4K+What+Happened+Today?

=WELCOME TO WHAT HAPPENED TODAY?"= On this page you will find Mrs. Otten's blog of 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 18, 2012
Today we had our last story of Paul. It was an amazing story of how God protected everyone on the ship that was on it's way to Italy. Even though there was a bad storm and the boat was broken apart, no one died. After Bible, we went to our last gym time. There were 10 stations set up and we did each station with a partner. Most of us liked being sharks or doing handstands the best. At snack time we surprised Mrs. Kiel with a "cake" and a book we wrote and illustrated about taking care of babies. After snack we worked on our plays. Then we had to choose to play inside or outside. Most of us went outside. When choice time was finished we did our show and tell. ===

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May 16, 2012
BOOKWORM GARDENS field trip! We went to the //Is Your Mama a Llama?// garden, the //Planting a Rainbow// garden, the //Waterfall's Gift// garden, the //Growing Vegetable Soup// garden, and the Woodland garden. There were many areas we did not get to explore, so we would **//__love__//** to go back with our parents!

May 14, 2012
Today we started by coloring our monkey faces for one of our plays. We had the Bible story of another amazing rescue of Paul. We were wondering what his enemies thought we he escaped //again//! We then did a "walk through" of all of our plays. We got to play outside is some wonderful weather. Most of us were sweating when we came in! We enjoyed the cheese popcorn and gatorade we had for snack. Then we made our rainbow for circle time with the 90's and did our count to 100 song and exercises. We had choice time and began to work on our memory books. At the end of the day we talked about our field trip.

May 11, 2012
We were still riding high in the excitement from the spring program! After settling down with the singing of Hallelu, Hallelujah we had our Bible story of Paul and Silas. Then it was time for more excitement...CUPS! We played stackers and blasters and the blasters won both rounds. We decided that down stacking is faster than upstacking! We then did a cup stacking relay with exercises. We were tired after gym! And hungry! We enjoyed Maddie's snack and then we sang the mixed up alphabet again. Our suitcase surprise were the costumes and props for our plays. We had choice time and had a fire drill when we were playing. We had show and tell and enjoyed showing the special things we had picked out.

May 9, 2012
We sang our Hello song in Thai again today. We talked about maybe trying it in Spanish next time! Today we had centers right away because we had program practice at church at 9:30. We are getting very good at upstacking and downstacking our cups and look forward to gym games with cups on Friday. After practicing for the program, we played outside and then came in and enjoyed a good snack provided by Nathan and his family. We read a book about pirates looking for the letters of the alphabet. Can you guess the pirates' favorite letter? We enjoyed pretending during our choice time. Our Bible story was about Paul's amazing escape over the wall. At the end of the day, Mrs. Nonhof and Mrs. Abel came in with gifts for the teachers! THANK YOU SO MUCH! WE LOVE THE GIFTS AND WE LOVE THE CHILDREN AND FAMILIES THAT GAVE THEM TO US EVEN MORE!

May 7, 2012
We were so, so excited to welcome Josiah back to school. It was a little hard for him to let go of Mom today, but soon he was enjoying himself and I think he felt our love.We sang our hello song twice...once with the Thai greeting! Today we had the story of Saul, who was an enemy of Jesus, but became of friend of Jesus and an important missionary and Bible writer. After our Monday monkey position, we read a book called //The Mixed-Up Alphabet.// We even tried to sing the mixed up alphabet song. It was not easy! During centers today, we worked on surprises (!) and wrote our letters and practiced cup stacking. We learned about a game that we will play in the gym with our cups called "Stackers and Blasters".It should be fun! After snack, and outdoor time, Josiah got to do the three weeks of show and tell that he missed! He passed out things that he had brought from Thailand: cookies, shells, and fans that were magnets. At the end of the day Mrs. Otten took our picture by the flower by the door so we can see how much we have grown this year.

May 4, 2012
We are working on numeral identification, so each time we go to the carpet for circle time we get a number and sit in numerical order. We have done the numbers 1-9, the teens and the 20's and will keep working until we reach 100! Then we might start on alphabetical order! We sang one of our favorite songs, //Stand on the Rock// and then had the Bible story about Peter and Dorcas. In gym we used the parachute. We popped the earth ball up to the ceiling by cooperating with raising and lowering the parachute. We played Mousetrap, Big Wheel, Colors Ahead, Cat and Mouse, and made a tent.At the end of gym, Mrs. Otten told us about the "super moon" that will shine on Saturday night. During snack we hear one more favorite story (Mr. Otten's favorite story) //The Five Chinese Brothers//. We had our last alphabet town book and then did our letter Z page during choice time. We were excited for show and tell. These are the things we made: a painted dinosaur, a door hanger, a painted treasure box, a fishing pole with parts added, a car with parts added, a drawing of a family, a drawing of Spiderman, a necklace, and a tree fort. We talked about all the special things were going to make and do in the rest of May. As we ended our day we learned that Josiah was just boarding his first airplane for the trip home, so we prayed for him and his family.

May 2, 2012
Today we started with practice with Mrs. Hilbelink. We sang so well that we only had to practice each song one time. We had our Bible story of Peter being rescued from prison by the angel because of the prayers of his friends. For our letter of the week time, we read //Zach's Z Book// and practiced our sign language and Bible words. After our drink and brain gym, we did our Wacky Wednesday song, which was the restaurant song called //Pizza Hut.// We did our centers again and then had snack.During snack we got to watch the DVD showing speed stacking with cups. We got to go outside after snack, but we played on the parking lot and did lots of running. When we came back in, we had our visitor, Ms. Cline, who came to get to know us a little and listen to us talk. We talked about show and tell for Friday.

April 30, 2012
Last day of April today! We practiced our spring program songs with Mrs. Hilbelink so we could get used to her accompaniment. We had our last letter of the week sound box story and learned how to do "z" in sign language. We had centers again today. We were able to play outside. During inside choice time some of us played with the new work bench that we were given from the Solle family. Some of us played with the cups that we used for stacking during center time. (more about this next time). We had a Bible story with a sad ending. Some people lied to the disciples because they wanted to show off. Both of them died! We talked about the importance of always telling the truth.

April 27, 2012
Another different schedule today...but the same "TOO LITTLE CHOICE TIME". Today we had the Bible story of Philip helping the Ethiopian to understand God's word. We practiced our songs for the program and then we heard more favorite stories. We then got to go to the park for "gym". We were very, very excited. We enjoyed our walk there, getting to run across the field, the different playground equipment, and then running down and up the bowl.We were going to take a group photograph, but the little black flies were swarming all over us! When we got back to school, we were all hungry for Cameron's snack. We read a good story about friends called, //Yo! Yes?// Then we had just a short choice time while we also did our letter page. For show and tell we got to see Josiah...well, we got to see a video of Josiah in Thailand. Then we showed some very cool stuff we brought for "kids choice".

