. I had “make your own” robot stickers and we came to the table for each child to create their own robot. After they finished, I gave them an r stamp on their hand as they reviewed the sound with me and then we were done for the week!

Wed Feb 15th- taking care of farm animals & growing crops

Our Wednesdays begin with scissor practice- they are getting more intricate in the practice sheets. I had Lincoln logs, Littlest Pet Shop and puzzles. I had each child practice the letter R with me and trace the shapes on the page- it was a rabbit by a river. Garrett helped as we reviewed spelling and identifying our color words. The class and I counted to 29 as we hopped like a rabbit. We sang our days of the week song and reviewed our calendar and weather. We worked on “sit” and “Ann” for our sight words as well as reviewing all of our sight words we have learned so far. We reviewed the letter R and Rodney Raccoon. We practiced the sign and sound of the letter R as well. After our alphabet boogie and wiggle time songs, we had our snack and book time. Garrett shared his show and tell and then we got into our lesson about farm animals. I have a large poster of various farm animals and I had each student come up and pick one out and then I would teach about each one. After animal time, I talked about growing crops and the different kinds of things that are grown on a farm. We read a seed diagram poem with pictures and we learned that seeds need three things to grow- water, soil and sunlight. We talked about the varieties of fruits, vegetables and grains that are grown on farms and we shared which items that we like the most. As a class, we did a counting fruits activity to practice printing our numbers and counting items. We are still working on counting as we touch an item and not rushing through the activity. This will come in time and is a great thing to work on with your child at home. For letter time, they had to use the colors red, green and blue and find the letters that they correspond with. We found out that we were coloring radishes for the letter R. On the back, we colored the letter R and Rodney Raccoon. We practiced our sign and sound again as we got our letter R stamp and we were done for the day.

Tues Feb 14th- Valentines day party

The class started this special day with practicing their names and then went on to play with red play dough with heart cookie cutters, duplos and organizing our links by color into heart bowls. I pulled each child aside to make heart handprint valentine’s card for the parents. Kayden helped with his star duties by reviewing the colors and shapes with the class. After we counted to 20 running in place and did blast off counting. We had calendar time reviewing our special date and other holidays of the month. We sang our winter song and reviewed the weather with Kayden’s help. We reviewed our new letter R- Rosie Rabbit and her rake after alphabet boogie. I sent her story home in your child’s folder. We practiced the sound of the letter R and then I reviewed some words that start with R. Kayden’s snack was so festive- thanks Eleisha! The kids loved all the special treats. Finally after we finished eating, we had book time and show and tell. For nursery rhyme time, we sang Hey Diddle Diddle and went right into our party. The students decorated their valentine’s bag with stickers that would hold all of their special gifts from their friends. After we read three Valentines books- “How do I love you?” which helps the students count up to 20, “Clifford’s Puppy Days- Puppy Love” which discussed love and how it shown and given to everyone around us and “Emily’s Valentine’s Party”. Once we completed those, we handed out our valentines to each other. For my valentine’s gift, I gave them a book. Hope they enjoyed reading this! Kayden also brought a valentine book to share- A Chipmunk Valentines. I read this to the class and then we reviewed our sound of the letter R as I gave each child a stamp on their hand. We had a wonderful Valentine’s Day with each other!

Mon Feb 13th- Valentines day party

Mondays always start with name practice- first and last and then they were on to playing with red play dough with heart cookie cutters, duplos and organizing our links by color into heat bowls. I pulled each child aside to make heart handprint valentine’s card for the parents. I also had them come back to practice the sight word- sit with me. Garrett helped as my star for the week and he quizzed the students on the letters that we have learned. We were so excited to be at our Valentines holiday on our calendar! We counted to 25 running in place. We also practiced our Spanish numbers up to 13 and we did our blastoff counting. We sang our months of the year song. All the students helped with weather time and I introduced two new sight words- sit and Ann. We learned that sit rhymes with it and Mit- two prior sight words that we have had. We also learned Ann who is a giraffe in our reading books. Before letter practice, we did our alphabet boogie. Our letter for the week is the letter R. We met Rodney Raccoon- he loves radishes, roller skating and his rocket. We practiced our sound and sign for the letter R and then did our wiggle song. After snack and book time, I got right into our party. Each student stamped their Valentine’s bag holder and then we relaxed as I read the class three Valentines books- “How do I love you?” which helps the students count up to 20, “Clifford’s Puppy Days- Puppy Love” which discussed love and how it shown and given to everyone around us and “Emily’s Valentine’s Party”. For our party game, we played cupid’s arrows. I gave each child a large straw and some Q-Tips. They had to blow the “arrows” into their targets. They had a lot of fun playing this game. For our class treat, I made heart sugar cookies and each child decorated and then ate their creation. Last but not least, each child was able to pass out their valentines to each other. They were all so fun and the kids loved sharing them with their friends. For my valentine’s gift, I gave them a book. Hope they enjoyed reading this! At the end of class, I gave each child an R stamp as we practiced the sound when we were leaving for the day. We had a wonderful Valentine’s Day with each other!

