Letter "O"

Theme: Letter "O" & Under the Ocean
Choosing Time: Sea Creature Puppets, Potato Head, Waves in a Bottle, Hula Hoops

Snack: Cheese Crackers


Science:

• We put some cold blue water into 2 jars. We added some vinegar & baking soda. We added some "fish" (raisins). The fish would sink and then swim to the top and then back to the bottom. This was fun to watch! And, our eruption with too much baking soda & vinegar was also a morning highlight.
• During Choosing Time, I provided a various assortment of shells. We were able to look at them with a magnifying glass. We noticed interesting patterns & colors.
  

Lesson: Letter "O" makes two sounds. Two "Os" together make an "ooo" sound but by itself it makes two sounds. We had pictures of several things that begin with "O". We guessed the object and then decided if it went into the pile of long "O" sound or the short "O" sound. We love "O" because it can make many things. Two "Os" together can make and 8....

Game: "Dive" for Sea Creatures & then jump through an "O".

Music & Movement:

• We listened to The Little Mermaid soundtrack. I played the instrumental side first and asked them to listen & tell me what we were listening to. One child said, "Some musical music." I laughed so hard. Another child said, "Pirate Music." When I turned the tape over to hear the vocals, everyone was surprised.
• We also took our "Sea Creatures" for a dance. We ran, skipped, hopped, and twirled.

Art: Ocean Mosaics
We had more scissor practice today!

Book: Ocean Life

Mini Class

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Theme: Ocean

Choosing Time: Ocean Creature Puppets, Magnetic Tow Truck, Star Builders, Balls, Puzzles, Peg Boards, Slide

Snack: Thank you Noah for a yummy snack today! You offered such a sweet prayer :) We enjoyed Cheez-Its & Grapes.

Art: Crabs
The children painted paper plates red. I added legs & pincers. They colored in the eyes...and foreheads, and noses, and cheeks, and smiles....

Games:
Dive Into The Ocean
I had set up a small "Ocean" in the classroom. We all gathered all of our sea creature animals and put them into our ocean. I called out a child's name and he would "dive" into the ocean retrieving a sea creature. We enjoyed this game until all of the creatures had been "caught."

Decorate the Room with Net & Fish

Science: Swimming "Fish"
I am not sure whether the real experiment or the volcanic eruption was more impressive :)

Book: Commotion In The Ocean by Giles Andreae

Music: Soundtrack from The Little Mermaid & An Octopus Finger Play

Snow Day!

Theme: Snow Day!
Much to my surprise I awoke to find new fresh snow! I am so happy that all of you remembered we were to have a snow day if the weather cooperated. I asked the children if any of them had prayed for snow last night :) Of course, they all said, "YES!" We had a wonderful time playing outside in the snow.
We played on the swing set.
We sled down a hill in my backyard.
We made snow angels.
We tried to make a snowman...and settled for a snow pet...

We had snowball fights.
We attempted sledding down the sidewalk.
We worked together and had a wonderful morning!

Snack: Thank you Rae for being our super snack helper today! We came in from our snow play starving! It was wonderful to eat pretzels & fish crackers to fill our tummies. We pretended that the pretzels were ice bergs and we had to eat them first to catch a fish :)

Music & Movement: "9 Happy Snowmen Dancing All Around," "Snowball Pet," "Hurry, Drive the Fire Truck," "Jingle Bells," "Chubby Little Snowman," "If All the Snowflakes..."

Letter "N"

Theme: Letter "N"

Choosing Time: Potato Heads, Sorting 9 Nuts, Tinker Toys, Peg Boards, ABC Floor Puzzle
Rae & Mitch were so proud to have completed this tricky puzzle all by themselves :)

Snack: Thank you Leo for being our snack helper today! We were blessed with cheese sticks, crackers, & fruit snacks.

Movement: Our "10" countdown

Lesson: We discussed what sound the letter "N" makes. We practiced drawing it. We guessed some words that begin with the letter "N". Some of the words were nose, nail, nest, & needle. We also guessed the opposite of "YES" is "NO." Many of us have the "N" sound in our first, middle, or last names. We had a mini lesson about Noon & Night. I had several pictures and we decided together if the pictures were things we do at noon or night.

Science: I had a variety of nuts in their shells. We were able to hold them and learn what nut hides inside each shell. We opened an almond shell and passed it around. We learned that nuts have hard shells to protect them.

Music: "I'm A Little Acorn Brown," "Nine In A Nest," & "Engine, Engine, Number 9"

Finger Play: 5 Nails & Hammer

Art:

1. Letter "N" Collage with newspaper, noodles, nut shells, & number 9's
2. We made little birds to fit in our nests made from seed pods found in Nature.

