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!!

Happy New Year!!

We sang for our neighbors at Winston Park Condos on 12/14!!

It was a joy to greet the children this week and get back into our daily routine!!

At center time, we play concentration which incorporates visual memory skills, as well as, following directions and taking turns. We talked about pairs being two of an item.

Transferring and sorting items develops eye hand coordination and visual discrimination.

Painting with dry tempera cakes and water was an art activity this week.

  Our mystery reader read The Mitten Tree by Candace Christainsen in the library on Thursday.

This is a delightful story of an older women knitting mittens for children and leaving them on a tree where they wait for the school bus. In turn, the children leave a basket of yarn for the lady on her front steps!

At center time, we looked at mittens and gloves. Then we we created a pair of paper mittens by cutting them out.

The children decorated the mittens by adding dots of paint to one mitten and pressing the pair together.

Voila, they created a symmetrical pair of mittens!!

The children decorated banner paper by "driving" fire trucks into red paint and then onto the paper. The teachers will use this paper to create a fire truck on the exploratorium bulletin board.

On Friday morning, Ms. Fenech read The Mitten by Jan Brett.

Ask your child to tell you some of the animal that squeezed into the mitten!

Other books that we read this week included:

The Biggest, Best Snowman by Margery Cuyler

Blizzard by Eric Charlesworth

We have magnet blocks out for the children to build with. This child made a connection to the lesson where we created a star by cutting out a diamond and then cutting the diamond in half to make two triangles and then a star. He put the triangles together to create a diamond!!

We are also talking about transportation in class!!

 There are match box cars and a rug under the loft and a train with a track in the loft. These activities provide many opportunities for conversations, creativity, and negotiations!!

Dates to Remember:

January 11 - Field trip to the Main Fire Station

January 13 - Exploring

January 16 - Martin Luther King Holiday

January 20 - Exploring

January 27 - Granparents Day

February 3 - The Big Event - New Athletic Center

February 9 - Parent Teacher Conferences

February 14 - Valentine's Day Party - We will need parents to assist with this party and read the children's valentines to them.

February 17 - No School - Teacher-In-Service Day

February 20 - Presidents Day Holiday

To sign up for conferences, pLease come into the classroom, email me Susan_Samuel@ Shorecrest.org or call me after 4:00 pm. Thanks!!

Fish Tales 12/12 ~ 12/16

We celebrated the fourth birthday of the year by sharing photos and eating a yummy snack!

Decorating trees, both wooden and artificial, is a fun activity that also gives the children practice with their fine motor coordination. They not only decorate the trees, but also take the decorations off to get them ready for the next person.

At center time, the children used scissors to cut a diamond from paper that we had decorated with shaving cream and watercolors. 

They cut across the middle of the diamond transforming it into two triangles.

They last step to creating a six-pointed star was arranging it and stapling it together. 

Art activities often spark the children's creativity and imagination. This boy put two triangles together to create a diamond after cutting his star!

We visited Ms. O'Mullane's second grade classroom, where the second graders read stories they had written about their holiday traditions. After which, the second graders read us several books and sang the Australian version of Jingle Bells. We learned that their weather is hot during the winter and that it is a tradition to go the beach on Christmas day!!

We have 6th grade "Lunch Buddies" that volunteer and eat lunch with the children on most Tuesdays and Thursdays. This girl is reading Green Eggs and Ham during lunch one day.

They help with opening lunch items, ask questions to spark conversations, and read to the children. Our alpha students benefit from their service and the 6th graders develop leadership skills.

We walked next door to sing for our neighbors at the Winston Park condos.

Our holiday party was a huge success!! Many thanks to all that attended the singing in the theatre and the party. We really appreciate your help and we can not put a value on the meaning it has for the children!!

The children created Florida Snowman quiet bottles by drawing a face and filling them with goodies to look at.

We ate ice cream sundaes for snack and decorated cone shaped plastic bags and filled them with hot chocolate mix.

We created 2-D gingerbread houses and tossed bean bags into a snowman target!

DATES to REMEMBER:

January 3rd - Classes resume - We sent all of the clothing and shoes home from the cubbies so you can check sizes. Please return replacement clothing when the children return.

January 11 - Field trip to the Main Fire Station. Please email or write Mrs. Samuel a note if you would like to volunteer for this trip.

January 27 - Grandparents Day

February 14 - Valentine's Day Party

 

We would like to take the time and wish you all a safe 2012 filled with laughter, peace, and most of all love!!

Celebrating the Holidays

Decorating paper using lines, dots, and zigzags was an easel activity this past week. The teachers turned these painting into presents to decorate the classroom windows. The class has had a discussion about giving to others and the children are learning that "the best gift to give is love!!"

 Using our imaginations in the classroom "bakery" has been lots of fun and where we have observed conversations and situations where the children had to tap into their negotiating skills when they have to share muffin tins, cakes, and so much more.

Building with Dr. Drew blocks and miniature holiday characters is a very popular center.

Hammering in the gingerbread house provides another outlet for the children's imagination.

The children extend the learning and hammer the ABC blocks after spelling their names!!

How do 3 and 4 year old children vote for their favorite name for our fish? We brain stormed a list of names. The teachers narrowed it down to four. I placed the four names on chairs in different locations in the classroom. I read the names and the children walked to the location to cast their vote. The children decided to call the tetra fish in our classroom tank "Ziggy" and "Zachary!"

We decorated bags for our parents' gifts by glue washing tissue paper and adding glitter.

Decorating paper gingerbread girls and boys was a center time activity. They now adorn the bulletin boards. Please stop by to see their creativity.

Ms. O'Mullane was our mystery reader on Thursday. She read Snowmen at Night by Carolyn Buehner.

We love to build learning that a tall building needs a strong foundation!

We walked to the Athletic center to deliver the presents for our families.We

want to thank you for your overwhelming generosity!! Taking the presents to the distribution center helps the children to begin to learn about the process of giving to others that are less fortunate.

Our theme for exploring was celebrating Hanukkah! For snack, we grated potatoes for potato latkes!! MmMm good! Mrs. Gootson read The Chanukkah Guest by Eric Kimmel. This is a delightful story of an old grandmother, Bubba, making latkes for an old bear which she thought was the Rabbi! We played with a menorah, completed dreidel puzzles, and practiced spinning a variety of dreidels. Decorating a six pointed star by doing rock and roll painting was another exploring activity. Lastly, we created holiday headbands by coloring a variety of holiday symbols including dreidels, trees, bells, reindeer, menorahs, gingerbread boys, and so much more!

Dates to Remember: 

Wednesday - December 14 - Walk to Winston Park Condos to sing for our neighbors!!

Friday - December 16 - Holiday Sing for Parents - Janet Root Theatre - 8:30

Friday - December 16 - Holiday Party - 9:45

Tuesday - January 3 - Classes resume

Wednesday - January 11 - Field Trip to Fire Station - Please email us or write a note if you would like to help with this field trip.

Friday - January 27 - Grandparents & Special Friends Day - The children will sing  for their grandparents and give them a tour of our classroom and the school.