Thursday, February 2, 2017

Welcome back after our unusual "sick" day yesterday....hopefully the germs are disappearing and more students will be back soon!

One quick reminder...

Valentines to give to friends…prior to our class valentine parties, each child will be making a valentine bag, at school.  Please have your child prepare 19 valentines at home (1 for each child in the class) and bring them on 2/14 or 2/15.  Below are a few tips when completing valentines:

• In my experience, filling out valentines can take a bit of time, completing only a few per day.
• Please write "Friend" or "My Friend" in the "To" line (or leave it blank), and then he/she can sign his/her name in the "From" line.  
• Including a small item (sticker, pencil, tattoo, etc) along with the valentine is okay, but not required.  Please, NO CANDY, due to possible allergies.
• If you attend on Tuesday and Wednesday, you do not need to bring valentines for each day.  The bags will be out both days, so you can bring your 19 in on either day

And...on to our day...

I accidentally left the magnatiles in the container this morning.  When I noticed, I asked some friends if they could get them out for me!  Look at what they created as they took them out a few at a time!!!  

Jack loves to paint, especially when it is whatever he chooses to paint!

Mrs. Helmkamp visited one more time...we LOVED getting to use REAL computers to create our very own weather reports!!!

Check them out and tell your kiddo what you think!

While others were enjoying free choice time, each friend began his/her day with a special check-in!  Each child completed his/her "February My Name" for his/her portfolio.  Each friend was given the choice to write only first name or first and last!  So far, all but one has decided to go with first name only (I'm sure to get back to free choice activities!) While each friend wrote his/her name I took special note of :

pencil grip

right or left hand

copied name or wrote from memory

did he/she know the letters in own name

We noticed our pie graph for January was filled in...this time with 5 colors.  Cloudy had the most while snowy, windy, and rainy all had the same or equal with 1 day each!  We also compared December to January.  Our friends decided that January had more cloudy days and less sunny days than December.  We can't wait to see what February weather brings us!  Understanding more, less, and the same is an early math skill.

Wiggle worms arrived with penguins and lowercase letters!  If a wiggle worm was picked...well, you know...let's wiggle!!! (And, it's still hard to stop when Mrs. Mudd says freeze.  Good practice in self regulation)

 If a penguin was picked...give the letter name and the letter sound (early literacy skills).

We enjoyed chapel in the commons today led by Pastor Rouland!

Pastor wanted to tell us all about the part of the Lord's Prayer that talks about giving us this day our daily bread.  He noticed a lunch bag waiting for him when he arrived in the commons, with a note!  The note told us there were items in the bag to help us understand what daily bread means. It is more than just food!  A picture of bread reminded us that God gives us food to eat everyday. A picture of family to remind us that God also gives us family, so much more than food. A picture of a cross reminded us that God gives us Jesus, our Savior, to take away our sins!

 Joshua returned the favorite book bag today, bringing in "Don't Push the Button!" to share with us!  We loved hearing from Joshua about his favorite part of the book, and seeing his drawings.  We then enjoyed hearing the story as Mrs. Mudd read it to the class.

This activity is one way to encourage the love of reading.  Also, this activity allows the children (and teacher) to be introduced to new books!  Furthermore, it helps to continue to build home and school connections!

In the midst of all the "ickies" around school, the nurses sent us a nice video about germs and proper hand washing!

Today we introduced the letter "B" and number "6"!  

We remembered start your letter "at the top" then big line down, little curve, little curve to write a "B" and little line down, little curve, around to write a "6"! Then we came up with words that start with "B" and found "6's" around the room!

Anytime one of our friends thinks of a word that starts with "B" we can add it to our big letter.  Or, if at home, your child sees a small picture or item that starts with an "B", bring it in and he/she can glue it to our big letter!

Then we practiced writing "B" and "6" with crayons (nice and short to reinforce proper grip)!

And...we have been waiting for so long...our new playground is READY (as of Tuesday)!!!

We took a quick guided tour and were given directions on how to use the new playground for those not here Tuesday...  

And...then time to try it all out...we LOVE it!

Oops...I forgot a picture but...as it nears even closer to Valentine's day, we discussed places that we love and wrote it on a big pink heart!

 With Mrs. Mudd we created our 3rd quarter self portraits (with mirrors in case we needed a closer look).  We remembered there are many parts to our bodies, more than just a head, eyes, nose, and mouth!  Not only does this improve writing/drawing skills it helps create a greater awareness of self!

Hearts, hearts everywhere!  Each friend would pick a card, count the number of hearts on the card, then using the finger, wrist, and hand muscles place that number of clothespins on the card! The ability to count objects accurately and understand one to one correspondence are early math skills!

SHHHHH!!! Center number 3 is a secret...you might find out our secret on February 14th!