Monday, November 21, 2011

The Letter N

It's time to celebrate the Letter N!

Here is Zachary sorting some uppercase and lowercase N's! 


We always begin by practicing writing both forms of the letter correctly.  The children love this quick sort on the smartboard.  I have uppercase and lowercase letters in lots of different fonts printed and in an envelope so they can sort more during center time if they choose.

Jack, those are some AWESOME N's!


After handwriting practice, we focus on the all important sound!  We do an initial sound sort on the smartboard with each letter and then combine them on Fridays. 

Mario sorts a picture of a Newt!


We combine all our skills by completing a page in our ABC books. 

The children write the letter, find a sticker of that letter,

 find that letter in the newspaper


and draw a picture of something that starts with that letter. 
Here is a Nest!


For snacks this week we enjoyed Nutty Bars---


And, Nila Wafers with Nutella---


I've really tried hard this year to practice the true sounds of each letter with the children.  It's more of a challenge to make the /n/ sound than it is to say "nuh". 

14th letter is complete!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Pumpkin Tasting Day

Now what would a GREAT Pumpkin Unit be like without a yummy Pumpkin Tasting Day? 

I sent a request to the most amazing group of parents and they responded with some YUMMY pumpkin treats!  I was shocked at how much the children tried and actually liked! 

Pumpkin Bread and Pumpkin Butter


Dario was a fan!


Of course, Pumpkin Pie!


Pumpkin Seeds and Pumpkin Marshmallows!!
The children said the marshmallows tasted more like cinnamon that anything else.


One of our sweet parents made us some Pumpkin Cookies to taste!


Mrs. Miskelly, our intern from Winthrop, made Pumpkin Dip and it was a hit!


Chloƫ approves!


One last favorite was Pumpkin Cake!


 
Even though it may look like all fun and food, this tasting time followed a very important Social Studies lesson based on producers and consumers.  The children learned that Pumpkin Pie doesn't just appear at the grocery store...there are many steps before that!  But more on that for another post! 

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Be Cool About Fire Safety!

The second week in October is when we usually learn about and practice Fire Safety! This year the local fire department came out to talk with the children and teach them about the equipment they use and the different types of fire trucks. 

In class, we read many fire safety books and created a great art project to go along with this poem:

Five little firefighters sleeping in a row.
Ring goes the bell and down the pole they go!
They jump on the engine and put out the fire.
Now they're back home and they sure are tired! 

First, paint a hand red and put in down on the paper!


Then, use a dot marker or a circle cut out of construction paper for the heads! Let the children draw faces and a hat on each one!  Draw a black line in between each one for the water hose.


Then, I put some glue down and the children sprinkled blue glitter for the water!