Monday
Red Riding Hood – Storytelling and Acting Out – Using a very old doll that was mine as a little girl, I told the tale of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.  Students then acted the story out with costumes and props. We also talked about the importance of not talking to strangers, and not telling strangers our name or where we live.
Valentine Card Count & Make – Students counted how many valentines they had made so far and figured out how many more they needed to make.  They then set to work gluing, cutting, and coloring.
Read-Aloud – Ninja Red Riding Hood by Corey Rosen Schwartz

Tuesday
100th Day!
Counting to 100 – We all practiced counting to 100.
Lining up and measuring 100 items – Students made a long line of the 100 items that they brought in to school.  We then measured the different lines with a very long measuring tape.
400 roll ice cream –  Using an ice cream “ball”, we added cream, sugar and vanilla.  After sealing it up, 2 groups rolled the ball on the floor, counting to 100 twice.  After 400 rolls, we had ice cream!
Read-Aloud – Little Red’s Riding ‘Hood by Peter Stein & Little Red Gliding Hood by Tara Lazar

Wednesday
Guided Reading/iPad Reading Apps – I read with students at individual levels while the others in the group used literacy apps on the iPads.
Math – Adding Wolf Teeth – Gramma, what big teeth you have!  Students took turns adding felt teeth to a felt wolf while others turned it into a number sentence.  5 teeth on top + 4 teeth on the bottom = 9 teeth!
Read-Aloud – Little Red Riding Hood – A Newfangled Prairie Tale by Lisa Campbell Ernst – This version of Red Riding Hood takes place in the Midwestern prairie.

Thursday
Valentines Day!
Minute to Win It – Valentine Hearts – Using little candy conversation hearts, students had 1 minute to stack as many as they could without the stack falling down.
Engineering Challenge: Red Riding Hood’s Valentine Zip Line – Red Riding Hood wants to send a valentine to Gramma without running into that wolf…so she built a zip line from her house to Gram’s house.  Students were given a paper clip and a little paper heart and were challenged to build a container for the heart that would travel down the zip line to Gram’s house.  We discovered that weight and bounce were important factors.
Read-Aloud – Very Little Red Riding Hood by Teresa Heapy

I hope you all enjoy Thanksgiving with your friends and families, we will see you back at school Nov. 26th!  As you read this, the Nocturnal Forest is being dis-assembled and our classroom is being transformed for our next unit….stop by our classroom and check it out, it will be far out! (that’s a clue)

On Thursday, Nov. 29th at 8:45am, the Quest Admissions team will be hosting an informational meeting about the WPPSI test required for Kindergarten admission.   There will be Meet & Greet with some testers that are available to schedule a test date with.  We ask that you schedule a testing date before contracts come out in February.  This is a great opportunity, I highly recommend at least one parent attends if you are unfamiliar with the test.  

Group Work this week,,,

Monday
Reader’s Theater Prep – The Three Bears – We talked about the different characters in the story of the Three Bears,  We looked at costumes we can use for the different roles.  We talked about props we would need and what we could use in the classroom.
Math – Graduated Bear Size – Taking all 8 different teddy bears out of our bear den, students measured them against each other to order them from biggest bear to smallest bear.  Students then explored other attributes of the bears that they could sort them by, eye color, fur color, etc.
Read-Aloud – Goldilocks and the Three Bears – We listened to a recording of Goldilocks and the Three bears while using felt pieces to act out the scenes.

Tuesday
Reader’s Theater – The Three Bears – Students took turns being different characters in the story of Goldilocks (or Golden-boy) and the Three Bears.
Problem-Solving/Construction – Little Bear’s Chair – Using index cards, students were challenged to construct a little chair that would hold up baby bear (a little plastic bear) without collapsing.
Read-Aloud – The Three Snow Bears – We read a different version of the Three Bears story by Jan Brett.

Wednesday
Guided Reading – Students read one on one with a teacher at individual levels while rest of group used literacy apps on iPads.
Math – Sorting Hotwheels by attribute – This year’s class loves cars!  We applied sorting by attribute to our collection of hotwheel cars.  We sorted by color, we sorted by type, we brainstormed other possible ways to sort.
Song Book –

Thursday
Read-Aloud – The First Thanksgiving – We learned about the first Thanksgiving from Anne Rockwell’s book, Thanksgiving Day.  We talked about how our different families celebrate Thanksgiving.
Holiday – What Am I Thankful For? – Students thought about what they are most thanktful for and filled out a leaf to hang in the main building.
Holiday/Math – Thanksgiving feathered headband –  Using shape templates, students created a pattern of shapes to decorate their Native American feathered headband.

Friday
Literacy – Whiteboard Letters/Words – We practiced letter formation for all of the vowels and then practiced forming cvc words.
Gross Motor – Balance Bear – Students observed how an object achieves balance by experimenting with Ernest the Balance Bear.  Students then tried to apply the same principals of balance as they walked across a balance beam in the classroom.  

If your child is tired this weekend, it’s because we did so much this first week of Junior Kindergarten!  The first week we mostly focus on getting to know each other and learning all of the processes and procedures for a new classroom.  Mrs. Swanson and I are enjoying this great group of students!

Our first unit of study this year is “The Lemurs of Madagascar” and also the Water Cycle.  We will begin to get more in-depth with these topics next week.

