Last week started reading different versions of The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. After reading the story, we came in the classroom one day and found a big cardboard box. We had the idea to paint it yellow like the straw house. Someone asked if there was straw, so that night Miss Stephanie went home and got some straw from her barn. The next day there was another box in the room and we painted it grey like the sticks. Miss Stephanie left some sticks in the room and we glued them on to the box. The third day, we saw another box in our room and we wanted to make it the brick house. We painted it red and decided that bricks would be too heavy to glue to it, so someone thought of the idea of cutting out red bricks.
We have been playing The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf for the last several days. We have a had a lot of fun repeating the lines from the story!
Suggestion: Ask your child to act it out with you to see what he or she is able to to retell!
Wolf: Little Pig! Little Pig! Let me in!
Pig: No! No! Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin. I will NOT let you in.
Wolf: Then I will HUFF and PUFF and blow your house down! (huff...puff...blow!)
We have also had some more independence in the classroom. Check out the video where several of us are filling up the water table on our own! Miss Stephanie has been putting items in the empty water table and waiting for us to ask for water. When we ask for water she lets us fill it up by ourselves using the pitchers. There have been a few spills; but when we spill, we just get paper towels to clean it up! Miss Stephanie and Miss Sandy have been letting us solve our own problems and letting us come up with our own ideas a lot lately. We love it!
Monday, March 12, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Over the last few weeks, we have read many different versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We have enjoyed talking about the differences and similarities between the stories. Last week while reading the story one day, we wanted to act it out. We all took turns being different characters while Miss Stephanie read the story. Then we thought it would be really fun to videotape it! We made costumes for the video and then we put them in the Pretend Play area. We have also enjoyed acting out the story during work time!
Check out the videos below to see our rendition of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We didn't rehearse or memorize lines! We just picked our parts on Friday and we told the story as we remembered it ourselves.
(For the afternoon class-the title of the video has the initials of the children who played a part in that video.)
If you have any versions of the story at home, you can read them at home and talk about how they match up with the play we did!
Check out my deaf and hard of hearing kids acting out this story. We use signs and words together to share our stories!
AM
Afternoon classes:
PM-NR/MV/CH/MJ
PM-JP/KP/JB/MP
PM-PG/NP/MV/EK
PM-JR/CP/MD/MM
Check out the videos below to see our rendition of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We didn't rehearse or memorize lines! We just picked our parts on Friday and we told the story as we remembered it ourselves.
(For the afternoon class-the title of the video has the initials of the children who played a part in that video.)
If you have any versions of the story at home, you can read them at home and talk about how they match up with the play we did!
Check out my deaf and hard of hearing kids acting out this story. We use signs and words together to share our stories!
AM
Afternoon classes:
PM-NR/MV/CH/MJ
PM-JP/KP/JB/MP
PM-PG/NP/MV/EK
PM-JR/CP/MD/MM
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Learning Around the Room
In addition to Valentine's Day, we have had a busy two weeks. So busy Miss Stephanie didn't get all the pictures uploaded!
Check out some of the things we have been up to lately!
AM Class
Some of the things you will see in this video:
-retrieving our own materials
-cooking in the pretend play area
-selling items with the cash register
-matching capital letters
-looking outside at the weather
-playing Memory
-matching our symbols
PM Class
Some of the things you will see in this video:
-writing notes in the Literacy Lane
-sorting on the SmartBoard
-building in the Construction Zone
-playing with magnetic letters
-cooking in the Pretend Palace
-Listening in the Library
-Reading to ourselves in the library
-sorting with dinosaur counters
-building with small blocks
-exploring sand in different sized containers
-making patterns on the SmartBoard
-Putting together puzzles with our friends
-Dressing up
-Writing on the SmartBoard
-Making Valentine's Day cards
Check out some of the things we have been up to lately!
AM Class
Some of the things you will see in this video:
-retrieving our own materials
-cooking in the pretend play area
-selling items with the cash register
-matching capital letters
-looking outside at the weather
-playing Memory
-matching our symbols
PM Class
Some of the things you will see in this video:
-writing notes in the Literacy Lane
-sorting on the SmartBoard
-building in the Construction Zone
-playing with magnetic letters
-cooking in the Pretend Palace
-Listening in the Library
-Reading to ourselves in the library
-sorting with dinosaur counters
-building with small blocks
-exploring sand in different sized containers
-making patterns on the SmartBoard
-Putting together puzzles with our friends
-Dressing up
-Writing on the SmartBoard
-Making Valentine's Day cards
Valentine's Day Fun
Check out the photos from our Valentine's Day celebration last week.