Listening Activity: I played a cassette with some familiar noises recorded on it. We listened to the noises and then identified them.

Mini Class

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Choosing Time: Trains, Ponies, Stacking Cups, Balls

Snack: Thank you Hyrum for a fun snack today! Pistachios were new to many of us. We had fun trying to open the shells ourselves. We loved these nuts!

Art: Paper Snowflakes & Q-Tip Snowflakes
I was able to help each child practice using scissors correctly. We enjoyed this activity very much & I am happy to report that all of my fingers are still in tact :)
Music & Movement: If All the Snowflakes were Hamburgers & Milkshakes....Once There Was A Snowman, Oh, What A Miracle!, & See Me Run
We had a fun & crazy time running, skipping, jumping, and twirling all throughout the house :)

Snowflakes & Snow-Cones!

Theme: Snowflakes & Snow-Cones

Choosing Time: Trains, Dinosaurs, Ponies, Puzzles

Snack: We practiced hand washing techniques to be clean & ready to help prepare our snack today. I have been missing some snow so decided to bring some inside with snow-cones. We had fun watching the ice turn into "snow" and then choosing our flavors to create unique creations. We also enjoyed some chocolate chip cookies to celebrate Nathan's birthday. It wasn't a healthy snack, but it was yummy! (And the snow-cone syrups were sugar-free!)

Art: Paper Snowflakes & Mittens
I was able to help each child individually. This was a great project to practice using scissors.
We finished our paper mittens today. We had a good time practicing sewing. I was impressed that when someone made a "mistake" he/she self-corrected the "problem." :)

Lesson: After our snowflakes were finished we hung them up on our bulletin board. I asked the children to look at how beautiful & unique each of their snowflakes are. I explained that every real snowflake is unique, different, & beautiful too. It takes millions of snowflakes to make a snowball. No snowflake is better than another. Each person is extremely valuable too. We each have special gifts and talents that make us unique & beautiful just like snowflakes. Each of us is loved & needed & special.

Music: If all the Snowflakes were Hamburgers & Milkshakes...

Movement: See Me Run, I Am a Miracle, Count to 5

Book: First Snow by Bernette G. Ford

Letter "M"

Theme: Letter "M"

Choosing Time: Magnets, Marble Works, Monkeys

Snack: Thank you Mitch for bringing yummy popcorn & marshmallows today! We all thought it was perfect that Mitch brought the snack on Letter "M" day :)

Music & Movement: We each chose a monkey to be our partner for our movement today. We followed the actions in the songs called, "I'm a Miracle" & "Count of 5". We also learned the songs, "Muffin Man" & "If all the Snowflakes..."

Lesson: Letter "M" is so much fun! It makes a great sound and it is fun to make. Letter "M" looks like two mountain peaks put together. Lower case "m" looks like a baby "M". There are so many words that begin with "M"! Some of the ones we came up with are: macaroni, marbles, magnets, monkey, me, Mitch, marshmallow, moose, mouse, monster, milk, money, mitten,....

Book: The Missing Mitten Mystery by Steven Kellogg

Art: We stamped & painted paper mittens. We are allowing them to dry and will have fun lacing them up next week.

Science: I placed several metallic items in a box. I pulled out one item at a time and asked the children if they thought it would stick to our magnet. Then we would test it. We discovered that not all things that are made from metal are magnetic. This discussion let to an impromptu metal band with both magnetic and non-magnetic items. We made Marvelous Music with some great rhythms.

Mini Class

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

What a fun morning we enjoyed together!

Choosing Time: Duplos, Little People Village, Puzzles, Balls

Snack: Thank you Grace for a fun & yummy snack! We devoured the pretzels, cheese, graham crackers, & apples. I took one of the apples and demonstrated how it was cut into a spring-like spiral. This may or may not have made them even more appetizing :) But they were eaten all up!

Music & Movement: We did a lot of fun stretches & dancing today. We also sang Once there was a Snowman, 6 Dancing Snowmen, If All the Snowflakes Were...& Chubby Little Snowman.

Book: On A Wintry Morning by Dori Chaconas
This story is about a baby who goes outside with her daddy in the snow. We had fun
pretending we were with our daddies in the snow too.

Art: We decorated paper mittens after we had practiced some sewing skills on them. Lace-up activities are great for eye-hand coordination as well as improving small motor skills.

Once There Was A Snowman!

Theme: Once There Was A Snowman!

