Thankful Thanksgiving

Theme:  Thanksgiving
We spent some time sharing some of the things we are each thankful for.  The sweetest by far was when one kiddo said, "I'm glad Jackson's head is getting better so he could come back to school."  Each of your children bring a sweet reminder of the reality of God and His love for us.  Thank you for sharing them with me!  I love them!

Choosing Time:  Fruit Loop Necklaces, Letter "I" Igloo Game, Puzzles, Dinosaurs, Trains, Ponies, Teepee

Science Field Trip:  We were fortunate to go to Sub Zero for a fabulous field trip.  Not only did we enjoy some yummy cookies & cream ice cream, but we also experienced some awesome science!  We learned about nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and oxygen.  We saw liquid nitrogen thrown onto the floor and becoming solid little balls with lots of smoke.  We watched Scientist Peter dump some nitrogen on his head and roll off onto the floor.  We watched Peter put a balloon into some nitrogen.  The balloon flattened leaving some liquid carbon monoxide inside.  When Peter held the flattened balloon in his hands, the balloon warmed up, turning it back into an inflated balloon.  Each kiddo was able to take a nitrogen-frozen gummy bear and drop it into a bowl.  Each one shattered.  We learned that as those gummy bears warm up they will be gooey pieces but will never look like a gummy bear again.  We watched them take some cream and mix it with nitrogen to make ice cream.  It was Awesome!

Games:

• Pin the Hat on the Turkey
• Thanksgiving Bingo
• Leaf Counting 

Writing:  Practiced I/i

Music & Movement:

• The Turkey (AKA Chicken) Dance
• Silly Bird
• I Am A Little Indian Boy
• 5 Pilgrims & 5 Indians
• Fall Leaf Dance
• Row, Row, Row the Mayflower
• I'm A Little Turkey
• This Old Road
• Thanksgiving Friends
• Hello Mr. Turkey
• I Scream
• 10 Little Indians

Books:

• Pilgrim, Pilgrim, What Do You See? 
• The Story of Thanksgiving 
• The First Thanksgiving:  Thanksgiving Story For Kids

Art:

• Finished our Indian Corn
• Illustrated our "I Am Thankful For These Things" Books  (If your children chose to not draw their families they're hoping you can put a real picture of your family on that page)  Also, the "Senses" page is to remind us that we can see, smell, hear, taste, & touch (the hair).  All the kiddos worked so hard on their books!  We were able to practice cutting, number recognition, counting, gluing,  and drawing. 

Snacks:

• Multi-grain Chips & Clementines
• Raisins, Apples, & Pretzel Sticks
• Crackers & Fruit Snacks

Insects are Interesting

Theme:  Letter I

• We learned that "I" has two sounds.  
• We sounded out the word "in" and were able to spell it. 
• I took some liberty and modified the Little Red Hen story.  I had the kiddos help me tell a story of the hungry Indian Mama.  Each child was an animal or an Indian child.  When the mama asked for help no one wanted to lend a hand initially.  But, after seeing how tired and hot the mama was everyone pitched in and helped make the cornbread.  Since everyone helped, we all got to eat some!
• Corn was Important to the Native American Indians

Choosing Time:  Sew Cards, Beading, Blocks, Insect Puzzle, Puzzles, Cars, Play-doh,...

Show & Tell:  Iguana, Ice Cream felt game, Insects, beads that were Ironed, & some Interesting toys :)

Snacks:

• Popcorn
• Cornbread
• Frozen Go-Gurts & Popcorn

Music & Movement:

• 10 Little Indians
• 5 Indians
• I'm A Little Indian Boy
• I Scream for Ice Cream
• Insect Movements (Jump like a Cricket, fly like a butterfly,...)
• Chicken Dance
• Turkey Pokey
• I'm a Turkey
• Row the Mayflower 
• Dying Beetle Dance
• Leaves are Falling

Science:  We learned about insects.  What does a bug have that makes it an insect?  (6 legs, 2 antennae, wings, head, abdomen, and a thorax) We took turns choosing a picture of a bug.  We had to decide if it was an insect or not.  Our interesting observation was that a butterfly is an insect while a caterpillar is not.

