Happy Halloween!! This morning the kids were very excited to say Happy Halloween to all their friends. They talked about parties they are having and going trick or treating. During morning circle we talked about the month of October being over....tomorrow will be November.
We had music class again! The kids were so excited to sing some of their favorite songs. We first sang hello to all our friends. Then we sang the apple tree song with all the different movements. Next we sang a song about vegetables that grow on the farm. The kids had to identify the different vegetables and pretend to pick them out of the ground. Then the kids sang a Halloween chant. They each had an instrument that sounded like something spooky....a skeleton, a wind storm, footsteps, a black cat, a door opening and a ghost. Before leaving everyone had a turn playing the guitar and singing goodbye to our teachers.
Our story today was "Brooms are for Flying" by Michael Rex. One Halloween, a little witch joined a group of young trick-or-treaters,
and all participated in a foot-stomping, hand-clapping dance.
But when the children take off their masks, they get a big surprise...
under her mask, the little witch really is a witch—and she shows the others that brooms really are for flying. After reading the story the kids shared what they are being for Halloween. We also talked trick or treating....and practiced saying all the important Halloween vocabulary.
For science today our class made a jack-o-lantern. First we cut the top off the pumpkin we picked from the pumpkin patch yesterday. Then the kids helped me scoop all the seeds and guts out of the pumpkin. It was very slimy and wet! Then we decided what kind of face we wanted on our jack-o-lantern. We drew the face with a marker then used a knife to cut out the shapes. The kids helped pull out the pieces once I was finished cutting. We loved our jack-o-lantern!
For art the kids made their own jack-o-lanterns to take home. They followed directions to put the eyes, nose and mouth in the correct order. It looked very similar to our jack-o-lantern we made for science. The kids made spooky sounds and tried to scare their friends.
After lunch the kids practiced trick or treating. They each got a ball and a Halloween toy to take home. We finished the day with Halloween songs! Happy Halloween everybody! Have fun trick or treating tonight!
This morning the kid sorted and made patterns with different objects. During morning circle we talked about our Out and About to the pumpkin patch. We reviewed the rules and things to look for at the pumpkin patch.
Ms. Abby came today! We worked on our soccer skills. First the kids dribbled the soccer ball around the cones. They weaved between the orange cones and then turned around at the end and weaved back to the beginning. Next the kids passed the soccer ball back and forth with a partner. We worked on not kicking the ball to hard and aiming at our partner. The last activity was running through the cones and shooting a goal at the end. We cheered on all our friends from the sidelines.
Then it was time to head to the pumpkin patch. The kids were very excited to find the perfect pumpkin to bring back to school. When we got to the pumpkin patch we let the kids explore the area under the tent. They went around touching all the different pumpkins. We found big, little, short, fat, and tall pumpkins. There were orange pumpkins and white ghost pumpkins. The kids found a bin with rotten pumpkins...they smelled gross! There was also a big bin with gourds....they were all different colors and shapes! Before head back to the school we all walked around together until we found the perfect pumpkin to take back to school. We will use it for a very special science project tomorrow!
The kids were anxious to get back to school to rest and have lunch. We worked up an appetite on our trip. After eating lunch we sang Halloween songs to get ready for tomorrow!
This morning we had orange wagon wheel noodles in the pool. The kids tried to guess how we were going to use them for art today. During morning circle we talked about the calendar and practiced the days of the week and months of the year out of order.
Ms. Michelle came today! The kids had a turn at four different stations. At station #1 they searched for spiders and insects in spiderwebs. They played with pumpkin putty and slime at station #2. The kids walked with Shrek feet or bounced on a ball with Ms. Michelle at station #3. At station #4 the kids tossed bean bags into the spooky shape house. We rotated through all the stations until everyone had a turn at each.
Our story today was "Pumpkin Patch" by Margaret McNamara.Mrs.
Connor's class took a field trip to a pumpkin patch. Katie was
determined to find the perfect pumpkin. She thought she found it,
until her classmates made fun of her pumpkin on the bus ride home. But
when she got home, her dad helped her learn that her pumpkin was the best....it made the best pumpkin pie. After reading the story we talked about how pumpkins grow. After planting a pumpkin seed a vine begins to grow....then small green pumpkins start to grow on the vine. The pumpkin is ready to be picked when it is big and orange.
For art today the kids made orange pumpkins out of colored noodles. They used the outline to fill in the pumpkin shape. They needed to make sure to fill in all the empty spaces so the whole pumpkin was orange.
We learned new pumpkins songs today. The kids also loved some of the Halloween songs! See everyone tomorrow for our trip to the pumpkin patch!
