Little Scientists

This week our Pre-K students became scientists!    After reading our story of the week, "I Love Tamales", we decided we wanted to mimic the activities demonstrated in our book.    I took out the balance scale and we got busy!  As you can see from the pictures, the students LOVED using the  balance scale to see what items weighed more and less.   We discovered that water is very heavy!   I loved hearing all the "oohs" and "ahs" during our science activities this week.   We worked together in a group and used our "noggins" to make observations.   Towards the end of the week, we also used magnifying glasses.   My plan was to take the children outside for some "discovery" time, but Mother Nature had other plans.   We improvised and went on a letter discovery hunt in our classroom.   The children discovered all kinds of letters that have been hiding from us!  Can you believe those tricky letters?    Don't worry, we found them all!    

Next week, all of our activities will focus around our literature story for the week, "The Mitten" by Jan Brett.    Many of our activities will focus on sequencing.  I also plan to have the children practice re-telling the story.   Maybe we will use our I-pads and record our re-tellings?   The kids love to be movie stars!   It will be a fun week of learning!

 New Pre-K standards that we covered this past week are: 

                                                   
- Sort and classify objects as solids or liquids 


-Use a variety of scientific tools to investigate, explore, and compare objects in the classroom and schoolyard 

-Begin to understand the concept of currency as a means of exchange


Have a great week! 
Mrs. Weathers

Caden, Abbie, Alex and Jacob watch the balance...

Caden adds the water....

The water is heavy!  We had to add lots of keys to make it balance!  Way to go R.J.!

In our story, the boy measured his hands using connecting cubes.

So...we decided to do the same thing!  Layna's hand is 5 connecting cubes long!

Alex is placing star stickers on our letter of the week.  This is a great activity to strengthen fine motor skills. 

We also learned about money this week.   A penny is worth one cent.  Abraham Lincoln is the man that we see on the penny.  Some of the children brought in pennies and we looked closely at them. 

Alex is enjoying a book. 

Abbie is on a letter scavenger hunt!

Week of February 4th

This week we concentrated on the letter O. We auditioned for the talent show on Tuesday morning in the gym. The children were super cute. I am so excited to share it with you. On Thursday, we were told that the list was posted displaying all the students who made the cut. We were all so nervous and as I read the list to them , the excitement built! When I said, "Pre-K", the children squealed! Don't forget to mark your calendar to attend the Kitty Stone Talent Show. It will be February 19th at 7pm. Enjoy the photos from the week.

Week of January 28th

This week was all about the letter F!   We did all kinds of fun activities that helped us learn the letter F and the F sound.    I am thinking about doing 2 letters each week from now on because the children are doing an amazing job and learning so very quickly.    But the news that excites me the most is that we are going to start blending all these sounds in the next few weeks!   I am sure you know what that means!   It means you are about to have some little readers!   I can hardly wait! 

On Thursday, we took our very first field trip to the Jacksonville Public Library.   Can I brag??   ( I have eye witnesses to verify this information)   My sweet little Pre-K students were the best kids at the library!  They were the ONLY children who remained on their bottom and listened to the story.  They also raised their hands and asked good questions. They knew all the letters in the book that the librarian was reading!  She was very impressed.   I even had several people ask me what preschool we represented.    I was beaming!!!  ( I still am!)     

I hope you enjoy the pictures from this week.  See you next week! 

Click  READ MORE  to see our pictures. 

January 21-24

What a FUN week we had in Pre-K! 

This week we reviewed letters A, B, C, D, T, S, M, and P.    During our morning circle time, we enjoyed our new favorite song, "Who Let the Letters Out."   The children love singing the letter sounds and acting them out.   Nearly all of the children can now name all of the letters and are about 80% accurate on naming letters sounds!    I am so very proud of them.     We also sang a new song called, "I Spy Shapes".  During this song, the children walk around the room and find all kinds of shapes.   I have been quite surprised at the shapes they have found.  To be perfectly honest, I have never noticed that our chairs have triangles on them!   I love to see them thinking "outside the box"! 

We also spent some time this week practicing for the Kitty Stone Talent Show.   We will be singing, "I've Been Working On The Railroad".    The children are excited about performing.   

Last but not least, we had a SNOW day on Thursday.    It was a surprise activity to wrap up the book that I chose to read this week.   Each morning, we read "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats.   We loved reading about Peter and his snow adventures.     After last week's promise of "real" snow that never happened, I decided to bring the snow to us!      We combined corn starch and shaving cream in a big bucket.    It was definitely a sensory experience!   I must confess, I may have had the most fun! Pre-K is SO much fun!   We made snowballs and little bitty snowmen.    We used our imaginations and had a blast!   I hope you enjoy the pictures and the video (its on the post after this post).

Next week, will be focusing on letter F.   I am very excited about our Fireman craft that we will do on Tuesday.     Don't forget, we have a field trip to the Jacksonville Public Library scheduled for Thursday, January 31st.   The preschool storytime will be "Alphabet Adventures".   I may be partial, but I can just about guarantee that I will have the smartest preschoolers there!   

Love, 

Mrs. Weathers    

Please click the READ MORE link below to see pictures from the week. 

SNOW DAY

January 14-17, 2013

This week we focused on the letter P! The children are getting into a good habit of listening to beginning sounds in words. Many times, out of the blue, a student will run up to me and say for example: "puh-puh pencil!" or "puh puh pizza!". They are becoming much more aware that letter sounds are in ALL of our words!   This really excites me!  

We spent extra time this week working on handwriting. It is very difficult for little hands to hold a pencil. They are learning and making progress. I have an assortment of pencils. Some children use typical pencils and some children use fat pencils. Please work with your child at home. They need lots of practice.

Enjoy pictures from this week.

Next week we will be reading, "The Snowy Day". I have a fun "snowy" surprise in store for my sweet little ones!
Mrs. Weathers

Alex is painting the letter P!

Jacob is sorting the buttons

RJ is gluing popcorn on the letter P

We had a popcorn snack afterwards!

We had a first grader come and read to us!

Making letters out of Play-Doh

Luc is matching the letters