Week Twenty-Nine: Excited for Easter!

Theme: Easter Eggs

Letter: E
Letter E makes two sounds. We practiced those. We learned the sign for E. We met Ellie the Elephant who brought her friend, Elizabeth Elephant to play a game with us. Elizabeth was very hungry and could only eat "E"-nuts. We each took a turn to choose a nut from an egg. If it was an "E"-nut, we could feed Elizabeth.

Science:

1. I showed the kiddos some real eggs. One was brown and one was green. I asked them what the egg on the inside would look like. We cracked them open and learned that all eggs look the same on the inside even if they are different on the outside. I asked them if they think people are like eggs--different on the outside, but the same on the inside...
2. We have 5 new friends at school (caterpillars). We will watch them to see what happens!
   

Books:

• Max's Easter Surprise by Rosemary Wells
  
• Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham
  

Show & Tell:
Elephant:
Emerson:
Egg Shapes:
Easter friends:
Envelopes:

Snacks:

• Wheat Thins
• Blood Oranges, Cheese, & Crackers
• Popcorn Mix with Craisins, M & M's, & Easter Marshmallows
• Fruit Roll-Ups & Goldfish Crackers
• E.L. Fudge Cookies & Jelly Beans
• E.L. Fudge Cookies & Malted Eggs
• Laffy Taffy
• Cheese & Crackers

Music & Movement:

• Hi, My Name is O
• Green Eggs & Ham
• I'm An Easter Bunny
• Do Your Ears Hang Low
• Elephant Parade
• 10 Exercises

Game: Hop Little Rabbit

We all sat in a circle while one child walked around patting our heads while we recited a poem:

Hop, little rabbit, hop, hop, hop,
Hop, little rabbit, don't you stop.
Hop, little rabbit, one, two, three.
Hop, little rabbit, count with me

The child who was tapped as the poem finished stood in the center and jumped while we clapped and counted how many times he/she could jump in a row.

Art: Easter Egg & Bunny Salt Dough Ornaments

We had fun rolling out the dough and cutting out the shapes. We enjoyed painting and using colored glitter glue to decorate them.

Reading: Some of our word wall words included: Eagle, Elephant, Egg, Exit, End

Writing: Practiced making E--Straight Line down, one, two, three for E. And "e"--make a "c" and then draw a line across to make the "e"

Birthday Fun X Three:

Week Twenty-Eight--Whoo-Whoo?

Theme: Nocturnal Critters
We learned two new words: Nocturnal & Diurnal
Each child took a turn choosing an animal and then placed it on the Diurnal or Nocturnal Chart.

Letter: O
Letter "O" makes two sounds. We had fun practicing the sounds and writing "O". We learned the sign for "O" and we used our body to make "O". We thought about what "O" shapes are on our bodies. I'd been thinking "eyes", the kids surprised me by showing me their belly buttons :)
Some also said that our heads are "O" shaped, while others thought our heads are more rectangular. Great Observations!!!

Show & Tell:
Obi
Octopus:
Owls:
Orange things:
Owen:
Oreos:

Snacks:

• Crackers, Cheese, Craisins, & Bananas
• Oranges & Oreos
• Nighttime Critters: Owls & Spiders
• Peanut Butter Cookies & Grapes
• Rice Krispy Treats
• Oranges, Popcorn, & Marshmallows
• Orange Jell-O "O's" & Oreos

Art:

• Oval Octopi
• Circle Crazy Owls

Reading: Our word wall words this week include: octopus, ostrich, oatmeal, oval, on, & orange
Writing: Practiced "O". The AM class was given a writing prompt, "Owl, what do you see?" After a great discussion about what an owl might see at night, they filled in the blank.
Books:

• Oliver & the Monsters by Tony Blundell
• Owl, What Do You See?
• Owen by Kevin Henkes
• Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
  

Music & Movement:

• Hi, My Name is O
• Octopus Swimming in the Sea
• Five Little Owls

Birthday Fun: We celebrated 2 birthdays this week! Lots of Spring Chicks!

Week Twenty-Seven: What Would You Do With A Pot Of Gold?

Theme: Shamrocks & Leprechauns
We had a fun Happy St. Patrick's Day Party! A tricky Leprechaun visited our classroom making a mess and hiding Leprechaun gold for us to find. We found the gold and gave it to Miss Jodi and then she read us a letter that the Leprechaun had left. We found his missing hat on top of a "pot of gold" filled with golden candy & chocolate coins.

Choosing Time: Leprechaun Concentration Game, Fruit Loop Necklace with a Lucky Shamrock Charm, Pot of Gold Game, Shamrock Face Painting, & Outside Play with Colored Bubbles, Chalk, Bikes, & Wagon Rides

Show & Tell:

Snacks:

• Green Shamrock Jello Jigglers
• Carrot Slices & Carrot Muffins
• Cheetos & Corn Pops
• Cheetos, Clementines, & Brownies
• Graham Crackers & Fruit Leather
• "Grandpa" (Cranberry Raspberry) Juice & Graham Crackers
  
• Green Grapes & Green Laffy Taffy

Music & Movement:

• I'm A Little Leprechaun
• 5 Little Shamrocks
• Leprechaun, Leprechaun

Art:

• Leprechaun Tracing & Watercolor
• Leprechaun Finger Puppets

Science: We searched for Clover to collect and make into a Lucky Charm

Math: We practiced recognizing the Numbers (1-5) with the amount by counting pennies

Writing/Reading: Our focus sentence was, "If I had a pot of gold..." Some of the kiddos responses were really touching. One child said, "If I found a pot of gold I'd give it to the robbers, so then they wouldn't have to steal." All of the children wanted to give the gold away or at least share half of it with poor people and their parents :)

Books:

• Jaime O'Rourke and the Big Potato by Tomie dePaola
• Skyfire by Frank Asch : This book generated a great discussion on what we each might consider as a "pot of gold." For example, I suggested a big pot of golden sand so I could build sandcastles all day. Some of the other ideas included: a pot of golden chocolate, candy, video games, Cheetos,....
• Do You Know a Leprechaun?
• Cinderella's Rat by Susan Meddaugh