We had a fun first full week back at school. The weather cooperated with us this week and the kids enjoyed playing outside building snowman and running around! Here are a few pictures of the outside adventures:

Morning Meeting

This week we focused on the stories The Mitten and The Hat by Jan Brett. We worked on sequencing and recognizing the characters in the stories. The kids enjoyed sharing their predictions as they followed along with the story. 

Centers

In the language art center we worked on retelling the story of the mitten. The kiddos colored the animals from the story and used them to retell with their friends. In math, we used felt mittens and snowflakes to practice counting. Also, I stretched their learning by practicing addition and subtraction. The children used plastic tweezers to pick up and count snowballs (pom poms) and make a picture for the fine motor center. 

Small groups

In reading groups, they got their own mitten books. The children searched for specific letters, popcorn words, and colored their favorite animals. It was fun to see them get so excited when they found the letter or word. They are getting more confident in their abilities and are picking up things so quickly! In art we made a mitten collage using colorful tissue paper. These mittens can be seen on the windows in the classroom. In journals, the children picked their favorite animal from the story, The Mitten. This week we really focused on our pictures by discussing what shapes you see in the animals, adding faces and seeing how well the children could use these skills in their drawings. 

Next week

We will continue with the winter activity backpacks next week. I have heard good things thus far. Also, we will jump into our polar bear unit! 

Monday we will not have school for Martin Luther King Day. On Tuesday we will welcome a JST student, Christina to help in the classroom.