Due to the very cold and the possibility of snow on Thursday, January 31, school will be canceled again. We will reschedule Bring a Grown-up to School for another day. That information will be sent home as soon as we get back to school.
I will send out an email on Thursday or Friday, depending on the weather, about snack days. The February calendar has already been printed up, so it's too late to change anything. Thank you for your patience as we get back into the swing of things. Keep warm and safe!
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Monday, January 28, 2019
No school Tuesday Jan. 29 and Wednesday, Jan. 30.
Due to the cold weather, Bettendorf has canceled school for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Group Meeting: For Method Monday, the children were given a few ideas of things to try at the art table with aluminum foil. Some children chose to use this instead of paper at the easel.
Small Groups: The activities for this week are listed below along with the schedule for today.
Activity #1 (Red Group) The children helped me fill in the missing rhyming words to sentences that I had written. Then they matched rhyming word picture cards.
Activity #2 (Yellow Group) The children used Perler beads to make shapes. Perler beads are the little beads that stick together. Usually, you have to iron them, but we have some that stick together when they are wet. The children assembled a shape with a template and sprayed water on them to make them stick.
Activity #3 (Green Group) The children listened to the story The Way I Feel by Janan Cain and answered questions. This is part of the Read It Again program.
Story: The story for today was The Signmaker's Assistant by Tedd Arnold. Norman is an assistant to the town sign maker. One day, he notices that the towns people do whatever the signs tell them to do. So, he has an idea. He makes new signs such as "school is closed" and "swimming allowed in the town fountain". Now there is chaos. The people start ignoring all signs. How will Norman fix the problem? Ask your child to tell you.
Large Group: The children played "Throw a Bean Bag to Your Partner". In this game, the children have to wait until they hear the words "one, two, three" before they can throw the bean bag to their partner.
Letter Learning: We didn't do a new letter today. Hopefully, we will all be back to school tomorrow.
Snacks: The snack for the afternoon was Ritz crackers and juice. It was brought by Avani and Jeremiah because our snack person, Brayden, was sick today. Thank you!
Please watch the news stations for school closings. If there is a late start, we will not have morning class. I will post news on the blog as soon as I hear anything!
Small Groups: The activities for this week are listed below along with the schedule for today.
Activity #1 (Red Group) The children helped me fill in the missing rhyming words to sentences that I had written. Then they matched rhyming word picture cards.
Activity #2 (Yellow Group) The children used Perler beads to make shapes. Perler beads are the little beads that stick together. Usually, you have to iron them, but we have some that stick together when they are wet. The children assembled a shape with a template and sprayed water on them to make them stick.
Activity #3 (Green Group) The children listened to the story The Way I Feel by Janan Cain and answered questions. This is part of the Read It Again program.
Story: The story for today was The Signmaker's Assistant by Tedd Arnold. Norman is an assistant to the town sign maker. One day, he notices that the towns people do whatever the signs tell them to do. So, he has an idea. He makes new signs such as "school is closed" and "swimming allowed in the town fountain". Now there is chaos. The people start ignoring all signs. How will Norman fix the problem? Ask your child to tell you.
Large Group: The children played "Throw a Bean Bag to Your Partner". In this game, the children have to wait until they hear the words "one, two, three" before they can throw the bean bag to their partner.
Letter Learning: We didn't do a new letter today. Hopefully, we will all be back to school tomorrow.
Snacks: The snack for the afternoon was Ritz crackers and juice. It was brought by Avani and Jeremiah because our snack person, Brayden, was sick today. Thank you!
Please watch the news stations for school closings. If there is a late start, we will not have morning class. I will post news on the blog as soon as I hear anything!
No AM class today!
Bettendorf Schools has announced a late start for today. Therefore, we will not have morning class, but WILL have afternoon class.
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Group Meeting: Today we tried to catch up a little with the day(s) that we missed. What makes it more difficult is when one class has school, but the other does not. So, here is a mix of what we did Tuesday morning and today.
Small Groups: The children broke into groups to write stories. The teacher for each group had cards with character suggestions, setting suggestions, and problem suggestions. The children helped pick who the story should be about, where the story took place, the problem that occured and how it was solved. I will print up the stories and send them home next week.
