Fish Tales 1/23 ~1/27

At assembly before exploring last week, 
the children recited  

The Chubbie Little Snowman fingerplay!!

We planted marigold seeds in cups and in the garden. The children predicted which would sprout first, those in the cup or those in the garden. They colored in a bar graph according to their choices!

We also planted marigold plants and zinnia seeds in the garden!

At center time, we looked at photographs of our field trip to the fire station and drew pictures of the fire truck for our journal!

In the exploratorium, the children helped Mrs. Samuel write a thank you note to the firefighters.
 
What a joy it was to meet your families on Grandparents and Special Friends Day!! The children were eager to show them the classroom and the entire campus!!

DATES to REMEMBER:

 February 3 Shorecrest Gala ~ "80's Prom Night" - New Athletic Center 6:30 - For more information, the web site for this social & fundraising event is posted here and on ebytes http://gala.shorecrest.org

Come to the Gala and sign up for the Early Childhood Almost Sleepover

February 14 Valentine's Day Party ~ Exploring schedule - Playground 9:00 - Party 10:00 We will need parents to help with the party and read Valentine's to the children.

February 15 - RELAY FOR LIFE lunch - Information went home about this special day. The children may eat a hot dog lunch or bring one from home. Sage will not be serving lunch on this day. Your donations to Relay for Life are totally optional.

February 29 Class Pictures 
DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED : Field Trip to the Coast Guard Air Station at the Clearwater/St. Pete airport. Please email or write us a note if you would like to volunteer for this field trip. We will leave school at approximately 9:30.
 
March 9 - Spring Break Party - Exploring Schedule - 9:00 playground - 10:00 party

Fish Tales 1/17 ~ 1/20

Sorting items into those with iron and those that do not contain iron using a magnet was a popular center time activity.

 Completing puzzles, building with blocks and fireman, and using hats in dress-up are just some of the ways we reinforce fire safety and our visit to the fire station.

 Drawing self-portraits on black/negro paper was a center time activity. The children used construction paper crayons. They appear as their real color no matter what color the children draw upon.

This boy is removing the golf tees from the styrofoam square. We teach the children the importance of cleaning up and getting a center ready for the next student.

Reading from the illustrations of a book continues to be a popular pre-reading activity in Alpha.

This mom was our Mystery Reader on Thursday. She read Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming. This is a delightful story about animals that hibernate!

Some of the other books that we read this week are:

Six Creepy Sheep by Judith Enderle 

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Eric Carle

Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner

The Biggest Snowman Ever by Steven Kroll

My Pop-Pop and Me by Irene Smalls

Down By The Station by Will Hillenbrand

The Legend of Sookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano

The Little Train by Lois Lenski

Our theme for exploring on Friday 1/20 was transportation.

The children decorated paper plates to act as their steering wheels. They  pretended to be boat captains, pilots, firefighters, and bus drivers while sitting in chairs on the rug. 

 We created Shorecrest Driver's Licenses.

The children donned cardboard box cars that had previously been created and "drove" their vehicles around the campus. Then they passed the drive thru and picked up snack of popcorn and a juice box.

They ate their snack while watching a slide show of themselves in the exploratorium.

                                             

Dates to Remember:
January 27 - Grandparents Day - Thanks for returning the forms, if you have not done so please return early this week.

February 3 Shorecrest Gala ~ "80's Prom Night" - New Athletic Center 6:30 - For more information, the web site for this social & fundraising event is posted here and on ebytes http://gala.shorecrest.org

 February 14 Valentine's Day Party ~ Exploring schedule - Playground 9:00 - Party 10:00 We will need parents to help with the party and read Valentine's to the children.

February 15 - RELAY FOR LIFE lunch - Information went home about this special day. The children may eat a hot dog lunch or bring one from home. Sage will not be serving lunch on this day. Your donations to Relay for Life are totally optional.

February 29 Class Pictures & Field Trip to the Coast Guard Air Station at the Clearwater/St. Pete airport. Please email or write us a note if you would like to volunteer for this field trip. We will leave school at approximately 9:30.
March 9 - Spring Break Party - Exploring Schedule - 9:00 playground - 10:00 party

Fish Tales 1/9 ~ 1/13

We began the week by walking to theatre to listen to Marianne Berkes speak and read her book, In The Ocean, In the Coral Reef! It was so wonderful to listen to this dynamic author!!

 

The children created vehicles by gluing shapes together! They will soon adorn our classroom bulletin board. Come in and take a look!!

Vehicles. vehicles everywhere!

On the land, on the sea, and in the air!!

Painting snowmen at the easel provided opportunities for discussion about the seasons and using small, medium, and large circles!!

We saw so many wonderful aspects of a firefighter's job on our visit to the main fire station on Wednesday! We began by watching the ABC's of fire safety video.

 

We walked through the kitchen and the weight room. We learned that the firefighters work for a 24 hour shift then are off for 48 hours. A firefighter needs to be strong to do their jobs. They exercise everyday!

We saw their classroom and heard the very large bell.

We experienced so much, yet our main goal for this field trip is for the children to see the firefighters in their complete uniform with mask and oxygen tank. We want them to realize that in the event they are in a real fire, these firefighters are there to help them, although they do look and sound a little scary.

 On Thursday, Mrs. Smay read, Where's Walrus? by Steven Savage

Some of the other books that we read this week are:

Away We Go by Rebecca Dotlich

I am a Garbage Truck by Ace Landers

On the Moon by Anna Milbourne

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper

Our themes for exploring on Friday were circus, winter, and firefighter!!