Hi JK parents!

We were so lucky to have Myraa's mom Sumi come to share with us a wonderful story and video, along with snack, treat and art project about Diwali.  The children created fire works paintings using straws taped together and tempera paint.  We learned about the celebration and enjoyed seeing their pretty dresses and experiencing the customary treats!  The children loved it.  

Math & Science:
We practiced categorizing different items again by size, color, and even warm and cool colors with pom pons.

We played a counting game with Pete the Cat and wrote and ordered numbers, again working on the one to one correspondence.

Fine Motor:
The children created paintings beginning with pastels and finishing with water colors to produce "Starry Night" as we learned about the great artist Van Gogh.  They experimented with the different illuminations the starts show on the painting and how the town at the bottom of the page looks so dark but the stars shine so brightly!

We all completed Sunflower Observation Drawings looking at live sunflowers and recreating the image with colored pencils. The children were amazing capturing the images and even adding multiple vases to their drawings.

 Catching snowflakes on our tongue!

Literacy:
We talked about beginning and ending sounds in words and matched upper and lower case letters in our literacy center. We talked about curvy versus "stick" or straight letters.  We identified them and took turns writing them on the white board.

Some groups practiced their popcorn words, spelling them out and them jumping up to pop as we spelled each word.


We read Katie and the Sunflowers (along with many other art and painting books) and talked about how fun it would be if we could actually step inside a painting.  The little girl finds a treasure and gets to keep some of the gold

Social Emotional:
We talked about the approaching holiday and all we have to be thankful for.  We are truly all very fortunate to have such a wonderful experience this year.  We will be preparing for Grandparent's and Special Friend's Day next week.

Have a great weekend!  We are celebrating Lila's birthday at a trampoline park tonight.  She is now 10.  She was just four it seems a few days ago so I am trying to embrace her growing up but it's so hard!

Ms. Massey

Hi JK parents!

We have loved all of our Halloween festivities and learning about bats!

 This is my STEAM class I teach on Mondays with Ms. Taylor Pines.  I modify these activities to teach in JK, with differentiated instruction according to each child's needs and developmental level.

 Using manipulatives to count and play-so fun!  This game provided different groups of items to categorize as well!

 Clay is exceptional for fine motor muscle building.  The thickness and pliability along with it being such an open ended material means amazing creativity along with physical advantages!  I love using natural items for them to create art.  Bringing the outside inside is always fun!

Math & Science:
The children studied the skeletal system of bats ad then worked to recreate them using pastels and pipe cleaners to first draw and then glue the "bones" on a bat.

We played a counting game with leaves, squirrels and acorns and worked on the one-to-one ratio while using the manipulatives in the game.  Items are easier and less abstract when counting to give meaning to the numbers.  We also worked on writing those tricky teen numbers at the writing table with a number line for referral.

Language Arts:
We added new words for writing on the vertical white board to include words from home.  Labeling objects around your house is helpful to encourage literacy.  We are playing games to match the upper and lower case letters.  We are consistently reminding children during their sign in time to begin from the top of letters and using a dot as a point from which to start.  Encourage them as they are practicing their writing at home to always begin at the top of their letters.

Fine Motor:
The children made November calendars by glueing turkeys and feathers to their paper and then writing Thanksgiving, and things for which they are thankful.  They copied words or used inventive spelling as they used "stretchy snake" to pick out each sound in the words.  I was happy many of them wrote they are thankful for JK!  (It's also pretty easy to write!)  We painted on fall leaves we gathered using water colors, and made pictures using crayons and water color paints.

Social/Emotional:
We talked about different feelings and role played scenarios in the classroom, providing them with Bugs and Wishes and other words to use when struggling with tough situations.  We began playing "Yes Please, No Thank You" game as we pass around different traditional Thanksgiving food photos on plates and ask each child if they would like some, to which they answer either "yes, please" or "no, thank you".  It's great practice for table manners and developing the habit of always following yes or no with a please or thank you!

We are finishing our bats theme and moving onto Van Gogh next week!

Have a lovely weekend!

Ms. Massey

Hi JK parents!

What an amazing Halloween party and carnival!  Thank you for the goodies you brought and for celebrating at the carnival with us!

 French class!!

 Pin the nose on the pumpkin!

 Searching for the hidden spiders in the shaving cream!  

We are finishing up our farm theme this week and moving into Bats and Halloween.

Math:
We played a barn dice number game where we rolled dice and stamped numbers, and then practiced writing and tracing numbers.

 This is one more photo from the grove and our friend the Corn snake!

Hole punches and staplers are amazing for building those small muscles in the hand and improving fine motor skills.  

This was a game of "duck, duck, goose!" the children organized themselves on the playground!  This is such a big step as they are forming friendships and able to communicate their own ideas to each other, playing by the rules of a game.

 Journal pages and illustrating and writing about our hay ride at The Grove!  

Literacy/Science:
We completed a chart as a class about what we know about bats, what we want to learn, and then what we learned (KWL Chart).  Charting is extremely beneficial in early childhood as children are able to see results of their ideas and see they are being heard and their answers and input matter.  KWL Charts, Venn Diagrams, Tally Mark Charts, T Charts...these will all be a part of our classroom through the year.  The children talked about how bats are scary and bite people, so we read many books about the helpfulness of bats and how beneficial they are to controlling many insect populations.  We also learned that bats are not birds but are mammals and how they use echolocation to find their food and way around at night.  We read a story, Songbird,  about a baby bat and how he/they are very different from birds.

We talked about letters versus words and learned about finger spaces when writing words.  Please encourage them to write at home, even if they are pretend writing!

The children completed journal pages about our trip to the Grove Pumpkin Lane and practiced their inventive spelling as they sounded out words like "hayride" and "pumpkin".  They also dictated their stories as we wrote them.

Math:
We sorted many items by size and color along with working on our patterns through beats and music.  Our rhythm sticks are entertaining but help us count syllables too!

Fine Motor:
The children used sponges to paint bats.  The tiny sponges provide a great way to grasp with their fingers working on the fine muscle strength.  We are also using staplers, hole punchers and shape punchers to work on our fine muscles in our hands.  I love putting out raw supplies and giving the children a theme and then watching as they design amazing projects!  We also made name skeletons and added bones and bows!  We are talking about our skeletal system and how the bones in our hands are similar to a bats skeleton.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ms. Massey