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.

Happy Thanksgiving!

During Morning Meeting, we read What's Love by Shelley Rotner and Deborah Carlin. We sang A Turkey Is A Special Bird and  If You Are Happy and You Know It. Then we made mashed potatoes for our Thanksgiving feast. When we were finished cooking, the children went to the dramatic play kitchen and pretended to have their own feast. Nico put the table cloth on the table. Lili then set the table with plates and silverware. Harry got the food ready to make dinner. Brandon took pictures with his camera. "We are getting ready for the big feast!" they said with excitement.

After Free Play, we had French with Deborah. She read us The Little Bears and we sang songs. Then parents and siblings joined us for our annual Buckle My Shoe Thanksgiving feast. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

"So Happy Together!"

After Hudson's Mommy left, Hudson said "I am so happy to be at Buckle My Shoe today!" Then Brandon and Hudson worked together with play dough each making their own instrument:

Brandon: "I try to make a guitar. I make strings."

Hudson: "I'm making a heart drums set."

At Morning Meeting, The Sweet Peas class sang Happy Birthday to Jenny, If You Are Happy and You know It, and Old McDonald Had a Band with Hudson on guitar (strum, strum), Brandon on cymbals (TSK!, TSK!) and Max on saxophone (doo, doo, doo). We read What's Love by Shelley Rotner and Deborah Carlin. We revisited the comments the children shared with us about what makes them happy.Then we talked about how Thanksgiving is a holiday where we have a BIG feast with our families and friends say "Thank you" and "I love you" to the special people we love.

We celebrated Jenny's birthday with a delicious fruit salad. Then it was straight to the chef's station to make our delicious berry fruit cobbler for the BMS Thanksgiving feast tomorrow. During Free Play, we played in the sandbox and drove to the park in the school bus. We sang The Wheels On the Bus the whole way there . and made sure to take lots of pictures. Before lunch we played instruments along to Happy Together by The Turtles. What a terrific day! Thanks for making Jenny's birthday so special! 

Cold and Cornbread

Morning Meeting we greeted each other and sang A Turkey Is A Special Bird. Nico shared her train with the class. The children passed it around the circle. Here is what they said:

Jacob: "Nico's train. It has three wheels."

Lili: "Nico's train is special."

We talked about Thanksgiving and asked the children what they know about the holiday:

Nico: " I love sweet potatoes!"

Lili: "I like apples."

Scarlett: "Hm...spinach."

Brandon: "Fish."
We also dicussed how Thanksgiving is a special holiday that we say a very special "Thank You" to all of the people we love and love us by coming together to celebrate with a special feast. We also talked about how we are having a big feast together with the Sunflowers and Daisies classes in school. Then we made delicious cornbread for the school feast on Wednesday!

After we made cornbread, the children experimented with oil, water, and watercolor ice cubes. The children investigated it with their hands. "It's cold", said Jamie. "It's cool!" said Nico. During Free Play, Scarlett, Lili,and Nico pretended to be teachers by reading to the class and singing Who' At Buckle My Shoe Today? Brandon and Jamie read books. Jacob played in the sandbox and Harry made "dinner" in the kitchen. During lunch Lili, picked out Where The Wild Things Are? by Maurice Sendak for us to read. At Goodbye Circle, we sang 5 Little Pumpkins, A Turkey Is A Special Bird, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Sambalae.

"Because It Wants To Go On A Bear Hunt. It Wants To Go Back."

Our morning began with Lili and Harry making "cookies" together with play dough. Brandon ran into the classroom excited to share with us his subway experience: "The train went really fast. It has wheels!" Lili and Jamie worked on their "thankful leaf" for our "friendship tree". As the children were busy working, Jenny went around and asked: "What makes you happy?" Here is what the children said:

Harry: "Some dinner makes me happy. I like hamburgers without tomatoes."

Lili: " Mama makes me happy."

Brandon: "I play with Annie and Grandma."

Jamie: "I play with Mama."

Nico: "My mommy."

During Morning Meeting we read Going On A Bear Hunt by Helen Roxenbury and Michael Rosen. As Jenny read the children read with her, "We have got to go through it." Nico commented," There are a lot of trees in the forest." Then she made her fingers walk of the train table. "Look Jenny! I am walking through the forest!" Then we got to the page with the bear. 

Jenny: "How does the bear look?"

Nico: "Enormous."

Brandon: "It's a big beer."

Harry: "Good."

Lili: "Good."

Jamie: "Enormous."

When we got to the last page of the book Nico said, " The bear is so sad."

Jenny: "Why is the bear sad?"

Lili: "Because it wants to go on a bear hunt. It wants to go back."

During Yoga, Lakshmi read My Daddy Is a Pretzel by Baron Baptiste. The children made all sorts of movements and poses as they turned their bodies into triangles, trees, dog, cat, cow, airplane, and pretzels. For Free Play, the children explored played at the train table and worked on their November Self Portraits. Ava and Sasha from the Sunflowers' class came to visit and Ava read Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak to the Sweet Peas class.