Halloween!

Theme: Halloween 

Social Learning Goal: Inviting friends in play 
Academic Learning Goal: AB/ABC Patterns, sorting by color, letter 'H/h' 
Spanish: amarillo (yellow), gracias (thank you)

Books:
Haunted Party by Iza Trapanni
10 Trick-or-Treaters A Halloween Counting Book by Janet Schulman
My Mama Says There Aren't Any Zombies, Ghosts, Vampires, Creatures, Demons, Monsters, Fiends, Goblins, or Things by Judith Viorst
The Graves Family by Patricia Polacco 
Arthur's Halloween by Marc Brown
There's No Such Thing as Ghosts! by Emmanuelle Eeckhout
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams

We are having a Halloween party this Thursday from 10:15-11:15. Please join us in your favorite costumes (parents too) for trick-or-treating fun, games, and treats at school. If your child is staying all day, please send an extra chance of clothes for after our party ends. If your kiddo doesn't come to school on Thursday, please don't hesitate to join us! There is a sign up sheet for treats, etc in the walkway, check that for sign ups. Looking forward to it! 


Ariann's Project: Lollipop ghosts, AB/ABC patterns, halloween memory, halloween songs

Julies' Project: AB patterns, counting spiders
Karla's Project: Clothes pin bats

Montana Animals Week 2

Theme: Montana Animals 

Social Learning Goal: Appropriately expressing feelings 
Academic Learning Goal: Letter 'm' and 'a' recognition and sounds, #1-10 recognition, beginning sounds in 'm' and 'a' words, AB/ABA patterns 
Spanish: anaranjado (orange), por favor (please), gracias (thank you) 


Books: 
Who Grow Up in the Forest? By Theresa Longenecker 
Thanks to the Animals by Allen Sockabasin 
Lost in the Woods By Carl R. Sams II
Ten in the Meadow by John Butler 
Let's Play in the Forest by Claudia Rueda 


Ariann's Project: 
Brown Bear Masks
AB patterning 


Julie's Project: Montana animal bingo
Karla's Project: Clay porcupines 

We will be taking a field trip to the Museum of Natural History on Friday, October 22nd. We will be leaving school at 9:25, so if you would like to join us, please be here then. We are taking the Mountain Lion bus, and we will return back to school around 11:45. We would love to have parents come along. I won't be able to go, so having a few extra hands would be great! It should be a great trip, and they are looking forward to having us. If you are interested, leave me a post on the blog, email me, or talk to me at school. 


Looking forward to another great week at school! I am really working with your kiddos on expressing themselves in healthy ways and talking through their problems with each other (and not tattling). At school, when someone is doing something that we don't like I have asked them to say to one another, "what you are doing is hurting my feelings" and then to have the person respond with, "I am sorry, and I won't do it again." This is great language to use, and could be something to use at home with your children. We are also working on expressing our feelings without crying, and using our words. Also something you could work on with your child at home. It is important for your child to be able to express their feelings, and "use their words" to explain and describe how they are feeling. 


Parent-Teacher Conferences this week! Looking forward to meeting with all of you to discuss your child.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

I will be putting sign up sheets for conferences in the entryway. They will begin on Monday, October 18th- and will continue until Friday, October 22. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to have time to talk to  me about your child and how they are doing at school. You will have the opportunity to discuss any concerns you have, look over your child's assessments, and then set goals for your child this year. 

If none of the conferences times work for you, please let me know and I will find a way to work around your schedule. Either send me an email ariannhess@gmail.com, leave a post on the blog, or talk to me at school. Thank you!

Montana Animals

This week and next week we are talking about Montana Animals. A fiel trip to the Museum of Natural History will most likely be taking place next week-- I will keep parents posted, and again, would enjoy parent volunteers!

Parent-Teacher conferences will begin next week (Tuesday). I will put up a sign up sheet today, or tomorrow for parents to schedule a time to meet with me. The meetings will last 30 minutes, and it will be a one-on-one with me. Looking forward to them!

Theme: Montana Animals
Social Learning Goal: Sorting by size, #1-10 recognition, letter 'm' sounds/recognition
Academic Learning Goal: Expressing feelings
Spanish: negro (black), el libro (book)

Books:
The Treck by Ann Jonas
Never Smile at a Monkey by Steve Jenkins
Duck Rabbit  Amy Krose Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld
Jackalope by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Grummel

Ariann's Project:
Bear graphing/counting
popcorn sheep

Julie's Project: Decorative grizzly bears
Karla's Project: "Goldilocks and the three bears" (acting out with props)

It has been a great morning, so far! More pictures to come tomorrow of Karla's readers theatre! 

Community Helpers Week

We have had a great morning, and done some wonderful arts and crafts, and dramatic play! We have been working on rules for fire safety. Please review these with your child.