April 25, 2012
MAYWOOD today! Our prayers for weather that allowed us to be outside were answered with clouds and a breeze, but no rain! We enjoyed using our senses. We SAW a lot of interesting things, we TOUCHED some soft and hard and sharp things, we tasted a snack that Jackson brought, we heard.... we smelled....(you can finish with the question of the day). When we got back to school, we heard Connors favorite book, //The Jolly Mon.//

April 23, 2012
Today we learned that our spring program songs were songs that we already know and we practiced them. We figured out what our sentence of the day said. We had a Bible story about Pentecost.We did our letter of the week and got our new sign language and Bible words for Y. We got to enjoy time on the playground outside.At snack time we read Joshua and Noah's favorite books. After snack, Mrs. Kiel read her favorite story and we shared what we like to pretend when we play at home. We worked on a project during choice time (it is a surprise for Moms, so Mrs. Kiel had to leave the room for a while). After choice time, we cleaned up and talked about our trip to Maywood. We thought about what we might see and what we want to know about. We talked about dressing for the weather. Then we read Cameron's favorite book.

April 20, 2012
Today we had a longer table time. We then started our day at the circle. Mrs. Otten had forgotten to put up the helper hands, so our jobs were a surprise. We also noticed that our weather graph had a pattern this week: windy/cloudy...partly sunny...windy/cloudy...partly sunny...windy/cloudy! We sang some songs and then Mrs. Kiel read our Bible story while Mrs. Otten went to set up the gym. We had a short time to read books and then we lined up with "I have/who has" letter cards. We had many different stations in gym. (We could not do our warm up song with the cd because it kept messing up!). We all helped carry gym equipment back to our room and then we had a big, tasty snack that Nathan had brought. We all had left overs to take home, as well. We had our alphabet town story and then we had a short choice time and did our letter page. Finally we showed our favorite books and we are excited to hear those books read next week. (Most of us brought books that no one else has, so most of the stories will be new to us!)

April 18, 2012
JAMMIE DAY! We were sorry that our friend Josiah had to miss this fun day and hope he had a wonderful day in Thailand. Actually, he was probably in his jammies at the same time we were! We started our day in a dark room and used a flashlight to look at our schedule and to count our calendar numbers. We learned a song called //All Night, All Day// and then had our Bible story about Jesus meeting the men on the way to Emmaeus. We had a number stories that were wordless picture books today. The first one told the story of Alligator's Toothache. After we learned our letter A sign language and verse, we did our wacky Wednesday song with vowel sounds (//Apples and Bananas).// We read another story and said what we thought the words should say for the pictures. We then watched a demonstration of how we were going to make our own snack: PANCAKES! We had a long choice time while we took turns cooking, eating, and cleaning up after ourselves. At the end of the day we read some more stories...one quiet one and two stories that we helped to tell by making noise. We talked about show and tell and then we fell asleep on the tables waiting for our grown ups to come get us.(See the rest of our pictures on Parents Web)

April 16, 2012
We must have had busy weekends...or maybe just not used to having only two days off, as many of us were yawning this morning! We started our day learning a new song (some of us already knew it from Sunday School) called //Joy, Joy, Joy (Down in my Heart)//. We had a Bible story about Jesus appearing to his disciples after Easter. After our drink, brain gym, and monkey position, we did our new letter of the week. Oops! I just realized we forgot to do our Bible words and sign language...guess my brain was not ready for the week, either! We played outside and had a snack. Then we learned important information about staying safe in a severe storm, like a tornado. We practiced "duck and cover" in our room and we took time to look at the basement in school, where we would have to go for a real tornado emergency. We had a project during our choice time today. We all painted a flower to hang in the hall and some of us also painted pictures to take home. At the end of the day we talked about PAJAMA DAY!

April 13, 2012
It was a very different day, but it was exciting to welcome our grandparents to our class and to get to say our poem and sing songs for them. Our grandparents made us feel very special and did many activities in our room with us. We also got to play outside today, eat a good snack, and re-read the Easter story.

April 11, 2012
Mrs. Otten showed us on the globe how far Josiah travelled on his way to Thailand. His first plane ride was 12 hours long! After doing the calendar and weather, we sang the song with the name of Jesus and we did sign language instead of claps...that was hard! We did our letter of the week and we made rhymes for our names by changing the first letter of our names. We did our centers and then had snack. We played outside and inside. We practiced our poem and songs that we will sing for our grandparents and talked about grandparents day. We will come to school at the regular time and have table time and our morning circle time, perform for the grandparents, and then come back to the room for snack while the other classes do something for the grandparents. If it is not raining and there is time, we will go outside to play for a while, as well. Our grandparents will be able to do things in our room with us.

April 9, 2012
We had a busy day! We did our morning routines and learned a new song (B-I-N-G-O tune) with the name of JESUS. We had our letter story and looked at what was put in the letter box and bag. After our drink, brain gym, and monkey position, we heard a story about grandparents and found out about our centers. In centers we played a game (Can You Top This?), said why we thought our grandparents are the greatest, did a junk print, and did our letter page. We also finished the cards for our grandparents. Our snack was bags of goldfish and while we were waiting for snack some of us played a kind of "Go Fish" looking at the colors of our fish crackers. During snack we read the book that Josiah brought for our letter page about Jesus and his disciples (called cool dudes in the book). We played outside and inside and then practiced our poem and songs for grandparents day. At the end of the day, we surrounded Josiah with a prayer and hugs. We will miss him as he travels to Thailand for the next 4 weeks with his parents on a short term mission trip.

April 4, 2012
After table time and our calendar, we learned a new song called //Shout Hosanna//. We heard the rest of the story of Jesus dying on the cross and rising on Easter and then learned the second verse of the song which starts, //Jesus is alive, Jesus is alive...//Since grandparents day is coming up, we sang //Granny at the Fair// for our wacky wednesday song. In centers we mostly worked on our cards for grandparents day. We also finished the color books. Most of us also had time to read a book to Mrs. Otten. At snack Mrs. Otten told us the poem we are going to learn for grandparents day, and we practiced after snack. We took home the words so we can practice at home, too. We had a wonderful time running and swinging and climbing outdoors and then had inside choice time. We learned that our letter of the week for next week is J and we started thinking of things that we could bring for the letter box.

April 2, 2012
Guess I was still on vacation! On Monday we spent some time talking about our adventures over spring break. We looked at our April calendar events. We practiced our ABC song with upper case and lower case letters. In centers we worked on the color books we are sending with Josiah to Thailand, worked on cards for our grandparents, and practiced ordering our numerals, timing ourselves with a stopwatch! After snack we played outside and then had inside choice time. Our Bible story was about the events of Holy week from Palm Sunday until the Garden of Gethsemane.

