Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Newsletter 2/25/15

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
March 2nd - Picture Retake Day
March 6th - End of 3rd Quarter; 12 noon dismissal
March 9th - 13th - Spring Break; No classes

THIS WEEK’S LITERACY EXPERIENCES
Morning Books
"Mrs. Wishy Washy" by Joy Cowley
"Shh! We Have a Plan" by Chris Haughton
"Leonardo the Terrible Monster" by Mo Willems

Afternoon Books
"Do Cows Meow?" by Salina Yoon

PLANNING & RECALL
This week we use paper towel rolls as telescopes to look around the room for the items, areas, or people we'd like to play with during Work Time. 

BIBLE LESSON
This week we hear how Jesus performed another miracle. After Jesus was finished preaching and teaching to some of his disciples and a large crowd of people, he told a fisherman named Peter to take his boat out into the lake to fish. Peter told Jesus that he had just been out fishing the previous night and hadn't caught a single fish. But because Jesus told him to go out again, he did what he asked. As soon as Peter and the men who were with him, including James and John, threw the net into the water, it filled with fish. In fact, the nets were so full of fish they began to tear. After they hauled the fish into the boat, the boat began to sink. Peter and the others knew that this miraculous catch of fish could only come from the one who has all power - Jesus. Jesus then told Peter that he would no longer spend his life catching fish, but he would now be a fisher of men - meaning he would start preaching and teaching about God as a disciple and follower of Jesus.
Bible verse: Romans 10:17a "Faith comes from hearing the message."
Bible song: "How Deep the Father's Love for Us"

MUSIC 
This week in music we are working on a mixture of things. We'll be pulling out some of our old songs and finger plays such as "A Hunting We Will Go" and "Slippery Fish". We will also be working on a few new songs that have to do with color such as "The Color Song" and "What Color Are You Wearing". We may even pull out the bells and review how to play "Jesus Loves Me".

MOVEMENT
This week we take a break from some of the skills we've been learning in Movement Time, such as tossing, catching, imitating animals, balancing etc. and focus more on following directions, team building, and social relationships. We've learned two games this week, and the children have really enjoyed learning and playing them. The first one is "Duck, Duck, Goose". The children love cheering each other on and laughing as they get chased around the circle. The second game we've learned this week is called "What's the Time, Mr. Wolf?" One person is the wolf and stands at one end of the room. The rest of the people are "animals" that stand at the opposite side of the room and ask, "What's the time, Mr. Wolf?" Mr. Wolf gives us a number and that's how many steps we take toward him or her. When we get very close to the wolf, then he/she usually says "Dinner time!" and we all try to run away without being caught. The children have loved playing this game!

SMALL GROUP TIME
This week during Small Group Time, we’re focusing on the Key Developmental Indicators (KDI): Shapes . At first, very young children are not able to consistently differentiate one shape from another, such as triangles or rectangles. Somewhat later, children do form general categories for shapes, but they relate them to their own experiences rather than to identifiable or distinctive properties. For example, they say a figure is a rectangle "because it looks like a door" or something is a circle "because it's like a clock". To encourage children's development in shape recognition we practice tracing and naming 2D shapes,we categorize shapes into piles using items found in our classroom, we create shapes using popsicle sticks, and we play a game called "'Cat and Mouse" using shapes on Friday.

Playing in the water table

We loved the water beads!

He was a pet turtle

The proud owners of the pet turtle.

Our visit with an Alaska State Trooper



Lining up to take our picture with the trooper.

Manipulating play dough into letter shapes.

Working on a "C" for my name.

Lots of letters to choose from!



Building a road.

Super warriors! Look at all those weapons in my mask.

It's always the season to play with our Christmas nativity set.

Playing so well together!

Building some kind of a structure.

She was content playing "vet" all by herself for
quite a lengthy period of time.

Checking that puppy's eyes.

Listening to his heartbeat.

CHEESE!

Now a group of girls have gathered at the vet's office.

Hanging out with Miss W. and a snake.

Building tracks for their cars.

Working so hard on their block structures.

My finished tower!

Tracing shapes and making pictures out of them.





Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Newsletter 2/18/15

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
February 18th - Visit from an Alaska State Trooper; 10:30AM
February 21st - Pho Feed and Basket Auction; 5:30PM

THIS WEEK’S LITERACY EXPERIENCES
Morning Books
"Ernest the Moose Who Doesn't Fit" by Catherine Rayner
"Hug Machine" by Scott Campbell
"My Teacher is a Monster" by Peter Brown

Afternoon Books
"Franklin Plants a Tree" by Paulette Bourgeois

PLANNING & RECALL
This week we brought numbers and counting into planning time. Children were each given a slip of paper with a number on it and then we rolled a die. Whoever had the slip of paper with the same number as the number we rolled on the die had the chance to share with the group their work time plans.

BIBLE LESSON
In this week's Bible lesson we hear about the first miracle Jesus performed. Jesus, his mother Mary, and his disciples were gathered at a wedding celebration in Cana when the people ran out of wine to drink. After Mary sought out Jesus to help, Jesus instructed some servants to fill some jars with water. After doing so, he told them to dip a cup in those jars of water and take them to the master of the house to try. When the master tasted the water, it was no longer water, but wine! Jesus used his almighty power as God to change that water into wine. This miracle, and all the miracles that Jesus would go on to do, show that Jesus is truly God. It also shows Jesus' love because he provided for that wedding celebration in their time of need. Jesus showed his love best when he died on the cross to take away our sins.
Bible verse: Galatians 4:4 "When the time had fully come, God sent his Son."
Bible song: "Shine, Jesus, Shine!"

MUSIC 
This week in music there will be a major focus on listening skills. To help improve these skills, we will be playing a version of musical chairs but it will be more like musical cards. Children will dance to music. Then when the music stops they find one of the cards that have been placed on the carpet and tell what shape or show what emotion is on that card. We will also be learning two new songs. One is a crazy, fun song about shark attacks and the other one is about airplanes.

MOVEMENT
This week we focus on different animal movements during movement time. We open with a song called "Bunny Jump" where we hope like bunnies, wiggle like fish and kick our hooves like horses. We then move our bodies as we attempt different animal challenges such as bending over, dragging our arms and thumping our chest like a gorilla, walking on all fours like bears and dogs. We then pretend we're a hurt puppy that has a thorn in its paw as we walk around on 3 "feet". Our last animal challenge is a crab as our tummies face the ceiling and we shuffle forwards, backwards, and sideways on our hands and feet. 

SMALL GROUP TIME
This week during Small Group Time, we’re focusing on the Key Developmental Indicators (KDI): Alphabetic Knowledge. On Tuesday we used magnifying glasses to go on a letter hunt around the classroom. On Wednesday we skipped small group time because it was the day we had a visit from one of the Alaska State Troopers who came to talk about what it's like to be a trooper. On Thursday we created letters using play dough, and on Friday we used plastic spoons to nest a lower case letter with its upper case letter. We have also enjoyed supplementing these activities with alphabet puzzles.

This little boy loves spiders!

Waiting for the dog musher.

The "Mushing Mortician" and his dog, Thor.





 


Monday, February 9, 2015

Newsletter 2/10/15

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
February 11th - Dog musher visits school; 10:30AM
February 12,13,16 - No Preschool; Teacher's Conference and President's Day
February 18th - Visit from an Alaska State Trooper; 10:30AM

THIS WEEK’S LITERACY EXPERIENCES
Morning Books
"Mostly Monsterly" by Tammi Sauer
"Have You Seen My New Blue Socks?" by Eve Bunting
"The Odd Egg" by Emily Gravett

Afternoon Books
"How Do Dinosaurs Eat their Food?" by Jane Yolen

PLANNING & RECALL
This week we use telephones to call each other and share our plans for Work Time.

BIBLE LESSON
God chose a man named John to tell the good news about who Jesus was and to prepare the people for Jesus' coming ministry on earth. He told people that they had sinned and that Jesus was the promised Savior who would come to take away that sin. As people repented of their sin, John baptized them in the Jordan River. 
One day, Jesus himself came to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. John was surprised by this and didn't want to baptize Jesus because he knew Jesus had never sinned. Even though Jesus didn't need to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, his baptism was a part of the work he had to fulfill to save sinners from their sins. So John baptized Jesus in the river and as soon as he had been baptized, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit came down in the form of dove to rest on Jesus. Then God the Father spoke from heaven saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." Jesus was ready to do his important work of saving people from their sins.
Bible verse: Galatians 4:4 "When the time had fully come, God sent his Son."
Bible song: "Shine, Jesus, Shine!"

MUSIC 
We are using this short school week to finish our initial work with handbells. 

