Wow – What a busy first week we had getting to know one another!  The children were super busy this week, getting to know the flow of the schedule, the different interest areas in the classrooms and even the expectations of behavior during the different aspects of the day.

Each day we have built upon the number of jobs the children have completed throughout the day.  Although we did the Pledge and did calendar each day, today we finally got all of the large group jobs accomplished – doing our Sun Salutation to welcome the day,  the Pledge, singing God Bless America and doing both the calendar and the weather.  During calendar time, the calendar helper points to the days of the week, the month and the year.  They identify the numbers in the date and count from one to the current date, pointing as they go.  They also help to spell the day aloud and then trace the name of the day of the week.  The weather helper looks out the window and identifies what they see occurring in the sky.  They pick the words/pictures that reflect those choices, spell the and trace the word in written form.  Each day those jobs rotate, and so far the children have enjoyed leading the class through these tasks.

Throughout our learning times this week we have focused on some fun literature pieces – THE KISSING HAND, IF YOU BRING A MOUSE TO SCHOOL and GO AWAY BIG GREEN MONSTER.  We identified emotions from the kissing hand and followed directions to assemble a Raccoon Chester.  We created a paper bag mouse and dictated words about what our mice would bring to school as well as cut and sequenced parts of the story and re-created a scene from the story IF YOU BRING A MOUSE TO SCHOOL.  Finally, we followed verbal and physical directions to created a copy of the GREEN MONSTER, learning to open and close glue bottles, how to “dot, dot, not allot” while making our  creations.  We also painted/glued our own original paper plate versions of a monster and even attempted to draw and dictate facts about our monsters.  We played a matching game with monster cards and identified if pictures were the same and different.

This week I spent allot of time getting to know the children and both their interests and their skill sets.  I have done 1:1 work and learned each child’s writing and cutting abilities and am learning each child’s ability to identify letters and numbers as well as their ability to listen to and follow directions.

Lots of arts and games…..lots of singing….lots of fun.

I can’t wait until next week!