Mittens & Monsters?

Theme:  Letter M
To make an "M" you start at the "ground" and go "mountain up, mountain down, mountain up, mountain down."  It is fun to turn "M" upside down to make a "W".

Choosing time:  Marbles, Upper/Lower Case Matching Puzzles, Mitten Game, Letter "M" Memory, Magnets, Monster Elevator, Monster Fishing, Monster Eyeballs, Monkeys in Barrels

Snack:

• Pretzels & Scrabble Cheez-its
• Fruit Snacks
• Fruit Snacks, Ritz Crackers, Granola Bars
• M & M's & Popcorn
• Pirate Booty & Fruit Snack
• String Cheese & Graham Crackers
• Mini Muffins, Mandarin Oranges, & Marshmallows

Memorable Moments:

• "I get it, Miracle, M, M, M"
• I said, "This is a Marvelous snack."  A Cutie responded, "I know a Marvelous drink...Shirley Temples."

 Books:


We engaged in a lovely discussion about  what colors & designs we would want on our mittens.  Would we want them to be white and be hard to find in the snow?  Or, would we like them to be unique so that anyone seeing them would know who they belonged to. Then I asked them what they would put into a giant mitten and here are some of their responses:

• "Candy"
• "Myself"
• "A Kitty"
• "A Squirrel"
• "A Bear"
• Legos

 
 


Math:  We played a Graphing Game with a spinner and a graph with the animals from The Mitten.

Reading:  New word wall words include:  Me & My

Music & Movement:

• The Three Little Kittens (We love this one and that it includes "K, L, & M"
• Oh, What A Miracle
• Dancing Monsters
• Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
• Three Blind Mice

Art:

• Painted Mittens
• Messy Monsters 
• Create Your Own Monster

Games:

1.  Musical Mitten Alphabet
2. Alphabet Search & Find
3. Monster Bingo with M & M's

Lions, Legos, & Ladybugs

Theme:  Letter "L"
Leo the Lion came to school to teach us some things about letter "L/l".  We love "L" because it always makes the same sound.  Some of our "L" words we focused on were Lemon, Leaf, Ladybug, Lion, Love, & Lobster.  We practiced writing it.  We enjoyed listening to some words and then telling if the letter "L" was at the beginning, middle, or end of the word.

Choosing Time:  Legos, Little People, Lacing Cards, Ladybug Letter Game, ABC Letter Puzzles...

Game:  The Ladybug Board Game

Music & Movement:

• Making "L" shapes with our bodies
• Here We Go Loopy-Loo
• This Little Light of Mine
• Three Little Kittens

Science:

1. We learned some cool things about Light with the help from a Laser pointer pen. We saw that paper would stop the light from going to the designated spot on the wall.  The light did go through the plastic and we could see that it traveled in a line as some of the light showed up on the bag.  We saw the light travel through a glass of water and noticed that the water bent the light.  We also saw the laser light hit a mirror and then travel to a different place.
2. We learned about ladybugs:  what they eat & how they are helpful in gardens. 

Art:

• Plaster of Paris Lego Mini Figures
• Ladybug Hats

Cooking:  We made Letter "L" sugar cookies with lemon flavoring

Snacks:

• Cheese Sticks & Cupcakes
• Lemon Bars & Leche
• Fruit Snacks, Fish Crackers, & Cheese Sticks
• Popcorn, Apples, & Chocolate chips (We made ladybugs with the apples and choco chips)
• Letter "L" Sugar Cookies with Lemon Flavoring & Lemonade
• Apple Slices, Cheese Slices, Carrot Slices (We used them to make Letter "L"), & Veggie chips

Books:
 
I enjoyed some delightful discussions about what kind of ladybug you'd be...a friendly or a grouchy one.  I also enjoyed the kiddos responses when I asked, "What makes you grouchy?"

• "When my sister breaks my toys."
• "When my mom spanks me."
• "When no one will play with me."
• "When someone won't share the toys."
• "I'm never grouchy." :)
• "When I have to go to bed."
• "When someone says mean words to me."