MOVEMENT
This week is a short week and on Wednesday we won't be doing all of our rotations of Music and Movement because we are having a visit from a dog musher. So we use the two days of Movement this week to review some of the skills we have learned with the bean bags over the past month and dance to some of our favorite movement songs such as "Tippy Toes", "We're Going On A Bear Hunt", and "Hula Mula". 

SMALL GROUP TIME
This week during Small Group Time, we’re focusing on the Key Developmental Indicators (KDI): Filling and Emptying. This KDI helps children begin to think about the concept of space and how different items take up different amounts of space. On Monday we fill up two toilet paper rolls of different sizes with a variety of objects. We can empty the tubes by either pulling out the items with tweezers, or pouring out the items by lifting the tube. On Tuesday we fill and empty water bottles using funnels and cups and eye droppers. On Wednesday we use spoons and scoops to fill different cups with beans.

Taking the animals and babies on the airplane.



Valentine's Day crafts




Making cupid kabobs






 
 


Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Newsletter 2/4/15

Important Dates to Remember:
February 11th - Dog musher visits school; 10:30AM
February 12,13,16 - No Preschool; Teacher's Conference and President's Day
February 18th - Visit from an Alaska State Trooper; 10:30AM

THIS WEEK’S LITERACY EXPERIENCES
Morning Books
"That is Not a Good Idea" by Mo Willems
"Oh No, George!" by Chris Haughton
"The Cow Loves Cookies" by Karma Wilson

Afternoon Books
"I'm Mighty" by Kate McMullen

PLANNING & RECALL
For most of the children, planning time is now such a routine part of the day. Many of them have "favorite" plans, which can repeat from day to day, but they also enjoy thinking of new activities to do during Work Time. This week, children stick stickers on a note card with their name on it when it's their turn to plan.

BIBLE LESSON
An angel appeared to Joseph after King Herod died, letting him know that it was safe to return home. Mary, Joseph and Jesus made their home in the town of Nazareth. 
Every year, God's people would travel to Jersualem to celebrate the festival of The Passover. When Jesus was 12 years old, Mary and Joseph decided to take Jesus along. After a week of worshiping and praising God at the temple in Jerusalem, Mary and Joseph began the journey home to Nazareth. They thought Jesus was traveling with some of their family and friends, but by the end of the first day, they realized Jesus was not in the group. 
They returned to Jerusalem and searched for Jesus for three days. When they found him, he was in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Mary and Joseph were surprised to find him there and didn't understand what he meant when he told them, "Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?" Jesus then returned to Nazareth with his parents and was obedient to them.
Bible verse: Colossians 3:20 "Children obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord."
Bible song: "Children Obey Your Parents in the Lord" by Steve Green

MUSIC 
This week in Music we continue our work with learning how to read music using color coded sheets. Each child receives a handbell, and when Miss Zarnstorff points to the color on the page that matches the color of their bell, it's their turn to play. The children will be working on the song "Jesus Loves Me" for two more weeks. 

MOVEMENT
We've really enjoyed starting Movement Time this week with an action book entitled, "From Head to Toe" by Eric Carle. Children turn their heads like penguins, bend their necks like a giraffe, wriggle their bodies like a crocodile, arch their backs like cats, thump their chests like a gorilla and wiggle their toes like a parrot. We then practice our tossing skills as we toss a beanbag back and forth to a partner. We end with the song "The Beanbag" where we skip, walk, tiptoe, and turn around with the beanbag on our head. 

SMALL GROUP TIME
This week during Small Group Time, we’re focusing on the Key Developmental Indicators (KDI): Art as we work on some Valentine's Day related activities. On Monday we include some work with scissors and letters as we cut along a zig-zag line to create a puzzle out of the letters in our name. On Tuesday we glue hearts on a paper plate to make a wreath. On Wednesday children work with a variety of materials such as stickers, feathers and paper to make a heart collage. On Thursday we work on creating Valentine's Day cards and on Friday we make some "Cupid Kabobs" with blueberries, strawberries and orange slices.





I can see through these buttons!










The doctors helping our sick friend!

Today's hair dressing salon

Playing with snow in the water table.

It was so cold I needed my gloves!



I'm a shark!

Check out my ice cream tower!

A special note for my mom. Mom, he wanted me to make sure you  saw this!

The children were playing sleeping princesses and princes during Work Time.
It was quite the peaceful 15 minutes!

Feet up and comfortable!





Extreme builders

We have quite the talented builders in our class!







Our beautiful hallway decorations.