Caps for Sale

Today we went and saw Mrs. Powell in the library for story time.  She read to us Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina.  Mrs. Powell is a very magical storyteller who keeps all the children involved and fascinated throughout the story.  Mrs. Powell first reads through the story with the kids and asks them questions and for their thoughts.  Then she rereads the story and summarizes what is happening using the children's words and her own.  This second reading allows for the children to have some extra processing time to understand and appreciate the story.  After the readings, she pulls out a stack of books from which the kids can choose one to check out.  After checkout we bring the books down to the classroom and they enhance our classroom library for a couple of weeks.

Also today we had a fire drill.  The kiddos did a great job following directions and staying quiet during this time.

Thoughts from Ms. Susan

Thoughts from Ms. Susan:

Today in group we had loads of fun focusing on shapes and numbers 1-5.  The kids crawled through a GIANT rainbow tunnel.  To heighten sensory awareness and work on weight shifting and development of hand arches we shook the tunnel while they crawled through.  In addition to make it interesting, the tunnel was placed over beans bags to add more resistance to help increase strength.   THEY LOVED IT!  After getting a workout, the students went to the table and practiced pre-writing strokes in dry kool aid mix on a cookie sheet.  This would be a great activity for you to replicate at home.  You could use dry jello mix if you prefer.  The tactile activity provides more feedback which helps increase motor planning and memory.  Students did vertical lines, horizontal lines, ts, circles, and squares.

Leo Lionni and some

Today as part of our art lesson we read Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni.  The story is about a couple of color blobs who mix and form new colors.  This is a great book to work on color identification and to talk about feelings.  In the book little blue and little yellow mix together and make green so for our art activities were centered around mixing paints and seeing new colors.  At one table the children worked with Ms. Tracy and Mr. Mike mixing red, yellow, and blue on paper to see the new colors formed.  The children explored this color mixing by using paint brushes, toothbrushes, cotton balls, Q-tips, and marbles.  This allowed them the freedom to make their own choices, but also to work on their fine motor grasp.  At Mrs. Massey's table the children came over one at a time and dipped their hands into two different colors of paint.  They then rubbed their hands together to see what new color formed.   Students then put their hand prints on paper to celebrate the mixing of two colors.  The students were fascinated to watch how new colors could be made by mixing other colors together.

Additionally the afternoon group for the past two days has been reading another book by Leo Lionni called Inch by Inch.  This book is all about measuring.  Yesterday using our blocks we measured various things around the classroom and counted the number of blocks we used.  Today we remeasured our favorite items and compared which ones were long and which ones were short.  The students enjoyed the hand on experience.

We have started our hard core practice for the Exceptional Children's Week show.  If I do say so my self the kids look fantastic already!  We have been practicing with our parasols for the Glee version of Singing in the Rain.  Also the sign language is coming along nicely for Somewhere over the rainbow.  Mark your calendars for March 22 because you won't want to miss this fabulous experience!

No school Monday

Just a reminder no school Monday!  It is President's Day so please sleep in and enjoy the beautiful weather!  Your teachers will be here getting ready for a fabulous week.

Today we worked on hand strengthening with Ms. Susan.  She brought different resistances of theraputty and hid animals inside for us to find.  We pulled, pushed, twisted, used one hand, used two hands, used pincers, and counted to 10!  Working with theraputty is exhausting work!

This afternoon we worked on the alphabet.  We spent time on the computer and cutting out playdough letters.  Also we started practicing on ball routine for the Exceptional Children's Week show.  Bouncing and dancing requires a lot of coordination.

Having the sunshine makes recess even better!  Have a great weekend!

Tuesday is snapbeans.....

Every morning as part of calendar we sing a days of the week song.  Dr. Jean's Days of Week pairs the day of the week to a food item.  By using the visual picture of a food item (one that they are usually familiar with) they are also learning the day.  Tuesday snap beans always makes me laugh because that is one that I did not eat as a child!

Thank you everyone who sent in Valentine's Day's cards and treats.  We (Mr. Mike, Ms. Tracy, and Mrs. Massey) all greatly appreciate your thoughtfulness.  I hope you have had the chance to admire your student's handiwork on their box.  Thank you to everyone who sent in items to decorate the boxes.  Also thank you to Caleb's mommy for the cupcakes and Ollie's mummy for the pink lemonade!  It was nice to have special snacks to share on a special day.

For Dr. Seuss our vocabulary this month is
stack
run
dress
window
chocolate
box
cat
fish
mail
heart
hats
brother
sister

Each child enjoyed playing post person as they dropped the Valentine's in the boxes!  It was a truly special day for all.

Today was a busy day as today was a Ms. Brooke day!   Ms. Brooke spent time going through the Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss and pairing additional visuals (some 3D and some extra pictures with the book).  Also she made us all wear silly hats to make it a more enjoyable experience.

Happy Tuesday!  Enjoy your snap beans!

Busy Friday

Today as usual was a busy Friday.  Ms. Susan came in for her group lesson.  First we got our bodies ready to learn by spinning and jumping.  Then we dived into making our Valentine's Day boxes.  We were all sticky messes by the time we were done, but our Valentine boxes are beautiful!  Thank you for sending all the wonderful things to decorate the boxes.
Also this afternoon, the group continued to talk about incline planes.  We saw how incline planes work to make it easier to move things by using the ramp in the hallway.  Also we saw how fast things could roll down the ramp.
Don't forget if you want to send in Valentine's Monday is the day!

Everyday in PSE is an adventure

Today we had a special treat because Ollie's mom came in and read to us. She read The Hungry Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson.  This is a book that children in Great Britian grow up hearing.  She made the story very entertaining by drawing beautiful illustations to go along with the book.  The kids were entralled with the reading and really enjoyed the story.
This week we have started our talk on simple machines.  We have been talking about the inclined plane.  We have built ramps with blocks and use the ramp in the hallway to roll balls down.  Next week we are hoping to talk about levers.
Don't forget to turn in Boxtops tomorrow!
Also if you would like your child to bring in Valentine's Monday is the day!
Thanks to everyone who donated things to put on our boxes!  They will be beautiful! (Your child may be coming home with paint in their hair today because we got a little wild with the paint!)

What a Fantastic Friday!

Today was a wonderful day.  The kiddos are real troopers about understanding why we couldn't go outside again to play today.  They were very excited about getting to ride their bikes in the hallway though!  We rode up and down the hallway in front of the classroom.  Some played with hula hoops and others played with bean bags.  This was a great time to practice quiet voices.  Afterwards we started talking about how Monday is the 100th day of school.  We made special 100 hats to wear on Monday.  In the afternoon we talked about circles with Ms. Emily and made paper bag polar bears.  What a busy day!

Starting Monday we will start our new theme....Dr. Seuss!  We will be reading The Foot Book, Hop on Pop, Mr. Brown Says Moo, Green Eggs and Ham, and our breakfast book will be The Cat in the Hat.  Each morning at the end of breakfast we read a book.  This book allows the kids to know that we will be transitioning from the initial social time of getting to school and eating to circle time.  We read the same story for about a month.  By reading the same story everyday it allows the children more time to learn and understand the language of the story.  We use the story to work on predictions, recalling facts, using pictures to help answer questions, letter identification, etc.  The kids look forward to the story we read at breakfast time. 

Within our Dr. Seuss theme, we will be looking at animals, rhyming words, and simple machines.

Also feel free to send the blog link to grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc, anyone you feel who might be interested in knowing what goes on during your student's day.

Mark your calendars!  Our Exceptional Children's Week Show is Tuesday, March 22 at 8:30am!