A BIG Thank You to Jaya and Going On a Dragon Hunt

The children entered the classroom excited about the snowy day. Brandon and Max worked together with the new gears from Brandon. Then the children added water using droppers to Insta-Snow.

This morning we had a very special visitor! Jaya, Hudson's sister, joined us for Morning Meeting. She read Pete the Cat. We sang Old MacDonald Had A Band. Jaya shared with us the weather song she sings in her first grade. 

After Morning Meeting, the children decorated a picture frame for Grandpa Barys for the holidays. We listened to The Imagination Workshop and went on a subway train ride on the rug with chairs. Then we took out our flashlights and put on our dragon hunting boots to go on a dragon hunt! When we returned, we painted with pine tree branches and pine cones. Before lunch, we sang Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Winter Wonderland, Frosty the Snowman, and Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.

We concluded our morning by turning off the lights, lying on the pillows and watching the snow fall.

"It's Naked!"

This morning we were so excited to see the new toys and puzzles from Brandon! At one point this morning every child came over to play with one of the new puzzles.

During morning meeting, we sang good morning songs and talked about what everyone did over the weekend. Then, we mentioned the friendship tree and Harry said "It's naked." We talked about how we would like to decorate it and Nico suggested, "It's needs a diamond wreath."

After morning meeting, we had music with Evan and he played a song where the children had to look around the classroom for a missing brown dog.

While Jenny worked with Nico, Lili and Scarlett on self-portraits, the rest of the Sweet Peas painted individual pictures with pinecones and were excited to add sparkles.  When the Bear Hunt song came on, Nico and Scarlett went on a bear hunt in which they were also required to go to work and have lunch.

We were lucky to have Harry's mom, Erica, join us and read The Belly Button by Sandra Boyton and The Blue Truck by Alice Shertle. Thank you for coming in to read!

 

 

 

The More We Get Together

At Morning Meeting, we sang Who's At Buckle My Shoe Today? and There Are Seven Days In A Week. Harry knew that today is Friday and we sang Today Is Friday All Day Long. We counted how many friends were in school (6) and how many friends were at home (3). Then we went over our daily schedule. 

At snack, Sandra read When I'm Feeling Happy by Tracie Moroney and Who Stole The Cookie From The Cookie Jar illustrated by Christine Schneider. When we were finished eating, Jamie, Brandon, and Harry worked with Jenny on their self-portraits and joined Jacob in the sandbox. Nico and Lili dressed up in the dramatic play area and went off to work. "Lili, we have to make sure we give Jenny a kiss before we go," Nico told Lili. After they each gave Jenny a kiss on the cheek, the girls drove off to work in their car.

After Yoga, we had Project Work and the children painted with pine tree branches. When they were finished painting, the children worked at the table and built with the magnet tiles. Before lunch, we sang The Itsy Bitsy Spider and The More We Get Together. What a great day!

If You Are Happy And You Know It...

After exploring the Sunflowers' and Daisies' classrooms, we had our Morning Meeting. We sang Old McDonald Had A Band with our instruments, Who's At Buckle My Shoe Today? and counted how many friends were in school and at home. Next, we sang There Are Seven Days In A Week and Today Is Thursday All Long. We talked more about Hanukkah and each child took turns lighting the candle for the eighth day.

Brandon's mom, Trish, joined us for part of the morning. She read Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and David Smells by David Shannon. Next, the children made holiday ornaments using cookie cutters and Model Magic. When they were finished, Scarlett went on a bear hunt while Max, Brandon, and Hudson played together in the sandbox. Then we went for a walk. We saw a fire truck, an excavator, and a very big construction drill. On the way back to school, Brandon noticed a police car. We waved to the police officers and they back waved at us. They also beeped their horn. The children were very excited!

When we returned back to the classroom, we sang Old McDonald Had A Farm and A Sailor Went To Sea. During lunch, we read If You Are Happy And You Know It A Sing-Along Action Book by Jane Cabrera. We sang quietly as we ate. After lunch, the children took turns singing in the microphone. Brandon sang Hello to Harry, Hudson sang Gangnam Style, and Max sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. We had such a delightful morning!

Time To Get The Tree!

Harry, Nico, and Lili began their morning cutting with scissors while Brandon and Jamie practiced spinning dreidels. At Morning Meeting, we read Eight Chanukah Lights and each child took turns lighting our class Menorah. During snack, we Poems to Read to the Very Young. The class giggled as we repeated Fuzzy Wuzzy Was A Bear together and thought it was so funny!

Then we sang Dreidel, Dreidel as the children took turns spinning the wooden dreidel and the big blue dreidel. The children painted with dreidels by dipping them into paint and spinning them on white paper. During Free Play, Harry, Jamie, Lili, and Brandon dug in the sandbox while Nico and Scarlett went on a bear hunt. 

After French with Deborah, we went together with the Sunflower and Daisy classes to get our Holiday Tree! We collected branches to transform our Fall tree in the classroom into a Holiday Tree.

 

Look! I See His Shadow!

At Morning Meeting, we sang Old McDonald Had A Band with our instruments and Hudson shared his string instrument cards from his trip to NY Philharmonic Very Young People's Concert. Then we read Eight Chanukah Nights by Annie Auerbach and sang Dreidel, Dreidel and Oh Hanukkah. We looked at the our class Menorah and decided to decorate the shamash, the helper candle, pink. 

At Free Play, the children painted with dreidels by dipping the dreidels in paint and spinning them on white paper. Then Max, Brandon, and Scarlett worked together in the block area while Hudson played in the kitchen. Scarlett went on a bear hunt making sure she packed everything she needed before she left including her camera.

We enjoyed the beautiful day by going for a walk. The children saw lots of trucks, a fire engine, and a cement mixer. Scarlett was especially excited when she noticed Hudson's shadow. When we got back into the classroom we read Bear Shadow by Frank Asch and sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

Let's Make The Menorah!

We began our morning reading Going On A Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury to help the children ease into the morning back after Thanksgiving break. Jenny read the story and together the children shouted, "Oh no! We've got to got through it!" Then we sang Who's At Buckle My Shoe Today? and  Dreidel, Dreidel.  Harry was beaming with excitement when we finished singing and shared: 

"I love that song. It's my favorite song. I light the Menorah and then sing a different song. I love the Dreidel song. I want to sing the Dreidel song again?" 

And so we did, but this time each child had a turn spinning the dreidel on the table.

After snack we read, Eight Chanukah Lights by Annie Auerbach. Then we planned how to make our class Menorah using cardboard and eight toilet paper roll for each candle. We  also chose what colors we to paint it: sparkly blue and purple. After Music, the children spent a lot of time painting the Menorah while listening to Hanukkah songs as they worked. When they were all finished, we danced and sang to We Are The Dinosaurs by The Laurie Berkner Band and sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Shoe Fly, and Bumpin' Up Down In My Little "Blue" Wagon.