Choosing Time: Safari Gears, Duplos, Peg Boards with Rubber Bands, Bug Game

Science: Each child chose an Ice Block to place anywhere in the front yard. Each block was sprinkled with salt and then drizzled with 4 colors. We are watching our blocks to see how quickly or slowly they melt. We had 1 block left over and so we watched it inside the classroom. Some were surprised that it was nearly melted by the end of school. Some children had predicted that it would melt slower than the blocks outside. We had a fun discussion about melting.
Snack: Thank you Grayce for a yummy snack of oranges, tangelos, & pretzels. No one believed me that there was a difference in the "oranges" :)

Book: The Biggest, Best Snowman by Marjorie Cuyler

Music & Movement: Once There Was A Snowman, Chubby Little Snowman, & 8 Dancing Snowmen (which also served as math)

Art: Snowmen of course :)

You may notice that there have been fewer pictures...I just get too involved with what we're doing to remember to take them. Sorry!

Letter "L"

Theme: Letter "L" with some enLightening experiments

Choosing Time: Light Box Drawing, Shadow Play, Pose for a Silhouette, Foam Blocks, Dinosaurs, Ponies
Snack: Today we celebrated Spencer's 5th Birthday! Thank you Spencer for bringing yummy cupcakes for a special snack treat today!

Lesson: We learned about the letter "L": its sounds & how to draw both the upper & lower case letters. We discussed what words begin with "L". Leo knew that "he" begins with "L" :)

Science: We did 3 experiments with light today. Unfortunately, the first one was a failure. I am going to fiddle with it to see if I can get it to work.

1. The first flop was to try and look at a light in the dark (bathroom) and then the image of the light should have imprinted and seen on a wall in the hall.
2. In a clear plastic container filled with water we could see a beam of light pass through the water. We added some powdered milk and noticed how the light appeared blue at one end and orange/red at the other.
3. We used a fish bowl filled with water as a big lens. We lit a candle and put it next to the bowl. I took a white piece of paper and held it up at the other end of the bowl. We noticed that the flame appeared upside down on the paper. The flame would grow bigger or smaller depending on how close/far the paper was from the bowl. We learned that glass & water can bend light.
   

Art: We painted "L"-shaped cut-outs. It was fun to mix the primary colors to make new colors.

Book: The Sheep Made a Leap by Hilda Offen

Movement: After we read the book, we had a fun time acting out the story. We tumbled, Laughed, Leaped, twirled, bowed, clapped, & pointed our toes. We had fun doing the actions several times.

Mini Class

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

What a fun morning we had today! It was fun to hear all about their Christmas Presents.

Choosing Time: Foam Puzzle Blocks, Dinosaurs, Ponies, Balls, Mickey Car Track, Stacking Cups
Snack: Thank you June for a splendid feast today! We munched on carrots, crackers, pretzels, fruit snacks, and cheese snacks. At lunch time Nathan refused to eat because he already had lunch for snack :)

Art: Snowmen with Snow

Book: Stella, Queen of the Snow by Marie-Louise Gay

Music & Movement: Once There Was A Snowman

Imaginative Play: The children initiated a train ride by moving all of the chairs and placing them in formation. It was fun to see them interact and take turns announcing where they were traveling to. We read our story on the train :)

Happy New Year!

Theme: Happy New Year!

Choosing Time: Cars, Foam Blocks, Blocks, Animals, Peg Boards & Rubber bands

Snack: Pretzels & Raisins

Game: Duck, Duck, Goose

Lesson: We had a fun discussion about Old & New. In an old box there were several old items. In a new basket there were the new versions of the old items. We took turns choosing an old item out of the box. We matched it to the new item. We learned that many old things can be made into new things. Some of our recycled items were: a tin can made into a lantern, a scrabble tile made into a necklace, a t-shirt cut up to make rags, a record was melted to make a bowl,.... Sometimes we throw away old things. When babies are brand new they need older people to take care of them. When the babies grow up they can take care of the old people. Money is one thing that can be old or new and still be used the same.

Writing: I provided a questionnaire for each child to answer some questions about some of their favorite things. I wrote their responses down.

Book: The Napping House by Don & Audrey Wood

Art: Time Capsules
We recycled TP tubes to hold our time capsule & make 2010 noise makers. We put our lists of favorite things from 2009 into our time capsules with a nice picture we drew. We added a penny & some rice. In one year we can open up our time capsules to see if what we like today will be our favorites next year. I explained that some of us may be able to even read (or at least sound out) what is written on their papers next year. I think they all thought I was crazy. :)

Music & Movement:
We sang "Happy New Year to Us" while marching around the room with our shakers. When we finished the song we jumped up & down repeating "2010" and then finished with a big jump & hooray! We tried many different moving ways as we sang.