The children were excited to start their week partnering with their reading buddies.  The sixth graders were great leaders interacting and reading with the PK kiddos. 

This week we focused on the lifecycle of a pumpkin and other fun fall activities.  Take a look!

Centers

Reading- Pumpkin books with the repetitive phrase, I see a..  One group learned the popcorn (sight) words ‘I’ and ‘see’ and other children went on a letter hunt finding the letter S and counting how many letters they could find. 

Math- The children counted and I introduced simple addition with candy corn. 

Art- The kiddos colored and sequenced pictures in the pumpkin lifecycle.  Next, they shared their pictures with a friend to check for understanding. 

Also, after reading the story, Leaf Man by Lois Elhert, we went on a leaf hunt outside to collect leaves for our pictures and the children used their creativity to make a butterfly, elephant, spider, and leaf man!  They shared their pictures in front of the class and they did an excellent job waiting their turns and listening to friends!

Presenting their pictures!

Fine motor- Fall play dough mats

Also, the kiddos painted their October self-portrait and these are displayed on the bulletin board.

Next week reminders

School Pictures- Order forms with money turned in to me this week. You have the option of ordering online as well.  Picture retakes will be on Thursday, October 29. 

Sign up online at www.pictureday.com/retake

Spooky science on Thursday, October 29

Fall Centers Party- Friday, October 30

*Food items due this week

*Children will bring costumes to school and will have time to change!

Carnival- Friday, October 30

The PK children had a fantastic week jumping into the Pumpkin Unit. 

Here is a look at the week!            

At morning meeting we introduced the Star of the Week, Etta!  She was excited to share her all about me poster with her classmates and had a story behind every picture.  The kiddos then took turns asking questions about her favorite things. We will be continuing with Star of the Week so each child has a chance to be celebrated.

Also, we welcomed a new friend to the class! The children were great at making Ella feel welcomed and invited her to play. 

Centers

Reading- In one groups the children matched letters on the close pin to the pumpkins and leaves. 

We read book #2 in the Bob series.  They learned the sight word ‘on’ . We will continue working on blending as a skill. 

Fishing for leaves- Children said the letter and sound.  Many of the kiddos refereed back to their zoo phonics friends they knew! Glad to see they are making connections.    

Math- Counting games with pumpkin manipulatives. 

Art- The children mixed shaving cream, orange paint, and glue to make a gooey mixture to create a pumpkin.  Next, they cut shapes out of construction paper to make a Jack-O-Lantern face!  These were fun to make and the kids enjoyed getting their hands messy. 

Also, they painted mini pumpkins and added eyes and a silly face.  The pumpkins are displayed on the cubbies.

Journal- The prompt was, ‘Pumpkins are..’ There were quite a variety of answers to this. 

Fine motor- The kiddos rolled play dough on fall play dough mats to make different shapes.  They added leaves to the trees, made faces for the Jack-O-lanterns, and faces for different scarecrows. 

Music-Used ribbons to keep the beat of the music and dance along to the songs!

Reminders for upcoming events J

Fall Party- Friday, October 30^th

Please make sure to sign up for a food item to bring in

Reading buddies on Monday!

Book fair orders and Scholastic book forms

Next week’s theme- Lifecycle of a pumpkin

This week we began our fall unit and here is a look at our activities!

Centers

Reading- For one group the children began the Bob reading series and met the new characters Mat and Sam.  We are learning to use our reading finger when tracking the letters and words.  Also, we continued our Zoo Phonics for letter and sound recognition.

Math- We counted apples using one to one correspondence and used acorns to begin simple addition.  

Fine motor- The children made fall leafs using red, yellow, brown and orange tissue paper to resemble a stained glass collage.  

Journals- The prompt was, ‘What do you see in the fall?’ The children discussed jumping in the leaves and going on a leaf hunt based off of our book we read at morning meeting. 

Art- The kiddos painted with a variety of materials to create their fall trees.  

The independent activities this week included a build a scarecrow dice game and fall play dough mats.

                                                                           Upcoming events

On Monday, we will be welcoming a new friend to our class! 

Also, we will be meeting with our reading buddies!

This week we finished our Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Unit! The kiddos loved looking at the pictures in the story and retelling it to a friend in their own words.    

Centers

In Language arts- Bingo –not only is it a fun way to learn and reinforce letter sounds it teaches the kiddos how to play a game and take turns! 

Reading groups- This week one group focused on letter identification and sounds with lowercase letter stamp markers.  Another group did a hands on activity where the goal was to identify beginning sounds and blend sounds. Next week we will begin our Bob reading series where the kiddos will get their own books. We will begin learning concepts of print (reading left to right, how to turn pages, and using our reading finger to track the words on the page).  The kiddos will meet the characters Mat and Sam. 

Art- Many kiddos were eager to get messy this week with finger painting.  They used a variety of materials such as stamps, paints, rollers and pom poms to create a painting.  These pictures are displayed in the classroom! 

Fine motor- Beading and lacing cards

Math- The children rolled out play dough in different shapes and played with counting mats. 

Journals- What does being a good friend at recess/playground look like?

 Music

Next week

We will start our Fall unit!

On Monday, we will have an author visit from Kate Hannigan. She will read her story to the kiddos and share what being an author entails. 

Also, I will be sending home a fall activity backpack.  There is literacy and math activity as well as a journal page to complete at home.  This backpack is designed to be a fun way for you and your child to work together at home.  Please email me if you would prefer a specific day this week. The backpack is to be completed and returned the next day to school!