March 21, 2012
Today we read about Umpire's adventure in alphabet town. He was going around town in his UNDERWEAR! We sang our wacky song, //Apples and Bananas// and then sang a new version called, //Pepperoni Pizza.// We did centers and then had snack. During snack Mrs. Otten read the story //Little Rabbit's Loose Tooth.// After snack we had a suitcase surprise....a gift! We got tooth pockets for us to use when we lose our teeth. We went outside to play and it was so nice that we played outside 5 extra minutes. We had inside choice time and then talked about some funny sayings ("it's raining cats and dogs"; "time flies when you're having fun"; and "hold your horses"). See you in April!

March 19, 2012
Ooops! Mrs. Otten was so busy thinking about upcoming events that she forgot to update! Here's what we did yesterday: We read our book about U and gave our cow the silly name of Undy U U! We leaned the sign language for U and our Bible words: //Understand what is right.// We worked in centers. Some of us started making our books that we will send with Josiah when he goes to Thailand with his family. Some of us made patterns with magnet shapes and took pictures of them. Some of us did our letter page and some of us read the book //Mat.// At snack we read a story about going to the dentist (and we got to play dentist at choice time!) After playing outside we had our Bible story about the cheater.

March 14, 2012
Sorry, faithful Wiki-readers, for this late update! Today we had both of our letter of the week books. Our Q adventure in Alphabet Town starred Quincy the quick Quarterback. Our wacky Wednesday song was called //Granny at the Fair// and it was an echo and moving song. After centers we had our visit from Sali from Dentist George Bullard's office. She showed us a model of our baby and grown up teeth.She showed us what the dentist and his helpers wear so germs are not spread. She reminded us to brush our teeth morning and night. She showed us how to brush and floss. We talked about good foods and "sometimes" foods and how sugar bugs (cavities) can start in only 20 minutes after eating a sometimes food.She had two surprise friends to show us and one of them was "naughty". She gave us a new toothbrush! After Sali left, we got to enjoy the wonderful spring-like weather! Look for a new photo gallery on ParentsWeb soon.

March 12, 2012
Hopefully, the promised spring-like weather will come so the children can spend their afternoons with lots of outdoor activity since we are beginning the first of many weeks where we will not have school/gym on Friday! Today we sang //What a Mighty God We Serve// and //Hallelu, Hallelujah, Praise Ye the Lord.// We heard the story of Jesus bringing a girl who was dead back to life. WE can look forward to living again in heaven with Jesus once we die. We did our letter of the week (oops! Mrs. Otten forgot to read the story about little Q!) and then our centers. We talked about what **"one quarter"** means and tasted one quarter of a graham cracker and did designs and colors in one quarter of a piece of paper. Since it was so wet on the playground, we did not go outside. We had a suitcase surprise...a different way to hear a story. Then we had a short choice time.

March 9, 2012
Friday! We won't have another Friday in school until April 13! We learned two new songs today to help us put our "X" verse into practice: //What a Mighty God We Serve// and //This Is The Day//. Our Bible story was another story about Jesus and a storm and He did another amazing thing to show his love and power. We were very excited about gym today because we got to work on our basketball skills. We used a variety of balls to help us to practice dribbling and shooting. We tried to dribble using spread apart fingers and a strong hand (not a floppy wrist). We tried to shoot using our shooting hand and making sure our arms looked like letter L. During snack we read a book together called //The Cat Sat on the Mat.// We also voted on our dedication for the new classroom book we wrote and illustrated. We did not do an alphabet town story, but we read another X book and we each got to find something from the story in the last picture of the book.During choice time many of us played doctor again. We did our letter page. The sticker is for the word "x-ray". We did our show and tell and the most popular rhyme was **cat-hat.** We saw different kinds of cats and hats. We did not have time for our suitcase surprise, so that will wait until Monday!

March 7, 2012
We missed our friend Joshua today and prayed for him to get better. We started our day with a song from our last Bible story (//Five Little Loaves and Two Little Flishes)//. We added a couple things to our letter box: Germ-X and Nexcare bandaids and Kleenex. Then we had a book that told us how bones and muscles work together to hold us up. We looked at the skeleton model. We felt some bones in our bodies and moved them with our joints and muscles. After our drink and brain gym, we really got to move. We did our wacky Wednesday song, which was //Dancing with the 2's"// We did lots of different dances. Amie showed us how to do the disco, and Nathan showed us how to boogie. Most of us were concentrating so hard on our dancing, we did not count the numbers! We'll keep working on that part! Mrs. Otten explained again how to look for W words and we got to use word masks to help us this time. We also looked at some pictures and made different groups. We are getting really good at seeing groups and naming groups. Maddie picked out the perfect snack for this week: Scooby **bones.** After snack and book reading time, we had our suitcase surprise: it was all the stuff we needed to play doctor's office! We were very excited about it. We also got a new game called Check-up Charlie and several of us played the game. At the end of the day we talked about show and tell and gave our ideas of things that rhyme that we could take for show and tell. Check out Parents Web...I'm uploading photos from our snow play and our doctor play!

March 5, 2012
We had just a short table time so we could get started on our busy day. After our morning routines, we had our Bible story about Jesus feeding 5,000 people with just 5 little loaves of bread and two little fish.Then we started to make our own "loaves and fishes" snack. We worked together to mix up bread dough. While it was rising, we did our letter of the week and started our centers. Next we scooped the dough into muffin tins (that we had sprayed so the bread would not stick). We did our second center while the bread rose and baked. Our "fish" were made of cheese and bologna that we cut with a fish shaped cookie cutter. We enjoyed our bread and "fish" while Mrs. Otten read a story about our bones (Charlene the skeleton model is a guest in our room this week). After snack, we dressed in our winter clothes and then we first played in the fresh snow on the playground and then we got to play on the big snow hill on the parking lot. Most of us did not want to stop playing!

March 2, 2012
Perfect attendance for everyone this week! We started our day looking at our March calendar. There is one birthday, one visitor, and 7 NO school days.We read a new sentence during weather time. It was another sentence about fox. We had a Bible story with another healing miracle of Jesus. In gym we warmed up by walking, stomping, skipping, sliding, tiptoeing, and marching. Then we worked on the gymnastic skills of different ways to walk and balance on a beam, hang and pull up on a bar, hopscotch, and rolls/cartwheels on a mat. This made us very hungry and we enjoyed Amie's healthy snack of string cheese, goldfish crackers, milk or juice. Mrs. Otten read a story called //Galimoto.// After our alphabet town story of walrus and her Wednesday water party, we had choice and letter page time. At show and tell, Mrs. Otten showed a real galimoto from a trip her family took to Africa. Some of us had sovenirs from trips we took, and some of us had things that other people brought back. Finally, we learned about our new letter and the sounds it makes.