First, we passed out valentines to our friends. We took the time to look at the cards we brought in and gave them out to our friends. When our friends handed us a card, we made sure to say "thank you" each time.
After that, we had our work time. During work time, Miss Stephanie called a few of us over at a time and we graphed valentine hearts. We each had a cup of hearts with various colors. We laid them out on the graphing sheet by color. Some of us read the color words and some of us had colored squares to help match them.
We talked about each of our graphs. Each one was different!
Questions we asked:
-Which color has the most?
-How do you know?
-Which one is the least?
-How do you know?
-Are any of them tied?
Some of us counted the hearts.
Some of us drew lines to see which ones were the most and which ones were the least.
Some of us used our fingers to figure out most and least.
PM Class
AM Class
First, we passed out valentines to our friends. We took the time to look at the cards we brought in and gave them out to our friends. When our friends handed us a card, we made sure to say "thank you" each time.
After that, we had our work time. During work time, Miss Stephanie called a few of us over at a time and we graphed valentine hearts. We each had a cup of hearts with various colors. We laid them out on the graphing sheet by color. Some of us read the color words and some of us had colored squares to help match them.
We talked about each of our graphs. Each one was different!
Questions we asked:
-Which color has the most?
-How do you know?
-Which one is the least?
-How do you know?
-Are any of them tied?
Some of us counted the hearts.
Some of us drew lines to see which ones were the most and which ones were the least.
Some of us used our fingers to figure out most and least.
PM Class
AM Class
Monday, February 13, 2012
Day In the Life-Circle Time (AM)
Welcome to our new series!
"A Day in the Life of Miss Stephanie's Class"
Last week we videotaped our circle time so our families can see a glimpse of what we do during the day! Our circle time consists of the following parts:
calendar
weather
letter of the week
daily message
counting jar
You can see each part of our circle time in a separate video.
There will be other posts coming in the coming weeks so you can see: Work time, snack time, play plans, and sign-in!
You will notice that the audio has been edited to remove kids' names. I try not to pair kids' faces with their names on this website.
The kids are VERY excited about the videos and sharing them with you at home.
Suggestions:
-Watch with your child.
-Ask questions about "what" we are doing "why" we are doing that.
-Point out things you see around the room and at circle time and ask about them.
We hope you enjoy getting a glimpse of us in the classroom!
Calendar
Weather
Letter of the Week
Daily Message
Counting Jar
"A Day in the Life of Miss Stephanie's Class"
Last week we videotaped our circle time so our families can see a glimpse of what we do during the day! Our circle time consists of the following parts:
calendar
weather
letter of the week
daily message
counting jar
You can see each part of our circle time in a separate video.
There will be other posts coming in the coming weeks so you can see: Work time, snack time, play plans, and sign-in!
You will notice that the audio has been edited to remove kids' names. I try not to pair kids' faces with their names on this website.
The kids are VERY excited about the videos and sharing them with you at home.
Suggestions:
-Watch with your child.
-Ask questions about "what" we are doing "why" we are doing that.
-Point out things you see around the room and at circle time and ask about them.
We hope you enjoy getting a glimpse of us in the classroom!
Calendar
Weather
Letter of the Week
Daily Message
Counting Jar
Day In the Life-Circle Time (PM)
Welcome to our new series!
"A Day in the Life of Miss Stephanie's Class"
Last week we videotaped our circle time so our families can see a glimpse of what we do during the day! Our circle time consists of the following parts:
calendar
weather
letter of the week
daily message
counting jar
You can see each part of our circle time in a separate video.
There will be other posts coming in the coming weeks so you can see: Work time, snack time, play plans, and sign-in!
You will notice that the audio has been edited to remove kids' names. I try not to pair kids' faces with their names on this website.
The kids are VERY excited about the videos and sharing them with you at home.
Suggestions:
-Watch with your child.
-Ask questions about "what" we are doing "why" we are doing that.
-Point out things you see around the room and at circle time and ask about them.
We hope you enjoy getting a glimpse of us in the classroom!
Calendar and Weather
Letter of the Week
Daily Message
Counting Jar
"A Day in the Life of Miss Stephanie's Class"
Last week we videotaped our circle time so our families can see a glimpse of what we do during the day! Our circle time consists of the following parts:
calendar
weather
letter of the week
daily message
counting jar
You can see each part of our circle time in a separate video.
There will be other posts coming in the coming weeks so you can see: Work time, snack time, play plans, and sign-in!
