3K+What+Happened+Today?

=WELCOME TO "WHAT TODAY?"= On this page you will find Mrs. Otten's blog of what happened in the classroom on a daily basis. Reading this blog will give you a snapshot of what your child experienced in school. Sometimes there will literally be snapshots (photographs) of things we did or made.

May 17, 2012
Today we had the story of Paul and Silas. We reviewed our Bible words and sang //Jesus, I Love You//. We practiced our "plays" and then had snack. We enjoyed playing outside. We made two more pages for our memory books and played together during choice time. We had a circle of prayer around our friends Aaron and Kyra, who will be going on trips and will miss the last week of school. We each got to give them a hug and say good bye to them.

May 15, 2012
Today we celebrated the last birthday for the year, and out "3" flower pot is empty. We had the Bible story of Paul being rescued from his enemies and escaping on a horse! We found out our parts for the plays and got to see how we will perform those parts. We will practice a couple more times and hopefully be confident when we actually have to perform for grown ups! We enjoyed the beautiful weather outdoors. We had placemats on the table for our snack and enjoyed finishing our placemats for the Meals on Wheels clients.

May 10, 2012
Today we had the exciting story of Paul escaping over the wall! We reviewed our Bible words from the year and learned what our last verse would be. We were very excited to be able to play outside. Whe had a wonderful yogurt, juice, and cracker snack while Mrs.Otten reviewed the stories that we will act out for our plays. We also had a story about a baby bird that could not find its mother. We read a story about Gus, who made a gift in school for his mom for Mom's Day and then we decorated the envelopes and boxes for our mom gifts.

May 8, 2012
Oops! Sorry for not updating promptly! I have been doing some volunteer work and left school early on Tuesday and forgot to update our Wiki. On Tuesday we had the story of Saul, an enemy of Jesus who became Paul, a friend of Jesus! We did some relay races in gym.After snack we worked on a project that is a surprise for our dads. We also go our picture taken so we can compare and see how much we have grown this year.

May 3, 2012
FIELD TRIP DAY! We had a short table time, found out our jobs, counted our numbers on the calendar, did our weather chart, and sang one song. Then we listened to what was going to happen on our field trip. We used the bathroom and got our name tags and then it was time to board the bus! Bus driver Warren got us safely to the Arts Center. We were met by our docent, Lisa, who took us outside to look at sculptures. Then we came back inside and walked with our partners on a colorful line that took us into a gallery with some very large pieces of art. After we looked at these sculptures and talked about what they were made from and what they looked like, we walked to another gallery and saw some celebration hats. Then we went downstairs with docent Carol and we made our own tower hats. We got to decorate 3 parts and put them together. We went back to school for a quick snack and then we modeled our hats!

May 1, 2012
Everyone in school again! We had a great day of listening and moving and playing and creating. We had a Bible story of Peter being rescued from prison because of the prayers of his friends. Then we went to the gym and had 10 different stations of activities to try. We were very hungry for our snack. During snack we listened to the story //The Way Mothers Are// and talked about how our grown-ups love us. Some of us thought our grown ups only love us when we are good! But Mrs. Otten told us that our grown ups love us like God loves us...all the time! Sorry we can't tell you about our suitcase surprise because it IS a surprise. At the end of the day we talked about our field trip next time.

April 26, 2012
We are staying healthy! That is good because we have a busy last month of school! Today we had the story of Philip helping the Ethiopian understand the Bible and how he believed in Jesus and was baptized. Then we had some outdoor play time. After snack, we read a story about a BIG flower that started as an ugly bulb. We made BIG flowers that will become placemats for the meals on wheels clients. If you did not sign the permission slip for the arts center at the end of the day, be sure to do so and return it to school next time.