February 29, 2012

 * W**hat a **w**onderful, **w**indy, **w**acky **W**ednesday **w**e had! After our table time, we did the calendar and learned a little about why February has an "extra" day this year. Our homework was the "suitcase surprise". We have to decide if tomorrow has lion or lamb weather. We read a story called //Wacky Wednesday// and found many wacky things in the book. We sang //Wibble, Wobble// and got to do a lot of moving. We did our centers. We had a short drink break and then read a story about opposites. The characters were Jumbo the elephant and Tiny the mouse. They were opposites, but they were friends. Then the excitement began! We "travelled" to Nicaragua with our friends in 5K. We got to make and eat Cocadas (caramel cookies rolled in coconut). We also got to try another famous Nicaraguan cookie called Chikys. We painted a parrot in a very unusual way. We made maracas and even played baseball inside! **WOW!**

February 27, 2012
We were all in school again. After table time, we began our day with prayer and our hello song. We looked at our schedule and our jobs. Josiah chose the dolphin to count the numbers on the calendar. Joshua saw that it was sunny and cloudy and windy. We sang our //Hinges// song and our //Growing Song//. We had the story of little W and her sound box and learned our W in sign language. We sang a song for our Bible words, //When I am afraid, I will trust in God.// We passed around our cow, singing her name as Wandy Wae Woo. We looked at what was in the letter box and at the labels in the letter bag. After our drink, we got a card and had to find the partner with the rhyming word so we could do our monkey position...it was a tricky one! We did our centers and then had snack. We had choice time and then had to choose if we wanted more inside choice time or wanted to go outside. Most people wanted to go outside, so we cleaned up. We had our Bible story about Jesus healing the man who could not walk. Jesus also told the man that He could forgive the man's sins. We finished our day with a few minutes of outdoor play and enjoyed the big snow boulders that were on the playground.

February 24, 2012
We were missing our "N" boys today...of all days! Today was our N adventure in alphabet town and our N letter page! We had a different schedule today because the "big" kids had a special chapel. So we started with our Bible story and we learned how Jesus healed the man who was deaf. We did our choice time and letter page before snack today. (Thanks for the wonderful snack, Noah. It gave us good energy for gym). In gym we did our //Count to 100// song to warm up. Then we did a circuit and practiced our balancing on the beam and "stones"; practiced skipping and throwing; used our arm muscles on the scooter boards; did some jumping and hopscotch. After gym we shared ideas about what we could do to play if we had no toys and then we heard the story //Elizabeti's Doll.// Guess what she used for a doll? We figured out our new letter of the week from Mrs. Otten's clues (it is made with all big lines; it is made with four big lines) We thought about things we have that begin with that letter. Should be a full letter box next week!

February 22, 2012
Today we celebrated Chloe's birthday. Her real birthday is tomorrow. We had a story of Beatrice and her goat. Beatrice lives in Uganda, just like the children that will benefit from the money that we will collect in our cans during Lent. We added items to our letter box and bag and then had our wacky Wednesday song about fast food restaurants. We did centers and you can learn about our families by looking at our glyphs hanging in the hall. We read //Nosy Noodles// and agree with Josiah that it is a good story. It was a nice day for outdoor play. We also had a short indoor choice time and then had a story about a big stain. We learned that we are also "stained" by sin, but can have our stains (sins) taken away by believing that Jesus died for us.We get to bring our own choice for show and tell on Friday.

February 20, 2012
We were all in school today, but we are still battling runny noses and some coughs. We added the book //Nosy Noodles//, newspaper, a nest, a napkin, a picture of Noah and his sister, Naomi, a necklace, two nickels, a nail and a nut to our letter box. We thought of the word "no" and "newt" and added those to our list, too. In centers we practiced picking up candy hearts, counting syllables, and recognizing numerals. We also made a project with the parts of a flower representing our families. During snack we read a book about George Washington. After outdoor play and some choice time, we had the story of Jesus healing the blind man. We got to use our hands to guess something we could not see.

February 17, 2012
Today we had the Bible story of Jesus blessing the children. It is so good to know that Jesus loves us! After our Bible story, we had gym. We played a game called "Tisket, Tasket" and then we used to exercise dice and did arm circles, sit and reach, push ups, crab kicks and more. For our snack we had delicious fruit cookies and kiwi (in honor of letter K) This was a new food for some of us. We heard a story about families and learned that "No matter the size, no matter the name, one thing about families is always the same....LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!" Our alphabet town adventure was about little kangaroo and the mistakes she made and the kind thing she was able to do for mama goat. During our choice and letter page time, Mrs. Otten left and Mrs. Abel came to help Mrs. Kiel.

February 15, 2012
Today we had a short table time so we could get right to work at centers, as we anticipated our visitors from the John Michael Kohler Arts Center Reader's Theatre. We are really doing well hearing and clapping syllables, although the words with one syllable are really hard to detect. We finished our finger puppets and took them home today. We enjoyed the stories and poems that our guests presented to us (and they enjoyed watching us do our //Chicken Count// song to get our wiggles out before we started.) We heard the stories //Ira's Sleepove//r, //Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day,// and //The Best Friend.// We also listened to two poems: one about a very funny bicycle with lots of things on it but no seat or pedals, and one about a girl with a really long name who did not take out the garbage. No one had signed up for snack today, but we had crackers that Noah had brought for just such an "emergency". After choice time we had the Bible story of Jesus getting water from a woman at the well, and giving her living water. Next time we will get to talk about our families. Mrs. Otten showed her family and told us about each of them.

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February 13, 2012
We were excited for Valentine's Day! We sang our friend songs, and learned a new song called H-E-A-R-T (like B-I-N-G-0). We did our letter of the week and sang our Mandy Mae Moo song with the "K" sound and the sound for when a word starts with "KN". We did our day of the week rap and learned about word parts. We clapped the parts of our names. In centers we clapped the parts of the 3K names and other words; we made finger puppets; we used candy hearts for our clear the board game and got to eat them when we rolled their numbers; and we threw bean bags at a heart on the floor and counted to see if more landed in the heart or out of the heart. We had a heart-shaped snack and then we got all dressed for outdoor play. When we came in we had a short choice time. We talked about the schedule for the rest of the week. We do NOT need our winter clothes or boots the rest of the week because we have the Reader's Theater on Wednesday and gym on Friday.

