Z is for Zebra

Daily Question: Have you been to a zoo?

Toys: Fisher Price Village and Animals

Snacks: Green and Yellow Pepper strips, celery sticks, baby carrots, chocolate chip cookies, and Teddy Grahams.

Circle Time Activities:
We reviewed X and Y sounds and finished up the activity pages that go with these.

Zoo Books:
Birthday Zoo by Deborah Lee Rose and Lynn Munsinger
Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert
From Head to Toe*by Eric Carle (Great pictures, Activity Book for young people)

Songs:
Janeen Brady "I Have a Song for You," Vol. 3 About Animals
"We're Going to the Zoo Tomorrow"

Alphabet Adventures Enrolling Fall 2012

Pizza and Yogurt Field Trip

What a fun adventure we had touring the California Pizza Kitchen and Yogurtland in Orem.

Preston did a great job writing his name!

Thank you, Manager Tierney and Todd
for your excellent help with our class (and in making our own mini pizzas).

Students loved the choices of toppings available.

Todd lead us on a tour of the kitchen areas, where workers were cuttings up,
mixing, and preparing the fresh food for the day.

Todd let's us peek through the plastic curtains into the HUGE fridge
where the fresh toppings, fruit, vegetables, sauces, and dairy are kept.

Our pizzas cooking in the BIG oven.

Todd holds up students in front of the oven to see our pizzas baking.

One happy customer!

YUM!

California Pizza Kitchen was so kind to let us come and tour their restaurant and provide mini pizzas for each child to decorate as they chose. They baked them in a large oven while the children toured the kitchens (briefly and cleanly) and then we got to eat our creations! Thank you so much Tierney and Todd for helping us have a great time and get to know your business more. I know I will be going back for some delicious pizza!

Yell "Yes" for Our Senses

Daily Question: Do you know your senses?



Toys: Play Kitchen, play foods, wooden food puzzles, and Wooden cookie set.
It never fails to amaze me how creative children are. Preston was bored and so he was "hiding" under a black bean bag. The other children saw it and Susie suggested a game of "Charades." Children took turns being various animals: turtle, wolf, lizard, etc.


Snack Time: Popcorn, clementines, and chocolate Zingers.
I explained that today we are making microwave popcorn because we are studying our Five Senses--hear, touch, taste, see, and smell. We had fun hearing the popcorn, smelling it, seeing it, touching it, and then tasting it! Yum!



Eva's Birthday Celebration: Our youngest class member turned two! We had fun ALL making wishes and blowing out her two candles. Eva loves Elmo's World, preschool, her family, to climb and to draw.


Some fun comments from our circle discussion on Popcorn:
How does it feel? "Like butter on my fingers!" said Hugh. "Bumpy!" said Preston. "Smooth in some places."
What does it taste like? "Popcorn and butter!"
What does it smell like? "Delicious!" smiled Preston.
What does it look like? "Candy! (?)" said Susie. "Yellow! Like bananas or butter," suggested Hugh.
What does it sound like? Popping noises and crunching with our teeth.

"Hey! There is an ant down here."

"I can see my shadow!"

We reviewed X the Fox who had to get x-rays
and Y the Yak who liked to play with a yellow yo-yo.

X the Fox and Y the Yak pages will be completed and sent home with the students on Wednesday.

Five Senses Books:
David Smells by David Shannon
Hooray for Hands! (Begin Smart Book)
The Eye Book by Dr. Seuss
The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss

Months (Seasons) Book:
Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months by Maurice Sendak

Songs:
Happy Birthday to You!
ABCs

X-Rays, Doctors and Careers

Daily Question: Xx Have you ever had an x-ray?

Toys: Train Table and FP Little People Village


Snack: Carrot and celery sticks, graham crackers, fruit snacks, and doughnut variety.

Happy "Un"Birthday to Olivia!
Olivia will turn four on Friday, March 30)

Olivia (currently) likes the color blue. (Earlier this year it has been red, pink, and purple). She has an older brother named Colton and an older sister, Natallia. Her father "works." She has a friend named Savannah. She likes her cousin, Presley best. She also likes to "play at the beach in San Diego." She likes to play with "cars...and My Little Ponies." She likes to talk about Nana and her pets (bunnies, dog, etc.). She loves her Daddy and Mommy.

Circle Time: We had a fun time reading The Big Book of Me and talking about Careers today.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Hugh: A Construction Worker who builds buildings.
Olivia: Dora! (Even with added suggestions, it always came back to Dora. Perhaps a Language Translator?)
Susie: A Doctor or Nurse. I want to help people.
Eva: (Eva heard Olivia and agreed with Dora...she talked more about Boots the monkey.)

We also talked briefly about the letter Xx and the sound that it makes. X is curious. It sounds like "Z" at the beginning of a word (xylophone) and "Ks" at the end of a word (like ox).


We are enjoying the wonderful weather. The children were so hot inside that they suggested we play outside with the Sand and Water table outside for recess. Great Idea!

Shapes Review: I sent home a mini shapes card with an elephant cartoon. Parents, please put this up (briefly) where they can see it and quiz them on their shapes--esp. rectangle and triangle.

We missed Preston today. We hope he is feeling better and joins us again next time.

Career Books:
When I'm Big by Nila Aye and Tim Drury (Scholastic)
When I Grow Up by Jean Bethell, Ill. by Ruth Wood (Wonder Books, Easy Reader)
Who Are You, Sue Snue? (Random House/Jim Henson)

Xx Books:
Fox in Socks; A Tongue Twister for Super Children by Dr. Seuss
Foxy Fox by Barbara deRubertis, Ill. by Eva Vagreti Cockrille

Songs:
Janeen Brady "I Want to Be a Mother"

I Know My Shapes!