Fri Feb 10th- #13

Students started the day with printing the upper and lowercase N and then they played with magnetic shapes, shape puzzles and cars and trucks. I pulled each student aside to work on the number 13- teaching how to print it and say it in Spanish- trece. The number 3 is a harder number to print and some of my students needed extra help. We also did some one on one counting as we counted strips on flags-one activity on the worksheet. We found that the United States flag has 13 strips We had a fun day today with wearing our pajamas to go along with our letter friend Night! Gage helped the class review their colors and shapes and then the class blast off counting, Spanish to 13 and then we ninja chopped and kicked to 29. We reviewed our date and sang our songs. I introduced our new sight word Sis, who is a snake in the books. Some of my students are progressing so well with these books- keep it up! I did individual sight word practice with each child- asking them the word individually. If they didn’t know it, we would sound it out together. We also reviewed Nancy Nurse and the animal noises she liked. The students had to guess what sounds I was making- it was fun times! Gage picked our wiggle song and then we had snacks, book time and show and tell. To ready us for Valentine’s day- I read the story “The Best Thing about Valentines” to the class and then I talked to them about what we would do on Monday. For our lesson today we were focusing on the number 13. We practiced counting in English and Spanish to 13. We also did some finger stamping today- giving each rooster 13 corn kernels. We had a hard time listening on this activity- some of the kids were really excited and had a hard time not painting more than they should  For letter time, we made our letter N friend- Night! Afterwards, we reviewed our sign and sound to the letter N. We also had time to play letter bingo. They had to search for the letter and picture on their bingo cards. We had fun ending the week with a game.

Thurs Feb 9th- pink & heart

Today started with scissor practice and then I had a few activities for the students to participate in. I had made pink play dough for each of them and I had all of my heart cookie cutters out for playing with. I also had Mr. Potato Head, beads and animals out to explore too. I pulled each child aside to work on the heart shape. Once we completed that project, the students played some more and then we cleaned up. Anthony helped again with circle time responsibilities. Today we first blast off counted and them counted like queens to Kayden’s birthday- the 21st. I also figured out how many more days it was to his special day. We sang and danced, figured out the weather and worked on the letter Q. Snack time was great and social and then we had Anthony’s show and tell. For nursery rhyme time, we practiced singing Hey Diddle Diddle and then I had 5 little puppets for each student waiting at the table to color. After we all finished we sang to the song with our puppets. Because I had two different topics to cover our day was busy. I talked to the students how to make the color pink and read the pink poem about pink lemonade and pink bubblegum. None of the students knew how to make pink it so I gave them red and white finger paint and had them create their own pink paint. Then each child painted their heart shape with their paint at the table. After we painted, I read Pinkalious and then we went over to the table to complete our Pink booklets. We talked about what kind of things are pink that we can find in the world around us. We put this in their folders along with their puppets and I then talked and reviewed the heart and how to make its shape. Each child has “homework” in their folder of reviewing this shape. For letter time, we practiced our sound with our song and then I gave everyone a lowercase q stamp on their hand. We talked about our valentine’s party on Tuesday and what to expect and that completed our day!

Wed Feb 8th- Dependability

Today started with scissor practice and then I had a few activities for the students to participate in- Mr. Potato Head, beads and animals out to explore. Ella helped us with spelling our color words and then we counted to 25 in our noisiest voices. Yikes! It was noisy!! Then I have started to teach counting by 10’s like in the book Chicka Chicka 123. We have the 10s going up the tree to 100. Have your child try to do it for you. Afterwards, we had calendar time with our songs, weather review and letter N/sight word time. Gage picked out wiggle song and then we had snack time. Each child explores our books after snacks and then Gage shared his show and tell. For our lesson, we talked about dependability. This was a class discussion day. We talked about farmers and how they have many jobs on a farm and how they have to follow through with their assignments or there can be problems. I had them think about how they are dependable at home and what it means to be dependable. I urged them that they might be more dependable when they are asked to do something at home. I sent home a poster with a dependability poem on it which talks more about what we chatted about in class. For letter time, we talked about animal noises and found those animals that are noisy. On the back of the worksheet, the students colored the letter N and Nancy Nurse. I reviewed the sound with each child as I stamped their hand and then we had time to finish our day with a Fancy Nancy story.