April 24, 2012
Today we had table time and did our morning routines. Our Bible story was about Jesus sending the Holy Spirit to his disciples. The spirit came with wind and fire and helped them to talk in many languages so that people could know about Jesus. After our Bible story we had to walk quickly and quietly outside (see question of the day). They we used the parachute in gym. We had to cooperate to make the beach ball fly high in the air. We got to play "mousetrap" and we made a tent (this took several tries!) We had a delicious snack from Isaac: very large strawberries and rice krispie treats and milk. We heard a story about an artist who painted big flowers, the sky, and even bones. She painted in all season and even painted at night. We had a suitcase surprise and choice and project time. OOPS! I forgot to send home the permission slips for the arts center. Watch for it next time!



April 19, 2012
JAMMIE DAY! We started our day in a dark room. We had a nightlight by our story circle and Mrs. Otten used a flashlight to show us our schedule and our helper hands, then Addison shone the light on our calendar numbers. We sang "Goodnight" instead of "Hello" and then we learned a new song with sign language called //All Night, All Day (Angels Watching Over Me).// Our Bible story was about Jesus going back to heaven. But we know that He lives with us through His Spirit and He is with us wherever we go. Then we got to use our imagination to act out a song that told about different kinds of shoes appearing on our feet as we slept. Next we showed the sleeping cuddles that we brought. After a drink, we acted out the story //Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.// In our suitcase we had the things we needed for our project: pancake mix and a pancake maker! Mrs. Otten showed us how the measure and mix the ingredients, and how to clean up after ourselves. We then had choice time and several of us made our project at a time (we ATE our project!) After choice time, we had some "bedtime" stories. A funny story about a gorilla in the zoo and another one about a boy named Mortimer who made a lot of noise instead of going to sleep. Our last story was called //Goodnight Owl!"// We played a trick on the grown ups who came to pick us up....we pretended that we had fallen alseep. The rest of the pictures of our day are on Parents Web.

April 17, 2012
Today we had a Bible story about Jesus appearing to His disciples after Easter. He came in the room even though the door was locked! We started learning our new Bible words: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in [Jesus] His Son. In gym we did a warm up song about a funny clown and then we got to be funny clowns, moving however we wanted on the mats. We also played the Pepperoni Pizza game. After snack we looked at a book about tornadoes and learned how to do "duck and cover" and learned where to go to be safe if the tornado siren sounds. We can practice on Wednesday (at 11:00) or Thursday (at 1:20) when there the siren will be sounding for a drill. We did a (secret) project during our choice time. We talked about coming to school next time in PAJAMAS!

April 12, 2012
We had a different-looking room and a different schedule and lots of grandparents in the room, but we are growing up and handled the changes very maturely! Today we practiced for our program and then we went outside to play. When we came in, we had our bathroom break and read books for a while. Then we looked at a picture with missing parts and we told what was missing. Then it was time for our grandparents to come! We did a great job singing for them. We enjoyed doing things with them that were representative of the things we do each day in 3K.

April 10, 2012
Rachel was back in school! Today we listened to the Easter story again and sang two songs about Jesus. We had stations set up in the gym for practicing our skills with balls. At snack listened to a book about grandmas and grandpas and then we practiced the songs we will sing for our grandparents. We also finished the cards that we made for our grandparents and had choice time. We talked about how our day will be different next time with the visi from our grandparents.

April 5, 2012
We had a great day at the Y.M.C.A. Gymnastic Center! After warming up our muscles and learning some gymnastic positions, we were able to jump on the TumblTrak, walk on balance beams (one was really high!), and do lots of swinging, jumping, climbing, and rolling. We jumped on something called the big blue whale and we even got to go inside the big blue whale. We enjoyed our bouncy, rumbly bus ride to and from the gymnastic center. We had a snack from Emma and then we did our calendar and weather. We learned a song we will sing for our grandparents and we had the rest of the Easter story. Then our day was finished already! We had lots of important papers that we took home today.