Next week we also begin Show & Share! Please check the show and share calendar in your “Lemur Info” folder to see when your child’s days are.  I will also send a digital copy of the calendar this weekend.  Mrs. Swanson and I both had a “Show & Share” this week to model for students how to present and how to be an audience.  We are excited to see what the Lemurs will share!

Small Group Work This Week…

Wednesday – Introduction to treehouse (small group) procedure

Literacy- PLay-doh Letter Aa – The first 26 days of school we focus on a letter each day to review our letters and letter sounds.  We start each morning with literacy movement songs from Heidi Songs.  I love Heidi Songs for letters, sight words, and phonics rules.  The songs and movements are very catchy, easy to remember and help students when beginning to read and write.

Math – Unifix staircase – We use Unifix cubes for many math activities this year. Today we counted cubes to create a staircase of cube 1 – 10.

Thursday

Science – How the Lemurs Got to Madagascar – I told the story of how the first lemurs were blown over to the island of Madagascar from Africa during a giant storm.  For most units that we study, students create a book to document what they have learned and practice drawing and writing skills.  I showed students the lemur book they will be creating next week.

Health – Why We Wash Our Hands – Mrs. Swanson showed her group a close look at the germs that get onto our hands. They practiced the best way to wash their hands to get all of those germs off!

Friday

Science – Elephant Toothpaste – The zoo called and the elephants all have dirty tusks! They needed us to make a batch of elephant toothpaste! Following a recipe, we tried the first batch but did not get the reaction we needed.  The yeast was expired!   But Lemurs do not give up!  We decided to try again with new yeast.  While students were in Science class, I went to the supermarket and got some new yeast.  We tried again and were successful!   The reaction of yeast with peroxide created an explosion of toothpaste!

Math – Measurement – Each student had a strip of paper of different lengths. They needed to measure their papers against each other to find the person with the same length. Afterward, Mrs. Swanson measured each student on the tape measure on our door. Check it out to see how tall your child is.

We finished our unit on wolves this week.  Come inside the classroom Monday to check out our new unit…here is a clue…”magical creatures”

Small Group Treehouses This Week….

Tuesday
Brainstorm ideas for fairy tale re-writes
Math – Dump Truck Addition/Bulldozer Subtraction

Wednesday
Guided Writing – Fairy Tale Re-write
Math – Intro to Tally Marks

Thursday
Guided Reading/Epic! Books for Kids
Fairy Tale Illustration
Read-Aloud – The Three Little Dassies

Friday
Act out Fairy Tales with costumes
Math – Tally Mark Scavenger Hunt

Monday
Construction – Build a Better Stick House – Using popsicle sticks and tape, students were challenged to build a house that 1) went over the little pig’s head and 2) withstood the blows of the big bad wolf (a blow dryer).  This was a hard challenge!  Only 4 students were able to pass the wolf’s test
Math – Attribute Blocks – We looked at attribute blocks and played some games with them.
Read-Aloud – Happy Birthday Madame Chapeau by Andrea Beaty – To inspire students with their valentine creation, we read this story about a hat maker who makes hats to suit each person.

Tuesday
Reader’s Theater – Little Red Riding Hood – After I told the story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, students wore costumes and acted the story out.  So fun!
Valentines Studio – Students busily finished up work on their valentines for the next day.
Wolf Communication – We learned how wolves and dogs use their ears. tails, and body posture to talk with each other.

Wednesday
Engineering – Red Riding Hood’s Zip Line Mail Delivery – Little Red wanted to send her Gramma a valentine without walking through the forest…so she made a zip line to deliver it…we just needed to construct a container to carry the card and make it to Gramma’s house.  Students used materials from the classroom to made many different containers.  See photos and video from the previous post.
Game – Minute to Win it – Stacking Valentine Hearts –  One minute to stack as many candy hearts as you can!

Valentines Hand-Out! – We had a wonderful time handing out all of our valentines 🙂

Thursday
Math – Number Sentence Stories – Animals All Together – Students practiced writing number sentences based on animal stories.
Guided Reading/Epic! app – I sat with each student and practiced reading while others in group used Epic!  Books for Kids app.
Wolf Family Portraits –  Students used oil pastels to create a family portrait if their family was a wolf pack.  Look for these charming pictures hanging in our hallway.

Friday
Red Riding Hood Versions – I read two different versions of the little red story.  We then compared and contrasted the titles, characters, and settings for each version.
Math – Intro to counting by 2s. – We began trying to count by 2s by using dot markers on a hundred chart.  We then tried to fill in all of the even numbers.  This skill typically takes longer to master.  We will keep working on it the rest of the year…but most don’t really pick it up until Kindergarten.

This has been a busy week!  We wrapped up our unit on the solar system and sent home the massive books we have been working on.  Spend some time looking them over with your child and ask them to tell you what they learned about each planet.  I was so proud of students performing on stage during the Winter Concert!  They all looked like a million bucks and sounded beautiful!

Monday is pajama day!  Lemurs earned this by independently zipping up their coats consistently every day, well done!

Next week we will have a mini one-week unit on Gifts of Kindness, focused around the story the Elves and the Shoemaker.  We will also be celebrating Chankah with preschool and Kindergarten on Tuesday.  Friday will be our Winter Classroom Party….organized by our incredible Room Parent Team.

