Our Blessing Turkeys

Daily Question: Do you know why we celebrate Thanksgiving?

Toys: Cookie set, play kitchen, play food and baskets, FP castle and Imaginex castles and figures, FP people and emergency vehicles.


We studied about the history of the First Thanksgiving and also learned facts about turkeys. The children had fun watching turkeys. The tom turkeys (males) puff out their feathers to show dominance and to strut before the hens (females). They make sounds like "gobble, gobble, purr, putt, putt, kee kee, etc."

We gathered around my computer to see photos of wild and domestic turkeys and to hear what they sound like. Some of my favorite comments include: "Those turkeys...all those ones with the big feathers--need a haircut!" Olivia said. "You mean a feather cut!," added Hugh with a grin.


Making our Blessing Turkeys involved coloring, cutting, thinking, writing. What are you thankful for? The children came up with very personal and cute things...blankie, chairs, family, Mommy, Daddy, Nana, Spider Man, my kitty, pets! (Enjoy reading the blessing on the turkey's below).












We talked about being a good listener (zipping our mouths closed, turning on our ears and putting our thinking caps on. Then we read some of our favorite Thanksgiving books, like My Most Thankful Thing. We talked about how much mothers love their babies (children) and how I was sure that they were one of their parents most thankful things.


Turkey and Thanksgiving Books:
The Most Thankful Thing by Lisa McCourt, Ill. by Cyd Moore (Scholastic)
The First Thanksgiving Feast by Joan Anderson, Photos by George Anacona
Thanksgiving Day by Anne Rockwell, Ill. by Lizzy Rockwell
I Am The Turkey (I Can Read! 2) by Michelle Sobel Sprin, Ill. by Joy Allen
10 Fat Turkey's by Tony Johnston, Ill. by Rich Deas

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Enjoy your turkey and counting your blessings this year.

Knowledge About Our Bodies

Daily Question: Do You Know What Your Cranium Is? The skull, bone enclosing your brain.

Name writing practice.

Toys: Play foods, phone, play kitchen, Potato Heads.

As the students came in, they hurried to the books laid out about our bodies and began to read! Instead of playing, we sat and read several books at the beginning of our day. We looked at the fascinating pictures in the Dr. Frankenstein Body Book (by DK), we read and acted out Eric Carle's Head to Toe, we read (and sort of understood with some explanation) Tedd Arnolds Parts and Even More Parts (about idioms).

Olivia's Mom reads to us.

Outside fun with cat Boo.

Creating our Kicking Karate letter K.

Olivia looked down at her pink and purple Kangaroo and said in awe, "Oh my. Mine is beautiful!" Later, she came up to me after comforting baby Eva and said, "I made her happy!" This made me smile because our class is looking out for one another and trying to help each other be happy.

Olivia practices moving her K the Kangaroo practices his karate kicks "k-k-k."

Snacks: Simply Fruit Leather, string cheese and pretzels, fruit snacks and animal crackers.


Arts and crafts Project: We worked on our Kicking Kangaroos art project. K is a Kangaroo who practices Karate and says "k-k-k" while kicking. This was a fun letter to work on because it used a brad and had moveable parts!


Silly Body and Turkey Songs:

• Tony Chest-Nut Knows I Love You (Point to your Toe/knee/chest/nut-brain/nose/eye Love You...)

• Hokey Pokey
  

• Tom Turkey

• Gobble Strut Strut by Janeen brady
  

Books About Our Bodies:
From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
Hooray for Hands! (Begin Smart)Books for Smart Babies Fm Eighteen Months - Two Yrs
The Hair Book by Graham Tether, Ill. by Roy McKie
The Eye Book by Dr. Seuss (Theo LeSieg), Ill. by Joe Mathieu
The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss
The Tooth Book by Theo LeSieg (Dr. Seuss), Ill. by Joe Mathieu
Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins, ill. by Eric Gurney
The Shape of Me and Other Stuff by Dr. Seuss
Giggle Belly (A Rookie Reader) by Page Sakelaris, Ill. by Richard L. Torrey
Dr. Frankensteins Human Body Book: The Monstrous Truth About How Your Body Works (DK)
Parts by Tedd Arnold
Even More Parts by Tedd Arnold
All About You (With Inspector McQ from World Craft--Childcraft)
Wonderful You! by Linda and Alan Parry
Ouch! How Your Body Makes it Through a Very Bad Day (DK--CD Rom)
The Human Body (Reader's Digest, Pathfinders, Large book).

Jamming With Sea Animals

Daily Question: Do you remember what a vowel is?
Snacks: Veggie chips. banana wheels, and fruit leather.
We learned about J the jellyfish who liked to jiggle her arms and say "j-j-j" (jah, jah, jah) as she danced at the Jellyfish Jamboree in June.



It was fun to link up and make train tracks with the students. We talked about how vowels, like train cars, help words link up. We used the example cat and sounded it out slowly--c...a...t, c..a..t, c.a.t., cat!
I snuck up on the girls reading books after arts and craft time to get these pictures. They had found Disney's A Little Mermaid in the bookcase and were reading about living under the sea.


