Pre-K News!
November 30th, 2012
Dear Families,
Sarah and I enjoyed being back with your children after the nice Thanksgiving break, and began this exciting time of year with a Gingerbread Unit. We read a number of versions of this classic tale, including The Gingerbread Man, retold by Jim Aylesworth, The Gingerbread Man, by Scholastic, The Gingerbread Girl, by Lisa Campbell Ernst, The Gingerbread Baby, by Jan Brett, The Gingerbread Man, by Geraldine McCaughrean, The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone and The Gingerbread Cowboy, by Janet Squires. On Friday, we made a graph to find our favorite class gingerbread book. Ask you child which book received the most votes! We compared and contrasted similarities and differences between the versions, and used the stories as a tool to explore number and letter recognition, measuring, sequencing, counting and graphing.
Sarah introduced the letter ‘Q’ with a variety of letter centers. The first was an exploration of quarters where the children counted, examined, and made quarter rubbings. They wove ‘quilts’, created a ‘Q’ page for their alphabet book, brainstormed lists of Q words, and practiced handwriting in writing workbooks.
Other highlights included Gabriel’s All About Me Poster presentation, making and eating gingerbread, making and then playing with gingerbread Playdough, and making gingerbread houses with our buddies. Sarah and I thank you so very much for your generous contributions of candy, and we invite you to look at the photos of this fun event on the website. Our last special event was the surprise escape of our class Gingerbread Man on Thursday. Fortunately, by following clues, sniffing for a gingerbread trail, and searching the school, we found our gingerbread friend and some cookies in the gym - it was quite an adventure! Photos are included on the website.
Next week Sarah will teach a unit based on Jan Brett’s book, The Mitten. Please send in a pair of mittens that will be used for sorting, counting and matching activities. We will also begin to talk about peace and some of the different religious holidays that families celebrate this time of year. If you would like to visit our classroom over the next few weeks to share a story or activity about family traditions, please let us know.
Next week:
The Letter is ‘G’ with Show and Tell on Thursday or Friday
Specials:
Monday: Gathering and Science
Tuesday: PE and Art
Wednesday: Spanish
Thursday: Meeting for Worship, Music And PE
Friday: Library and Music
In addition:
1. Our holiday sing along is Thursday, December 20th at 10:00 in the Meeting Room. You are invited to a party in our classroom afterward.
2. Children are invited to bring in mittens and hats for the ‘Mitten trees’ that will be located in the lobbies beginning next week.
3. The All About Me presentations have been wonderful. The children proudly stand up in front of the class, pointers in hand. They present their posters and field questions like pros! I think the experience is valuable and we thank you for your help.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Sue and Sarah
Sarah and I enjoyed being back with your children after the nice Thanksgiving break, and began this exciting time of year with a Gingerbread Unit. We read a number of versions of this classic tale, including The Gingerbread Man, retold by Jim Aylesworth, The Gingerbread Man, by Scholastic, The Gingerbread Girl, by Lisa Campbell Ernst, The Gingerbread Baby, by Jan Brett, The Gingerbread Man, by Geraldine McCaughrean, The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone and The Gingerbread Cowboy, by Janet Squires. On Friday, we made a graph to find our favorite class gingerbread book. Ask you child which book received the most votes! We compared and contrasted similarities and differences between the versions, and used the stories as a tool to explore number and letter recognition, measuring, sequencing, counting and graphing.
Sarah introduced the letter ‘Q’ with a variety of letter centers. The first was an exploration of quarters where the children counted, examined, and made quarter rubbings. They wove ‘quilts’, created a ‘Q’ page for their alphabet book, brainstormed lists of Q words, and practiced handwriting in writing workbooks.
Other highlights included Gabriel’s All About Me Poster presentation, making and eating gingerbread, making and then playing with gingerbread Playdough, and making gingerbread houses with our buddies. Sarah and I thank you so very much for your generous contributions of candy, and we invite you to look at the photos of this fun event on the website. Our last special event was the surprise escape of our class Gingerbread Man on Thursday. Fortunately, by following clues, sniffing for a gingerbread trail, and searching the school, we found our gingerbread friend and some cookies in the gym - it was quite an adventure! Photos are included on the website.