April 3, 2012
We were glad to be back with our friends. We looked at our April calendar and the events for the month. We had a Bible story about the events of Holy week from Palm Sunday through the Garden of Gethsemane. In gyms we practice our catching balls in the air and then bouncing and catching balls. We used beach balls and foam balls. We had a special flower cookie snack from Aaron and then we heard a story about Grandparents' Day. We started making the cards that we will give to our grandparents on our grandparents day. After choice time, we talked about our upcoming field trip to the gymnastic center. We need to get to school on time on Thursday because we are getting on the bus right after table time.

March 22, 2012
Updating from Bowling Green, Kentucky, on my way to Florida! Happy Spring Break, everyone! Today we had the story that Jesus told of the shepherd that loved each of his sheep so much, that we went to look for just one of them that was lost. Jesus loves us and saves us too. After our Bible story we got to have a nice time outside. We came in and enjoyed our peanut butter "sam-wiches" and then we practiced identifying our alphabet letters with the song //Marching Around the Alphabet.// We had coice time and the rest of us got to paint. Look for our beautiful paintings to be displayed in the hall next week.

March 20, 2012
Today we started by tracing our names. We took home a placemat today that we can use to practice our names at home, as well. At our circle time we learned that it is the first day of spring and we read about spring. After a silly song we had our Bible story about Zaccheus the cheater and we sang a song about him. He changed his ways and did what was right. In gym we had a dancing warm up song and then we practiced tossing bean bags. After snack we sang the ABC song and pointed at the letters as we sang. For our project we got to paint at the easels. Some of us painted today and some will paint on Thursday.

March 15, 2012
We had a great day! We were all here! We sang //God Is Watching Over You// and //Stand Up and Clap Your Hands.// Then we had our Bible story about someone else who had to just believe! His little boy was healed! We got to go outside and enjoyed swinging and running and climbing and hanging on the monkey bars. When we came it Jonah passed out the popsicles he brought for snack. What a treat! At snack time we were thinking of opposites. Mrs. Otten read our new classroom book called //Rain// (we helped read it!) We also read a story about a snake that was hiding everywhere. After snack we used the rhythm sticks and then had choice time. After choice time we got to show and tell. We showed patterns. Before we left, we found out that one of our papers is //really important!//

March 13, 2012
Sorry, guys! I almost forgot to update today! Today we started our day with a visitor joining us. Abby hopes to come to 3K //next// year, so she was coming to see what it was like. She joined right in with our morning routines and our songs and listened carefully to our story. Our Bible story was the story in the Bible that contain our March Bible words, //Don't be afraid; just believe!// It was the story of Jesus making a little girl live again after she got sick and died. After our Bible story we went to the gym. We did a lot of running, galloping, walking, marching, and other things. When Mrs. Otten blew the whistle, we ran to a hula hoop. If our color was rolled, we got to make noise with the instruments. After gym we enjoyed Addison's snack. We talked about what makes a pattern. Our suitcase surprise was a bag for each one of us with something to use to make a pattern. that got us ready for our project of making a pattern with the dot markers.

March 8, 2012
Three friends back....two different friends gone! We sang our loaves and fishes song and //My God Is So Big// and then had our Bible story about Jesus and the storm. We learned our new Bible words, //**Don't be afraid; just believe!**// We went outside and enjoyed the breeze, the sun, the swings, the slides, and time to run and be loud. We had a snack that we had to open ourselves: juice boxes and mini cheese crackers. We are getting good at doing this ourselves! Some of us still need help tearing. During snack we learned about how our bones help us. After our book time, we used the rhythm sticks with a bones song and then got to try some different rhythm instruments. For our project we made "rain" on the pictures we drew last time. They will become part of another book that we can take home and read with our families.

March 6, 2012
We had one friend home getting over a fever and two friends on vacation. We started our day with our morning routines and then we had our Bible story. It was about Jesus feeding 5,000 people with one little lunch of five little loaves and two little fish. We sang a song about our story and then Mrs. Otten shared one of the little "loaves" that she brought. Next we enjoyed gym! We did a warm up song where we had to listen to a tune and move a certain way. Then we had to remember how to move when we heard that tune again. We did a circuit of gymnastic skills, from walking on the balance beam, standing on one foot on the balance beam, gymnastic positions on mats, balancing on "stones", hanging on a bar, and doing different animal walks and rolls on a mat. We enjoyed the granola bars that Isaac brought after all our exercise. We made our mat man again and then had a story about rain. We wrote our names and drew our own bodies. Next time we are going to "rain" paint on our pictures for a new classroom book.