The Lemurs also worked hard this week to create a priceless gift for a loved one.  It has been wrapped and labeled…be sure to deliver it to the lucky recipient(s)!

Small Group Treehouses This Week…

Monday
Art – Paper-Mache Astronaut Helmets – We added another layer of glue and newspaper to our helmets.
Science/Art/Writing – Space Book – Saturn – The “princess of the solar system” We learned all about this beautiful planet and it’s many rings.  We then created a page for our books.
Science – Saturns Rings – We watched this incredible video about what Saturns sparkling rings of ice look like.

Tuesday
Literacy – A Chair For My Mother – We read A Chair For My Mother by Vera B Williams.  Beautiful book about a little girl Rosa and her family who save all their change to buy their hard working mother a comfortable chair to sit in at night.  The family had lost all of their belongings in a fire.  A moving story how neighbors, friends, and family rally to together to help someone in need.
Science/Art/Writing – Space Book – Uranus – We learned how this cold, distant planet spins on its side.  We made a page for our books.
Holiday Gift – Border Drawing –  Inspired by the illustrations in A Chair For My Mother, students created a border for artwork.

Wednesday
Holiday Gift – thumbprint hearts and gift tag – We worked on gifts to give to someone we love.
Science/Art/Writing – Space Book – Neptune – We created a page for the last planet in our solar system

Thursday
Art – Paint Helmets –  We got messy painting our helmets white.
Science/Art/Writing – Space Books – Pluto – We included this dwarf planet as the final page in our books.
Holiday Gift – watercolor “I & U”

Friday
Holiday Gift – Wrap Present
Solar System Book – Final Review – We unfolded our books and took a look at all of the work we have done.  The Lemurs did so much work to make these books, I am very proud.  We learned how to fold them up accordion-style.

We wrapped up our short unit on hibernation and Monday our room will be transformed for our next big unit!  Please come inside the classroom at drop off or pick up and check it out.  Here is a clue….”Blast off to a place far, far away…”

This past Wednesday Quest participated in an all-school service day called “Immersion Day.”  Preschool-Kindergarten does not travel to service projects, rather we stay at school and do fun activities with other grades who are at school also.  This year we had a so much fun with Kindergarten and 4th grade.  See the photos from the previous post.

Monday
Math – Graduated Bear Size & Unifix Cubes – Students gathered up all of the teddy bears in our classroom and ordered them largest to smallest.  They then used Unifix cubes to create a graduated staircase.
Reader’s Theater – Goldilocks and the 3 Bears – Students took turns playing roles as we acted out the story of the Three Bears
Read-Aloud – The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett   The Lemurs loved this version of The Three Bears, in an arctic setting.  The story was similar, yet different.

Tuesday
Reader’s Theater – Goldilocks and the Three Bears – We continued acting out this story with different roles.
Engineering – Designing a New Chair for Little Bear –  Students were challenged to use index cards and tape to create a new chair for baby bear that would not break.  Students could fold the cards to create a supportive structure.  If their chair could hold a little plastic bear without the bear falling or the chair breaking, they were successful!
Read-Aloud – The Return of Goldilocks by Lisa Cambell Ernst – In this version of The Three Bears, Goldilocks returns as an adult and tries to make up for the trouble she had caused on her last visit.

Wednesday
Math – Roll and Record Nut Race – Using a chart where numbers 1 – 6 were assigned a forest animal,

students rolled a die and recorded the numbers to see who reached the acorn first.
Science/Construction – Squirrel Storage – We learned how squirrels gather food during the Fall, hiding it in various place near it’s nest.  During the Winter the suirrel remember all of the spots they hid

the food and are able to eat until Spring.  Students constructed their own squirrel storage with cardboard and then hid it somewhere in the classroom.
Read-Aloud – The Secret Life of Squirrels by Nancy Rose – This clever author was able to stage photos of squirrels doing things humans normally do. She deserves a compliment for patience!

Thursday

Literacy – Guided Reading/Epic – I sat with students one-on-one and worked on emergent reading skills at each individual level.  The waiting students used Epic!  Books for Kids app on the iPads
Math – Intro to the Pan Balance .-  Students were introduced on how to use a pan balance and were challenged to compare weights of various classroom materials.
Science – Bear Blubber Mittens – We learned that polar bears keep warm in the Arctic with a layer of blubber under their furry skin.  We made a blubber mitten by filling a ziplock with vegetable shortening and then putting another ziplock inside for our hands.  We submerged one protected and one unprotected hand in ice water and felt the difference!

Friday
No School

Monday
Literacy – 5 Ghosts Story
Math – Halloween Dot to Dots
Literacy – One Halloween Night

Tuesday
Math – Ghost Numbers
Literacy – Witch’s Pot! Recipe for Magic Potion

Wednesday
Math – November Calendar, Writing Numbers
Art – November Calendar – Turkey Handprint
Literacy – Frederick – Warm thoughts for Winter

Thursday
Literacy – Henrietta’s First Winter
Math – Pattern Block Puzzles
Art – Chipmunk Burrows

Friday
Math – Lunch Box Addition/Subtraction Game
Literacy – Bear Cave Sight Word Game

Please check your child’s red folder for their Nocturnal Creature Book, the new Show & Share calendar, Halloween Info, Math work, and our pumpkin muffin recipe!