Next week Sarah will teach a unit based on Jan Brett’s book, The Mitten. Please send in a pair of mittens that will be used for sorting, counting and matching activities. We will also begin to talk about peace and some of the different religious holidays that families celebrate this time of year. If you would like to visit our classroom over the next few weeks to share a story or activity about family traditions, please let us know.
Next week:
The Letter is ‘G’ with Show and Tell on Thursday or Friday
Specials:
Monday: Gathering and Science
Tuesday: PE and Art
Wednesday: Spanish
Thursday: Meeting for Worship, Music And PE
Friday: Library and Music
In addition:
1. Our holiday sing along is Thursday, December 20th at 10:00 in the Meeting Room. You are invited to a party in our classroom afterward.
2. Children are invited to bring in mittens and hats for the ‘Mitten trees’ that will be located in the lobbies beginning next week.
3. The All About Me presentations have been wonderful. The children proudly stand up in front of the class, pointers in hand. They present their posters and field questions like pros! I think the experience is valuable and we thank you for your help.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Sue and Sarah
Happy Thanksgiving!
November 20th, 2012
Sarah and I hope you enjoy spending time with your families!
Pre-K News!
November 15th, 2012
Dear Parents,
Thank you for coming in for conferences. Sarah and I appreciate the valuable contributions you made to our conversations about your wonderful children! Please note that the 'N/A' under 'rhyming' on the progress report stands for 'not applicable' (at this time). We will assess rhyming skills later in the year.
We learned a lot about owls this week! Did you know that owls live on every continent except Antarctica? They can turn their heads around and upside down, but can’t move their eyeballs! I am impressed by the owl facts the children are learning, and their vocabulary is growing as we talk about the meaning of the words camouflage, predator, prey, swoop, glide, hoot, and nocturnal. Our favorite owl book was, Owl Babies, by Martin Waddell. The children retold the story and made their own illustrations. The book, Great Gray Owls, by Orin Cochrane inspired us to draw a full-scale Gray Owl on BIG paper, then measure it’s five-foot wingspan using different units of measure. The children were creative, using cars, blocks, pointers, and many different toys.
Thanks to Tim Dalby, the children opened owl pellets and examined the bones and animal remains inside. It was dramatic and exciting for us to learn about the owl’s hunting habits and to examine the results of its work.
Our math activities included making baby owl math books, patterning, and number recognition. We also figured out how many more marbles we need to make ten., using an abacus, in different configurations. Children work out these math problems using fingers, counters, and even the numbers on the calendar. Letter O activities included handwriting work, Orange “O” pages for our alphabet books, eating Oreos, and making O’s and other letters with Playdough.
The highlight of the week was listening to storyteller, Eshu Bumpus, from West Africa speak to us on Thursday. He told wonderful stories that included beautiful African songs, chants, and folklore. We all enjoyed the event very much.
In addition, we made decorative owls and worked on our handwriting. We wrote in journals, and story dictations this week were, of course, about owls. Next week, we will turn out sights toward Thanksgiving, talking about the people, places, and things for which we are grateful. There will not be a letter of the week, and our library visit is Tuesday.
Notes:
Sue and Sarah
Thank you for coming in for conferences. Sarah and I appreciate the valuable contributions you made to our conversations about your wonderful children! Please note that the 'N/A' under 'rhyming' on the progress report stands for 'not applicable' (at this time). We will assess rhyming skills later in the year.
We learned a lot about owls this week! Did you know that owls live on every continent except Antarctica? They can turn their heads around and upside down, but can’t move their eyeballs! I am impressed by the owl facts the children are learning, and their vocabulary is growing as we talk about the meaning of the words camouflage, predator, prey, swoop, glide, hoot, and nocturnal. Our favorite owl book was, Owl Babies, by Martin Waddell. The children retold the story and made their own illustrations. The book, Great Gray Owls, by Orin Cochrane inspired us to draw a full-scale Gray Owl on BIG paper, then measure it’s five-foot wingspan using different units of measure. The children were creative, using cars, blocks, pointers, and many different toys.
Thanks to Tim Dalby, the children opened owl pellets and examined the bones and animal remains inside. It was dramatic and exciting for us to learn about the owl’s hunting habits and to examine the results of its work.
