Halloween Fun!

Party Goers were: Cinderella, Tinker Bell, Spider Man, (young) Johnny Cash, a cute Dragon, and Peter Pan (see below).

Preparing to make our I-Spy Game Bottles.

Students drop in items first: buttons, spider rings, "gems," penny,
dime, marble, rock, "boo" sign, goggly eye, etc.

I Spy With My Spooky

Eye...

A gem, a spider, and a button or

two-

A googly eye, and a note that says,

"Boo!"

A rock, a penny, and a sharp tiny

pin.

Beware of the unforeseen secrets

within!

Peter Pan also enjoyed making an I-Spy Bottle.

The students were suspicious of the bubbling Witches Brew (spiced Apple Juice with dry ice). I brought around the bag of dry ice and mentioned that it was simply a kind of ice that causes bubbles as it melts but still one student was too frightened and he was having none of that! The other children enjoyed the punch and ginger snaps or chocolate chip cookies.

Halloween Rhyme and story book.

Halloween Sugar Cookies

Gumdrop Graph. We opened a bag of gumdrops and learned how to put like colors together (patterning), counted them up, recorded the information in color on our graph and shared the sweet treats among us. (G the Goose giggles when she tells a fictional tale about a gorilla made of gumdrops who is eaten by a goat. "g g g" (ga, ga, ga) is the sound she makes while holding her stomach from giggling).

Preston did a real cute dance on the tips of his feet scooting around the class but is camera shy.

Olivia and Susie dance to Monster Mash and Kidz Bop Halloween Tunes.

Musical Chairs

Party Favor Bags: Play dough, glow sticks,
caramel puff, candy corns, Dum Dums, grape Mike and Ikes, etc.

Take Home Bags of pumpkin bubbles,
I Spy Spooky Bottles (craft) and Student colored 5 Little Pumpkin Booklets.

HaPpY hAlLoWeEn!

Today was our Halloween Party!
It was fun to see the children come in their costumes
Daily Question: Are you ready for some Halloween fun?
Toys: Linkin blocks, play food, shopping baskets, and cash register with play bills and coins.
Snacks: Simply Fruit Roll-ups, gumdrops, spiced apple juice, ginger snaps, and chocolate chip cookies.
Music: We learned a little ditty 5 Little Pumpkins to perform (or read aloud) to our parents.
Arts and Crafts: We colored our own books and put together an I-Spy Game (recycling our drink bottles from the field trip).
To take home: Favor Bag with two glow stick bracelets, two containers of play dough, Mike and Ike grape candies, candy corns, caramel corn puffs, and Dum-Dums. Also, a pumpkin bubbles, a take home 5 Little Pumpkins book (colored by your student), and an I-Spy Bottle Game made by your child in a Halloween paper bag.
Games: Musical Chairs, Halloween Dancing to Monster Mash,
For the Tu/Th class, we learned about Mother Goose Rhymes and did Gumdrop Graphs for Math. Parents a wonderful way of teaching "Rhyming" is to read the sometimes silly Mother Goose Rhymes and then ask your student to pick up the rhyming couplets. Also, play rhyming games in the car and in the grocery store. Make it a game: "bug on a ___" (rug).

Halloween Books:
Halloween ABC (a Little Golden Book) by Sarah Albee and Paul Meisel
Two Little Witches: A Halloween Counting Story by Harriet Ziefert & Simms Taback
A Dark Dark Tale by Ruth Brown (Picture Puffins)*Suspense leads to a frightened mouse.
One Hungry Monster; A Counting Book in Rhyme by Susan O'Keefe & Lynn Munsinger
Halloween by Miriam Nerlove (Early Reader)
Jungle Halloween by Maryann Cocca-Leffler
Monster Halloween Party by Nick Jr. The Backyardagans
Trick-or-Treat by Ann Dixon and Larry Di Fiori (Scholastic, Math concepts--ghost gets treats)
Sheep Trick-or-Treat by Nancu Shaw, Ill. by Margot Apple
Barney's Favorite Halloween Stories; 2 books in 1
Halloween Night by Arden Druce, Ill. by David T. Wenzel
Humbug Witch by Lorna Balian* (Darling story)
Which Witch is Which? by Michael Muntean and Tom Brannon (Jellybean Books, Just for Preschoolers)
Franklin's Halloween by Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark
Witch, Witch Come to my Party by Arden Druce, Ill. by Pat Ludlow (Vivid Watercolor ill.)
The Spider and the Fly by Tony DiTerlizzi (based on poem by Mary Howitt)
Room on a Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (rhyming)
Monster Math by Anne Miranda, Ill. by Polly Powell*

Giggling Mother Goose

Daily Question: Do you know Mother Goose Rhymes?

This morning we opened a Learning Resources set of plastic foods and shopping baskets. We talked briefly about healthy eating habits for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We also used a play cash register and fake money to buy the groceries with and practice giving change. The children had a lot of fun doing this.

