12/4 - New Friends!

Our song for December is sung to the tune of "Jingle Bells"

 We had some friends visit us this week in class!

 We taught them the rules and expectations of our preschool.

We had them sit "criss-cross applesauce" and gave them each a Good Deeds paper.  By giving opportunities to the students to teach someone (or in this case, something) else, I can easily assess their knowledge and understanding of the concepts.  It also motivates the students to hold themselves accountable for what they have taught.

We observed them while we read them a book and gave a lesson.

 We rewarded their behavior with lots of stickers and stamps . . . who knew stuffed animals behaved so well?

This week in math, we made our own patterns.

 I challenged each student to make a very complicated pattern!  

Good Job Ellie!

 We practiced sequencing and our fine motor skills.

 We also talked about recognizing beginning/initial sounds.

We used our sequencing skills and knowledge of the alphabet order to put together a huge floor puzzle.

 We may have done it more than once, and more than twice!

We also got our Big Books out and read words from 

the same word family (mat, rat, cat, fat, etc.)

We love reading!

11/27 - Nonsense words - Gremlin Language

 Our last week in November!

The song for November is the students favorite one so far!

This week, Montego's job was calendar.

He led the students in saying the date, and then singing our month song.

Kensington and Bailee were in charge of Good Deed Recognition.  They sat in front of the class and gave out stamps or stickers to students with exemplary behavior!

We continued talking about the letter Nn and highlighted sight words in our book of the week.

We had lots of practice on the white boards.

 We used the white boards to practice letters, numbers, shapes and patterns this week.

We worked on blending letter sounds and introduced the concept of "nonsense" words.

The children must use their knowledge of phonics and blending to read the nonsense word.

To give it a fun twist we call nonsense words "Gremlin Language"! After reading the nonsense words, we decide what it might mean to a gremlin.

11/20 Thanksgiving Feast

This week we had our Thanksgiving Feast!

We made bonnets for the pilgrim girls and hats for the pilgrim boys.

After reading the book, "The Very First Thanksgiving", and discussing what the first Thanksgiving may have really been like, we talked about what Thanksgiving is like with our own family.

Then, we had a preschool Thanksgiving, and oh what a feast we had!

 We also talked about the life of a pilgrim boy and girl. We talked about the "Book of Rules" they had, what their school was like, what discipline they experienced, what games they played, and what their home life was like.

Bailee volunteered to wear the sign "idle boy/girl" - a punishment given to a child who was found not completing their assigned work.

Ellie volunteered to wear the "Finger bite baby" sign - a punishment given to a child caught biting nails.

 We each took a turn in the corner, with a dunce hat on : )

 While discussing the school life of a pilgrim boy or girl, we learned about the Hornbook.

We used own hornbooks, by tracing letters with a feather.