Our math activities included making baby owl math books, patterning, and number recognition. We also figured out how many more marbles we need to make ten., using an abacus, in different configurations. Children work out these math problems using fingers, counters, and even the numbers on the calendar. Letter O activities included handwriting work, Orange “O” pages for our alphabet books, eating Oreos, and making O’s and other letters with Playdough.
The highlight of the week was listening to storyteller, Eshu Bumpus, from West Africa speak to us on Thursday. He told wonderful stories that included beautiful African songs, chants, and folklore. We all enjoyed the event very much.
In addition, we made decorative owls and worked on our handwriting. We wrote in journals, and story dictations this week were, of course, about owls. Next week, we will turn out sights toward Thanksgiving, talking about the people, places, and things for which we are grateful. There will not be a letter of the week, and our library visit is Tuesday.
Notes:
- Tuesday is DEAR (drop everything and read) and pajama day. Children are invited to wear their pajamas and bring a favorite book to school.
- Unfortunately, the list serve address is for teacher and parent rep use only. I am sorry for the inconvenience!
- If you have ‘Indian corn’ at your house (hard, decorative ears of corn), would you please send it to school instead of throwing it away? We enjoy taking off, and playing with the kernels.
- Please enjoy pictures of storyteller, Eshu Bumpus and this week’s Meeting for worship held with the other pre-k class on our website.
- Specials: Monday – Gathering and Science
- We do not have school on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday of next week.
Sue and Sarah
Pre-K News!
November 9th, 2012
Dear Families,
This week we played catch-up from last week, talked about the election, prepared for Friday’s Fall Festival, and worked on the letter ‘C’. Here are some of the highlights of the week, day by day:
On Monday, we completed letter ‘U’ activities. We counted umbrellas, practiced handwriting, brainstormed lists of ‘U’ words and made universes and underwear! We have now reviewed letters L, F, H, E, T, I, U, and C. The children have been taught to recognize and write these letters, and identify the letter sounds in isolation. Please keep practicing at home if your child enjoys these activities! Some children might also recognize the letter sound when presented at the beginning or end of a spoken word. We will continue to present the letters in order of writing ease, and review those we’ve studied. We finished the vertical and horizontal lined letters and are now adding curves. The year is flying along!
On Tuesday, we talked about the election. We read books about the role of a president and then shared language dictations about what we would do if we were in charge of the country. We also wrote in journals, working to support growing phonological skills by listening and recording the sounds heard in words.
On Wednesday, we read the familiar story, The Little Engine that Could, by Watty Piper. The children illustrated and sequenced the parts of the story in a language dictation. We made patterned frames, finger-painted turkey feathers and worked on our number books, as well.
On Thursday we met with our buddies for Meeting for Worship, where Teacher Alex read The Great Kapok Tree, by Lynne Cherry. What a beautiful story about stewardship! After worship, teacher Sarah presented the letter ‘C’ with supporting activities. Handwriting, counting cupcakes, rhyming games, making cards, and coloring cuffs to wear on wrists, were completed. Thanks to Henry Gardner and Ava for delicious cookies!
On Friday, we enjoyed the Fall Festival with Mrs. Willie’s and the ELC classes. The children spent the morning rotating through fall centers. They stuffed scarecrows, sang and played games, read a book about hibernation, ate a snack, and made fall leaf pictures. Photo’s can be found on the website. Our website address is http://wfsgeoghegan12.weebly.com, and the password is prek2013.
Notes:
We will focus on Owls
The letter of the week is ‘O’ with ‘O’ Show and Tell on Thursday or Friday
Specials:
Monday: Gathering and Spanish
Tuesday: Library, Music, and PE
Wednesday: Music
Thursday: Meeting for Worship and Spanish
Friday: Conferences
Have a wonderful weekend,
Sue and Sarah
This week we played catch-up from last week, talked about the election, prepared for Friday’s Fall Festival, and worked on the letter ‘C’. Here are some of the highlights of the week, day by day:
On Monday, we completed letter ‘U’ activities. We counted umbrellas, practiced handwriting, brainstormed lists of ‘U’ words and made universes and underwear! We have now reviewed letters L, F, H, E, T, I, U, and C. The children have been taught to recognize and write these letters, and identify the letter sounds in isolation. Please keep practicing at home if your child enjoys these activities! Some children might also recognize the letter sound when presented at the beginning or end of a spoken word. We will continue to present the letters in order of writing ease, and review those we’ve studied. We finished the vertical and horizontal lined letters and are now adding curves. The year is flying along!