You will notice that the audio has been edited to remove kids' names. I try not to pair kids' faces with their names on this website.
The kids are VERY excited about the videos and sharing them with you at home.
Suggestions:
-Watch with your child.
-Ask questions about "what" we are doing "why" we are doing that.
-Point out things you see around the room and at circle time and ask about them.
We hope you enjoy getting a glimpse of us in the classroom!
Calendar and Weather
Letter of the Week
Daily Message
Counting Jar
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Circus and Snowmen
In addition to our Circus fun this week, we also had a lot of fun exploring snowmen!
Check out these website to participate in some fun interactive fun with your child!
Build a snowman
Snowman online coloring page
Build another snowman
Check out these website to participate in some fun interactive fun with your child!
Build a snowman
Snowman online coloring page
Build another snowman
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Circus Vocabulary
Miss Erin and I recorded another video to help you learn some of our Circus vocabulary. First we review our circus words and then read the book "Ringmaster, Ringmaster, What Do You See?"
You can watch it in the presentation below, or on YouTube here: Ringmaster, Ringmaster, Who Do You See?
(We like to embed the OneTrueMedia presentations into the blog entries because they are visible from the school computers.)
Take some time at home to talk about the circus vocabulary. We made a book this week. We each wrote about what job we would have at the circus if we worked there and why.
-Tell your child which role you would want to play.
-Ask your child about what he/she would want to do. Ask why.
You can watch it in the presentation below, or on YouTube here: Ringmaster, Ringmaster, Who Do You See?
(We like to embed the OneTrueMedia presentations into the blog entries because they are visible from the school computers.)
Take some time at home to talk about the circus vocabulary. We made a book this week. We each wrote about what job we would have at the circus if we worked there and why.
-Tell your child which role you would want to play.
-Ask your child about what he/she would want to do. Ask why.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Colors at the Circus
In our last post you see the clown hats that we made while reading along with the book "Colors at the Circus". You can watch it at YouTube here: Colors at the Circus
Or you can watch it in the presentation below:
-Talk about the colors with your child.
-Play "I Spy" to come up with other colors in your house that match the colors we talk about here.
-Think of other items at the circus that could have those same colors.
-Find pictures in magazines or books that have the same colors.
-Think of other items at the circus that could have those same colors.
-Find pictures in magazines or books that have the same colors.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Welcome To Our 3 Ring Circus
We continued our Circus theme this week. We have had fun exploring all of the different "jobs" at the circus. We have been:
elephants
monkeys
clowns
tight rope walkers
ring masters
lion tamers
Pictures of us enjoying our Circus during work time:
Pictures of us as a clown:
We made clown hats by putting colored circles on our white hats. Miss Stephanie read a book that talked about different colors that we see at the circus. As Miss Stephanie read each page, we had to find the colored circle that matched and put it on our hat. We loved making our hats and gathered with our classroom clown to take a group picture!
Making our clown hats:
elephants
monkeys
clowns
tight rope walkers
ring masters
lion tamers
Pictures of us enjoying our Circus during work time:
Pictures of us as a clown:
We made clown hats by putting colored circles on our white hats. Miss Stephanie read a book that talked about different colors that we see at the circus. As Miss Stephanie read each page, we had to find the colored circle that matched and put it on our hat. We loved making our hats and gathered with our classroom clown to take a group picture!
Making our clown hats:
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Pete the Cat
Check out Miss Erin and Miss Stephanie reading "Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes" by Eric Litwin.
You can watch on YouTube right here: Pete the Cat in Sign Language
You can see our other post about Pete the Cat here.
It has become one of our favorite books to read in class. You can always find at least 2 students at the Listening Center reading AND singing along with the book during centers time.
Even the students in our deaf and hard of hearing class LOVE using the Listening Center. Thanks to modern technology, we are able to hook up Miss Stephanie's microphone to the Listening Center and the CD is transmitted right to our hearing aids and cochlear implants to help us follow along with the story!
You can watch on YouTube right here: Pete the Cat in Sign Language
You can see our other post about Pete the Cat here.
It has become one of our favorite books to read in class. You can always find at least 2 students at the Listening Center reading AND singing along with the book during centers time.
Even the students in our deaf and hard of hearing class LOVE using the Listening Center. Thanks to modern technology, we are able to hook up Miss Stephanie's microphone to the Listening Center and the CD is transmitted right to our hearing aids and cochlear implants to help us follow along with the story!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Pete the Cat and Story Expansion
This week we read the story Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes several times.