March 1, 2012
Today we were sad that Amara was not in school. We prayed for her to get better. We had stories about opposites and sang a song where we got to act out opposites. We also did a moving song where we got to make different shapes with our bodies and then "Freeze". We had a long time for choice time and made a fantastic track for our vehicles. We painted in a very special way-with drips and a spinner. Our paintings will decorate our room when our hearts come down.

February 28, 2012
We were all back at school today and helped Kyra celebrate her half birthday. We moved our bodies while we sang //Hinges// and //Take a Look at Me//. Then we had a Bible story about a man who could not move his legs. In gym we moved all different ways around the circle. Then we kept moving all around the gym. We hopped, galloped, ran, rode on scooters, walked backwards, hung from a pull-up bar, tossed bean bags, balanced on "stones", rolled on a mat and walked on a curvy path. We were so hungry when we were done! We enjoyed Kyra's butterfly cookies with sprinkles. We had two stories about opposites and then made a lamb project. The lamb is the opposite of the lion that the 4K are making.

February 23, 2012
Poor Isaac was out with a sore throat. Many of us are experiencing the effects of cold viruses. Today we used our ears to discern between different rhythm instruments. We learned how Jesus healed the deaf man. We used rhythm sticks. We enjoyed a short time outside and then enjoyed Jonathan's half birthday treat. We had a story about families and then finished our family flowers.

February 21, 2012
We were all in school today! Before our Bible story, we had to feel something in a sock. We could not look at it. We could tell it was hard, square, and made of wood, but we could not tell the color without our eyes!. We thought about being blind and then we had a Bible story where Jesus helps a blind man to see. In gym we practiced our balancing and jumping, and got to play with balloons and throw swim rings over cones. Emma brought a robot snack made from a juice box and candy! We looked at our new class book. Jonathan got to take it home today. We then heard a song about the royal color family and found colors in our room. We took home a bank today that we can fill with coins to help children at a school far away. Maybe we will do extra jobs for our grown ups and "earn" money to put in our can! We painted today.

February 16, 2012
Our friends were back from their family fun times in Wisconsin Dells, but Max was still sick. We miss him. After table time today we had prayer, our schedule for the day, figured out our helpers and counted the numbers on the calendar, did the weather chart and sang some songs. We had a story about Jesus' greatest gift: the living water that is his love. We sang our H-E-A-R-T song and then we had a nice time to play outside. We had snack and then a story about families. We made a heart collage and had choice time. At the end of the day we showed our family pictures and told what each person in our family likes or likes to do. After singing our goodbye song, we practiced our "I Love You" in sign language.

February 14, 2012
We were glad to have Aaron and Josh back in school. We were excited about the Valentines that we brought. Our Bible story reminded us that Jesus loves children and thinks children are important. We also had a story about the meaning of love and thought about ways that we can show love. We thought of hugs, kisses, helping someone who falls, sharing, watching T.V. together, and helping. In gym we played the "Tisket Tasket" game and got to chase each other around the circle. We had a delicious strawberry shortcake and cookie snack. We took turns passing out our valentines during choice time. We got to take home our sparkly hearts to hang in our window at home.

February 9, 2012
Today we talked about the different things we can do as we grow up. Then we heard a Bible story about Jesus telling a grown up that he had to become like a baby again.That can't happen! But we learned that Jesus puts his wind (spirit) in us and we can do good things. That is how we become new like a baby. We had pretend dollars in our suitcase and used them to buy a red heart with our name on it. We were happy to be able to play outside. After the healthy snack that Sam brought, we did our letter pieces hokey pokey and made letters with our letter pieces. For our project we worked on a book with our names.

