The Letter "A" and All About Me

Wow, I can't believe it is Monday and I am just now posting from last week.  So sorry, but a migraine hit me on Saturday and I am just now starting to move.  Thankfully, I will be back at school tomorrow.

What an amazing week we had!  Monday was Labor Day so we didn't get started on our week until Tuesday.  We made up for our lost day VERY quickly!   Several years ago a made LARGE individual letters.  I glued on pictures of words that start with that letter.  It is so fun to hear the children screaming out the words each week.  Here is our "A" -

 

We are also talking about "Circles", the number "1" and the color "RED" this week.  Here are some of my posters that help us remember.

Again, each of these were laminated and have lasted for several years.  

Since this year's class is mostly boys (EIGHT!), I decided to make some roads for them.  They were an instant hit!  But, who wouldn't love driving your cars around this . . . 

By the end of the week our road looks a little rough, but no one seemed to mind.

Tuesday was a great day to bring out all of those bottle caps I have been saving.  Everyone got to make a wonderful piece of artwork using nothing more than red paint and bottle caps.

We call it "RED CIRCLES".

We took a little time Wednesday to talk about "ME!"  It was fun.  I always loved to tell my children some "special" about myself and then hear what makes them "special".  It seems one child in my class can fly like Superman.  While another child is really, really, really strong.  Good to know!  We also spent the day making little self-portraits.  Bear with me please, while I introduce my class . . . .

 This is Cooper and Will B.

Next we have Will S. on top and Reid in the Alabama football jersey. (I have no idea why this picture is turned this way!)

Next (another wacky picture, sorry) is Lucas and Cooper. 

Here are our girls!  Meet Ellie and Helen.

Last, but not least meet Winston (the Florida Gator fan) and Hunter. (AGAIN, sorry for the picture!)

Our "Fabulous Fun Friday" started out with some wonder "A"corn painting.  A large storm brought down a lot of leaves and acorns last week so we put them to good use.  We poured red paint onto the acorns and dumped them out onto a cut "A".  After a few minutes of rolling the acorns around we discovered that "A" is for AWESOME ACORN FUN!

Friday was also the perfect day to finish up our week of "All About Me".  We made a cute little self-portrait complete with our hand prints.  

"I am wonderfully made".  Psalms 139:4

Last week we begin talking in our science class about chemicals.  You know, how some things just don't like each.  Last week it was oil and water.  That was fun, but this week we really had fun!  As soon as we hit the kitchen we prepared our "Apple Tree" snack.  It was just plain delicious.  Since we talked about how oil and vinegar DON'T mix, we talked today about how icing and food coloring DO MIX!  Our fine motor skills really got a work out as we mixed the icing with green food coloring and spread it onto a half of graham cracker.

 

We added the bottom (another half of a half of graham cracker) and a few "Twizzlers".  Instant apple tree!

Yes, it tasted as good as it looked!

We finished up our day in the kitchen with everyone's favorite science experiment.  I call it "elephant toothpaste" but others just call it vinegar and baking soda with a dash of dish washing soap.  This was extra fun because we found out that some things mix well like the icing and food coloring BUT THEN when you mix other things like the vinegar and baking soda you get . . . . 

  WOW!

Oh, one more thing . . . have you ever seen and peanut butter and jelly and Oreo sandwich?  Look what one super creative parent did . . . .

Everyone in the class wanted to know if it tasted like an Oreo?  We had a great week.  I hope you will come back and visit us soon.  

The 2011-12 Year has Begun!

Here we go!

Thursday, September 1st was our official first day.  NO TEARS!  That is always a good sign.  The day went extremely well.  We were happy and just played most of the day.  I pulled out some of my special music and we danced and sang for about thirty minutes.  Our circle time was just talking and sharing.  Everyone loved my microphone 

and couldn't wait for their turn.  The day went by fairly quickly and before we knew it, it was time to leave.

Here are some of the new ideas that I am trying for this year.  I hope you like them.  The first came about after a trip to my local Dollar Store.

The object of this game is simple.  More the little pom-poms from one bowl to the other BUT you can't use your hands!  HUH??? You have to use the tongs!   We love it!

Next is a fun math game.  I have a huge box of bottle tops and I knew they would come in handy.

I found this template on line and new it would be perfect for all those wonderfully colored bottle caps!  So far - we love it!

Since we are studying the letter "A", I wanted to incorporate our letter of the week while practicing our math skills.  I really like this

We match the number of apples with the number on the tree trunk!   Simple FUN!

Okay, now let's talk about our first week!  With day one being such a huge success I decided that we should go ahead and start slowly working on our curriculum.  We started Friday with a great project!  We talked about the color red, and the letter "A".  Everyone took turns gluing red items to a giant red apple.  Simple, easy, a great confidence building and very fun!

We headed to the kitchen for our special Friday Fun snacks and science experiments.  This week we made our world famous "Friendship Pudding".  Here is my recipe if you would like to make it.  One package of good 'ole Jello Instant Pudding, milk and a coffee can.  We pour the pudding mix into the coffee can, add the milk and SHAKE!  Everyone takes a turn shaking the pudding.  Each time we pass the can to a different person we shout out their name!  It is a great, fun way to learn every one's names.  Plus the pudding is really yummy! 

While my buddy, Mrs. Christi, was dishing out the pudding, I showed our class a very simple science experiment.  We mix oil and colored water together.  OR DID WE?  Well, we tried, and tried, and tried.  But the two would not mix together.  FUN?  You bet!  Next we added an Alka-Seltzer tablet to the mixture - instant lava lamp! 

NOW THAT WAS FUN!  I loved hearing everyone screaming when they got into their cars later that day, "oil and water don't like each other!".  Mission accomplished!

I at the lake now for Labor Day but I cannot wait until Tuesday!

"A" Week

We FINALLY started working on our alphabets this week at school. Two weeks are really a long time for us to have to ssstttrrrreeeettttcccchhhh. But, it was better than then usual 3 or 4 weeks. This week we started studying the letter "A", circles, red and the number 1. To some it seems like a lot to put into 7 short days. We manage by incorporating the color and shape. For some reason the words "ants" and "apple" got everybodies attention, so I ran with it. First we glued ants onto a large "A". I didn't think that would be very much fun, but the children had great fun with the giant ants. We also ate some ants! Actually the were raisins (wheew!) that the students stuck on top of their iced oatmeal cookies. Oh, and the oatmeal cookies were CIRCLES of course.

We also made "Annie the Apple" and "Adam the Apple". I really think this class loves glue! It makes them so happy.

But the most fun day this week was friday. We headed to the kitchen and made apple scented playdough. It looked like plain, old white dough but it smell delicious! Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt (use iodized, not kosher for smoother dough)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon cream of tartar
1 cup water
Red food coloring (I use the Wilton gel colors)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
Stir ingredients together well in pot. Over medium heat cook the dough, stirring constantly until it forms a ball. Turn dough onto a board (or the countertop) and knead until very smooth. Cool. Store in a covered plastic container.

Very simple to make and the children loved it. One parent actually e-mailed me to make sure it WAS playdough. She said it smelled too good and she wanted to bake it! What fun we had!

Of course playdough would not be fun without the snake!

Next week "B" week, my favorite!