Week of October 18-22

 

 In the fine motor center the children had some fun with some ghosts that fell in the mud!  They got them all clean using tweezers and picking up cotton balls and dipping them in white paint.  Not only did they have fun but they were strengthening their hands which will help their writing skills.

In circle time, I shared a fun poem with the JK kids about 8 giggling ghosts and the fun they had on Halloween Night!

 In the Language Arts Center, the groups worked on matching pictures and consonant-vowel-consonant (cvc) words.  As always the lessons were differentiated to fit each individual's needs.  Some of the children worked on beginning sounds, others ending sounds, and some worked on the short vowel "a" sound.  Each group also shared a story titled, A Cat. This story showed predictable text,where the children were able to look at the pictures to tell what was happening in the story.  The children picked out sight words, and sounded simple cvc words out.  Every used their "reading" fingers (index) to track the words from left to right and follow a story in a guided reading group. These little books were sent home with your child for reading fun at home.

In the math center, the JK kids worked on measuring a variety of objects using unifix cubes.  They were careful to measure at the start of each object and put together unifix cubes to the other side of the object.  They compared a variety of objects like blocks, animals, apples, and pumpkins.  They counted, "how many" cubes it takes to measure each object.

 In the Art center, everyone marble painted a spider web to go with their spiders hanging in the classroom.

In the Independent center, the JK students listened to a book about bats on tape or listened to stories on the Leap Pads. 

During circle time this week, the students also heard a story about the little green worm looking for a red home with no windows, no doors, and a star in the middle.  Ask your JK son or daughter what kind of home the worm found.

In small groups the children worked on a apple counting booklet, putting "apples" in bushel on each page.  Each student worked on their own level and at their own pace for this project, some adding numbers together, some counting numbers 1-10, and others working on creating numbers 11-20.  Also, the JK kids made apple prints with the core of an apple and they stamped different fall sponge shapes in tempera paint.  Their beautiful creations are hanging in the classroom.  Putting on their scientific hats,the JK kids compared a variety of apples.  They explored size, texture, and weight.  They sorted heaviest to lightest.  They compared shades of colors and described how each apple smelled too. 

A Few Apple Descriptive Words
heavy'
light
smooth
sweet
red
yellow and green
hard
squishy in places



Way up high in an apple tree.

Ten little apples smiled at me.

I shook that tree as hard as I could,

One apple fell and mmmm, it was good!

How many are left?


 The children seem to be enjoying the latest song they learned during circle time.  They worked on subtracting different numbers from 10 in this song and are learning mathematical language like, how many are left. 

 The class tasted three apples, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, and Golden Delicious and voted on which apple they liked best.  Golden Delicious was the big winner!

 To round out the study of apples in the Fall, the JK kids made applesauce.  First they peeled apples, sliced them, added cinnamon, sugar, and water to a crock pot and cooked it for three hours.   They helped stir and mush the apples in the crock pot to make it more mushy like the store bought kind. 

      

After the applesauce cooked all Friday morning, most of them tried it.  I asked each snack table if they liked the homemade applesauce...some thumbs up and some thumbs down! Either way, they did a great job cooking and following directions.

The Applesauce Recipe

About 10 apples - wash, peel, core, and cut into small chunks

Add 1/2 c. of sugar

Add cinnamon to taste (I like a lot)

Put mixture in the crock pot. 

Add 1 c. water

Cook for 3-4 hours stirring occasionally

Smash the apples as they soften

Let cool and Enjoy!

We had a special guest in the room on Friday, my son, Niko.  He was thrilled to be a "teacher assistant" and he helped hand out stickers and read a Scooby Doo story to the JK kids.  He also participated in reading buddy time and stamping with the apple cores and fall sponges.  

 

JK enjoyed another great Friday morning with the 7th grade reading buddies.  We are loving having one on one time with our Roycemore friends.

Recess Fun

We took the trikes out on Wednesday.  Everyone did a great job taking turns. 

  We needed a "fixin' station" to take care of the "flat tires" on the trikes... great imagination!

Many of the JK kids enjoyed watching a few of the Upper School students play basketball... I think the big kids liked having fans on the sidelines cheering them on.