On Tuesday, we talked about the election. We read books about the role of a president and then shared language dictations about what we would do if we were in charge of the country. We also wrote in journals, working to support growing phonological skills by listening and recording the sounds heard in words.
On Wednesday, we read the familiar story, The Little Engine that Could, by Watty Piper. The children illustrated and sequenced the parts of the story in a language dictation. We made patterned frames, finger-painted turkey feathers and worked on our number books, as well.
On Thursday we met with our buddies for Meeting for Worship, where Teacher Alex read The Great Kapok Tree, by Lynne Cherry. What a beautiful story about stewardship! After worship, teacher Sarah presented the letter ‘C’ with supporting activities. Handwriting, counting cupcakes, rhyming games, making cards, and coloring cuffs to wear on wrists, were completed. Thanks to Henry Gardner and Ava for delicious cookies!
On Friday, we enjoyed the Fall Festival with Mrs. Willie’s and the ELC classes. The children spent the morning rotating through fall centers. They stuffed scarecrows, sang and played games, read a book about hibernation, ate a snack, and made fall leaf pictures. Photo’s can be found on the website. Our website address is http://wfsgeoghegan12.weebly.com, and the password is prek2013.
Notes:
- Turkey Feathers are coming home today and should be decorated by your child, your children, or your family! Please send them back at your convenience sometime next week. Many thanks!
- Conferences will be held next week on Thursday afternoon and Friday. Please sign up if you haven’t done so.
- Please consider sending mittens instead of gloves; they are much easier for the children to put on independently. Thanks!
- Please send in warmer clothes for our ‘extra clothes bin’ and we will return shorts and t-shirt
- Thanksgiving Break begins at the end of the day on Tuesday November 20th. School resumes on Monday, November 26th.
We will focus on Owls
The letter of the week is ‘O’ with ‘O’ Show and Tell on Thursday or Friday
Specials:
Monday: Gathering and Spanish
Tuesday: Library, Music, and PE
Wednesday: Music
Thursday: Meeting for Worship and Spanish
Friday: Conferences
Have a wonderful weekend,
Sue and Sarah
Pre-K News!
November 2nd, 2012
Dear Parents,
This will be a short letter to go with a short week! The excitement of hurricanes, power losses, Trick or Treating, and Halloween Parades had us hanging on to our hats this week! Despite the obstacles, we had a fun three days together. Singing songs, making ghosts and "Boo!" signs for the classroom, telling language dictations about growing pumpkins, making calendar pictures, sharing letter 'U' Show and Tells (including Logan's uvula), counting ghosts, and making a scary Halloween bulletin board rounded out our week together!
Of course the highlight was Wednesday's Halloween Parade and Party. Thank you very much for coming, it was wonderful to have you here!! Thank you also for the delicious treats and drinks. Please enjoy the pictures on the website, and have a relaxing and fun weekend.
Happy Halloween!
Sue and Sarah
This will be a short letter to go with a short week! The excitement of hurricanes, power losses, Trick or Treating, and Halloween Parades had us hanging on to our hats this week! Despite the obstacles, we had a fun three days together. Singing songs, making ghosts and "Boo!" signs for the classroom, telling language dictations about growing pumpkins, making calendar pictures, sharing letter 'U' Show and Tells (including Logan's uvula), counting ghosts, and making a scary Halloween bulletin board rounded out our week together!
Of course the highlight was Wednesday's Halloween Parade and Party. Thank you very much for coming, it was wonderful to have you here!! Thank you also for the delicious treats and drinks. Please enjoy the pictures on the website, and have a relaxing and fun weekend.
Happy Halloween!
Sue and Sarah
Next week:The letter is 'C' (and finishing 'U' activities)
Picture retake day is Wednesday (please send in photo package) Library visit is Tuesday We will enjoy a Pre-k/ELC Fall Festival on Friday. We will visit each other's classrooms for fall activities. Specials: Monday - Gathering and Music Tuesday - Library and Spanish Wednesday - Art and PE Thursday - Meeting for Worship and Science Friday - PE, Art |