We worked primarily this week on a classroom book and performance called “The Bats at Night.”  I am so impressed with the work that the Lemurs put into this project…top notch!  They composed sentences, illustrated pages, assisted in sewing costumes, painted sets, controlled sound effects, worked together as a team 100%.  I need to record the first and last page on Monday and then I can share with you the finished product.  Be sure to check it out!

Cold Weather Clothing!  It is starting to get cold out at recess.  Please stock your child’s cubby with a warm hat, mittens, and extra socks.  It is also a good time to make sure they have a full set of warm extra clothing.  In Pre-K we are proud of learning independence putting on and taking off outdoor clothing.  Please practice at home with your child.  Once every Lemur is able to zipper a coat by themselves (AKA “The Zipper Club”), we will have a pajama day at school to celebrate!

Monday
Science – Pumpkin Sprouts – We transplanted our pumpkin sprouts into individual cups.
Math – Yellow Bus Addition – We practiced simple addition problems…students pretended they were bus drivers picking up children for a field trip.  They rolled a die to see how many children were at the first stop and then the second stop.  Using Unifix cubes, they added together the total number of children on the bus.
Literacy – The Bats at Night – Students created a page for our book entitled, “The Bats at Night.”  Each student composed a sentence and illustrated the page, using all they have learned about nocturnal creatures.

Tuesday
Literacy – The Bats at Night – Students brainstormed how to act out their page to the story.  Who are the characters?  What is the setting?  What costumes and props do we need?  During centers, students assisted me on my sewing machine to sew costumes.
Math – Halloween Counting Stories – Mrs. Swanson read the book Two Little Witches by Harriet Ziefert.  Inspired by the story, students created their own math word problem using trick-or-treaters.

Wednesday
Literacy – The Bats at Night – Students worked together to paint sets for our story.  We continued to sew costumes.  We began practicing each scene.
Math – 3D Structures – Using toothpicks and playdoh balls, students created 3D pyramids and cubes.

Thursday
Literacy – The Bats at Night – We recorded each scene for our story.  Each student had a role in each scene.  We had actors and we had a tech crew (lights and sound effects).  The sound crew used iPads to play nocturnal sound clips, the light crew used flashlights as spotlights.
Baking – Pumpkin Muffins – Using Gramma Genovese’s recipe for pumpkin muffins, students mixed together a batter and cooked the muffins in our classroom.
Literacy – Cake Girl – One of my favorite books ever, Cake Girl by David Lucas, a beautifully illustrated story of a witch who learns how to be a good friend.

Friday
Literacy – Guided Reading/Epic! – I sat with students one on one and worked on Jelly and Bean emergent readers.  As the other students in the group waited for their turn, they used our new reading app, Epic!  Books for Kids.  This was a huge hit with the Lemurs!
Memory – The Secret Door Game – Students learned how to play the memory game The Secret Door.

I enjoyed talking with all of you over conferences.  It is such a pleasure to get to know the parents behind the children we spend the days with.  Thank you so much for your time and support!

Monday
Pumpkin Science – Using large pumpkins, students worked with a partner to conduct 3 experiments with their pumpkin
Nocturnal Creature Books – Skunks – We learned all about how and why skunks stink!
Literacy – Sassafras – We read Sassafras by Audrey Penn, about how a little skunk who feels different and rejected, learns to value his unique ability with the help of his friends.
Board Game – Skunk BINGO – We learned how to play this fun version of BINGO where woodland animals go into a log and may or may not be “skunked”

Tuesday
Nocturnal Creature Books – Fox – The fox has many creature powers!  Hearing, smell, night vision, silence, and digging.  We watched this incredible video of a fox using it’s powers to find mice hidden beneath the snow.
Math – Mr. Fox, What Time IS It? – Students counting out the hours as Mr. Fox tried to catch them
BoardGame – Outfoxed! – I highly recommend this board game, “Outfoxed“, it is a lot of fun!  Players use deductive reasoning to figure out which fox stole the pie!

Wednesday
Literacy – Guided Reading – I sat with each student and worked on sounding out skills while the rest of the group used the Letter School app.
Math – Monster Math –  Using a large number line, one student thought of a number and the other students guessed what the number was.  The student responded if the number was higher or lower by moving the monsters at the end of the number line in closer.  Students need to guess the correct number before the monster narrows in on the number.

Thursday
Nocturnal Creature Books – Luna moth – We learned about the largest and most beautiful moth of the night, the luna moth.  We watched this video of a luna moth emerging from it’s silk cocoon.
Opposite Book – Inspired by Tana Hoban’s book, Exactly the Opposite, students staged a photograph depicting an opposite.  Mrs. Swanson is compiling the photos to make another class book.

Friday
NO SCHOOL

This week we learned about the process of photosynthesis.  Plants can’t go to the supermarket, or drive-thru McDonalds!  They need to make their own food.  When leaves are green, that means they are making food and using chlorophyll.  When the Autumn comes and the plants stop making food, we see the true color of the leaves before they fall to the ground.  If you and your Lemur find any interesting leaves on the ground, bring them in for our leaf board!

Small Group Treehouses this week:

Monday
Math – Number Formation with Letter School – We practice number formation with my favorite handwriting app, Letter School.  I highly recommend you get this app for home.
Science – Introduction to Photosynthesis – We learned the secret recipe plants use to make their own food.
Science – Experiment – Removing chlorophyll from leaves –  Using a freshly picked maple leaf, we first boiled it, then submerged in a jar of rubbing alcohol.  After an hour, the chlorophyll was leeched from the leaf into the alcohol.