This morning we practiced stringing beads on pipe cleaners. The kids concentrated very hard to line up the bead hole with the pipe cleaner. The goal was to fill the entire pipe cleaner with beads!
During morning circle we talked about the calendar. We practiced reading the days of the week and months of the year out of order. We also continued our pattern. The kids were very excited to count down how many days until Halloween....only 3 more days! We practiced our everyday words and the Sounds Around Town. Our new sound brother pair today was "fat air." The /sh, zh/ sounds are make when we push our lips out and blow fat air. The kids enjoyed practicing the new sound.
Our story today was 'The Biggest Pumpkin Ever" by Steven Kroll. In the story two mice fell in love with the same pumpkin. Desmond the field mouse wanted to carve the biggest jack-o'-lantern in
the neighborhood with his pumpkin. Clayton the house mouse wanted to win
the Biggest Pumpkin contest with his. The mice find out they are in love with the same pumpkin. So Desmond and Clayton decide to
work together to grow the biggest pumpkin ever! After reading the story we filled out a chart to describe what a pumpkin is, what it has and what we can do with a pumpkin.
For art the kids made a big pumpkin. To make the pumpkin big and fat we had to stuff it with paper. Once it was nice and round the kids used a green pipe cleaner to make a vine. The kids then painted the pumpkin orange...leaving the top brown for the stem. When we put all the pumpkins together to dry we made a pumpkin patch!
For writing/fine motor centers the kids practiced writing their first and last name, writing the letter B, using a hammer and nails to make a pumpkin and writing sight words on the iPad. After lunch we sang pumpkin and Halloween songs.
This morning during circle we talked about the days of the week and months of the year. We reminded the kids that we will have no school tomorrow and Friday because we are having mom and dad meetings with the teacher. We practiced the letters and sounds of the alphabet out of order. We also sang Tim and Theo happy birthday because they are celebrating their birthdays this weekend.
Ms. Abby came today. We worked on balance. They kids took turns weaving around cones with a bean bag on their head. It was hard to keep it up there without falling off. To help them balance, the kids tried to put their arms out while walking around the cones. Then the kids walked on a balance obstacle course. They walked on a blue balance beam, across a curved balance beam, over a skinny yellow beam, along a rope and then jumped over a big hurdle. At the end we played copy cat with bean bags. Ms. Abby would give a direction and the kids had to follow....put the bean bag on your head, back, nose, and foot!
Our story today was "Ducking for Apples" by Lynne Berry. Before reading the story the kids used the cover and title to help make predictions about what is going to happen in the story. In the story five ducks are going for a bike ride. They ride their bikes to a big apple tree. They can't reach the apples by themselves so they work together and climb up each others backs. After picking lots of apples they ride back home to make an apple pie. After reading the story we sequenced the important events in the story. Then we talked about different things we can make with apples. We can make apple juice, apple butter, apple bars, apple pie, apple sauce and apple ice cream.
For art today we made an apple tree. First we needed to find the top part of the tree (leaves) and the bottom part of the tree (trunk). There was a problem with the top part of the tree....it was white instead of green. The kids used green paint to make the leaves in the tree. After the tree was covered with leaves they used their finger to make lots of red apples.
After lunch we sang more songs about apples. The kids liked the song about the apples falling off the tree. I am very excited to have time to talk about your wonderful kids at conferences tomorrow!
We worked with pumpkin play dough for our sensory activity this morning. The kids used their senses to explore how it smelled and felt. After we pulled it apart into small pieces we used our fingers to push it back together.
This morning Ms. Michele came to work with us! First we completed two different obstacle courses. The kids jumped on different colored circles then jumped off a bench. At the end they shot baskets with different size balls. For the other course, the kids climbed through a long tunnel and then shot baskets at the end. Then it was time for finger fun! Ms. Michele gave the kids a jungle animals. They used clay and a knife to make the animal food and used chalk to draw the animals habitat on the sidewalk.
Today we read "I Am an Apple" by Jean Marzollo. The story described an apple tree growing from a seeds to a big tree. We learned that apple blossoms (the pink flowers) have five petals...and there are five seeds in each apple. The book talked about the different colors of apples. There are red, yellow and green apples. After reading the story we made a list of facts we know about apples.
For science today we observed, compared and tasted red, yellow and green apples.We cut the apples open and looked at the seeds inside the apple. They were in the shape of a start. The red and yellow apples were sweet and the green apple was sour. After tasting all the different kinds, the kids voted on which apple was their favorite.
After lunch we ended the day with songs about apples and fall. Here is one of our favorite apple songs...I Love Apples.
