The Five Senses!

We did some explorations for our five senses science study. We chose either a stick of bubble gum or pumpkin spice gum ... we looked at the color, we smelled it, we tasted our gum and we listened for the sounds our gum made when we chewed it. It was a pretty fun science activity!

We used all of our senses when we made applesauce too! We thought it smelled really good, and most of us thought it tasted yummy too! We took turns using a grinder to grind up the cooked apples, and then added just the right amount of sugar and spice. 

One other fun activity was shaking some containers and trying to find a partner with a container that made the same sound...we had to be very quiet to do this! We made pictures of ourselves and labeled our five senses, just like real scientists.

We introduced the COPING SKILL TOOL BOX this week. We encourage children to stop and take a break when they are upset. They may use one of the tools for a few minutes - often this is very calming and helps children move on with their day. 

Pete the Cat went home last Friday with a class member.

It looks like Pete had a lot of fun! He is going home with another friend this Friday. 

Planning ahead.... October 31 is a 1/2 day of school and it is Halloween. Loon Lake will have a costume parade at 10:15 and we will wear our costumes and parade outside and around the school. Parents often like to watch us parade outside of the school, but I will also take plenty of pictures for you if you are at work that day.  Afterward, we will have a simple party in our room. If you would like to send a drink or snack (fruit, cheese and crackers etc.) for the class, we would love it! Just let me know so we can plan ahead. 

The Outdoor Center was Fun!

We were sad that some of our friends were sick and couldn't come on our field trip to the Outdoor Center today. We hope we can go back again in the spring!
We had a wonderful time riding the bus...

We learned about trees and put fruits, flowers and animals in a tree. We also colored fall leaves and built an animal home with sticks...

We took a nice hike to look at trees and logs. We saw acorns and all kinds of wonderful leaves. We heard bird noises too...

It was a great trip - we appreciate the support and generosity of the WL Foundation for Excellence who awarded our program this mini grant!

Week 2 - We're Back in the Swing of School!

Pete the Cat went home with Mrs. Ellis last weekend, and he had a lot of fun at her house! He is going home with one of our classmates this weekend - everyone will have a turn to take Pete and his book home. 

We read about Pete and his lost buttons, and did some button math of our own when we made this art activity. In this story, Pete lost some of his buttons, but he kept on going. 

Our next book was "Pete the Cat and his Magical Sunglasses"...of course we had to make some of our own! These art lessons provide us with a great learning opportunity - we need to watch, listen, gather the materials, and follow all of the steps to complete the  task. The more we practice, the better we get...and art is always a lot of fun! 

We have been learning about the five senses in science and one of our activities involved buttons. We talked about ways we could sort our buttons - by shape, by color, by number of sides....

We learned how to use our book bags to read/look at books quietly...we will work on building our reading stamina this way.

We love to celebrate wonderful work, and we try to work quietly and neatly on our school tasks. 

We worked a lot this week on listening to the words our teachers are saying, without getting upset...we practice saying "OK" and then doing it. 

We finished up our week with a visit to Mr. Stearns and the computer lab!

Our Field Trip to the Walled Lake Outdoor Center will be next Wednesday, September 21! We will ride the bus to our Outdoor Center and learn all about trees and animal tracks! Students need to dress for the outdoors and bring a sack lunch and drink because we will eat our lunch there before returning back to school. This field trip is completely funded by a mini grant from the WL Foundation for Excellence! 

Our First Week of School!

Wow - we had a busy, fun, exciting first week of school. We met new friends and learned new school routines and expectations. This is a month of transition, and much patience is needed as we begin to develop and practice new skills for learning. This is what we looked like coming in to our classroom in the morning - we always walk in order and we always stand together to say our classroom words before we go inside. 

We sit on our numbered spots at group time. We are learning four important skills - eyes watching, ears listening, voice quiet and body still. These are skills children will also need when they join in a general education classroom setting, so we work on them here every day. 

We are learning how to complete work tasks, and put our name on our work. We turn our work into the green finished work basket. 

We love center time, and try to have center time play twice a day. This can be challenging when we don't get to use the toy we really wanted, but it is a great opportunity to practice self regulation skills. 

We also created an art project to go along with a coping skill. We learned about "stop, think, choose" and practiced stopping our words and bodies so that we could think about what we should do. 

 We are learning how to stop our bodies when we feel upset and take a break. We are never in trouble when we take a break. 

Another coping skill that we used this week was deep breathing. 

We will continue to practice and work on these coping skills as we learn how to regulate strong feelings. 

Please remember:  Curriculum Night for our classroom is next Wednesday, September 14 at 5:00 for parents. It will be held in our classroom - I would love to see you there!