Tuesday

Math – Volume – Students explored volume of different sized containers with different materials, beans, sand, and rice.  

Literacy – “I Am” book – Each student got the first book for their book bags.  This book is theirs to keep.  It is a predictable reader.  Each page begins “I am” and then the name of a student in our class.  Students learned how to point to each word as they read.  (click thru for video example) This skill (One to one correspondence) is very important to practice when beginning to read.
Literacy/Science – Why Leaves Change Color –  We read 2 books that explained why leaves change color.  One book was just the facts, a non-fiction book.  The other book was a silly book that explained a creative way the leaves could have changed color.

Wednesday

Math – 10 Frames  – Students got an introduction to counting with 10 frames.
Art – How Plants Make Food – We created paper collage illustrations of how plants make food
Science – Magic School Bus “Get’s Planted” – We watched an episode of Magic School bus where Mrs. Frizzle takes her class inside of a plant to see what exactly is going on in there.

Thursday
Math – Apple Graph – We did a blind taste test of three different types of apples, caste our vote for the best tasting apple, then analyzed the data on a graph.
Literacy – The Apple Story 
Art – How Plants Make Food

Friday
Math – Sorting Leaves – Students sorted leaves by different attributes…color, size, shape
Literacy – White Board Letters – We continued practicing letter formation on white boards.  All of the vowels, plus letters b and t

We finished up our study of Madagascar and the water cycle this week.  Be sure to check your child’s backpack for their wax island and lemur book.  Ask your child to act out the water cycle for you with their little island.  Just add water and sing the water cycle song!

Small Group Work this Week:

Monday
NO SCHOOL

Tuesday
Literacy – Rhyme Time BINGO – Using Bingo cards with images, we played a version of Bingo, matching rhyming words to win.
Math – Countdown to Zero – Each student began with 10 goldfish…eating one at a time we counted down from 10 to 0
Science/Art – Lemur Book – We put the finishing touches on our Lemur Books we have been working on.

Wednesday
Literacy – Intro to Listening Center/Headphones/iPads – Students got to practice how to use the two different types of headphones we have in the class.  Once we start one on one guided reading, the rest of the group will often use headphones to listen to songs/books or use RAZ kids on the iPads.
Math – Class Counting Book – Inspired by Tana Hoban’s book, Let’s Count, the Lemurs staged photographs in our classroom to each represent a number.  The final product is being put together to make a book.  I will share the book digitally next week.

Thursday
Literacy – Sequence Cards – An excellent pre-reading skill, students arranged a sequence of images that create a narrative.  For example, a boy making pizza, or a girl getting ready for school.
Math – Sorting Buttons – Using my mother’s collection of buttons, students looked at the different attributes of the buttons and sorted them.  Buttons can be sorted many different ways.
Science – Wax Casting Islands – We transformed some green powdered wax into the island of Madagascar!  First we created a mold by wrapping our hands in foil and pressing into a tray of sand.  We then melted the wax and poured into our molds.  Once cooled, we have our own little islands.

Friday
Literacy – Whiteboard Letters – Most Fridays we will work work on letter formation on our little white boards.  We begin with the vowels, then work our way through all of the lowercase letters.  Later in the year we will move on to words and by the end of the year we will be writing sentences.
Math – Countdown Buttons – Mrs. Swanson read Pete the Cat’s Four Groovy Buttons, a favorite math story.  While she read, students removed buttons from their own paper Pete the Cat and looked at the math sentence that correlates.
Science – Water Cycle on Wax Islands – We put our islands together, added a little lemur and then made it rain.

We had a great first week getting used to the busy day of a Quest Lemur! Mrs. Swanson and I are enjoying getting to know all of our new students. I will update this blog every Saturday with photos and videos from the week as well as a description of all of small group activities that we do.
We focus on one unit or theme each month. Out first unit is “The Lemurs of the Island of Madagascar” and also the water cycle.
Next week we begin Show & Share! Please check the show and share calendar in your green folder to see when your child’s days are.

Treehouses – Small Group Activities This Week

Wednesday
School assembly – no groups

Thursday

Literacy – ABC Review – We played a game pulling letter cubes out of a bag and naming the Capital or lowercase letter. We worked together as a team to try to get the most letters we could.

Health – Washing Hands – Mrs. Swanson showed her group a close look at the germs that get onto our hands. They practiced the best way to wash their hands to get all of those germs off!

Science/Fine Motor – How the Lemurs Got to Madagascar – After telling the story of how the first lemurs were blown over to the island of Madagascar from Africa during a giant storm, we acted the story out in the classroom. Students then created a picture by cutting out Africa and Madagascar and drawing lemurs traveling over via a log.

Friday
Math – Measurement – Each student had a strip of paper of different lengths. They needed to measure their papers against each other to find the person with the same length. Afterwards, Mrs. Swanson measured each student on the tape meaure on our door. Check it out to see how tall your child is.

Drawing/Fine Motor – Ring Tailed Lemurs – We began work on our Lemur Books today. The first page in our book, was the ring tailed lemur. After learning some facts, students learned how to draw a ring tailed lemur into their book.

