Owl Week

We began Owl Week with a great book called, "Owl Babies". It helped us understand that owls are nocturnal (night time) animals who hunt for prey. We learned that owls have sharp talons and beaks, and are covered with feathers. Owls lay eggs and are oviparous animals. We recreated a page from "Owl Babies" and wrote about owls being nocturnal animals in our journals. 

We learned how to label a diagram of an owl in our journals, using the words beak and talons. 

We learned what the science words "diurnal" and "nocturnal" mean. Next week we will continue to learn about other nocturnal animals. 

We used real leaves to make some leaf prints for the hallway. 

In our social skills lessons we introduced a new coping skill - "Self Talk". Students can use self talk to help themselves listen, follow directions and stay on task. Younger students might need to "talk out loud" when they use positive self talk, but eventually will be able to silently use self talk. We will continue to work on using this coping skill next week.

We had our second visit from Ms. Kelly, our yoga teacher! 

We are getting ready for Halloween - our parade and party is next Thursday morning. Remember that Thursday is also a 1/2 day. 

Pumpkin Week

This week was all about pumpkins! This big pumpkin greeted us on Monday, along with little mini pumpkins for everyone. We began a science experiment with one of the mini pumpkins...we cut it up and put it in a jar. Some kids predicted that it might "rot", "turn black" or "turn to compost". We're keeping a little science log to record what we see happen.

We learned all about how a pumpkin grows and what plants need. We created a pumpkin life cycle book to show our learning. 

On Friday we conducted a "Pumpkin Investigation". We measured our pumpkin, described it and put it in water to see if it would float! It did! 

We decided on a face for our pumpkin and carved it - we put it on our back porch! 

We did a fun pumpkin cooking activity - we made Pumpkin Pudding. 

We worked with a partner to design and build a house for a little ghost - there was a lot of good teamwork and ideas! 

In our social skills lessons we have been working on the "Group Plan". 

The group plan is the plan that everyone agrees on for the expected behavior. When someone doesn't follow the group plan, other people might feel uncomfortable. We wrote group plans for our group time, for center time, and for going to PE, art and music. 

                                                                    

You could make some group plans with your child for things you do at home too...maybe for bed time, getting ready in the morning, or even going to the store with you. When kids help create the group plan, they begin to understand what the "expected behavior" is, and which behaviors are not on the group plan. 

Next week is OWL WEEK in our classroom! 

Room on the Broom and more...

We created pumpkins with pictures of us inside! 

We used our handprints to make some spiders - spiders have eight legs!

We learned a new coping skill - Bump in a Happy Thought. Sometimes by thinking about a favorite happy thought, we can get out of the yellow or red zone and feel calmer and ready to move on. Having some happy thoughts ready can help some kids move past a big upset faster. We made a list of happy thoughts, and wrote and drew about them in our journals. 

We read a great friendship story titled, "Room on the Broom" and practiced retelling it and deciding what we would put on our brooms. 

We also made some shape scarecrows...

And had fun with some of our Centers...

We are going to be visiting the Walled Lake Outdoor Education Center on November 25. Part of our trip will be paid for by a mini grant from the Foundation for Excellence! The cost for students will only be $5.00. We'll send permission slips home in November. Our previous trips to the Outdoor Center have been really wonderful experiences for our students. 

Other Upcoming Events include:

Ice Cream Social on October 23 from 6:00-8:00

1/2 day of school and Halloween Parade - October 31 ...students can bring costumes to school to wear in the parade. We'll have a simple party afterwards. Please let me know if you'd like to send in a treat or drink for our party. 

***It is jacket weather. Please practice putting on and taking off a jacket with your child at home. We are here to help, but encourage independence. Students experience less frustration at recess time when they are able to help get their own jackets on.***

Scarecrows! Pumpkins! The Color Run!

We listened to many different stories about scarecrows this week, and created scarecrows of our own!

We used little crows to do some scarecrow math. 

Our new coping skill was "count to 5"...counting slowly helps us calm down and gives us time to think and calm down when we are in the yellow zone (frustrated, upset, mad). 

We had so much fun at the Color Run!