February 7, 2012
Today we had the Bible story of Jesus calling his disciples. He said "Follow Me" to 12 men and they said "Yes". We sang Fishers of Men. In gym we did a new moving song to warm up and then we jumped, rolled, walked our feet up the wall, and walked on the balance beam. We kept moving! Our suitcase had valentines in it and we did some moving with our valentines, too. During choice and project time we decorated bags for our valentines. Some of us used "pretend snow" (shaving cream) and some of us made bubbles in the water, and some of us used the overhead projector with colorful shapes, and some of us dressed up, and some of us used rescue heroes or played with blocks.

February 2, 2012
Today we had the story of Jesus being baptized and God telling us to listen to Jesus. We sang //Friends Love One Another// and //Friends Help One Another// and then we got to be helpers by cleaning toys from Remedy Church nursery. We played with a pretend snowflake and we talked about Ground Hog Day and shadows. The rest of us had our turns to write our names during choice time. Then we were excited to show off our black, white, or black and white show and tell things. We were good listeners when it was not our turn. Look for more photos on ParentsWeb.

January 31, 2012
Today we had the Bible story of Jesus staying in the temple to teach. We talked about how he obeyed his parents and came home and then we talked about how we obey when it is time to get jammies on and go to bed. We sang Happy HALF birthday to Max. We used the parachute in gym (we needed to obey directions!) After a sweet snack we did our ABC song and our letter song. We got to take home the giant fingers that remind us to start our letters on the top. We will be learning to write our names this week. We will make letters in sand, on the magnet screen, and on our name cards.After choice time we had a story with opposites and talked about finding something black or white for show and tell for next time.

January 26, 2012

 * BEACH DAY!!** We had fun pretending we were at the beach with songs, toes in the sand, wearing leis and making leis. There were lots of interesting shells to look at, water to play in, fish to catch, and sand to play in. We had a story about the house on the rock and the house on the sand. Jesus is our rock!

January 24, 2012
We had a Bible story about King Josiah and how he fixed up the temple and listened to God. We took home a coloring sheet with some hidden pictures in it. We had fun with a new warm up song in gym that got our whole bodies moving. Then we explored what we can do with a beach ball. After snack we sang our ABC song and our //Where Do You Start Your Letters?// song. Our project was to make a decoration for our room that will sparkle in the sun. Mrs. Otten had a very hard time showing us how to do the project because the paper was so sticky!

January 19, 2012
Hip, Hip, Hooray! We were all in school today! We heard the story of how God helped little David defeat the giant Goliath and we got to see how tall Goliath was! (watch for pictures next week) We did a song called //Right Here//, and we got to move all the parts of our bodies. After Lilyanah's birthday snack we used our giant fingers to sing //Where Do You Start Your Letters?// Then we practiced our top to bottom lines with a project using crayons and paint.

January 17, 2012
We were sad that 4 of our friends were gone and were missing our field trip to the library. Our field trip took up most of our morning. Before we left for our trip, we had a special birthday snack that Addison brought. Our librarian, Susan, read us a funny story called //Snow Dude// and she gave us a picture of the snow dude to color at the end of the story time. She also read //Mouse's First Snow// which we have in our classroom! We saw a movie about a bear who found a dolly. We had just a few minutes to look at books and play with legos and then we went back to school. Bus driver, Tom, gave us a safe trip.

January 12, 2012
We were wondering...when will it snow? And then, during choice time...SNOW! We had already had our outdoor play time, so we did not get to be out in the snow. We lined up for outdoors by matching our mittens to the ones that Mrs. Otten held up. Our painted mittens are in the hallway and we looked for the matches when we lined up for bathroom. After snack, we did our letter pieces hokey pokey song and then we learned that our letters need to start...(question for today!) when we write them. We will be practicing writing out names in the coming weeks. We made a very large pointer finger that we will use to remind us to start our letters...



