Monday, April 11, 2016

Happy Monday from Mrs. Mudd's class!

Two reminders...

12:00 Dismissal this Wednesday, 4/13 for teacher in-service meetings.   We will not be eating lunch at school this day.  However, we will have morning snack, so please remember to pack a snack for your child! (If you registered your child to attend half day care in the afternoon, they will need a sack lunch with a drink and a snack with a drink. I will send his/her nap bag with him/her for rest time.)

Zion’s Annual Dinner Auction…This year’s event is this Friday, April 15, 2016 from 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm. All are invited to a fun evening at Old Hickory Golf Club to raise funds for our school.  Hope to see many of you there!

On to our day...

Even though it was gloomy and rainy outside this morning, we were smiles and sunshine in the classroom today!

Now that our symphony had it's final show of the "season", we were excited to find the puppet show has returned for a short time!  Puppet play is a great way of enabling children to act out feelings and emotions in a comfortable setting!

 We were also excited to see something new in the sensory table...BUBBLE WRAP!  Our friends just thought it was fun to pop the bubbles and make a loud noise!  But, they didn't know that while having all that fun, they were also strengthening the finger and hand muscles used for writing!

And...another new item in the classroom!  A simple egg carton with 2 dice in it!  Shake, shake, shake the carton and open it up (improving small motor control).  Then state or count the numbers of dots on the 2 dice.  Close it up...and shake, shake, shake it again!  Our friends enjoyed working on his/her own, or working with a friend (one shaker and one counter)!

 Now that we have the hang of it, we are very much enjoying listening/reading books on CD! We are learning the proper way to read a book:  front to back, and left to right.  We are beginning to understand that letters make words, and words make a story. We are also improving our listening skills...we have to wait for the special sound that tells us when to turn the page! If a friend is waiting for a turn, he/she places his/her nametag on the table showing who is next!

Ben took a bit of a rest after using 2D triangles to make a 3D pyramid!  Great job Ben!

GO CARDS!!! 

I think that sums it up for this baseball season ;o)

Large motor time in the commons found us using bean bags to play catch or to practice our balancing skills...

Now that our music project is over and we packed up the symphony, the class is voting on what to put in our dramatic play area next...a pet store or a campground?  Once the vote is complete (hopefully tomorrow) we will begin setting up the new area as a class.  And...this will also determine the direction of the final project of the school year!

In place of small groups (centers) we LOVED the field trip from the Botanical Gardens.  

Miss Tonya brought many different plants with her and we explored those plants while using our 5 senses (except we did learn that we do NOT taste these plants!)  Here she is asking us about the 5 senses and teaching us a fun song to help us remember all of them.

Here is the song...try it at home with your child (sing to the tune of "Where is thumbkin")...

 We then split into 5 groups to explore 5 different plants using touch, smell, seeing, and hearing (the plants didn't make much noise, but we did have to listen for directions!)

 Finally, we got to plant some seeds of our very own.  Each friend filled his/her pot with soil and then took a pinch of basil seeds and sprinkled them in his/her pot.  With help from a teacher we placed them in a plastic bag (with directions on how to care for them at home) and sealed them up!  Each friend gets to take his/her plant home today to watch it GROW!!! (Each friend is also bringing home a coloring journal that he/she worked on. Be sure to check out the back, there is a coupon for your next visit to the Botanical Gardens!)

We dropped off our plants in the classroom and headed to the gym to get our bodies moving!  We took a bit of time to run as fast as our little bodies could...

Then...we worked on our throwing and catching skills!

During Jesus Time today we learned about all the wonderful things that happened on Easter morning.  But, the very best was the Good News that...One, Two, Three, Four, Five! Jesus is alive!!!