Science – Elephant Toothpaste – The zoo called and the elephants all have dirty tusks! They needed us to make a batch of elephant toothpaste! Following a recipe, we were able to make 2 batches. The reaction of yeast with peroxide created an explosion of toothpaste!

We began our last unit for the year…pond/wetland ecosystems.  We live in a community surrounded by lakes, ponds, rivers, and marshes.  The Lemurs will be learning how the plants, animals, and insects in this environment are all interconnected.  On May 23 we will have our field trip to the Crabtree Nature Center where a naturalist will take us for a tour of the pond and we will get to experience what we are learning first hand.   We are still looking for 2 more volunteers to come!

We also began learning about a new genre of books…mysteries!  The Lemurs LOVE mysteries!  It is a great way for them to think about problem/solution structure of stories.  We began with Inspector Hopper...a crime solving grasshopper.  And Young Cam Jansen…a series of mysteries about a young girl with a pho
tographic memory.  You can find these books at your local library…they make excellent read-alouds for this age group.

Treehouse Small Group Activities This Week

Monday
Brown Bear Book – Green frog page – Ms. Ryan is working with students to recreate the book Brown Bear Brown Bear by Eric Carle.  Each day they will work on a new page.  Today they ripeed and glues green tissue paper to make a green frog.
Intro to Beekeeping – I read students the book The Beeman by Laurie Krebs.  We discussed how bees create honey and beekeepers collect the honey to sell.  After we all tried some clover honey ourselves, students played in our playhouse that has been transformed into a beekeeper’s hut with costumes and tools.
Intro to Fishing Pond – Our climber has been transformed into a fishing pond as we begin studying wetland ecosystems.  Mrs. Swanson showed students pictures of common lake fish, such as bluegill, bass, sunfish, catfish.  Our little pond has been stocked with some pretend bluegill.  Students used fishing poles with magnets at the end to catch the fish. We have a “catch and release” policy in our pond. 🙂

Tuesday
Brown Bear Book – Purple cat page – Using purple dot markers and black pipe cleaner whiskers, students created a purple cat.
Math – Symmetry Game – Students used pattern blocks with a pattern to create symmetrical designs.
Full Body Portraits – No potato people!  We worked on drawing pictures of ourselves that included all of our body parts…head, neck, belly, shoulder, arms, legs, feet.  This is a tricky transition for pre-k students who like to draw people as potato-like circles with lines coming out.  These drawings were cut out with black paper and used in our shadow pictures hanging in the hallway.

Wednesday
Shadows and Settings – We took a short field trip to the sidewalk to say hello to our shadows.  We noticed how the sun needed to be out in order for us to see our shadow.  We then went inside and created a “setting” for our people drawings to go into.  The requirements were that we needed to include a light source like the sun, and we needed to create a ground large enough for our shadow to fir onto.  See these great pictures in the hallway.

Thursday
Book Bag Check in – Students sat with a teacher to read current books in book bags and update with new books.
Mothers Day cards – “You are my Sunshine”  Students made cards to give their mother’s on Sunday.  Our moms make us happy when we are sad…students learned how to write “Mom, I love you” inside their cards.  Many students continued to write this on many more cards and all over the whiteboard.

Friday
Brown Bear Book – Goldfish page – Students got a fine motor workout as they used orange crayons to color in the goldfish page and add orange glitter glue details.
Math – Monster Squeeze 100 – We have played this game many times this year.  Using a large number line…one student thinks of a number and the others guess the number.  The student says the number is “too high” or “too low” and moves the monsters at the end of the lines to close in the range.  Students must guess the number before the monsters close in to the number.
Pond Life – Plankton – We began creating our pond study book with the smallest creatures in the pond…phytoplankton and zooplankton.  We watched the hypnotizing video The Secret LIfe of Plankton.  Incredible videotography shows us the weird and wonderful shapes of this microscopic world.  I brought in some lake water from my backyard along with some snails. Students coulds see tiny plankton and algae swimming around as the snail vacuumed it up.

We had a wonderful time with our special friends and grandparents on Friday.  The Lemur room was packed!  We had over 30 visitors to our classroom!  Thank you to everyone for coming and playing along with BINGO and interviews.

Next week is our big show!  We spent a lot of time this week practicing our lines and song and moving around on the stage area.  We can’t wait to show you all of our hard work and collaboration.

Treehouse Small Group Activities This Week:

Monday
Performance practice – We all met in the Koala room to practice moving around in lines and how to stand still on a line.  Very tricky for pre-k!  This might be the hardest part.

Tuesday
Performance Practice – The big screw ball lifter…Everyone had a turn practicing to use our giant screw shaped ball lifter.  See previous post for photos.
Pizzeria Math – Our farm turned into a pizzeria…Students practiced adding 2 numbers together to get 10.  One child was a customer and ordered a pizza with 2 kinds of toppings adding to 10 (3 peppers and 7 pepperoni).  The pizza maker needed to make a felt pizza with exactly those 10 ingredients.
Brown Bear Book – Students worked on more pages for their Brown Bear Book they are making with Ms. Ryan

Wednesday
Performance Practice – We practiced our songs and decided to drop one song!  We love Twist and Shout but we felt like it was too much.

Thursday
Performance Practice – Each team practiced their lines together
Book Bag Check-in – Students read a book from their book bag and books were updated
Pizza Pie Chart – Students created a “pizza pie” chart…they first made a tally count of how what kind of pizza was their favorite.  They then turned that data into a bar chart.  They then turned that data into a pie chart.