January 10, 2012
We were all in school! We sang //God Is Watching Over You,// and a new song called, //When I Am Afraid.// We had the Bible story of Hannah who wanted a baby. God always keeps his promises and Hannah had a boy and named him Samuel. We got to make pretend snowballs to use in gym. We also had a "snowball fight" with foam and plastic balls. We tried to make our backyard have no snowballs in it. After snack we practiced our fire drill so our new friends would know what to do. We had a story of a mitten that got stretched out. We used paint in bottles to make a pattern on paper. We will cut our paper into mittens.

January 5, 2012

 * //Sorry, friends!//** I guess I forgot to update on Thursday! On Thursday we welcomed two more new friends: Isaac and Sam. We had a story about old Simeon and old Anna waiting for God to keep His promise to send Jesus. God always keeps His promises! After our Bible story we went outside to play and enjoyed the warm weather. We had a story about Geraldine the pig waiting for snow. The snow came while she was sleeping. After snack we learned the names of our letter pieces and did a song called //Letter Pieces Hokey Pokey//. Then it was time for play and project.

January 3, 2012
We welcomed Kyra to class. She likes the color purple and was wearing purple clothes. Today we had the Bible story of the Wisemen following the star and bringing gifts to Baby Jesus. In gym we did stations: the balance beam; animal walks; scarves; tossing swim rings around cones; and pushing ourselves on scooter boards. After gym we had a cold snack and a story about winter. Our suitcase surprise was Mat Man. We sang the song about Mat Man and put him together. We used colorful paper, scissors, and glue for our project.

December 22, 2011
We had a special day...made even more special by the beautiful white snow on the first day of winter! We listened very closely to our story about the angels announcing Jesus' birth to the shepherds. We were able to play some games in the gym. We pretended to be angels and moved all sorts of ways. Then we played a relay race game, mailing our Christmas letters. After our very special snack from Jonathan, we played party games in the room. We played stick Jesus in the manger (blindfolded); find the sheep in the snow; guess what is in the Christmas stocking, and throw the gold, frankincense, and myrrh in the manger. Then we got to open the classroom gifts. We got batteries for our camera, playdough, glue, colorful paper, a fancy hole puncher, and cotton swabs. We saved one gift for Aaron to open, since he is visiting his grandparents far away. We listened to a story called, //Stick Man.//We finished our day singing, //We Wish You a Merry Christmas,// and we got a special hand stamp of smelly glitter lotion (some of us liked the smell and some did not!)

December 20, 2011
Today we celebrated Jonah's fourth birthday. He brought delicious brownies for his treat. We heard the story of how the angels brought the GOOD NEWS! of Jesus being born. In gym we moved five different ways. We did each station two times. Our suitcase surprise was wrapping paper, and then we made our own wrapping paper for our project. We also made Christmas trees to hang in the hallway. We talked about Thursday. Half of our day will be the same and half of our day will be different. It is getting close to Christmas!

December 15, 2011
Today we sang //Away in a Manger// and then heard the story of Jesus being born in a stable and how the manger was his bed. We were able to play outside today. We had string cheese, sausage, crackers, and apple juice for snack. After time for reading books, we read a story about the animals in the stable and we made animal sounds. We had choice and project time.

December 13, 2011
We are learning the days of the week and singing a song for the days of the week at calendar time. We also sang our bell songs again. We had a Bible story about the angel visiting Mary and Joseph and learned our new Bible words, "A Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord". In gym we were able to use the bowling balls again. Our snack was princess cupcakes that Rachel brought for her **//half//** birthday. She moved her flower from the "3" flowerpot to the "3 1/2" flowerpot. Instead of a story at snack, we saw a book with pictures for the song //Away in a Manger// and we listened to the song. We had a sparkly story and then had a suitcase surprise. Our project is also a surprise, so we can't tell you about it!

December 8, 2011
CHRISTMAS MAKE AND TAKE WORKSHOP DAY! We did table time activities with our grown ups. We sang our bell songs and our peppermint stick song (with a real candy cane!!) Then we did lots of projects and ate delicious treats! It was a fun day! Here are a couple pictures. Next week I will put all the pictures on the main school website.