Here you can see a Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes YouTube performance:
Check out another Pete the Cat video here:
For more Pete activities you can click here:
color the shoes
Here you can see Miss Stephanie reading and signing the story:
After reading the story a few times we talked about our own shoes and how we love our own shoes. We each sang about the type of shoes we were wearing! Some of us had white shoes, pink shoes, black boots, rainbow shoes, Spiderman shoes, and even Buzz shoes!
PM
AM
This is just one example of how you can take a story and expand on it at home! Ask your child how THEY relate to the story.
Another great way to encourage your child to develop his/her literacy skills is to have your child look at a book and tell the story without words. Some kids will say "I don't know what the words say" and some will jump right in. Encourage your child to look at the pictures and try his/her best to tell the story by using clues they see in the pictures. Understanding that pictures give us clues is a great first step to reading!
Here you can see a video of two students in the afternoon who were sitting independently in the library area reading a story together. Miss Stephanie thought it was a great moment, so she got out her camera and had them start from the beginning.
It is OK if the plot of the story isn't the same. Using pictures as clues to try to understand the story is a great tool! Try it at home this weekend. Pull out a picture book and tell your child, "Read to me!".
Check out another Pete the Cat video here:
For more Pete activities you can click here:
color the shoes
What We Know About the Circus
We started our unit on the Circus this week. Before we started talking about the circus, Miss Stephanie told each of us to tell her something we know about the circus (in the afternoon).
NP-There's elephants there.
MV-There funny clowns.
NR-People watch silly clowns and eat popcorn.
CP-There giraffes.
JB-The clowns.
MM-The elephants play and everyone sits quiet.
EK-The elephant jump.
PG-The clown can juggle.
JP-Elephant drivin' the car.
MP-A cars honk.
JR-Silly Clowns.
KP-Elephants dance.
MJ-Elephants
CH-I ate popcorn too.
MD-Circus.
Ideas for home:
-Find books at the library about the circus and read them.
-Find pictures on the Internet of the circus and talk about them.
-Draw pictures of what you think the circus looks like.
NP-There's elephants there.
MV-There funny clowns.
NR-People watch silly clowns and eat popcorn.
CP-There giraffes.
JB-The clowns.
MM-The elephants play and everyone sits quiet.
EK-The elephant jump.
PG-The clown can juggle.
JP-Elephant drivin' the car.
MP-A cars honk.
JR-Silly Clowns.
KP-Elephants dance.
MJ-Elephants
CH-I ate popcorn too.
MD-Circus.
Ideas for home:
-Find books at the library about the circus and read them.
-Find pictures on the Internet of the circus and talk about them.
-Draw pictures of what you think the circus looks like.
Monday, December 26, 2011
The Gingerbread Man Song
Here we have the afternoon class singing our Gingerbread Man song.
Miss Stephanie cannot currently locate the file from the morning class!
Miss Stephanie cannot currently locate the file from the morning class!
The Gingerbread Man
We have been reading various versions of The Gingerbread Man in the month of December. On the Thursday before break we acted out the story with some Gingerbread Man cookies!
When the Gingerbread Man arrived at the river, he met a fox. The fox offered to help.
(We think the fox was trying to trick the Gingerbread Man, not trying to be nice)
The fox said, "Come jump on my back. I will help you get across the river!)
Then he said, "The water is rising! Get on my shoulder!"
Then he said, "Quick! The water is rising more. Get on my head!"
The fox said, "The water is still rising! Get on my nose!"
Then, quick as a wink, the fox threw back his head, and flipped the Gingerbread Man into his mouth.
That was the end of the Gingerbread Man!
Ask your child to retell you the story of the Gingerbread Man! See what parts he/she remembers! Post your child's answer in the comments section.
Before we read the story the first time, we did a prediction activity. We read the story most of the way through and then I stopped before the last page. I asked each student to predict what they thought was going to happen when they saw the picture of the Gingerbread Man standing on the fox's nose.
Guesses from the AM class:
T/TH
OP-A fox ate the Gingerbread Man.
EH-He eat the Gingerbread Man.
HG-He will eat him.
JN-The fox melt in the water.
ZP-I think he going eat him.
5 day
CK-He gunna eat him.
IE-Fox. No.
JTT-nose
Guesses from the PM class:
NP- I think he's gunna eat him.
MV-The Gingerbread Man is going to bake some other GIngerbread Mans.
CH-His yes.
CP-Eat him.
MP-A dog gunna drown.
EK-The fox gunna eat the Gingerbread Man.
MJ-He's gunna get on his nose.
MM-Then his legs.
