Astronauts

Happy Monday! Today we learned how to sign-in. This will be done each day as a part of our arrival routine. After hanging up our backpacks and getting out our folders, each child finds his/her sign-in sheet at the table and writes his/her name. After writing his/her name, we practice spelling our names to make a connection with the letters and their names. Later in the year as the children become good at writing their names, they will be challenged to learn their last names. We will also add journals into the sign-in time as we begin to learn our letters and their sounds. These sign-in sheets will be collected and put in your child's portfolio so you can see the growth over the course of the school year. They will also be shared with you at parent-teacher conferences.

We had another new friend join us in the afternoon session. Welcome to our classroom, Noah!

During circle time, we learned about astronauts. We learned about what they wear, how they get to outer space, and the types of activities they may do while in outer space.

The children were excited to see the SMART Board in action today while they were introduced to two songs and activities!

One of the new songs we learned today was "The Mulberry Bush." We used this song to help us practice writing the different strokes needed for writing letters and numbers. It was hard work! The words and strokes are attached to the newsletter that was sent home today so you can also practice at home. We will practice these strokes throughout the month of September.

We also learned the song "Aikendrum" today. The children got to use their good listening ears to try drawing their own picture of Aikendrum based on the description in the song.

Next was our favorite part of the day - playtime! During playtime, some children made shape collages with Mrs. DeKeyser. In the morning session, many children chose to do a "Color the Room" activity. We used our clipboards and hunted for pictures that were the color orange and recorded them on our clipboards. It was a lot of fun! We also got out the playdough this morning. It was in high demand! A special thank you to the volunteer who made playdough for us to use throughout the month of September. It was truly enjoyed by everyone! They can't wait to play with it again tomorrow!

We had a special birthday celebration in the afternoon. Happy 5th Birthday, Alex! Thank you for the special treats!

In the morning session, we used our snack mats for the first time! We learned how to use tongs to count out our crackers onto the numbers on our snack mats. Everyone did a great job of waiting for the bowl to be passed to them and using good table manners. Way to go, 4K students! We will count out our snack daily to practice counting skills, number recognition, and one-to-one correspondence.

At closing circle, we practiced what an astronaut would do while listening to the song "An Adventure in Space." The children had to pretend to put on their space suits, climb into the space shuttle, buckle up, and help push buttons on the control panel. They even got to put on a rope and float around in space, dodging meteors. The highlight was landing back on Earth to thunderous applause and cameras! We were stars! The children loved this song so much that I'm sure we will be doing it several times throughout the month!

We learned about rhyming words today while singing a song about words that rhyme. See if your child can tell you two words that rhyme tonight!

We also took some time to share the "About Me" projects that came in early. Thank you for those that already turned them in. If you haven't turned them in yet, don't worry because there is still time. They are due on Wednesday!

I would like to thank everyone who has been sending in items from our classroom wishlist! Your generosity and support is greatly appreciated! All of the donated items will benefit your children as we will use them for special learning projects in the classroom this year! I have been trying to update the wishlist on the blog each night as new items come in or as I become aware of another item we can use.

Tomorrow we will learn how to do centers for the first time!

Have a fantastic evening! :)