December 6, 2011
Today we practiced the songs we will sing for you at the Make and Take Workshop. We found out how God helped Moses lead the people away from the Pharoah (the bad king). It was a miracle! In gym we got to use the bowling balls and pins that the big kids are using, too. We got to take turns rolling the ball, setting up the pins, and carrying the ball. It was so much fun! We had a story about candy canes and how the candy cane can tell us about Jesus. We got to paint a very different way today!

December 1, 2011
We looked at our new calendar for December and saw lots of special activities: Make and Take, when a grown up gets to stay with us for the whole morning, birthdays, Christmas party, and lots of NO SCHOOL days for us to be with our families. We learned how Moses grew up and God wanted him to be a leader. He was afraid but God was with him (and his brother Aaron). Next week we will hear how he goes to the mean king. We got to play outside today. We finished our advent project.At the end of the day, Mrs. Otten turned out the classroom lights and lit the lights on the Christmas tree and we each got to pick an ornament to hang on the tree. (Question of the day)

November 29, 2011
We were sad that Mrs. Kiel was not with us today. We prayed for her and for her son, Brody, who was sick. We had a Bible story about a baby who was hidden by the river and how God (and his big sister) watched over him. We learned some exciting news about another baby. In gym we practiced a lot of jumping: we jumped over ropes and cones, jumped as far as we could, jumped up and down, jumped on a balance beam, did jumping jacks and hopscotch. We are getting good at remembering to jump with two feet at the same time. After snack we had a story about Jesus being born in a stable and then some of us made a stable (the rest of us will make it Thursday). We will be taking out stables home to use to help us to count the days until Christmas!

November 22, 2011
After singing a Thank You song, we read a story that told why we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. We talked about and practiced how we were going to cooperate in gym so we could do something special with the parachute. After gym we enjoyed Josh's birthday snack while listening to a story about a little brother who kept showing up in his sister's play. His name was the same as someone in our class (Alex). Our suitcase surprise got us thinking about decorating for Christmas. Our project was to make a new hallway decoration. We learned how to say "Happy Thanksgiving" in sign language.

November 17, 2011
We said our Bible verse at the end of the day and Addison picked handshake for our goodbye.
 * Our first field trip today!** We were all on time getting to school. We were very excited to board the big yellow school bus! It was really hard stay walking in our line today...there were so many things to see. We joined the toddler time story time and heard stories about Daddy, Mommy, and Thanksgiving. We got to color a feather for the big turkey in the story garden. We looked at all the things the library has. The hamsters were hiding from us. After enjoying Alex's birthday cupcakes, we did our calendar and weather and then got a short time for choice time. We got busy right away, playing with babies, blocks, cars, tools, and play food.

November 15, 2011
Today we sang "//Happy Birthday//" to Aaron. He is four today! We had another story about Joseph and how he was able to help his brothers and how he forgave them. In gym we did the parachute again and we sent foam shapes flying in the air. We read a book about things for which to be thankful. We had our hands traced and we turned the hand shapes into turkeys. We got to paint colorful feathers with watercolor. We also said the things for which we are thankful.

November 10, 2011
OOPS! I forgot to update our wiki last week! Sorry about that! I think I was too focused on my upcoming trip to Michigan. On Thursday we had our first chance to put "snow" on our weather chart. Since the snow made the playground wet and slippery, we took a short walk and touched what little snow we could find. We also had a Bible story about Joseph, matched shapes, and made a very glittery project.