We then had a wonderful discussion about how we feel when someone is friendly to us.
 

Birthdays:  Happy Birthday to Rocco & Julian!  Thank you for bringing yummy treats to share!

Writing:  We practiced writing our names the "school" way with the help from a Light box.

K is for Key

Theme:  Letter K
We met Kangaroo Kippy.  She showed us how to write upper and lower case "K/k".  We discussed how "C" & "K" like to try and trick us because they both use the same sound.  We also learned that they like to stick together in words such as "trick, stick, duck, luck..."  We had fun making "K" with our bodies and learning the "K" sign.

Choosing Time:  Kangaroo Coloring by the Number, Kangaroo Pouch Table Game, Letter K Stamping, Kangaroo Puzzle

Reading:  Kangaroo, King, Koala, Kite, Kiss, Key

Music & Movement:

• Kangaroo Hopping
• Karate Chopping
• Kicks:  Big, quick, ...
• Playing our Kazoos and marching around

Game:

•  I hid "K's" throughout the classroom.  The children put their "pouches" on and hopped around looking for "K's".  We loved this game!  And, all of them wanted to play it again.  I suggested that their parents could help them to make more "K's" and then could hide them for a fun activity to do together at home.
• Alphabet Find.  The children all found a space to stand next to a wall.  I threw out a bunch of ABC's and then called out One letter for the kids to find.  This was super fun!

Science:  We had several different keys hidden inside of our mystery can.  We learned by sight & touch some differences between them.  We talked about how every key has one purpose.  For example:  My house key won't start my car...

Imagination Creation:  After talking about real keys, I asked the children, "If you had a magic key, what would it open?"  Some of the amazing responses included:

• "I would open books.  Then, I could go see fairies or mermaids."
• "I would open a treasure chest.  It would have money, jewels, and lots of necklaces."
• "I would open a way to get to Disneyland."
• "My key wouldn't work." 

Art:

• Magic Keys (We are working on our cutting skills)
• Kisses' Notes
• Kangaroo Pouches

Snack:

• Blueberry & Poppy seed Muffins
• Granola Bars
• Orange Slices and Pretzel Sticks (We enjoyed making "K" with them)
• Popcorn, Clementines, Apples, Raisins
• Apples & Pretzel Sticks
• Gingerbread Cookies (that we decorated first)
• Go-Gurts & Special K crackers

Books:   Kangaroo, Kangaroo What is in your Pouch?, &
 

What is Winter?

Theme:  Winter
We had a wonderful discussion about what Winter is.  Some of the descriptive words the children used include, "ice, snow, sleigh, sledding, snowflakes, snowballs, snow angels, white, jacket, boots, coats, scarves, trees, Christmas,..."

Game:  As we sang a song we passed a mitten around the circle.  Each child took a turn to pull a letter out of the mitten and tell us its name and sound.

Choosing Time:  Play-dough, Trains, Dollhouse, Cars

Music & Movement:  We built an indoor snowman and did the activities that were on the back of his pieces.

• Once there was a Snowman
• Snow is Falling
• If All the Snowflakes Were Hamburgers & Milkshakes
• Pet Snowball
• 10 Jumping Snowmen
• A Chubby Little Snowman

Art:

• Q-tip Snowflakes
• Salt Dough Snowmen
• Paper Snowflakes (great scissor practice!) 

Science:  I had two clear plastic containers that I filled to the top with snow.  I asked the children which container would melt the fastest, the big or small one?  And, I asked them if they thought the melted water would fill the containers the same as the snow?


Snack:

• Marshmallow Snowmen
• Penguin Crackers & Bananas
• Ice Cream & Cookies
• Cupcakes
• Cookies, Raisins, Gummy Treats
• Apples, Oranges, & Fish Crackers
• Crackers & Fruit Snacks

Birthdays:  Happy Birthday to Kennedy, Seth, & Teo!!!
Thank you for sharing some yummy treats with us!

Books: