We had a great first week of school! The students are transitioning nicely into our daily routine. As they enter the classroom in the morning, the students engage in morning work such as coloring, handwriting practice, or some other activity that can be completed fairly independently. After they complete their morning work, the students head to the carpet for free play. This week, the students have really enjoyed playing with the kitchen toys, the baby dolls, stuffed animals, and the super heroes! At 9:30 we clean up (lots of great helpers in our class!) and join on the carpet for calendar. Calendar time is a great opportunity for the students to practice their number recognition and counting skills and become familiar with the days of the week. During calendar we also find out who our line leader and caboose are for the day. The line leader's job is to hold the big flag and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance and also to lead our line for the day. Also, the leader gets to color in a number on our 100 day chart that we are using to count to the 100th day of school! The caboose also holds a flag as we say the Pledge and stands at the back of our line to help keep our line train from falling off of the track! After calendar and a bathroom break, we engage in our centers for the day. Each day we have three groups that rotate among three centers; we wear a colored clothespin to keep track of our group. After centers, we join on the carpet for circle time where we read a book, complete a group activity, or sometimes play a game. Next is snack and then we pack our backpacks and head outside to the playground. We leave directly from the playground to carpool.
Not only have the students become accustomed to our daily routine, but they have also become familiar with our class rules. Our class rules include walking feet, helping hands, sharing spirits, looking eyes, listening ears, and caring hearts. You may hear some of these phrases repeated at home:)
Wednesday
At centers on Wednesday, the students practiced their cutting skills, made their September placemat (decorated with a figure of either a boy or girl and the students age), and played with the ladders and bristle blocks.
At circle time, we counted the letters in our name and then discussed which friends had the same amount of letters in their name, which friends had the most letters in their name, and which friends had the least letters in their name.
We also read a cute book about a shark that has a tendency to eat things when he is excited at school! The students really enjoyed this book and have requested it several times since!
Thursday
On Thursday, we enjoyed music with Mrs. Jenna!
At our centers, the students colored the first letter of their name, painted their "Mini Me", and played with Mr. Potato Head.
Friday was a rainy day, so we had a little extra play time in the morning. For morning work, the students used some of our extra people figures and heart and star cutouts to create their own pictures. They all turned out super cute and Buttercup and I enjoyed hearing about each child's creation! There were lot's of pictures of mommy's and daddy's, and brother's and sister's created.
I also snapped a few pictures of the children playing. They play so nicely together!
At centers, the students decorated their "Mini Me" by drawing a face and adding clothes and hair. At another center, the students used dotter markers to decorate their artwork memory folder which we will be sending home next week. These folders can be used to store all of the crafts and school work the children complete!
Check out our "Mini Me's"