February 10, 2012
Today we started with our Bible story. We looked at pictures of a boy growing up and then heard the story when Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to be "born again". We said that meant that we needed to be made new in our spirits by letting Jesus put his spirit (or wind) in us. We talked about how we can't see the wind, but we know what it does (especially today!!!) We said that Jesus' spirit helps us to do what is right. In gym we got to move all silly ways with our warm up song. Then we went to 5 different areas with a partner. Jackson brought cheese popcorn and V-Fusion juice for snack and then we did a circle activity with valentines. After our v adventure in alphabet town, we had choice time, did our letter page, and did show and tell. We found out our new letter of the week.

February 8, 2012
Spoke too soon about staying healthy! Our friend, Chloe was sick today.We prayed for her and for all our sores. We added some things to our letter box that we got to smell: vinegar and Vaporub. We had a story about runaway valentines and we counted our numbers to 30. After our wacky Wednesday song, we had centers. We finished our Valentine bags and our shape book. We enjoyed the snack that Amie brought and then we got to go outside and run. We had a short choice time inside, but are saving our next Bible story for Friday. At the end of the day Mrs. Abel came and took our picture with the placemats that we made for the people who will get "meals on wheels".

February 6, 2012
Hooray! We are staying healthy and staying in school! Today we had our V letter of the week story and put things in our box. In centers we played a shape fill-in game, made another page for our shape book, listened for rhymes and beginning sounds and made our bags for our Valentines. We were happy to get outside and most of us did lots of running when we were outside. That felt good! We had a short choice time. Some of us played with shave cream. Then we did a "Follow Me" song with our partners and learned that Jesus said "follow me" to people who became his disciples. We talked about what it means to be a "fisher of men". We will talk more about this next time.

February 3, 2012
OOPS! It looks like I never updated on Wednesday! Sorry, faithful wiki followers! On February 1 we had the bible story of Jesus visiting the temple as a boy (and staying behind when his parents left for home). We read a story about a scarf that got caught in the zipper of a jacket and we each got to hold a part of the outfit when we retold the story. We had a wacky rap song about the days of the week, did centers, and WE GOT HOMEWORK! **Everyone did their homework and remembered to bring it back to school today.** Just like the famous groundhogs--Phil and Jimmy--some of us saw our shadow and some did not. We know that spring will come, just like God promises, and God is in control of the weather, but it was fun to learn about Ground Hog Day. Today we also did parachute activities in gym. We did our letter page. Our suitcase surprise was a fun "G" word: GUM! At choice time some of us were helpers and washed some of our toys from the kitchen. We had fun doing show and tell. We put our show and tell items on the overhead and made a shadow on the wall for our friends to guess.

January 30, 2012
Today we celebrated Cameron's half birthday! We had our new letter of the week: G! Our suitcase surprise was a box of Great Grains cereal! During centers we painted, identified numerals by stepping on the math mat, played a math game, and made a snowman story book.Our paintings will be cut into hearts that we will attach to placemats for people who get meals brought to them. After snack we had choice time and a Bible story.

January 27, 2012

 * BEACH DAY!** We had so much fun discovering the beach things in the room. We acted out some beach songs and got to put our toes in real sand! In gym we exercised our bodies and our minds with the //Count to 100 by 1s// song. Then we got to play with beach balls and had a great time bouncing, throwing, catching, spinning, and rolling the beach balls. After our snack we had a story about Harold the bunny who liked the beach and liked to..... We made our own leis and had choice time. It seemed short, but it was really about 45 minutes long! At the end of the day we found out our new letter of the week. Then we saw what happens when light shines through a prism. Mrs. Otten said the sunshine is like Jesus' love, we are the prism, and when Jesus' love shines through us, we do beautiful things.(watch for beach day pictures to be posted in the photo gallery of ParentsWeb sometime over the weekend!)

January 25, 2012
Many of us started our day making more Valentines for the children who will spend Valentine's Day in the hospital. During our morning circle time, we enjoyed dividing into two groups and singing //Hallelu, Hallelujah// antiphonally. We checked out the new things that were put in the letter box and then read about //Squirrel's Adventure in Alphabet Town.// It was another beach story to get us ready for our special day on Friday. We had a new wacky Wednesday song called, //Make Any Shape and Freeze//. We had centers and snack and then had our Bible story. Did you see the paper I took home about our story? There are five things hidden in the picture that were in the Bible story: a crown, a bag of money, a scroll, a torn robe, and a heart. After choice time we went outside to play for a while. It was very icy, but it was good to get some fresh air and enjoy a few falling snowflakes.

January 23, 2012
Back to school after a long weekend. We sang the A-B-C song and pointed at lower case letters and then found the letters of our names on the lower case alphabet. We had our new letter of the week:S and our adventure was a foreshadowing of the day this week when we will be pretending to be in the **s**un and **s**and and at the **s**ea**s**hore! In centers we did our letter page and started a **s**tained glass window project, and put number **s**tickers on a **s**nake. After snack we had choice time and then we talked about our Bible words for this week: **Share with others.** We did a special project sharing our time, our energy, and our love.

January 18, 2012
So, today: we took prayer requests for assorted injuries. God has made our bodies so efficient at healing, but it is good to recognize that healing does come from His power! We sang //Apple and Bananas// for our wacky Wednesday song. We read about Owl's Adventure in Alphabet Town. He wanted his friends to help him with an opera. It did not work out! We then did centers. Soon we will have a new classroom book to check out. There are also new snowmen in the hall. After Amy's birthday snack, we had our Bible story of David and Goliath. (Watch for photos to be posted soon of us comparing our height to that of Goliath). We had inside choice time because there was not enough time to get bundled up to play outside.



January 16, 2012
We were all in school. We did our centers first. We got to use a camera to take a photograph of what we made with a shape. These photos will become part of a new book we are making. We also finished decorating our shaving cream snowmen. We also worked on our **O** letter page. We had Noah's delicious birthday snack and heard about a man named Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We learned that he helped people understand that the color of skin a person has is not important. He helped people to want to change the laws in our country so all people can go to the same schools, and ride the same buses, and drink from the same drinking fountains. Next, our schedule was a bit different. We had our Bible story first. It was about how God's people wanted a king. After the king they chose did not follow God's ways, God chose a new king. God did not look at the outside of the man, but at his heart. After our Bible story we had a short choice time and then we got on all our winter gear for a short time of playing in the snow. That was so much fun, but not nearly long enough!

January 13, 2012
Yay! Josiah was back! But Nathan was sick. Today we had a story about a little girl who wanted to wear her favorite clothes after her bath but they were dirty. She needed to wear clean clothes. We said that was like letting Jesus create a clean heart in us and then us acting "clean". In gym we had lots of throwing practice!! We threw at targets, bowling pins, at a far wall, and over a mat wall. Then we played "Clean up your backyard". After our letter c snack, we did the alphabet town book and our letter pages. We were excited to show our new things for show and tell.

January 11, 2012
We missed our friend, Josiah, again, and prayed for him to get over his bad cold. We tried a song with lots of letters (//I Am a C)// We also did a wacky Wednesday song after our brain gym. We got to count and make chicken sounds! We did the same centers as Monday and then we got to enjoy the outdoors. After snack and choice time, we had a Bible story about God calling to Samuel.



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January 9, 2012
We added many things to our letter box with the three sounds for "c". We had a fire drill and we moved pretty quickly because it was cold! In centers we made patterns, counted bears, fished for letters, and made a snowman out of an interesting mixture! We had a story about a snoring bear. There were many new words in the story. We played outside and had inside choice time, as well. Our Bible story was about Hannah, who wanted a baby. God heard her prayers and gave her a baby boy.

January 6, 2012
Today we talked a lot about waiting! We also had to do some waiting! In gym we learned about throwing. We got to wear a silly band on the wrist of our throwing hand and had tape on our opposite toe. We threw bean bags at flower targets and then we threw very far across the gym. We read a story called //The Big Snowball.// Mrs. Otten read the words and we "read" the pictures. Then we counted how many words were in the sentences. The longest sentence had 15 words and the shortest sentence had 3 words. After snack (and more waiting!) we read a story called //The First Snowfall// and we learned a **//very funny word//** for scarf! We made a project that looks like winter during choice time. We found out that our letter of the week for next week "steals" its sounds from other letters. Finally our waiting was over! Our suitcase surprise was the same as the first part of Mandy the cow's name for next week.

January 4, 2012
We came back to school after a nice break for Christmas and New Year's Day. We played with our new play dough and play dough tools at table time. Some of us also made things with wikki stix. We looked at our new calendar and noted that there are several birthdays, a NO SCHOOL day, and Beach Days this month. We had the Bible story of the Wisemen visiting Jesus. We learned how to do an activity called, //"I have....who has..."// We did it with letters and numbers today. We had centers altogether again. We reviewed what makes a sentence and made sentences for things we took out of a mitten. We then had a story about hibernation and tried to figure out how many counting bears were hibernating in a "cave". We were able to play outside and then we had a snack and a story about a camel who was afraid to travel. We had a story about ice and then had choice time and made icicle pictures. They will be hanging up in the hallway next time we come to school.

December 21, 2011
We were very excited for our special day...the last day we would be together for December and 2011 and the first day of winter! We looked for patterns in the helper names, had a Bible story, and then had a short choice time and wrapped the gifts for our parents. During snack we heard the story called, //Stick Man//. While we were learning about the games we were going to play for our party, it started snowing! That was very exciting! We played our games in two groups and then opened the gifts for the classroom.

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December 19, 2011
We had a sunny day today! The dancing flowers were dancing very fast. We read a Bible story about the angels and shepherds. We did an "all together" center learning about sentences. We had to decide if Mrs. Otten said a sentence and show with "thumbs up or thumbs down". We were able to outside to play. Joshua was disappointed that he forgot his snack, but we had Scooby bone crackers to eat. Later his mom brought his snack and we ate the yummy pretzels he made (p.s. Amie wants the recipe). We will have the goldfish crackers on Wednesday. We then had our suitcase surprise: a bunch of gift bags. We sorted them in many different ways. During choice time we did a project of making wrapping paper. At the end of the day, Joshua was able to show the show and tell he missed on Friday. (Sorry this is so late today...I ran off to Milwaukee for dental check up and then to the airport to welcome back our 2009-2010 AFS student from Chile, Steffany!)

December 16, 2011
We were sad that Joshua was not in school today. We figured that he probably has a bad cold because many of us have stuffy noses or coughs. We sang //Away in the Manger// and learned //C'mon Ring Those Bells//. In gym we did Christmas-themed relays using our imagination. First we were angels and moved lots of different ways, running back to our "cloud" when the music stopped. Then we did "mailing our Christmas letters" relay. We did a "Good News" relay, pretending to throw a newspaper with the good news that Jesus is born. Finally we were "wisemen and camels bringing a sack of gold" to Jesus. We had Christmas cookies for snack, which was just perfect because Mrs. Otten planned to read the book called, //Christmas Cookies//. It had lots of new big words in it like //**anticipation**// and //**frustrated**// and **//tradition//**. Josiah found the "R" house in the alphabet town book and we had a story of a raccoon who was a **//rascal//** (also a new word for us). We did our letter page and put a red ribbon on it. Mrs. Otten tried to teach us how to curl the ribbon, but decided that it was too tricky for kids! We enjoyed showing and telling at the end of the day. Jackson's remote control helicopter was very exciting and may be added to many Christmas wish lists! No letter of the week for next week. We counted the days until Christmas and then got to choose our own goodbye because Joshua was not in school to do that job.

December 14, 2011
The day started very gray. Connor put up cloudy, rainy, and windy for our weather. We brightened up the day by singing songs with bells and then we had a special treat for our suitcase surprise: a card from Culver's for free ice cream for the hard work we did to learn our parts for the Christmas program. We added some things to our letter box (including rick-rack!) and then had a story called, //Red Boots for Christmas.// We did our centers and had snack and then we had an extra long choice time because we did not go outside (too wet). We had a very short Bible story about another angel visit.Our show and tell on Friday is kid's choice!

December 12, 2011
Today started very differently because we had to go to the church to practice for the program right away! We got to see how the church would look and we practiced speaking into the microphone. After that we went back to our room to do the calendar and weather and letter of the week. After our drink, brain gym, and monkey position we did our centers. We had cupcakes for snack and they were decorated with a ring or a plastic present. When we started our outdoor time, the big kids were still on the wood chips because their recess was late because of program practice. It was crazy for a few minutes, but some of us were glad to see older brothers or sisters or friends. After a short choice time, we had a Bible story about the angel visiting Mary and then we practiced our parts //**one more time!**// **SEE YOU TONIGHT!**

December 9, 2011
MAKE AND TAKE WORKSHOP DAY! The day started with shopping at the Children's Only Shoppe. We then had time to do a table time activity with our grown up before starting our day. We learned that our letter for next week is "R" and put a rooster in our letter box. Then it was time for projects with our grown ups! It was so fun!! We also had delicious snacks. Look for pictures on the SCS website next week.

December 7, 2011
More practice for the program today...this time at the church! We each decorated a picture of the animal we will hold during our speech for the Christmas program. We also cut out our trees that we painted with the marbles. They will be our room decoration for December and January. We enjoyed Amie's snack of yogurt sticks and fruit snacks while Mrs. Otten read a book with some very different kinds of Christmas trees in it. Our Bible story was about how Moses led the people out of Egypt and how God showed them the way and help them get across the sea.