Question: Do you know what a rectangle is? A rectangle looks like a square but has two long sides and two short sides. An example of a rectangle is a door.

Toys: Play-Doh, Tinker Toys, and Wooden shapes puzzles.

We welcomed Nathan's younger brother, Jaxon, to class today.

Play-Doh Fun!

Snack: Grapes (oval), Cheez-its (squares), cucumber spears (triangles on the inside), apple slices (round, star inside), banana (crescent), avocado (tear drop or oval shape).


Circle Time began at snack time. We had fun looking into a bowl of fruit and finding all the shapes that were hidden there. We talked about other fruit like strawberries (cut sideways=hearts), starfruit (star shape--showed picture. Taste is tangy like citrus but sweeter), melons (cut=crescent shape), plums, oranges, apples, apricots, peaches (circle shapes).

We enjoyed reading and learning about shapes.

Preston helped me put up our Shapes posters.

Our Alphabet story today was Alphabet Soup: A Feast of Letters about Otter who moves into a new house. He decided to have a "put luck" party and invited his 26 best friends. (As you may have guessed, each animal friend starts with the letter of the alphabet and brings a food item for the soup or to share). This seemed appropriate for Nathan who will be moving to a new home soon.

Today was Nathan's last day in our preschool. His father is finishing up graduate work at BYU and the family will be moving back East in April. What a fun time we had together! We gave Nathan a bag with a letter, poem, some photos, and Forget-Me-Not seeds to plant in his new home.
Nathan brought everyone in class a going away goodie--chocolate covered marshmallow bunnies. Yum!

Visual Shape Recognition: We traced over the letters to shape words and outlined the shapes as we said each one.

Shape Games (and fun assessment): Cranium Hullabaloo. In this clever and fun game put to music, students must listen for directions to lead them to a "cranium pad" of a certain shape, color, or with an animal, food, or instrument on it. Kids are having so much fun moving and listening--they don't know they are learning as well.


Extension Activity: Why not go on a shapes hunt around your house or neighborhood? You could say..."I spy with my little eye" or be Shape Detectives. Homes have rectangular doors, magazines, books and bricks. Windows are often square. Trampolines, bowls, frames can be circular. Some roof tops and gables can be triangular. You get the idea--have fun learning and talking about shapes!


Shape Books:
Fun with Colors and Shapes (World Book)
My First Book of Shapes (Baby Einstein ) by Julie Aigner-Clark, Ill. by Nadeem Zaidi
Colors and Shapes (Let's Look, DK) Essential Preschool Learning
Baby See-a-Shape Shapes by Mark Tattam (Make Believe Ideas Limited)
Making Shapes: A Very First Math Book Ill. by Jo Moon *finger traceable shape tracks
The Silly Story of Goldie Locks and the Three Squares (Hello, Math lvl. 2) by Grace Maccarone, Ill. by Anne Kennedy. Math Activities by Marilyn Burns

Alphabet Book:
Alphabet Soup: A Feast of Letters by Scott Gustafson**Love the illustrations/story.

Parents for Free Shape Printables and Flash Cards click here: TLSBooks

Our Saint Patrick's Day Celebration

Daily Question: Do you know what a shamrock is? A shamrock is a three leaf (Old White) clover--the symbol of Ireland.


Toys: Mr. Potato Head, Linkin Blocks, Wooden Puzzles, car race track and village rug.
(We welcomed Olivia's friend, Savannah, to our preschool today)




Snack: Cucumber slices, pretzels, and rice crispy squares with green sugar sprinkles.


Music: Celtic Music and Janeen Brady's song, "Wearing O' The Green."

Each child got to choose a shamrock sticker at the start of class today.

Circle Time: Today we talked about Ireland and it's influence in America, like the holiday Saint Patrick's Day*. The Irish eat a lot of potatoes, had a famine and many people left Ireland and immigrated to America. There was a kind man of the church, Saint Patrick, who taught Irish children that the clover was a symbol of the Godhead: God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

We talked about tricky Leprechauns (who are related to the Fae, or fairies). We enjoyed several stories about these wee folk and their gold.

Outside Fun: with the Sand and Water Table.

What Would YOU do if you caught a Leprechaun?
Nathan: "Bite him!"
Susie: "Not look away! Not listen to a trick he says."
Preston: "Catch him!"
Hugh: "I would watch him to see if he was or wasn't going to run away."
Savannah: (Thinking).
Olivia: "Put him in his home, where the squirrels can't get him!"

* Even if you are not Irish, March is a great month to get to know one or two of your ancestors--like a Great grandfather or Grandmother, where they came from, what they looked and talked like, and a favorite recipe or tradition they did.

Leprechaun Treasure Hunt: We had fun when we caught a Leprechaun, Timmy O'Clover, tapping with his little hammer. We followed him around the yard, keeping a close eye on him, to find his pots of gold for us to keep and take home.


Take Home Activities: We got to take home a Leprechaun to color, a couple of mazes to solve, and another coloring picture on Saint Patrick's Day (this Saturday, March 17).




St. Patrick's Day Books:
The Luckiest Leprechaun; A Tale-Wagging Tale of Friendship by Justine Korman, Ill. by Denise Brunkus
Clever Tom and the Leprechaun by Linda Shute
Tim O'Toole and the Wee Folk; An Irish Tale Told and Illustrated by Gerald McDermott
Leprachauns; Tale of the "Little People." (Pamphlet)