MD-water
SF-The fox is gunna eat the Gingerbread Man.
NR-He's gunna eat him.
JR-The old lady try to catch him.
JB-In the water.
JP-The fox will eat him and the fox will shrink.
PG-He wanna eat him.
KP- He eat it
As you can see, we had some great predictions! This is a skill you can practice at home before you get to the last page of a book. Ask, "What do you think will happen next?"
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Apple Apple Song
Here is another one of our very favorite songs: The Apple Apple song!
This song helps us learn our letters and letter sounds. It also helps us think of words that begin with that letter! It is one of our alphabet song choices at circle time.
You can see the YouTube video (higher quality) by clicking the link on the right.
Enjoy!
This song helps us learn our letters and letter sounds. It also helps us think of words that begin with that letter! It is one of our alphabet song choices at circle time.
You can see the YouTube video (higher quality) by clicking the link on the right.
Enjoy!
Hear ye! Hear ye! The Preschool Royalty!
We have spent the last 2 weeks enjoying our new royal status as princes, princesses, knights, kings, queens, and dragons! We thought it was funny to call Miss Stephanie "Your Highness". She thought it was funny too!
We worked on our castle walls in the creation station and then helped Miss Stephanie put them up and make them look like walls and towers. We have enjoyed playing with the props that we made at home for our family projects. In the Construction Zone we have been building castles. We even have a book with pictures of real castles we can look at for ideas while we are building.
Miss Erin made a SmartBoard activity that she shared with our class. We really enjoyed sorting the castle people from the farm animals during a small group. Later we were able to do it on our own during work time. We had several debates about the noble steed (horse) and the dragon. We decided the noble steed could stay in the barn until the knight needed him.
Do dragons go in the barn or in the castle??
What do you think? Why? Ask your child what he/she thinks and post the answer in the comments section below.
AM
PM
We worked on our castle walls in the creation station and then helped Miss Stephanie put them up and make them look like walls and towers. We have enjoyed playing with the props that we made at home for our family projects. In the Construction Zone we have been building castles. We even have a book with pictures of real castles we can look at for ideas while we are building.
Miss Erin made a SmartBoard activity that she shared with our class. We really enjoyed sorting the castle people from the farm animals during a small group. Later we were able to do it on our own during work time. We had several debates about the noble steed (horse) and the dragon. We decided the noble steed could stay in the barn until the knight needed him.
Do dragons go in the barn or in the castle??
What do you think? Why? Ask your child what he/she thinks and post the answer in the comments section below.
AM
PM
Friday, November 4, 2011
Putting on a Jacket
As winter gets closer, we have been working on our independence skills. Some of us are still working on putting on our jackets by ourselves. Kids at this age put on their jackets in a variety of ways. Some of us do it just like adults do: one arm and then the other. That is hard for someone of us to manage. Some of us use the "flip it over your head" method.
Miss Stephanie had some expert jacket put-er on-ers help her make a video so others can practice at home.
Tips:
-Fix sleeves of jacket so they are the right way.
-Put jacket on the ground with the tag/hood facing your toes.
-Stick your arms in the sleeves.
-Keep yours arms in the sleeves and flip it over your head.
-Your jacket is on!
Another tip:
When you are purchasing winter wear, consider getting mittens instead of gloves for kids who are unable to put on gloves independently. Miss Stephanie and Miss Sandy don't have time to put 120 individual fingers in gloves!
Practice putting on your jacket this weekend!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
New Castle Vocabulary
Our November theme is "Castle". We are really excited to transform our classroom into a castle and discover all kinds of new vocabulary about things that are found in a castle.
Don't forget to start working on your family project this weekend. We need items for our castle! You could make a tower or something a king/prince/princess/knight would have. Be as creative as you want! We just need props for our castle. Make sure you work together as a family. It doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to be done together.
Here is a video reviewing some of our new castle vocabulary:
Monday, October 31, 2011
Go Away Big Green Monster
We had a great time with our Go Away Big Green Monster Day at school today! We had 6 stations that we rotated through all around the school. All of us participated and it was a blast! Even though we had so many transitions and it was such a different routine, we did a great job and had lots of fun!
Our stations:
monster mash obstacle course
parachute and Trick, Trick, Treat (Duck, Duck, Goose)
making a monster face snack
pin the nose on the big green monster
making a monster face on a paper plate
watching the big green monster story and playing a smartboard activity
Check out this retelling of the story on YouTube that I found (sorry about the high pitched voice! But the felt board activity she uses is cute!)
AM Class
PM Class
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