December 5, 2011
We practiced our parts for the Christmas program and then heard a story called, //Pine Tree Parable//. It told how someone gave up their perfect Christmas tree to a little girl who could not pay for it. After centers we went outside to play. During snack we hear a story about Max, who wanted a BIG part in the Christmas program, but had only two words to say. But, in the end, he was a BIG star in the program. After choice time we had the Bible story of Moses talking to the King of Egypt. Many bad things happened but when Moses prayed and the bad thing stopped, he said...(Question of the day!)

December 2, 2011
We found out that our December calendar numbers have a candy cane on them. We looked at the special things that are happening this month. We spent time practicing our speaking parts for the program, even using a pretend microphone and holding our animal pictures. We also sang //Christ Was Born in Bethlehem// and practiced the words for //Friendly Beasts.//(by the way, parents, we are NOT going to sing the last verse of this song.) Then we did five different "B" things in the gym. We had a partner and we rotated to each activity. After snack we had our choice time and did our letter page.Then we got to show one of our favorite Christmas decorations and we each got to hang one more ornament on our classroom tree.

November 30, 2011
We put the last turkey number on the calendar and thought about what kind of picture might be on the numbers of the December calendar. We read a story called //Banana// and learned how we could say that one word different ways. We added twelve words to our list of "B" things in our letter box and sang a song about one of them. (see Question of the Day). We did centers and then had a "B" snack: bananas and bones! We enjoyed running and swinging and pretending outside and then had a short choice time inside. We learned what happened to Moses when he grew up. We ended our day with our suitcase surprise... and this time we guessed it! There were ornaments for our tree in the suitcase and we each got to pick out one to hang on the tree.

November 28, 2011
Today we all came back from our Thanksgiving break, thankful for many things! Mrs. Otten was thankful that we were all in school. We practiced for our Christmas program. We did our letter box activities and heard some very exciting news when Jackson added a picture he drew for letter "B". After our drink, brain gym, and monkey position, we did our centers. We are making something to help us count the days until Christmas, making a book to read, counting, and playing a guessing game called, "Bug in a Rug". We played outside for a short time and then inside for a short time. We then had the story of how a mom had to hide her baby so he would not be killed. God (and his big sister) watched over him!

November 23, 2011
Today we practiced our "all" part for the Christmas program and sang //Christ Was Born in Bethlehem//. Mrs. Otten sang the //Friendly Beasts// and showed us pictures for the verses. another story about Thanksgiving and learning how to say "Happy Thanksgiving" in sign language, we did our centers. Look for a new decoration for our hallway when school resumes. We played outdoors and it was very nice weather! Our suitcase surprise had all the things we needed to make a snack for ourselves and a "Blessings Mix" snack for someone else. During snack, Mrs. Otten read a thank you note from the hospice center that we blessed with our thanksgiving napkin holder decorations. After snack we had choice time. Then we saw the costumes we are wearing for the Christmas program (modeled by Cameron and Jackson) and we got to choose which one we want to wear. We found out our letter for next week and then our day was done!





November 21, 2011
We heard the 5K children practicing their songs for the Christmas program, so we started to learn one of our songs and part of our speech. We will take our parts home on Wednesday. We did our centers and then had snack. After snack and some time with books, we went outside and enjoyed running and swinging and climbing. We came back inside for a short choice time and then Mrs. Otten told the story of the first time the Pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving.

November 18, 2011
We had fun today, but the consensus seems to be that choice time is one of our favorite times of the day and **//it is always too short!//** Today in gym we used the parachute again. We cooperated so well that we made a huge mountain; made a tent two times and sang songs under our tents; popped "planets, asteroids, and the earth" high in the air; and learned the cat and mouse game. (ask me if I was a cat or a mouse). It was Connor's turn to find the "P" house in the Alphabet Town book. We used the paper punchers to make a pattern on our "P" letter page. We brought in lots of good food for the food pantry, and spent some time sorting it into different groups. We then put the foods in two bags: a big paper bag for the box things and a small plastic bag for the canned things. We thought the big bag would be heavier, but it wasn't! We also saw how a small jar of peanut butter actually is heavier than a BIG box of Cheerios. At the end of the day we did a responsive reading of Psalm 136:1-9**,** with Mrs. Otten reading the verses and the children responding "//His love endures forever"// **(Hint: this would make a good family devotion this weekend, with each person adding their own verse)**

November 16, 2011
We were all at school today! Our colds are getting better...just a few runny/stuffy noses and coughs. Today we picked "p" words out the pumpkin (see Question of the Day). We have so many things in our letter box this week. See the picture of the list below.We read a very funny story together called //Run, Turkey, Run//! You'll never guess how the turkey tried to hide from the farmer, or what the family had to eat because they never got the turkey! After centers we enjoyed Nathan's birthday snack of brownies. All that thinking and projects at center time makes us really hungry!. We got to play outside 10 minutes (//"too short"// for most of us) and then had choice time (**"too short again!"**) Some of us are getting into the holiday spirit by decorating the castle with the necklaces and bracelets.We finished the story of Joseph and heard the amazing way that God had everything planned. We talked about our show and tell AND SHARE for Friday.

November 14, 2011
Today we had a good laugh about our cow's name! We change her name for each new letter of the week, changing the first sound in her name ("Mandy Mae Moo") to the sound for the week. In centers we worked on a book that will have our own picture in it. We got to use a claw to pick up beanie babies (Connor called it the "pinchinator" so we had to add that word to our P word list). We used water color paints and played a game counting feathers. We were able to have moving time outdoors and choice time indoors. Then we heard the story of the time the brothers had to come to Egypt to get corn and did not recognize Joseph. Next time we will find out what happens when they have to go back again. Mrs. Otten also showed us where we can answer the question for the day and is eagerly waiting to find out the answers to the question for Friday!

11-11-11
We were glad that Nathan was back at school (especially since he was our snack person!) Today we talked about the date. We can call it by its "initials". We learned a new song about friends://A Friend Loves at all Times//. We did patterns with shapes. We had our first experience with the parachute this year. It was so, so fun! We all cooperated so we did such exciting things, like popping shapes high in the air. (picture of this gym time will be posted once Mrs. Otten gets back to school). We did our Alphabet Town book (Amie found the house) and learned what it means to daydream and dilly dally. Ask what happened to dinosaur when she daydreamed with her double dip ice cream cone. During our choice/letter page time, Mrs. Otten left and Mrs. Abel came to finish the day with us.

