The Leaves are Falling!

Fall is here! In our morning meeting this week we read several fall books including: The Colors of Fall, Why Leaves Change Color, and Fall is Here! We discussed the new fall environmental changes we will see outside.    

Circle time

We had our first Monkey of the Week, Henry, present his all about me poster. He had pictures of his family, his favorite foods, movies, and activities which he shared with the class.  When Henry finished telling us about his poster, each of the kiddos asked him a question about his favorite things. The kiddos found out they had many things in common with each other!  Also, we met our new zoo phonics friends Dee Dee Deer and Ellie Elephant.  

Centers

In the language arts center, the children used dot stamp markers to find letters on fall leaves. The children continue to learn at their own pace. For some students, we worked on letter sounds, and others worked on letter recognition with both uppercase and lowercase letters. In our math center, we had trees with numbers on them.  The students had to use their tools to count the apples and put the corresponding number on the apple trees. In our fine motor center, we had a variety of fall play dough mats.  The students added faces to scarecrows, made pumpkins, and filled the basket with colored apples. They enjoyed being creative in this center!

                      

Small groups

In our reading groups, we matched fall leaves with uppercase and lowercase letters.  ‘What happens in the Fall' was the question we asked the PK kids in journals this week. We have some very imaginative storytellers, and along with leaves falling and jumping in the leaves, we also had stories about superheroes in the fall. In our art center, we used our upper bodies to paint fall trees. Our arms and fingers were used to make the trunk and branches. Using pom poms, we painted yellow, red, and orange leaves. These works of art are displayed on the bulletin board outside the classroom. Our independent center this week was the big blocks. 

Special events

We had two birthday celebrations this week, Simon and Saul! Mrs. Coffeen and Mrs. Petty-Adams had the opportunity to come in and read to the class. 

Next week

We have a busy week ahead of us! We will welcome a new student, Sage, to our class on Monday and are excited to have her join us.  Also, our Monkey of the Week will be Austin.  I know he is busy preparing his poster to share with the kids. We will continue our Fall unit and go on a leaf scavenger hunt with the JK kiddos. We will use our senses to explore some of Fall’s environmental changes.