Dress up clothes

So on Sunday, I went to Wal-Mart and bought three half price Halloween costumes for the students to play with in the dramatic play center.  They were a HUGE hit!  The girls were having so much fun dressing up. Today they were Trick or Treating again. :)  Since the students liked them so much, I went back to Wal-Mart today and their Halloween costumes were 75% off!!!  Let's just say I found as many costumes as I could and the students are going to be very excited!  I think I found five, Alice in Wonderland, a cat, a sailor girl, a Hobbit, and one I can't remember off the top of my head.  Pretend play is very important for young children and they are learning so many skills while they are playing, from social/emotional skills to academic skills.

Reminders

No school this Friday November 8th.

No school next Monday November 11th.

November Scholastic Book Orders are due Tuesday November 12th by 12:00 noon.

Friday

The students participated in several learning activities today.  This morning, the students colored a hay wagon paper.  By doing so, they practiced their coloring skills, strengthened their fine motor skills, and reviewed the colors.  Later in the afternoon, they ripped up sheets of yellow paper to make "hay" and glued them to the wagon  to make a hay wagon.  This led to a great discussion and students were talking about taking a ride in a hay wagon.

The last two weeks, we have been reading the story "5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate" and learning the motions for the finger play.  The students created a fun picture of five pumpkins sitting on a gate.  The projects were very cute!

Ours look similar to these!




I found the project on Pinterest! During this project, they practiced gluing skills, counting skills, and direction following skills.

Both classes had the chance to work on the computer this week.  I sat down with small groups of students and showed them how to use the computer and work the mouse.  We played educational games on sesamestreet.org.  The games focused on decision making skills, counting, and using fine motor skills to move the mouse and click the button.  Today's class also read and discussed a digital copy of "My Big World with Clifford" from Scholastic.  We talked about fall, signs of fall, counted to five, number identification, color identification, and reviewed the life cycle of a pumpkin.  Keep looking back for pictures!

Fall Festival

Wednesday and Thursday was our Fall Festival!  All of the students had a blast!  We provided a variety of activities  for the students.

Pin the worm on the apple

Sticky spider web

Drop the clothes pin in the pumpkin

Toss the bean bag in the pumpkin

Pumpkin decorating

Find the spider ring in the sensory table

Spin art painting

Face Painting

Eat a doughnut on a string without using your hands

We had popcorn and juice for snack and the students listened to the story "The Little Old Lady who Wasn't Afraid of Anything."  Thank you again to all the parents and grandparents who came to spend the afternoon with child.

Wednesday and Thursday

These two days were jam packed with more fun and learning!  Fall leaves, pumpkins, and apples littered the floor! :)  Every once in a while, they even fluttered down from the sky!

Also bought something new for the classroom.  Got a two sets of lacing cards at the teacher store in Lima. They are pictures of baby animals, farm and zoo, and each of the holes are numbered so the students can practice counting and number identification.  Plus, they were on sale! :D  When they complete the lacing card, they have to find the card of the baby's mommy.  Thanks to Mrs.Highley for telling me about them!

Here are the final pictures of the Indian Corn.  I had to throw it away at the beginning of the week.  It was looking pretty rough.  The students were sad to see it go since they loved looking at it everyday.

H was our letter of the week and H is also for Halloween!  The students took letter H shaped sponged dipped in paint and stamped them on black paper.  Here are a few of the student projects!

The pumpkin plants in our pumpkin continue to grow!  They really grew over the week and the kids love observing it.  Unfortunately, I don't think the pumpkin will last much longer.  I am hopping the sun will come out over the weekend so the plants can grow some more before it needs to be pitched.

The water marbles continue to be a HUGE hit!  I think we will definitely use them again over the winter and add them to the water table.  These are by far one of my best Dollar Tree finds!  Judy Brewer would be so proud of me!!!  :D  The students can't get enough!

We have ended our pumpkin life cycle unit and Halloween unit.  Next week, we start our Thanksgiving unit and continue to explore all things about fall and November.  The hand print turkey bulletin board was finished today and more Thanksgiving displays are in progress.  

This week!

I am in the process of uploading pictures and writing the posts for the rest of the activities we did this week.  Wednesday and Thursdays posts will be up shortly.  Friday's pictures will have to wait.  I forgot the camera at home and was unable to take pictures today. :( I was uploading stuff last night.  Not to worry!  I will post an overview of our jam packed Friday later this evening and pictures will follow either later this weekend or on Monday night.  Keep checking back for updates!  Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

Friday Favorites: week 6

This weeks Friday Favorites post is about one of my favorite blogs,  Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas.

http://www.momto2poshlildivas.com/

She is an early childhood teacher, mom, and blogger.  She posts LOTS of great art projects, activities, and book selections. (I pin her stuff ALL the time on Pinterest! :) ) All of these things can be used in the classroom AND at home.  She is always posting party ideas and recently posted about Halloween and a Monsters University Party.  She is also on Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook.  All the links are on her blog.