Story: The story for today was The Little Penguin by A.J. Woods. This story follows a penguin as it hatches and grows into an adult. Ask your child to tell you how the penguin changes as it grows.
Large Group: The Let's Find Out Magazine this week was about penguins. We watched a video of Emperor penguins.
Letter Learning: The only letter that we completed this week was Ww.
Snacks: The morning class had cheese sticks, pretzels, and juice brought by Abby. The afternoon class had crackers and juice brought by Anaya, and pancakes and juice brought by Avani. Thank you, Abby, Anaya, and Avani!
Hopefully, we will get back on schedule next week. The children brought home a reminder note today for Bring a Grown-up to School day which is scheduled for next Thursday.
Small Groups: The children broke into groups to write stories. The teacher for each group had cards with character suggestions, setting suggestions, and problem suggestions. The children helped pick who the story should be about, where the story took place, the problem that occured and how it was solved. I will print up the stories and send them home next week.
Story: The story for today was The Little Penguin by A.J. Woods. This story follows a penguin as it hatches and grows into an adult. Ask your child to tell you how the penguin changes as it grows.
Large Group: The Let's Find Out Magazine this week was about penguins. We watched a video of Emperor penguins.
Letter Learning: The only letter that we completed this week was Ww.
Snacks: The morning class had cheese sticks, pretzels, and juice brought by Abby. The afternoon class had crackers and juice brought by Anaya, and pancakes and juice brought by Avani. Thank you, Abby, Anaya, and Avani!
Hopefully, we will get back on schedule next week. The children brought home a reminder note today for Bring a Grown-up to School day which is scheduled for next Thursday.
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Thursday, January 17, 2019
Group Meeting: Today was Birthday Day. Our cooking project was pizza, so we decided to do the "All I Eat is Pizza" dance with Koo Koo Kangaro.
Small Groups: The children got into groups to make individual pizzas. The children were given an English Muffin for the crust. They could choose sauce, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese. After they were assembled, we put them in the oven until snack time.
Story: Our story for today was Hi, Pizza Man! by Virginia Walter. Vivian is waiting for the pizza delivery man. While she waits, she and her mom pretend that the pizza is being delivered by a cat, dog, duck, snack, etc. Ask your child to name another animal that might deliver the pizza.
Large Group: The Yellow Group brought items for Show and Tell.
Letter Learning: The letter for today was Vv.
Snacks: The children enjoyed the pizza and Birthday Brownies!
Just a reminder...we do not have school on Monday. It is Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
Small Groups: The children got into groups to make individual pizzas. The children were given an English Muffin for the crust. They could choose sauce, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese. After they were assembled, we put them in the oven until snack time.
Story: Our story for today was Hi, Pizza Man! by Virginia Walter. Vivian is waiting for the pizza delivery man. While she waits, she and her mom pretend that the pizza is being delivered by a cat, dog, duck, snack, etc. Ask your child to name another animal that might deliver the pizza.
Large Group: The Yellow Group brought items for Show and Tell.
Letter Learning: The letter for today was Vv.
Snacks: The children enjoyed the pizza and Birthday Brownies!
Just a reminder...we do not have school on Monday. It is Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Group Meeting: For Where is it Wednesday, I hid pictures of road signs around the room. The children had to find one, bring it back to the rug and find someone that had a sign that was the same shape as the one they had found.
Small Groups: The activities for this week are listed in Monday's post. The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group
Story: The book for today was a non-fiction book, Signs of All Kinds by Erin Seagraves and Heather Baker. This book had lots of pictures of signs categorized by colors, shapes, and purpose.
Large Group: The children went on a sign hunt. I posted pictures of eight signs around the room. I gave them a paper that had the same signs, only their signs were not colored. They were instructed to find the signs in the room and use crayons to color them the same color as the ones on the wall.
Letter Learning: The letter for today was Uu.
Snacks: The morning snack was yogurt, blueberries and juice brought by Noah. The afternoon snack was a trail mix of sunflower seeds, Cheerios, raisins, and M&Ms and juice brought by Zenie. Thank you, Noah and Zenie!