G the goose giggles at a goat who ate a gorilla made of gumdrops. She holds her stomach and says "g g g" as she giggles. Math Activity: We used jelly beans and gumdrops, the next day, to complete a colorful graph and talk about how many of each were in a package.

Snack: We ate Chocolate Chip Teddy Grahams and milk.
We read and played 5 Little Pumpkins. (Look for the mini book of this coming home).

Mother Goose Books:
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (Golden Books)* I Spy and Counting Game
Barney's Favorite Mother Goose Rhymes Vol. 1 &2 by Stephen White and Mary Grace Eubank
Jack and Jill by Daniel Kirk
Hey Diddle Diddle & Other Mother Goose Rhymes by Tomie DePaola
Michael Foreman's Mother Goose
The Real Mother Goose Ill. by Blanche Fisher Wright, Checkerboard Press, N.Y.
The Mother Goose Word Book (A Golden Sturdy Book) by Ann Schweninger

Feathery Bird Friends

Daily Question: Do you like birds? Do you like bird feathers?
When we were signing in, I asked Hugh the daily question. He replied, "I like Bluejays and Grosbeaks!"
Toys: Fisher Price Grow with Me Dogs, Large ABC/123 foam puzzles, animal sounds puzzle and animal puzzles.
Books: One Hungry Monster: A counting Book in Rhyme
Hugh and Nathan enjoyed putting the number puzzle together. All students helped put the large ABC puzzle together (and sing the ABC many times!).
F is a foolish flamingo who follows another bird far away where it is cold. She sings (f f f ) (fa fa fa) as she rubs her arms up and down trying to get warm.
Snacks: Ginger Snaps and dried apples. Pumpkin cookies and bottled waters.
Preschool Insight: We listened to the Little Red Hen while eating our snacks. When it was over, Hugh responded of the Little Red Hen's behavior, "That's not very nice!" (that she did not share her cake). We had a discussion about what the hen was teaching her friends and also what Jesus would do. Such a sweet age!

Parents, please see me about updating your personal information (phone number, cell numbers, street addresses, emergency contact information) so that we are on the same page. Thanks!

Feathery Friend Books:
Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins
Have You Seen My Duckling? by Nancy Tafuri
Nature Club:Birds by Peter Gill
Little Quack by Lauren Thompson and Derek Anderson* (Early Math Concepts)
Fur and Feathers (Head to Tail) by Theresa Greenaway
Friends of a Feather by Arlen Cohn and Don Sullivan
First Song & Action Rhymes by Jenny Wood, Ill. by Chris McEwan
Bird: Eyewitness Books by Knopf
The Wild Swans by Hans Christen Anderson, Retold by Amy Ehrlich, Ill. by Susan Jeffers
The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone (audio)
The Little Red Hen Pictures by Lucinda McQueen (Scholastic audio CD)
"If I was a little Bird" Learning Rhymes: First Songs & Action Rhymes by Jenny Wood, p. 46-47
Feathers for Lunch by Louis Ehlert

Pumpkins

PUMPKIN!

Exploring a pumpkin!

Designing our own Jack-O-Lanterns and Scare Crows.

Everyone helped make Pumpkin Spice Cookies.

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater...by Mother Goose

Pumpkin and Harvest books

Today we had an enrichment lesson on Pumpkins.
Daily Question: Do pumpkins float? (Answer: yes, pumpkins of all sizes float in water because pumpkins are made up of 80% water.)

We enjoyed opening up a sugar pumpkin (smaller and sweeter than a "normal" pumpkin). Students saw inside, smelled, touched, and tasted, if they wanted to, the fresh pumpkin. We noticed the differences and tasted the canned pumpkin we used in our recipe.

We learned a new recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies that only uses three ingredients. Try it! This became our snack with milk. Yum!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 box spice cake mix
15 oz. (1/2 a large can) Pumpkin
1 C. chocolate chips
Mix above ingredients together and drop by spoonful onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-16 minutes.

Pumpkin Books:
The Pumpkin Patch by Elizabeth King (Picture Puffins).
The Tiniest Pumpkin (A First Start Easy Reader) Troll
Pumpkin Time by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld, Ill. by Christopher Santoro
This is the Pumpkin by Abby Levine, Ill. by Paige Billin-Frye
Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell *(Jack-O-Lanterns to plant to pumpkin, sharing, cycles).
The Stubborn Pumpkin (HelloReader! Lvl 3, Gr. 1 &2) by Laura Geringer and Holly Berry

Autumn Harvest Books:
I See a Leaf (Scholastic Reader, 1) by Grace Maccarone, Ill. by Laura Freeman
Sam the Scarecrow (A First Start Easy Reader) Troll
October Smiled Back by Lisa Westerberg Peters, Ill. by Ed Young (Months)
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams,Megan Lloyd*
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
What Happens in the Autumn; Books for Young Explorers, The National Geographic Society.