We had another great day in school today!
The children were so excited to resume playing birthday party this morning! Most of the children put on their party hats even before they signed in. As children carry over their play from day to day, they are engaging in more maturely developed play. Engaging in mature play leads to cognitive development and provides a starting point for learning!
Zack is the class gift giver. He makes various presents, and he is so excited to share his gifts with others!
Birthday party play!
Children utilize various cognitive skills in their play. For example, some of the friends showed their knowledge of one to one correspondence in the following conversation.
Friend One: "We need four plates because four friends are coming to the party. (Counting out plates) One...two...three...four."
Friend Two: "What about the dogs at the party?"
Friend Three: "Those plates will have to go on the ground. We only have four plates on the table for the four friends."
The birthday party dogs created their own space for the party.
Sammie likes to be the big sister at the party. The big sister hands out food! As the children assign and take on various roles, they are deepening their play and understanding. Children use their play to make sense of the world, and some of the roles in play help children to do just that.
Some friends made birthday towers!
Megan was the story reader at the party!
I added pictures for inspiration in the block center. Many of the children were inspired to try and create the structures with the blocks.
Today we went to chapel! Mr. Aaron Hansen, the Director of Christian Education (DCE) here at Zion led us in chapel. We thought about the weather outside, sometimes it's gloomy, dark, and some thunder. We might get a little scared. When he was a little boy, he had a nightlight, to help him feel safe. He reminded us that God's word is a light unto our path. He will always keep us safe and He is always with you!
Today was also a baptism remembrance for children who were baptized in August and September. If your child is not baptized, and you are interested in baptizing him/her, please let me know. We could love to have your child baptized here at Zion.
Back in the classroom, we started small group time by brainstorming names for our two collaborative art pieces that are not named yet.
During small group time, we added things we would like to do and/or learn about during our birthday party project to our web. (Don't forget, you can add your questions to our web too!)
On the web, I write what the children say as they say it. This is called a dictation. Dictations are a valuable tool to see what the children are thinking, their language development, and to show the relationship between spoken word and written print.
"Wow! Mrs. Douglas! You write letters so fast!"
"Why did you write the H? That's not in my name."
We also voted and graphed our votes for the artwork names.
We painted rainbows with our fingers with Ms. Lindsay. (Ms. Lindsay is subbing for Mrs. Buchholz on Thursdays while Mrs Buchholz is on vacation.)
During small groups, we learned how to form letters. We use the Handwriting Without Tears verbiage as we form letters with the wood pieces.
This activity helps to develop both letter recognition and writing skills!
As you know, success for children is different. Success for some children is using the letter cards and wood pieces to begin to sound out words. Success for other children is learning the various lines that make up the letters. Success for other children is recognizing the lines that make up a letter and recognizing the letter. We celebrate each child's unique success here in preschool!
Before we went to our second free choice time, we took a moment to plan what we would play. Allowing the children the opportunity to plan their play, and then reflect on their plan, promotes cognitive development.
Julia and Brynne chose to be the birthday girls.
Even animals come to the birthday party!
Violet made a present for the birthday girls.
Some of the friends worked together in the cars while they waited for the party.
Violet called her friends to invite them to the party.
Sammie and Avery made invitations in their journals.
Setting up the party
Brynne worked to read the invitations her friends made.
We then did some of our favorite dancing songs on the SMARTboard! We had a great day!
No comments:
Post a Comment