Monday, November 7th...

Letter U/"Uh So Sad" sound

Today was UPSIDE DOWN DAY here at Little Readers! The kids had a good time noticing all the "upside down" things in the classroom. Some they caught on to right away, in fact before circle time had even started I caught a couple of the kids "helping" me out and fixing things that had been turned upside down in the Circle Time Chart. Other things were less noticeable and the kids discovered them as our lesson developed.

Our Morning classes made "UGLY" pictures to take home to Mom and Dad! We basically gave them free reign with the arts and crafts material and let them build whatever they pleased. Kids love to be in on little jokes and we told them that their Mom's were probably going to tell them how CUTE there pictures were and then they would have the opportunity to look horrified and tell them that they were actually VERY UGLY PICTURES! They couldn't wait!

Our Afternoon classes got to mix Upside Down Day with our UMBRELLA theme (of last week). We got to paint using our breath and straws today. The kids loved blowing through their straws and watching the watery blue paint (aka rain) spread across the paper. Then we decorated our umbrellas and added them (along with our straw, as the handle) to get the finished product!

We read "Mr. Funny" by Roger Hargreaves today.

Wednesday, November 2nd...

What a day!

Our regularly scheduled day was upset by the power outage today! Miss Jamie's classroom was too dark to hold class in so we had to improvise. Lucky for us the windows at the school kept the school lit up pretty nicely and the sun shining in kept us warm. We had thought we could go all day, until the water started drying up in the bathrooms! Right around this time, the teachers started getting calls from their own kids at school asking to be checked out. So, Miss Jamie made the call to cancel the Afternoon session.

Of course immediately following the last call/text sent out - the lights came back on. Figures. We are looking at having a make up day for the Afternoon session and will let you know what we come up with. Meanwhile...

We focused on the Letter U/Uh So Sad sound today...

We teach this with a simple little activity. We build up a block tower and when it comes crashing down (while we are trying so hard to carefully place the tippy-top piece on) we exclaim "Uh...so sad"! Then we have the kids chant along with us, "Uh... So sad".

Yesterday's rainstorm was a perfect segue into our UMBRELLA theme today. We got to paint using our breath and straws today. The kids loved blowing through their straws and watching the watery blue paint (aka rain) spread across the paper. Then we decorated our umbrellas and added them (along with our straw, as the handle) to get the finished product!

Today was a little chaotic (too much play time is TOO MUCH, even for the kids believe it or not), but we learned a few things and will be incorporating them into our emergency plan. Number one being that we do not have enough water on hand. Miss Jamie will be making a trip to the store for bottled water soon, and maybe a 5 gallon or two for storage (toilet flushing is pretty high up on a preschoolers priority list). :) The second thing I will be buying is BATTERIES for the CD players - the kids were really annoyed that we couldn't just plug them in and play our music as usual. Other than that, the kids didn't really seem to mind that the lights were out.

Tuesday, November 1st...

Letter H/Running Hard sound

We actually introduced this sound yesterday, but are pretty sure it got lost in all the chaos and fun that make up our preschool Halloween Party!

The sound we are going for is made when you run really hard and fast and find it a little hard to breath.. HHHHHHHHHH. It is important to note that is just a breathy sound, their is no vocalization from the throat or vocal chords.

We read a book titled "The Hiccupotamus" by Aaron Zenz



However, our main theme today was not hiccups, it was HANDS! We spent some time thinking up things that we need our hands for, then our teacher (attempted) to draw pictures of our ideas.

In arts and crafts we used our hands (traced) to make animals, there were a few options, but turkeys seemed to be the popular choice. Earlier in the day, we introduced our new month - November and there was a discussion about turkeys and Thanksgiving. We even learned a new song about Turkeys!

Monday, October 31st...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

(pics and description from our party coming soon)

Wednesday, October 26th...

MORE MONSTERS!

Today we read a fun book called "I Need My Monster" by Amanda Noll.



The illustrations in this book are AMAZING! This is Herbert the Monster who has never even scared a kid before (but don't worry, he has read every book on the topic). Miss Jamie really enjoys voicing all the different monster characters in the book. :)


Today in Arts and Crafts we started with a giant block letter M and turned it into our very own MONSTER!

We made the most of things today by singing all our Halloween songs, only a couple of days left before we switch to our Thanksgiving theme!

HALLOWEEN PARTY

Our HALLOWEEN PARTY will be held on MONDAY, October 31st (which is nice, because it's HALLOWEEN DAY). Make sure your little ones are dressed up! At the end of the party we will be having a "TREAT EXCHANGE"... Please send TWELVE "Treats" with your child to pass out. A bag will be provided by us for the kids to collect their goodies in. MY TWO CENTS - I personally feel that the kids get quite enough candy during this particular holiday (at home, Trick or Treating, Trunk or Treats, Halloween Parties, etc...) so I prefer that you get a little creative with your "TREATS" for preschool. We love pencils, erasers, stickers, bouncy balls, hand drawn pictures from your child, little tattoos, glo bands, dollar store junk (yes, I said that - it's still better than candy), and so on. NOW, that being said - if you are putting together little goodie bags and you're just dying to throw in some sweets because it would be cute, I get that. I will still love you and, of course, your child! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!


P.S. I have had some of you offer to bring food, treats, etc... to the party. You are always welcome to do that! Thanks again!

Tuesday, October 25th...

MONSTER WEEK HAS ARRIVED!

Today we introduced the Letter M/ Millie's Yummy Cookie Sound (basically, the sound that you would make when eating a really yummy cookie). We like to work MONSTERS into the theme! We read one of our favorite monster stories... Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly


In Arts and Crafts we made our very own BIG GREEN MONSTERS! I think the kids really had fun with this one. I noticed that ALL the kids were really involved in this project and PROUD of their work!

During MUSIC today we listened to and sang "The Monster Mash"! We also took a little extra time toread a couple more MONSTER themed books that are much better SUNG than read...

PARENT NOTES: I didn't send out a book order this month because the September book order seemed like it just arrived! I have had parents ask if they can order online and I said WHY NOT? I noticed a couple orders have already been submitted online - I will send the orders in this weekend (Sunday, most likely, so consider that the due date). If you would like to order, just follow the instructions below and check out the catalogs online. I will send home the November/December bookorder flyers as soon as they arrive - hopefully next week! Thanks!

OUR CLASS ACTIVATION CODE IS: DX48H

It's so simple! Here's how it works:

• SIGN UP at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs. On the parent page, click the "Register" button in the "First Time Here?" section. Register for your own user name and password. When prompted, enter the one-time Class Activation Code shown above. This unique code ensures that your order is sent to me.
  
  
• SELECT the books you'd like to order -- choose from thousands of titles -- many more than in our monthly flyers.
  
  
• SEND your order to me online by the due date and your child's books will be delivered directly to my classroom.

Ordering online is fast, easy, and secure. If you have ANY questions about this, feel free to call me @ (801) 623-1150

If you have a little extra time, here is a fun YouTube of someone reading Go Away Big Green Monster...