We had a marvelous time this week learning about Fall and apples.
For circle this week, we sang a new song about an apple farmer. It goes like this:
Was a farmer, had a tree
with apples big and red
A-P-P-L-E, A-P-P-L-E, A-P-P-L-E
apples big and red
We stuck the letters for this song in our pocket chart so we could point to them as we sing.
In Group
We also worked on the first letter of our name by using playdough with letter mats. Preschoolers learned how to roll the dough into little snakes and place them on a letter mat. We used the first letter of our name first, then chose other letters that we were interested in.
We played another counting game which was actually a math story. It went like this:
The squirrel gathered 7 acorns.
He dropped 3.
How many acorns did he have left?
We changed the number 3 to represent many different amounts that the squirrel could drop. We had little acorn pictures which we could move about inside a pocket chart to make for easy counting! I kept telling preschoolers that this is the type of game kindergarteners play! They were quite proud to be playing such an advanced game. For some students this helped with counting, and for others, it helped them to be able to look at a group of objects and rattle off how many in the group there was without even counting. It fit all levels and each child got just what they needed from the lesson.
Brown pain, brown paint and more brown paint was used during Group Time to paint our hallway tree trunks. These tree trunks will stay for the year and change with the seasons. Right now there is one family tree for the AM class and one family tree for the PM class. They are currently displaying fall colored leaves. I wonder what we do with our trees in the winter? Stay tuned!
We tried a new approach to choice time. I am usually a "all areas are open" kind of gal, however I noticed that so many preschoolers are choosing the same choice spot over and over again. I want to develop our skills in all areas and open some new doors. So, this is what we tried. We only opened four centers in the room for the week. They were, Block Area, Art Center, Writing Center, and Math Manipulatives. I was so pleasantly surprised by the amount of constructive play that took place! Usually the Block Area is overrun with the boys in the classroom, but this week, many girls were busily building in block area and soaking up some of the wonderful skills learned in that area of the room. I think we will continue with this new system and see what else develops as a result. Next week, we will choose different centers to have open for the week.
Preschool screening will take place on October 15th, 16th, and 17th at Sunderland Elementary School.
Preschool screening is a time when students are taken out of the classroom to be assessed in the following areas: Large Motor, Fine Motor, Counting, Color Recognition, Other Academic Areas, and Speech. The goal of preschool screening is to find any preschooler needing additional support and to better guide our instruction of each student. I will be out of the classroom on those days as I run a portion of the screening.
Miss Kate is currently working in another area of the building. She will be returning to our classroom, however we are unsure when that will be. In the meantime, parent to teacher communication is always welcomed should your preschooler have any questions or concerns about Kate being out. I know sometimes having a substitute can be difficult on little ones, so please let me know if that seems to be the case in your home. Also, the week of preschool screenings may be particularly difficult as both myself and Kate will be out of the room and their will be two substitutes present. Thanks in advance for your help and understanding as we roll with the punches!
I'm looking forward to continuing our Fall unit next week.
Thanks,
Mrs. Reid
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