Sea Animal Books:
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
Gilbert the Great by Jane Clarke and Charles Fuge (audio CD)
Let's Go Swimming with Mr. Sillypants by M. K. Brown
What's Up, What's Down? by Lola M. Schaefer, Ill. by Barbara Bash
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Phister

Insects and Spiders

Do you like insects and spiders?

Toys: Insects Math Game, Play Kitchen, and Pretty Ponies
Today we watched a short segment from LeapPad's Talking Words Factory about how vowels are the glue that sticks words together. Miss Julie writes words with the vowels in red ink and so students can see and read early on what vowels are. Today we reviewed in class that vowels are: Aa, Ee, Ii, Oo, Uu, and sometimes Yy.


We also learned that I the insects flew into some (poison) ivy and got very itchy. "I-i-i" (short i sound) is what she says while itching her arms with her fingers.
One student, Preston, after learning that I was itchy after coming into contact with ivy said, "She needs an oatmeal bath because that helps me when I am itchy!"
I have noticed that some of the students are very careful at coloring. Some insist on tracing their own hands and carefully cut out the insects today. They are getting ready for school!
We had fun playing outside again. (It was quite cold--even though it was sunny and several students came back in and put on jackets so they could go outside and play some more).
We enjoyed reading about The Eensy-Weensy Spider and The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.


Snacks: Ginger snaps and apple slices, veggie chips and banana wheels, and fruit leather.

Coloring, tracing around hands, scissor and cutting out practice are all part of pre-Kindergarten Curriculum.

Our Original "I" insects!

Insect and Spider Books:
The Eensy-Weensy Spider by Mary Ann Hoberman, Ill. by Nadine Bernard Westcott
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Jumbo, Child's Play book) by Pam Adams *Also, Scholastic Books DVD.
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Dairy of a Worm by Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss
Dairy of a Spider by Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss
Little Miss Muffet (nursery rhyme)

Horses and Other Farm Animals

I love how the students are learning key letters and practicing their names on their own!

Little People Town and Farm

Flight to HoustonPipe break? Provo City was out with a big excavator and dump truck.
The children were fascinated.

Potato Heads (on a Farm!)
Whirly-Twirly Fun!
Peek-a-Boo (look under the slide)!
Our H the Horse maze. We learned how to get the horse to the hospital to help get him healed from his hornet sting.

Daily question: Have you been to a farm?
Toys: Fisher Price Little People Farm, House and Garage. My Little Ponies.
Snack: We ate Peanut Butter Crackers and milk. Thanks, Olivia.

We learned that H the horse is stung by a hornet and has to hurry to the hospital. "H h h" in the sound his hooves make (children move arms up and down with hands curved mlike horses hooves while making the Ha ha ha sound).

We enjoyed reading books and talking about what a farm is. In the book, No Milk!, a city boy goes to a farm and want's cow's milk and does many things to try and get some--in the end he learned how to milk a cow. We talked about where cow's milk comes from and how a cow is milked while eatting our snack and drinking milk.

It was a sunny but chilly day outside. The children were so happy to run around and also see the Excavators and Dump Trucks across the street as the city fixed a broken pipe that was gushing water.

Parents, please send a sweater or sweatshirt so that we can play outside even in this cooler weather.

Activity Page: Today we learned about following a maze to get the Horse to the hospital and each child colored theirs so well.

Farm Books:
Two Cool Cows by Toby Speed (audio book/Play on Mother Goose Rhymes)
Old McDonald Had a Farm Ill. by Pam Adams (Child's Play-Jumbo Book).
Number Farm (Jumbo Book) by Stephen Holmes
What's Happening? on the Farm by Heather Amery & Stephen Cartwright
Once Upon a Farm by Marie Bradby, Ill. by Ted Rand
Rooster's Off to See the World by Eric Carle
No Milk! Jennifer A. Ericsson, Ill. by Ora Eitan
The Smallest Cow in the World (I Can Read, Lvl. 3)by Katherine Paterson & Jane Clark Brown
Animal Sounds (A Sturdy Golden Book), Ill. by Aurelius Battaglia
Robert The Rose Horse by Joan Heilbroner and P.D. Eastman
The Three Pigs by David Weisner
Pigs in the House by Steven Kroll, Illl. by Tim Kirk
Emmett's Pig (An I Can Read Book) by Mary Stolz, Ill. by Garth Williams
A Huge Hog is a Big Pig; A Rhyming Word Game by Francis McCall & Patricia Keeler
My Goose Betsy by Trudi Braun, Ill. by John Bendall-Brunello
Barnyard Banter by Denise Fleming
Leah's Pony by Elizabeth Friedrich, Ill. by Michael Garland
Down by The Pond by Margrit Cruickshank, Ill. by Dave Saunders
"Not Now!" Said the Cow by Joanne Oppenheim, Ill. by Chric Demares
Inside a Barn in the Country: A Rebus Read-Along Story by Alyssa Satin Capucilli & Ted Arnold
Spot's Noisy Walk by Eric Hill (Play-a-Sound)