Friday
Grandparents and Special Friends! – We did 2 treehouses with our visitors 🙂
BINGO
Interview questions

A HUGE thank you to Mr. Eisfeldt who prepared an incredible presentation for the Lemurs about farming.  Mr. Eisfeldt works for Case Agriculture who makes massive farm machinery.  He also brought in fantastic coloring/activity books for each student to take home and a very cool CASE model tractor that is already the most popular toy in the classroom.  Look for photos in a previous post.

We learned all about yeast this week as we made some bread from scratch.  Like the chemical reaction we created with volcanoes, we created a chemical reaction by feeding dry yeast some warm sweet soup (warm milk and honey).  This made the yeast bubble up and expand, allowing our bread rolls to raise up in the oven.

Treehouse Small Group Activities This Week:

Monday
Writing – How to Harvest Wheat Book – We finsihed up our writing project, creating a “How to” book for harvest wheat.  The finished books are hanging up in the classroom.
Math – Game – Harvest Time – Students learned how to play a new cooperative game, Harvest Time.  Students worked together to plant seeds before Fall came and then harvest crops before Winter came.
Performance – Scenery Painting/Practice – Students painted green leaf scenery for our performance.  I worked with partners to practice lines.

Tuesday
Reading – Sight Word BINGO – Ms. Ryan helped student practice high frequency words with a fun game of BINGO
Math – Rainbow Dice– Students rolled dice and added the sum to color in on a rainbow sheet.
Performance – Props – Students practiced using their props for the show

Wednesday
Science – Baking Bread – We all baked bread together and enjoyed the results with butter and honey!  I included the recipe for “kitty rolls” in your red folders.

Thursday
Reading – Book Bag Check-in – Ms. Ryan read book bag books with each student and updated with new books.
Math – Rainbow Tens – We began learning about numbers that add up to ten.  We used a rainbow to see the connections.
Performance – Practice Lines – Students practiced lines for the performance.

We began a new unit this week to study farming and farm machinery!  Our climber was transformed into a “functioning” combine tractor and our playhouse is now a big red farm stand.  The Lemurs had a lot of fun pretending to harvest wheat during center time.

We learned to appreciate how farm machines like combines make farming so much easier.  We processed some real cut wheat by hand.  We  removed the grains from the stalk by beating the wheat with a block.  Then we separated the wheat berries from the husks by “winnowing” the grains with a fan.  The husks are lighter than the berries.  So when poured slowly in front of a fan, the husks blow away while the wheat berries fall to the ground.  We then grinded the wheat berries with bricks, producing a small amount of flour.  We used the flour we made to make some play-doh…the recipe called for 5 cups of flour, so we needed to supplement with store-bought flour!

Treehouse Small Group Activities This Week:

Monday
Reading – Clik, Clack, Moo – Ms. Ryan read student Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin.  Students then used letter tiles to create their own words.
Math – Farm Stand Addition – $1 – All of the fruit and vegetables at the farm stand were priced as $1, $2, or $3.  Students were given 10 $1 felt bills and a shopping basket.  They needed to use their addition skills to spend their $10.
Science – How a combine work – Working together as a team, students learned how to work our climber combine.  One student fed pom pom wheat into the front header, another pulls all of the wheat inside, another filled a bucket with the wheat, another pulled the bucket up by a pulley, another poured the wheat down the chute into a wheel barrel.

Tuesday
Reading – Independent Literacy Folders – Preparing for independent work in Kindergarten, students learned how to use literacy folder games to work on alone or with a partner.
Math – Farm Stand Addition – $10 – Today all of the fruit and vegetables at the farm stand was priced as $10.  Each Lemur was given 10 $10 felt bills to go shopping.
Science – Harvesting Wheat by Hand – Threshing

Wednesday
Reading – Word Rings – Students reviewed words on their word rings
Math – Farm Stand Addition – $5 – Today all of the food was priced as $5 and students were given 10 $5 felt bills to go shopping.
Science – Harvesting Wheat by Hand – Grinding

Thursday
Reading – Book Bag Check-In – Students read the books in their book bags with a teacher and bags were updated.
Science -Making Play-doh and Mixing Rainbow Colors  – After making a large batch of play-doh, we divided the dough into 3 balls and dyed one red, one blue, and one yellow (primary colors).  Each child was given a small ball of each primary color and then used them to mix secondary colors.  Resulting in a nice rainbow of colors to take home 🙂
Writing – How To Harvest Wheat Book – Students began to create a “how to” book sequencing the steps to harvest wheat by hand.

This week was short but it was full!  We welcomed Ms. Ryan to our class as our new assistant teacher.  We saw the incredible K-2nd grade musical in the gym, “The Gingerbread Man Meets the…”  It was such a great show.  We had a creativity explosion in the Lemur Room on Friday as we created homes for our dragon puppets.  Thank you so much to the parents who came and helped us…we really put you to work!   The Lemurs created beautiful habitats, ready to take home on Monday.  We tried to catch ourselves a leprechaun on Saint Patrick’s Day.  Although the Lemurs created 3 very clever traps, the leprechaun was able to escape all three.  He left us a note and a golden treat and inspiration to create an even better trap next year!