• What do you do when there is a fire? Leave the house and go to your safe spot
• What do you dow when there is smoke in your house? Stop, drop, and crawl (ask to see hand movements) 
• Where is the safe spot for your family during a fire? 
• What number can they call in case of an emergency? 

I have attached a link to my blog from the preschool classroom link on the missoulachildrenscenter.com website.


Our field trip to the fire station was a huge success today! Thank you to the parents who came along. We had a wonderful time, and learned a lot! The children asked great questions, and it was a beautiful day for a field trip!

First Few Weeks

These are the themes, spanish words, circle activities and social/academic goals that we have worked on the past month. This is a great way to review what we have worked on!


Circle songs:
"Let's Begin our Day"
Let's begin our day, let's begin our day
hooray, hooray, hooray
let's begin our day
(repeat once, change last line to it's time to start our day)


"Days of the Week"(sung to the Adams Family)
Days of the week (clap, clap)
Days of the week (clap, clap)
Days of the week, days of the week, days of the week (clap, clap)
Well, theres Sunday and theres Monday, Tuesday and theres Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and then theres Saturday
Days of the week (clap, clap)
Days of the week (clap, clap)
*We also do this song in spanish using Domingo, Lunes, Martes, Miercoles, Jueves, Viernes, and Sabado for the days*


"Months of the Year" (sung to Ten Little Indians)
January, February, March and April
May, and June, and July and August
September, October, November, December
These are the months of the year!


Theme: Our School (week 1) 
Social Goal: Following directions, and developing new friendships
Academic Goal: Introductory spanish phrases
Spanish: Hola (hello), adios (goodbye), amigo (friend)


Theme: All About Me! (week 2) 
Social Goal: Following directions and making new friends
Academic Goal: Introductory Spanish
Spanish: circulo (circle), rojo (red)
Zoo Phonics (ABC practice with letter recognition)


Theme: My Family (week 3) 
Social Goal: Who's in your family? and taking turns
Academic Goal: Writing your name
Spanish: cuadrado (square), azul (blue), escuela (school), maestra (teacher)


Theme: Developing Friendships (week 4) 
Social Goal: Developing new friendships (ask your child about our "friendship tips")
Academic: Beginning sounds in our names
Spanish: verde (green), casa (house)
Zoo Phonics (ABC practice with letter recognition)


Theme: Fall (week 5) 
Social Goal: Expressing feelings to friends
Academic Goal: Sorting by attributes (hair, eye color, favorite color, etc), letter 'f' sight words (the, of)
Spanish: arbol (tree) and review flashcards from previous weeks
Zoo Phonics


Please keep reading to your children! It makes all the difference.

Parent Meeting

Thanks for visiting my classroom blog! I am really excited about starting this, and I look forward to keeping my parents in better touch with me, and what I do with your children on a daily/weekly basis. 


Tonight was the parent meeting-- thanks again for all who came! It was great to see you. If anyone who was not there this evening who has any questions or needs anything from me, please don't hesitate to ask. 


Weekly plans will be put up over the weekend, for the following week. I will most likely post daily, and try to update this as much as possible. 


Week of October 4-8
Theme: Community Helpers
Social Learning Goal: Fire Safety Rules
Academic Learning Goal: AB Pattern Making, Letter 'r', spanish words: negro (black) and aydante (helper) 

• Field Trip to the Fire Station: Wednesday 9:10-10:30 
• Reminder: Music starts this week! 

Circle Activities (songs): 
I'm a Police Officer  Sung to: "I'm a little Teapot"

I'm a police officer
With my star,
I help people
Near and far.
If you have a problem,
Call on me,
And I will be there
One, two, three!

Five Friendly Firefighters 

Five friendly firefighters standing near the door,
One washes the fire engine, now there are four.
Four friendly firefighters waiting patiently,
One fixes the hoses, now there are three.
Three friendly firefighters have a lot to do,
One climbs up a ladder, now there are two.
Two friendly firefighters exercise and run,
One cooks some dinner, now there is one.
One friendly firefighter-all the work is done,
This one goes to bed, now there are none.

Books: 

Stop Drop and Roll by Margery Cuyler 

The House in the Meadow by Shutta Crum 

The Village Garage by G. Brian Karas 

One Day at Wood Green Animal Shelter by Patricia Casey 

What People All Day? by Richard Scarry 

Mommies at Work by Eve Merriam 

I Can Do Anything! by Jerry Spinelli 

Ariann's Project: 

Chef Hats 

Ladder Treats  

Community Helper Picture 

Julie's Project: Egg Carton Fire Trucks 
Karla's Project: A Visit to the Sesame St. Firehouse and dramatic play