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Friday, March 9, 2012

On the Loose with Dr. Seuss

This week was Seuss-tastic!
We spent a lot of time studying and EnJoYiNg the works of the famous author, Dr. Suess!
We learned that Dr. Suess was wise beyond his years - and that many of his words still offer advice that is relevant and meaningful still today!

He also makes up a lot of silly words, and loves to rhyme! We love to rhyme as well!
Here's peek into our very fun, very busy,  Suess-filled week!

We read the story The Cat in the Hat, and made our own hats!
We noticed that the Cat's hat was red, white, red, white....HEY! That's an AB pattern.


We also played a Dr. Suess grid game. Grid games are great for our number concept skills! Each child rolls the die (or 2 dice for students who are ready for larger numbers), count the dots (or add the dots from the 2 dice) and place that many counters (glass stones) on the game mat. Each child has their own game mat, and takes turns until someone fills up their card first! This is also great for teaching children to play a game without an adult and be responsible enough to play correctly (no cheating!), and take turns with their friends. We have played a lot of grid games at school!

We also played an uppercase and lowecase letter match game! We are at that time of year when most of our students know enough about the alphabet to be able to match upper/lower. Our students were very resourceful and used the ABC charts in our room to check their work or find matches if they weren't quite sure! We are also learning that our peers are a great resource, too!
Friends helping friends is always a nice thing to see!



Ava doesn't monkey around; she's found 2 pairs right away!

Delaney found a very important letter match - D for Delaney!!

Brody found Yy - and he knows it's the last letter in his name!

Madison found Ss - they look very similar, one is just bigger than the other!


We decked out our library center this week, too! We have a forest of Truffula Trees (from The Lorax), many Dr. Suess books, and a Dr. Suess related vocabulary cards!


One of our many books this week was The Lorax. Lots of our students had gone to see the movie, but few knew it was a book by Dr. Suess! Well, little friends, let me introduce you to the written work!


Ethan especially loved this story and movie!

We made Lorax hats!
(These are Mrs. Reamer's Truffula trees in the background. We stopped for a photo op. Cute, cute, cute!)


Ms. Schneider read Green Eggs and Ham....

And then we ATE green eggs and ham! YUMMY!



We played 'Pin the Hat on the Cat'!

Zoe snapped a picture of Mrs. Powell's unsuccessful attempt to pin the hat on the cat!



Ms. Schneider also made Grickle Grass Salad (The Lorax), and Oobleck Dip w/ Chips (Bartholomew and the Oobleck. We love when snack time and story time merge!

We also worked on the letters Uu this week. We had an un-believeably fun time with that, too!

We hung UPSDIE down in our chairs!

 We enjoyed snack at the Upside Down diner!
We ate UNDER the table, and our food was upside down!






We made playdoh letters for Uu, and other letters, too!


All in all, I think we all had a ball! And so, I will leave you with a famous quote from the Lorax. I especially love this quote because it is so fitting for a variety of things. As parents and teachers, we try to teach our children to care, be kind, and do what is right and good. And while the Lorax may speak for the trees, WE speak for the little children in our lives.......



Monday, March 5, 2012

Reading ROCKS!



As you know, reading is just AWESOME! We are celebrating March is Reading Month with a school wide theme---"Reading ROCKS!" We have been focusing on the traits of a good reader. In preschool, that means, when a child reads a book, s/he should be looking for letters, numbers, the title, title page, and the parts of the book (front, back, spine, etc.). It also means that children this age can use the pictures to help tell the story. The pictures give clues as to what is happening!

As parents, you can read to your child and help them with the traits of good readers. You can also read to them EVERY day for at least 10-15 minutes. This will help your child with hearing an experienced, fluent reader. In turn, that helps them become a fluent reader! It is also great quality time with your little one!

Whenever you are reading, be sure to point out to your child that you love to read a variety of materials - labels, recipes, brochures, newsletters, magazines, newspapers, E-mails, etc. You are their first model---keep reading, and your child will keep ROCKING!

We are excited about the many activities that your child will be able to participate in each Thursday when you send in your reading log that shows you've been reading at home!! Don't forget to return the reading liogs weekly!!! THANK YOU!







Y is for Yarn!

Y is for Yarn.....and yarn ball. After working very hard on learning the letters Yy, writing them, and knowing the /y/ sound as in yarn, yellow, yell, or yes, we decided to make yarn ball decorations! It was a very fun, very messy project. Then end results are Yarn-tastic! Check it out for yourself....

 First, we had to dip the yarn in our cornstarch, water, and glue mixture....

 Then we had to wrap pieces of yarn around, and around, and around, and around!!!

 Some of the yarn pieces were VERY long!


 We really had to dive in and get messy!
The yarn balls had to dry overnight, then we got to *POP* the balloons!!

We were left with beautiful yarn balls!!!