This coming Wednesday is our field trip to iFly.  Please be sure to pack a disposable lunch and water bottle.

Small Group Treehouse Activities This Week:

Monday
No School

Tuesday
Simple Machines – We bagan working on our simple machine books, starting with the lever
Science – Corn Planting – Our corn sprouts were tall enough to replant into a larger planter.  Students helped to replant the sprouts, water and then journal their observations.
Reading – In anticipation of the K-2nd musical, students researched the characters and settings of all the stories represented in the play…The Gingerbread Man, The Three Little Kittens, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Billy Goats, Chicken Little, Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Wednesday
K-2nd Musical

Thursday
Guided Reading – Students met individually with Ms. Ryan and read books in their book bags, bags were updated.  The rest of the group listened to books on RAZ kids.
Construction – Leprechaun Traps – Groups worked together to brainstorm ideas to catch themselves a leprechaun.  I was so impressed with the incredible teamwork and inventiveness!
Math -BINGO – Students practiced number recognition with a fun, old fashioned game of BINGO

Friday
Dragon Habitats!

Treehouse Small Group Activities This Week:

Monday
Engineering – Lift & Drag – The Young Wright Brothers’ toy plane
Researchers – The Wright Brothers Video
Science/Art – Rainforest Books – The Forest Floor

Tuesday
Reading – Jaguar
Math – Pasted 100 charts
Science – Paper airplane

Wednesday
Reading – Guided Reading
Math – February Calendar – Numbers
Art – February Calendar – Artwork

Thursday
Reading – Rosie Revere, Engineer
Game – The Black Banana
Science/Art – Rainforest Books

Friday
Reading – Sight Word BINGO
Writing – Whiteboard Letters/Words
Science/Art – Leaf Cutter Ants

We had many parents and family members come visit Music and Drama during Informance week, the children enjoyed seeing you at school.  If you were not able to come, check out the previous post for videos from Drama class.  The incredible Mrs. Armentrout had the Lemurs perform an opera…”Who Will Eat This Soup!”

Next Thursday night is Dr. Kirkland’s “State of the School” and also Move-Up Night.  I hope you are able to come, it is a great opportunity to peek inside Kindergarten.  Students and parents can see what to expect next year and also get to know the fabulous Kindergarten teachers.

Small Group Treehouse Activities This Week:

Monday
Science/Art: Rainforest Book – The Canopy -First we learned about howlers monkeys, who are able to form their mouths into megaphones to communicate with each other.  After making a howler monkey for our rainforest books, we did an experiment with a real tropical leaf to test it’s “drip tip.”  Large tropical leaves share rain water with leaves below them by directing water from their tip.  Click on the photo to see a video clip:
Math: Clear the Board– Students practice addition by playing a game, rolling and adding dice together.  They needed to clear their game board of markers on each number to win the game.
Science/Art:Blue Morpho Butterflies – Mrs. Kirsh introduced students to the beautiful iridescent blue butterfly of the rainforest, the blue morpho.  This day students painted the shiny blue symmetrical side of the butterfly.

Tuesday
Reading: Intro to Raz Kids app – Students were walked through using a new reading app on our ipads, Razkids.  This is a leveled reader program used in many schools.  Our Kindergarten and first grade classes are also using Raz-kids.   Today Lemurs learned how to navigate the app, selecting and listening to books.  We will use this app more as the year goes on.
Reading: Verdi – Reading Comprehension -Mrs. Swanson read her group the wonderful book, Verdi by Janell Cannon.  Verdi is about a young tree python in the rainforest who notices that the older, greener tree pythons are big and slow and just sit in the tree all day.  Verdi does not want to be like the big slow snakes.  He likes being fast and having fun.  A careless accident forces Verdi to recover motionless and he sees things from a different point of view.
Science/Art: Blue Morpho Butterfly – Students painted the brown side of their butterfly today with beautiful symmetrical patterns.  You can see these gorgeous creations flying in our hallway.

Wednesday
Writing: Verdi – Compare and Contrast – As a large group, we brainstormed ways that the young snakes and old snakes are different and are the same.  Then students worked on their own to complete two sentences, “The young snake is”  and “The grown up snake is.”  You can see this working hanging in the hallway.

Thursday
Reading: The Shaman’s Apprentice – We learned about researchers who live in rainforest villages and use plants growing there to help heal people.  Most modern medicine originates from plants grown in the rainforest.  Students heard the story, The Shaman’s Apprentice by Lynne Cherry, about a shaman who learns to believe in himself and his value to his village.
Math: Geoboard Shapes – Students used fine motor skills and shape knowledge to recreate 2d shapes on a geoboard using rubber bands.
Science/Art:Tree Python Patterns – Students carefully studied the patterns on yellow and green tree pythons and then used oil pastels to replicate the patterns on paper snakes.

Friday
Writing: Whiteboard letters & Words – Students worked on letter formation and word building on little white boards.
Game: Mastermind – Mrs. Kirsh taught students how to play the super fun game Mastermind.  One person creates a secret color code and the other(s) try to break the code by creating patterns and getting feedback from the code maker.
Science: Mint Tea Party – Like the shaman in the rainforest, we investigated mint leaves, smelling them, ripping them, making observation drawings in our notebooks.  We learned that some people eat mint to help with a belly ache.  We steeped some mint leaves in hot water to make a “tea.”