November 8, 2011
Today there was play dough out for table time again! Many of us played with the play dough and cut out animals. For our Bible story we heard how Joseph's brothers were bad to him. They put him in a hole and then they took him out and sold him. Then they lied to Jacob by putting animal blood on his coat. But God was watching over Joseph and he was an important helper in Egypt. Gym was very exciting! We got to use the parachute for the first time. We were such good listeners that we got to have lots of fun with the parachute and will get to use it again next time for gym and do different things. Max brought our snack and we used our senses a lot while we ate our snack. We looked at the different shapes and colors, we tasted different tastes, we heard crunching when we ate the cereal and pretzels, we felt different textures and could find the cereal with our eyes shut. Our suitcase surprise were bags of shapes that we used to sing the //"Shape Hokey Pokey"// song. Then we used shapes to make a picture or design.At the end of the day we read our senses books so we could take them home. Will you read it with me now?

November 3, 2011
We had a busy, busy day! After our Bible story and playing outdoors, we washed our hands and //made our own snack!!// We used all of our senses: we saw the red apple and heard the peeler taking off the skin. We saw that the apple was white on the inside and then hear Mrs. Otten chopping the apple. We got to taste and smell and apple slice. Then it was time to use our sense of touch to make balls with the dough and then flatten the sticky dough into "pancakes". We filled them with apples and cinnamon sugar. While they were baking, we got to use rhythm instruments to play fast and slow. After eating our delicious "apple pies" we had a short choice time and finished out books about our 5 senses.

November 1, 2011
We noticed that our calendar had turkeys on it and found birthday cupcakes, field trips, and no school days. We had the story of Jacob going back to the land and how Esau forgave him and greeted him with hugs and kisses!(Our puppets hugged and kissed, too!) In gym we were in four groups. We got to do four things: beach balls, bean bags, hoops, and balance beams. We took one of the balance beams back to our room and it became a road during choice time. We learned that we have five senses and started a book about our senses.

October 27, 2011
Yay! Emma was back! Alex and Josh were gone:( We had a special visitor/helper today. Jonathan's mom spent the morning with us because she did not have to teach at her school today. We had the story of Jacob running away from Esau. He had an amazing dream. God told Jacob the words that he tell us, too: I will be with you and will watch over you wherever you go. We were happy to get outside to play. We sang a song about the shapes that were in our suitcase.

October 25, 2011
We were glad to have Lilyanah and Rachel back in school and sad that Emma and Alex were gone. We had another story about Jacob and Esau. Jacob tricked his dad, Isaac in our story today. He put fur on his skin and he got the blessing. Esau was so mad at him that he had to run away. We were happy to get outside to swing and climb. During snack we read a book about dots and we were finding circles **//everywhere//** in our room. We got to paint today and we painted in a circle, too.

October 20, 2011
We were missing three girls today! We counted only two girls and six boys in class. We had the story of Jacob and Esau, learning that Esau came first, was hairy, liked to hunt, and was impatient and Jacob came next, was smooth, liked to cook, and tricked his brother. Since the playground equipment was wet, we played the "Pumpkin Patch" game in our room (see the question of the day). We did a color matching activity with pumpkins. Then we got to feel the pumpkin again, and Mrs. Otten cut it open and we felt the inside, too. Most of us tasted pumpkin seeds that had been cleaned and baked.

October 18, 2011
There were different things out for table time. Some of us fed the hungry tennis ball, some built ladders, some played shape Bingo, and some practiced cutting. Our Bible story was how Abraham's servant found a wife for Isaac. In gym we had fun seeing what we could do with a beach ball. Our orange pudding snack in the jack-o-lantern cups were a perfect transition to our stories. We read a book about Duck and Goose finding a pumpkin (see "Question of the Day" page) and we were able to look at and feel the outside of a //**real**// pumpkin. We colored the first part of a project we will finish next time, and we drew a pumpkin in a newsletter border.

October 11, 2011
Hooray! The three children who where out sick on October 6 returned to school. We learned a song that goes along with the verse for the month: //God Is Watching Over You//. A new sign language word that we used with the song was the sign for day. In gym we did things with bean bags like put them on different parts of our bodies, shake them, jump with them, toss and catch them, and hold them while walking on the balance beam. We used the hot tray to melt crayon on a paper leaf. These will decorate our room. Addison's mom and Mrs. Nonhof came and we painted our fingerprints on garden flags.