Art:

• Interesting Insect Puppets (I sure wish I'd taken a picture of these!)
• Indian Headbands
• Began our Indian Corn by stamping with duplos (we'll finish this on Monday)

Games:  We built a 9 scoop ice cream cone and did fun activities along the way

Writing:  We practiced letter G/g.  We also traced our names in the Kindergarten way on our headbands

Books:

 (a great book about the seasons & hibernation)

Hands & Hearts

Theme:  Letter H
Hibernation was a juicy word this week.  We talked a little bit about what hibernation is and some of the animals that hibernate.  This info doubled as a science lesson. We also discussed animal homes versus what kinds of homes we live in.  A few other interesting words were Hare and Hog.  Some of the kids may still not believe me that those are real animal names :)

Mini Lesson:  I shared with the kids my favorite H word;  heart.  Heart reminds me of love.  I can show my love to Heavenly Father by being Thankful for all the many things He gives to me. Thanksgiving is a special time to really count our blessings and show love.

Choosing Time:  House, Horses, Potato Heads, Head Mix-Up Game, Leaf Rubbings, Letter Writing ...

Show & Tell:  Super fun items!  Everyone is getting so good at finding letter items that work with our theme!  Good Job!

 This was in response to the question, "What sound do Hippopotamus make?"  :)

 Music & Movement:

• Two Little Hands
• Hokey Pokey
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes
• Hippo Hammers
• Hurry, Hurry
• Turkey, Turkey
• Hopping & Galloping like Horses
• Green Eggs & Ham
• It's Autumn Time
• I can't Spell Hippopotamus

Writing:  We worked on our letter H/h.  Little h looks like a house with a chimney.  Big H looks similar to A. 

Science & Vocabulary: 

• There are several names for the same animal such as a pig can be a hog, a rabbit can be a hare.  One kind of bird is a hawk.  Hippos are not friendly.  
• We met our new pet, Jasper, the Gecko (which starts with the letter G).
• What happens to trees during the Fall?  What colors of leaves do you see?

Art: 

• Crayon Shaving Leafs
• Fall Leaf  Hand Trees
• Hand Turkeys

Games:

• Which Hive is Hiding the Bee?
• Memory
• Choosing H items out of our "magic" can

Small Motor Skills:  We worked our small motor skills by using a crayon sharpener to get shavings for our art project.  Many of the children struggled with this.  I will continue to provide opportunities for more small motor skill development.  Some ideas for you to use at home include:  sorting buttons, using a small pencil sharpener, playing with melt beads, beading, coloring books, using scissors to cut (yarn, play-doh, straws, paper), lace cards....Doing these activities will help your children write.  :)

Snacks:

• Peanut Butter Cookies & Carrots (Hare food)  
• Ham & Cheese Sandwiches & Applesauce
• Handi-snacks

Books:

Hippo Gives Hugs

Ghosts & Goblins

Theme:  Letter G
This is a particularly tricky letter.  It sometimes makes the "J" sound instead of the "G" sound.  Try and point out the "G" words with the correct sound when possible.  For example, when you use grape jelly, give gum, garden, eat grapes, go to the Gap, or when they get gooey or gunky :)

Snacks:

• Popcorn & Apple Slices
• Go-Gurts & Graham Crackers
• Ghost Banana Pops & Ghost Marshmallows

Music & Movement:

• B-I-N-G-O with Halloween Maracas
• If You're Wearing Green Today...
• Fall Leaf Dance
• 3 Little Ghosts
•  Hinx Minx
• 3 Little Witches
• Pumpkin, Pumpkin
• Spooky Loo

Choosing Time:  Gears, Fall Play-doh, Things that Go, Monster Pop-ups, Halloween Necklaces

Games:

• Red Light, Green Light 
• Eyeball Toss
• Jack-O-Lantern "Teeth" Toss
• Halloween Bingo

Science:  We made some tea bag ghosts fly using some flames!  It was awesome!

Art:

• Liquid Starch Ghosts
• Decorated Halloween Treat Bags with Stamps & Stickers

Writing:  We used Glue and Glitter to practice writing our names the "kindergarten" way.

Halloween Party: All the costumes were amazing!  We had a lot of fun playing games, eating treats, and singing songs!  We took turns choosing parts of a witch to put her together.  With each piece we did an activity and then received some treats!  (There is something so cute about each pic that I couldn't just post one)

Books: