Week of 11-12-12

We had a great week learning about the letter C!   All of the children are doing a great job at letter recognition and letter sounds. I am seeing HUGE progress!   Letter and sound recognition are essential skills that are required when learning how to read.  It is very important!  We usually spend about 15 minutes each day reviewing the letters and sounds.   We do this many different ways.  Sometimes, we sing and dance.   Other times, we might trace sandpaper letters or write on the wipe-off boards.   The goal is to keep them excited and highly engaged!    

Alex loves to read in the loft!  Up, up, up he goes! 

The class favorite..."Chicka Chicka Boom Boom."

Here is Luc reading in our loft. This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago.   We have since added carpet, 2 beanbags, 4 pillows and a small rocking chair inside our loft!  It is super cozy.   We are so thankful for it!

After our morning lesson, we work on fine motor skills.   We might practice writing on tablet paper, use scissors, play with play-doh, use stamps and markers, count small objects,  or do a fun craft!  Today, we used our fingers to make colorful fall leaves.  The children loved this activity!  We talked a lot about how the leaves turn colors in the fall. 

After working on our fine motor skills, we move on to center time.  Each center is placed on a shelf after I have given them instructions on how to use the center.   The centers will change about every 2 weeks.   This is one part of our program that really excites me!  I love to see the children applying what we have done earlier in the day.   During this time, I will monitor the centers or pull individual students for some one-on-one instruction time.  

Abbie has chosen the Diego center.   She will practice writing the letter of the week.   She also chose to trace the letter. 

What a FUN activity!   C is for CUPCAKE!  We mixed up shaving cream, Elmer's glue, and food coloring and created puffy icing!  It looked good enough to eat!  The children loved putting the "icing" on their Cuh-Cuh-CUPCAKE! We even added candles to match our age on the top of our cupcakes.    Yes, even Mrs. Weathers made a cupcake.   The children laughed when I told them I needed 34 candles!   That was a lot of counting!

Way to go Luc!   You wrote the entire alphabet!   Good job!

Week 3 wrap up.

This week was AWESOME!!!    The children are learning so much.   They are like little sponges...just soaking up everything we do!   I love this age!!   This week we focused on the letter T.   We did lots of turkey activities!  We also read the story Yellowbelly and Plum.   They loved this story about friendship and making new friends at school.   On Wednesday, I gave them their own copy of the book and they followed along while the CD read the story to them!  By Thursday, some children were reading some of the words in the story on their own!    Awesome!    The above picture shows the song/chant we did this week.   We had a very exciting day on Tuesday.   We found out that one of our friends can read!   Luc read the whole chart to us and then went on to read several other charts to us!  We were all very surprised and excited!!!   All of the children were screaming, "Luc, we are SO proud of you!  You are a rockstar reader!!!"   Luc was just beaming....and Mrs. Weathers was crying...happy tears of course!  

Layna is painting her T-T-T- Turkey!

Following along while the CD reads our story

We practice writing everyday!   This week, we practiced the letter A, B and T

Alex is working on his turkey!

On Thursday, we worked on our fine motor skills.   Play-Doh is a great way to strengthen them!  We also used our number stamps to cut out numbers.  

Here we are saying our Five Little Turkey Poem.   You better watch out!  We will chase the last turkey standing!!  Gobble Gobble!

Next week, we will focus on the letter C and continue to play games and review letters A, B, and T.    This weekend, spend some time talking about the letter C.    I bet you could even play I-Spy while in the car and find the letter C on street signs!   The letter C is everywhere!   The letter C says "cuh".   This sound is typically a little difficult for most young children.   They tend to say that the letter C says "suh".   We will work on this letter and sound up until Thanksgiving.   Don't forget...no school on Monday!  

Weekend Yard Sales!

I woke up Saturday and decided to try a few local yard sales. I haven't been to a yard sale in years!! Oh boy, just look what I've been missing!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! The class donations have purchased the following items for our room. I think I was super thrifty and got the most for our money! We are still in need of several things and I will continue posting our wish list items on the blog. Thank you for the parent who is giving our class the tweezers and also for the surprise items I found on my desk!!! Wow!!!!


Also: If you would like to comment on the blog, you can!! Just click on Add a comment at the end of each post. I have enjoyed reading the comments already posted!

Below are my goodies from today's yard sales.
GRAND TOTAL: $74