Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Thanksgiving...

This week we focused on so many things! These minds are soaring. Not only did we learn about the Pilgrims, Native Americans, and the Mayflower...we learned about the true meaning of Thanksgiving and shared the things we were so thankful for.
We also spent a great deal of time on 1to 1 correspondence when we count (1 to 1 matching/pointing), scissor cutting, and proper technique when holding a pencil. I think you will see tons of growth over the next several weeks.

Practicing using the dotter to trace a Tt


Let's make a Mayflower...They followed directions and painted their own water! I know I am brave...but they are awesome!

Our hands are the ship..

We put on our poem with glue all by ourselves and the sails. This proud face says it all!
The finished product...Oh...so sweet!


My newest creation...the counting sheet. The most difficult part of this sheet is adding the dots to the domino. They want to stamp away! Such an easy and awesome thing to do at home! Give them a number and have them collect stickers or items from around the house. Just to make that connection with number sense.


1 to 1 correspondence! You can NEVER have enough practice. Reminding them to point and count slower is key!


Color by number! This was tricky! But I was impressed with the final product!

Awesome work girls! I sent home a blank one for you to work on over the holiday! I would love to see how they do!

Free time! Let's read!


This sweet boy chose floor puzzles!

Dramatic Play...Yes, Please!

She can't get much cuter than that! Dramtic play is such an important part of learning (believe it or not)! The power of play leads to imagination...creativity and so on!

They were cracking me up! So creative!

Playdough! I can't say it enough! So valuable for these little claws! Fine motor, fine motor, fine motor!!!

Hello Jan Brett! I can't wait to dig into this amazing author!

Let's roll!  We rolled our NEW dot cube...The counting was easy...the finding the matching number was a bit more challenging!

Hmmm...let's think about this!

Look at that 1 to 1! Awesome!

More counting!

Here we are making a picture by ordering numbers...Can we work together to figure it out!?!?


Why...Yes...I think we can!

Complete! Such smart friends!

Scissor practice. Sounds easy...but quite challenging for these sweet hands. We worked on proper technicque. How we hold scissors (where our fingers and thumb go) and cut in a straight line.

"Open...Close...Open...Close...REPEAT!"

Such hard workers!

Time to work on holding a pencil. Perfect form here! And all of this was only Monday! Wow...we were busy!

Day 2...Craft time!

We hope you like your magnets! A perfect way to show you we are so thankful for our families! And once again...I could go on and on, on how this was a great fine motor task with peeling stickers, using glue, and pressing them all down! But...you already know that!

More counting and more cutting.

10 stickers for our number 10...This again was challenging. The kiddos wanted to fill up their number 10...so I really had to press that we only want 10 stickers on our number 10.

Math book. The lego page had more than 10 legos...they only needed to color 10...tough concept.

Once again...working on that 1-1 matching/counting.

My goodness...Can you believe they are 3? Such a straight line! I am thankful for these kiddos!

Friday, November 22, 2013

Gobble...Gobble!

A jam packed 2 days full of crafts, learning, and fine motor skills!
We began our day with a "Shared Writing" piece for the Lafayette Townshhip Fire Department.

A perfect Thank you!

After we Thanked them we signed it with our handprints!

Our Turkey Craft!
There were so many interesting things hese kiddos were thankful for...Here are just a few:  family, Mexico, our hand, and banana cream pie!



The finished product
Tommy the Turkey needs 10 feathers. This was our daily independent activity.


Not only did we have to count out 10 feathers, we had to pick them up 1 by 1 and use the glue bottle to put them on! All so very challenging for these tiny fingers! Perfection!!!

Our "Tt" work
The hunt for both capitol T's and lowercase t's has proven much more challenging for the eyes!



One of our "hands-on"math counting activities this week.  The kiddos had to pick a number...identify it...and count out that many noodles! Great for 1-1 correspondence. As I had said before...their counting can get ahead of their fingers. This was a great time to work on that!

Next we did a "domino parking lot"

Each child had to pick a domino and out loud count the dots. It is important at this stage to have them work on their 1-1 correspondence...this will really build their number sense!
After the dots were counted they had to find the right spot to put it.


They loved this!
Stilts...so hard for these tiny feet! But great for balance and control!
Spin!


Balance!
Jump!


Bungee Pogo
Another Bungee Pogo...Stand and hop!


Professional Skateboarder here! Great for rocking, pivoting, and balancing...
Throw!



Loving our NEW Minds-in-Motion Activities! Thanks parents!!
Painting a Turkey

We really put ourselves into our work...literally! Good thing it is washable!





The most challenging part of this is the kiddos had to pick up their own google eyes and put them on.

Along with the beak! So not just a craft but a chance to really manipulate those tiny fingers and pieces!


Such the artisits in my classs!
Mr. Turkey...Mr. Turkey...




On day 2 of this poem I had the kiddos locate any letter "Tt" they could find. Once they found it they used highlighter tape to highlight it!

This activity helps them to begin to see that these letters form words. The start of reading.

Practicing making and tracing the letter T.
One of my favorite activities of the week. I had NO idea this would be so challenging.

The kiddos had to tear small pieces to cover up the T. This really forced their fingers to work quite hard.

If they do have trouble tearing...you can start the tear for them.


I was so impressed with their work!

This is an easy yet great actvitiy for you to do at home!
Our independent work for day 2...The Tt book.


They have come such a long way with working independently...I am so proud! They follow directions and rules! What a super week we have had! It just flew by with all of the neat things we were doing! The growth of these kiddos in the last 13 weeks has been just  amazing! I can tell that they have wonderful parents, grandparents, and family members that work with them frequently! Keep up the great work!