Small Groups: The activities for this week are listed in Monday's post. The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group
Story: The book for today was a non-fiction book, Signs of All Kinds by Erin Seagraves and Heather Baker. This book had lots of pictures of signs categorized by colors, shapes, and purpose.
Large Group: The children went on a sign hunt. I posted pictures of eight signs around the room. I gave them a paper that had the same signs, only their signs were not colored. They were instructed to find the signs in the room and use crayons to color them the same color as the ones on the wall.
Letter Learning: The letter for today was Uu.
Snacks: The morning snack was yogurt, blueberries and juice brought by Noah. The afternoon snack was a trail mix of sunflower seeds, Cheerios, raisins, and M&Ms and juice brought by Zenie. Thank you, Noah and Zenie!
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Group Meeting: For Toy Tuesday, I showed the children how to play Jenga. The blocks had been donated to the class, and the children were using them as building blocks. While they work well for building, I thought they might like to try the game.
Small Groups: The activities for this week are listed in yesterdays post. The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group
Story: The story for today was Go! Go! Go! Stop! by Charise Mericle Harper. One day Little Green rolls into town and says his first word: "Go!" The town is building a bridge, and now everyone has a job to do, from dump truck to forklift. Little Green helps them do their jobs with gusto. Until . . . there is a little too much gusto. They can go, go, go . . . but how will they stop? Ask your child to tell you what happens next.
Large Group: The children watched a video about road signs. Following the video, we made a list of all of the colors we saw on the signs. Then we made a list of all of the pictures that we saw on the signs. Finally, we noticed that most of the signs had letters and words on them.
Letter Learning: The letter for today was Tt.
Snacks: The morning snack was bagels, cream cheese, and milk brought by Monroe. The afternoon snack was rainbow carrots, apples, plantain chips, peanut butter, and milk brought by Willie. Thank you, Monroe and Willie!
Small Groups: The activities for this week are listed in yesterdays post. The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group
Story: The story for today was Go! Go! Go! Stop! by Charise Mericle Harper. One day Little Green rolls into town and says his first word: "Go!" The town is building a bridge, and now everyone has a job to do, from dump truck to forklift. Little Green helps them do their jobs with gusto. Until . . . there is a little too much gusto. They can go, go, go . . . but how will they stop? Ask your child to tell you what happens next.
Large Group: The children watched a video about road signs. Following the video, we made a list of all of the colors we saw on the signs. Then we made a list of all of the pictures that we saw on the signs. Finally, we noticed that most of the signs had letters and words on them.
Letter Learning: The letter for today was Tt.
Snacks: The morning snack was bagels, cream cheese, and milk brought by Monroe. The afternoon snack was rainbow carrots, apples, plantain chips, peanut butter, and milk brought by Willie. Thank you, Monroe and Willie!
Monday, January 14, 2019
Signs
Group Meeting: We are investigating a topic for a new study. The children will be learning about signs. If the interest continues, we will make this a study for the next few weeks.
Small Groups: The activities for this week are listed below as well as the schedule for today.
Activity #1 The children rolled play dough into ropes. They used the ropes to make numerals using cards from the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.
Activity #2 The children sorted a collection of signs into two categories; street signs and food signs.
Activity #3 The children discovered rhyming words in the book that was read last week, The Mitten.
Story: The story for today was Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match by Monica Brown. Marisol likes to wear clothes that don't match. She likes to eat peanut butter and jelly burritos. She would like to play soccer, but the other children don't want to be pirate soccer players. Marisol likes to do things differently. After hearing comments from the other children, Marisol decides to try to match. Ask your child to tell you if she decides to keep matching or if she decides to return to doing her own thing.
Large Group: The children looked at a variety of signs that I had printed on cards. They made a list of things that they noticed about the signs such as;
Snacks: The morning class had French Toast sticks and milk brought by Meier. The afternoon snack was carrots, ranch dip, and milk brought by Stella. Thank you, Meier and Stella!
Small Groups: The activities for this week are listed below as well as the schedule for today.
Activity #1 The children rolled play dough into ropes. They used the ropes to make numerals using cards from the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.
Activity #2 The children sorted a collection of signs into two categories; street signs and food signs.
Activity #3 The children discovered rhyming words in the book that was read last week, The Mitten.
Story: The story for today was Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match by Monica Brown. Marisol likes to wear clothes that don't match. She likes to eat peanut butter and jelly burritos. She would like to play soccer, but the other children don't want to be pirate soccer players. Marisol likes to do things differently. After hearing comments from the other children, Marisol decides to try to match. Ask your child to tell you if she decides to keep matching or if she decides to return to doing her own thing.
Large Group: The children looked at a variety of signs that I had printed on cards. They made a list of things that they noticed about the signs such as;
- some signs have letters
- some signs have pictures
- signs are different shapes
- signs are different colors
Snacks: The morning class had French Toast sticks and milk brought by Meier. The afternoon snack was carrots, ranch dip, and milk brought by Stella. Thank you, Meier and Stella!
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Small Groups: The children watched a video about snow that went along with our Let's Find Out magazine. They cut the magazine pages and assembled the pages to make a book.
Story: The story for today was Sadie and the Snowman by Allen Morgan. During the first snow, Sadie makes a snowman. She uses cookies for the eyes, an apple for the nose, and a banana for the smile. Animals come along and eat the face pieces and the snow melts. But Sadie knows that she can build it again when it snows. Sadie builds several snowmen during the winter. When the last one melts, she does something with the water. Ask your child to tell you what she did.
Large Group: The children from the Red Group brought items for Show and Tell.
Letter Learning: The letter for today was Rr.
Snacks: The morning snack was grapes, Teddy Grahams and juice brought by Malia Y. The afternoon snack was cucumbers, cottage cheese, and juice brought by Siler. Thank you, Malia and Siler!
Next week, we will be starting a new study about signs. I will send home more information about this on Monday.
Story: The story for today was Sadie and the Snowman by Allen Morgan. During the first snow, Sadie makes a snowman. She uses cookies for the eyes, an apple for the nose, and a banana for the smile. Animals come along and eat the face pieces and the snow melts. But Sadie knows that she can build it again when it snows. Sadie builds several snowmen during the winter. When the last one melts, she does something with the water. Ask your child to tell you what she did.
Large Group: The children from the Red Group brought items for Show and Tell.
Letter Learning: The letter for today was Rr.
Snacks: The morning snack was grapes, Teddy Grahams and juice brought by Malia Y. The afternoon snack was cucumbers, cottage cheese, and juice brought by Siler. Thank you, Malia and Siler!
Next week, we will be starting a new study about signs. I will send home more information about this on Monday.
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Group Meeting: Today was Where is it Wednesday. To help us prepare for an activity that we would be doing later, the children were asked to find a toy in the classroom that was small. Next, they found large toys and finally, medium sized toys.
Small Groups: The activities for this week are listed in Mondays post. The schedule for today was:
Activity #1: Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity # 3 Yello Group
Story: The story for today was Snowballs by Lois Ehlert. This is the story of a family that has been collecting items to use to decorate snow people. When it finally snows, the family is ready to make a snow family.
Large Group: Following the story, the children created a paper snowman using white circles glued to blue paper. They have been instructed to decorate the snowman at home with their family. Instructions were sent home with the snowman.
Letter Learning: The letter for today was Qq.
Snacks: The snack for the morning class was yogurt, blueberries, raspberries, and milk brought by Malia S. The snack in the afternoon was Club crackers and juice brought by Nia. Thank you, Malia and Nia!
Small Groups: The activities for this week are listed in Mondays post. The schedule for today was:
Activity #1: Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity # 3 Yello Group
Story: The story for today was Snowballs by Lois Ehlert. This is the story of a family that has been collecting items to use to decorate snow people. When it finally snows, the family is ready to make a snow family.
Large Group: Following the story, the children created a paper snowman using white circles glued to blue paper. They have been instructed to decorate the snowman at home with their family. Instructions were sent home with the snowman.
Letter Learning: The letter for today was Qq.
Snacks: The snack for the morning class was yogurt, blueberries, raspberries, and milk brought by Malia S. The snack in the afternoon was Club crackers and juice brought by Nia. Thank you, Malia and Nia!
Tuesday, January 8, 2019
Group Meeting: For Toy Tuesday, I demonstrated a magnet kit that we have placed in the Discovery Table. The children can use the magnets to perform several experiments.
Small Groups: The activities for this week are posted in yesterdays blog. The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group
Story: The story for today was Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner. In this story, a boy builds a snowman. The next day, he notices that his snowman looks a little tired. He wonders what his snowman does at night to make himself look so droopy. He imagines that the snowmen gather in the park to skate, play baseball, and have a snowball fight.
Large Group: Following the story, the children thought of things that snowmen could do at night while children are sleeping. They used paper and crayons to illustrate their ideas. We gathered the drawings and will put them together to create our own book of Snowmen at Night.
Letter Learning: The letter for today was Pp.
Snacks: The morning snack was Nutrigrain bars and juice brought by Josie. The afternoon snack was Scooby Snack and juice brought by Landon. Thank you, Josie and Landon!
Small Groups: The activities for this week are posted in yesterdays blog. The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group
Story: The story for today was Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner. In this story, a boy builds a snowman. The next day, he notices that his snowman looks a little tired. He wonders what his snowman does at night to make himself look so droopy. He imagines that the snowmen gather in the park to skate, play baseball, and have a snowball fight.
Large Group: Following the story, the children thought of things that snowmen could do at night while children are sleeping. They used paper and crayons to illustrate their ideas. We gathered the drawings and will put them together to create our own book of Snowmen at Night.
Letter Learning: The letter for today was Pp.
Snacks: The morning snack was Nutrigrain bars and juice brought by Josie. The afternoon snack was Scooby Snack and juice brought by Landon. Thank you, Josie and Landon!
Monday, January 7, 2019
We're Back!
Group Meeting: It's good to be back at school. For the first few minutes of class, the children shared stories about what they did during their break.
I was hoping that when we got back to school that we would have a little snow. Even though we don't have any, we are going to do a few snow activities and pretend that we have snow.
Small Groups: The activities for this week are listed below as well as the schedule for today.
Activity #1 (Red Group) The children used beginning sounds to sort snowballs that had pictures printed on them. After they were sorted, they put them together to create snowmen.
Activity #2 (Yellow Group) The children measured snowman pictures using Unifix cubes. They recorded their answers with cut and glue numbers.
Activity #3 (Green Group) The children listened to the story The Mitten as told by Jan Brett and answered questions about the story. This is part of the Read It Again program.
Story: The story for today was The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. This is the story of a boy named Peter who wakes up one morning and discovers that it has snowed. He puts on his snow suit and explores the snow. At the end of the story, he puts a snowball in his pocket. Ask your child to tell you what happens to the snowball.
Large Group: The children had a pretend snowball fight using nerf balls and shower poofs. If you got hit by a snowball, you had to sit down until the last person remained.
Letter Learning: The letter for today was Oo.
Snacks: The morning class snack was grapes, cheese sticks, and juice brought by James. The afternoon snack was animal crackers and juice brought by Kinley. Thank you, James and Kinley!
I was hoping that when we got back to school that we would have a little snow. Even though we don't have any, we are going to do a few snow activities and pretend that we have snow.
Small Groups: The activities for this week are listed below as well as the schedule for today.
Activity #1 (Red Group) The children used beginning sounds to sort snowballs that had pictures printed on them. After they were sorted, they put them together to create snowmen.
Activity #2 (Yellow Group) The children measured snowman pictures using Unifix cubes. They recorded their answers with cut and glue numbers.
Activity #3 (Green Group) The children listened to the story The Mitten as told by Jan Brett and answered questions about the story. This is part of the Read It Again program.
Story: The story for today was The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. This is the story of a boy named Peter who wakes up one morning and discovers that it has snowed. He puts on his snow suit and explores the snow. At the end of the story, he puts a snowball in his pocket. Ask your child to tell you what happens to the snowball.
Large Group: The children had a pretend snowball fight using nerf balls and shower poofs. If you got hit by a snowball, you had to sit down until the last person remained.
Letter Learning: The letter for today was Oo.
Snacks: The morning class snack was grapes, cheese sticks, and juice brought by James. The afternoon snack was animal crackers and juice brought by Kinley. Thank you, James and Kinley!
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