November 9, 2011
Lots of rain...although we were talking about what else the weatherman said might be coming down from the sky later today(and is now even as I type this!) We read a book called //Thanks for Thanksgiving// and then we got with a partner and took turns telling things for which **//we//** are thankful. This would be a good activity for families, as well! We had our center time and then played an egg hunt game for indoor recess. We had our choice time after snack and then reviewed our story about Joseph getting sold and going to Egypt. We finished our day reading our //Farm Animals// books together.

November 7, 2011
We were all in school today and our runny, stuffy noses are getting //a little// better. We are doing good using tissues and covering coughs. We started learning a new song today (//1,2,3, Jesus Loves Me)// and we did our "pattern" song (//Hallelu, Hallelujah, Praise Ye the Lord)//. We added a lot of "D" things to our box and talked about our verse. We are going to put our verse into practice by making table decorations for the Sharon Richardson Hospice. We are making napkin holders that look like turkeys. This was one of our centers today. In our other centers we counted and filled in boxes for that number; we patterned and made a bracelet with a pattern to take home; and we added illustrations to a book called, //Farm Animals.// After a short time outside, we had to vote as to whether we wanted to keep playing outside for our "choice" time or go inside for choice time. The vote was 8-2, so we stayed outside to play today! Our Bible story was about the bad things Joseph's brothers did to him and how God showed Joseph the meaning of the King's silly dreams. At the end of the day we had to find something that Mrs. Otten had hidden in our room (see question of the day). Actually 12 things were hidden and we learned a "D" word for 12 things.

November 4, 2011
We had our first field trip today! It was so exciting to ride the bus and so interesting to see the art at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. Our day started in the usual way with table time and circle time. We reviewed our letter i Bible words and sign language and then sang the silly //Apples and Bananas// song. We learned what our initials were so we could make a new newsletter border. In gym we played "Buggy Teacher" and did a bug relay. We pretended to be caterpillars that turned into butterflies. We crawled, wrapped up in our chrysalids, and flew back to lay our eggs. Then it was time for a quick snack before our trip. We saw art that looked like brains with memories, a wall with many, many things cut out of paper, and then we got to walk through an imaginary house. It was so cool! There were **//so many//** things to see that we could not see them all. Most of us would like to take our parents back to the and look some more. (We can tell you the rules!) We made our own houses for our art project and they will be in our hallway "gallery" for the next week.



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November 2, 2011
We were sad that Connor was not in and prayed that he will get better for our field trip on Friday. We had our Alphabet Town story about an iceman named Ichabod. (see question of the day) and learned an insect song at circle time. We did centers and then played a "Stop, Drop, and Roll" game because it was too rainy to go outside. It was fun and good practice, too. We had extra choice time because we could not go outside. Jackson and Cameron rode on hopping hippos. Joshua, Amie, Josiah, Chloe, Nathan, and Mrs. Otten played restaurant. Maddie and Chloe made things at the writing center. We had a story about Joseph and his dreams. We learned a new song called, //Stand on the Rock**.**// We talked about our field trip and made up verses for //The Wheels on the Bus// song.

October 31, 2011
Another busy Monday! There is always lots to do when we start a new letter of the week and new centers! We had another visitor today (Josiah's "Grandma Alice") and a birthday to celebrate (Joshua). In our letter box are iguanas, ice cream and ice cream cone, picture of ice, pretend icicle, insect, Iron Man, and an ink pen. Good finding...not too many things start with the letter I. We learned about what makes a "bug" an "insect" and did different insect things in centers. //Our Spider Counting Book// is finished and Noah was the first one to take it home.

October 28, 2011
Today we were excited to have Mr. K come and spend some time with us! We started our day with our verse, "Trust in the Lord" and a song "Trust and Obey". Then Mrs. Otten talked about what it means to trust and obey. We had to trust that she had something good in the black bag and then obey and put our hands in the bag. It was our first treat of the day: a kitkat bar! (We also got pretzel treats from Jackson and a sucker treat from Josiah's mom) In gym we got to use beach balls. That was a lot of fun! (see question of the day). After snack we had such a silly song with the "t" sound called "tooty-ta".We did our letter pages and had choice time. Then we got to share about our favorite places. We kept the photographs in a binder. You can read about our favorite places in the binder next week and then we will take the photographs back home.

October 26, 2011
We were sad that Josiah was not in school with us. The season of head colds has hit us with a vengeance! Lots of sniffles and coughs...time for our book //Germs Are Not for Sharing//! We will be reading it very soon!! Today we took pictures out of a tissue box and identified many words with the "t" sound at the beginning. (see question of the day). We used our rhythm sticks for //tapping//. I will post a picture tomorrow, as my school computer "froze" before I could update and I am updating at home and do not have access to the photograph. We stayed inside for play today because the wood chips were too wet. We played a pumpkin patch game that was similar to musical chairs. We were glad to also have our indoor choice time!

October 24, 2011
Today we had some :) changes to our day and some :( changes to our day. We had a little extra table time and talked about some of our special activities over the weekend. Our center time took a bit longer, so we went out to play before snack. We then looked at the apple pie production. That was amazing to see! But it also took time, and when we got back to the room, we only had time for our Bible story, and no time for play in the room. We will try to get some extra play time on Wednesday! Watch for changes to our wiki organization coming soon. An attachment to this week's newsletter will explain.

October 21, 2011
Sorry this got posted a little later than usual. I was eager to get on the road for the first leg of the trip to Grand Rapids to see Betsy swim in her first meet for the Calvin swim team. Today we took some more photographs for our book and looked at the number sentences that will be in the book. We got outside to play and thought we saw dinosaur tracks in the wood chips. We sorted our alphabet letters into vowel/not a vowel. There are only 5 vowels and 21 other letters! We sang a silly song with our long vowel sounds (might be worth a trip to Mead Public Library to check out a Raffi cd with the song "Apples and Bananas") We enjoyed showing what our parents have given to us: special dolls, books, toys, a ring, a bank, and other things. We found out that our new letter for next week is T and also talked about the sound "t" makes when bossy "h" comes after it.

October 19, 2011
We missed Joshua today because he was sick:( We added Elmo, engines, Easter basket, and eraser to our letter box. We acted like scientists and sorted "bugs". We read a book about spiders because we are making our own counting book about spiders. After centers we had to play on the blacktop because the wood chip playground was too wet. We did **//lots of running!//** It was fun! Cameron brought bananas for snack and we had fun using them for phones, smiles, and beards while we waited for everyone to clean up for snack. Our Bible story was about Jacob and Esau and how impatient Esau traded his land for soup. We talked about show and tell and some of us can hardly wait to show and tell something we got from our parent(s)!

October 17, 2011
We were happy to be back at school with our friends! Our center time took a little longer today, so we changed our schedule and went outside to play //after// our snack today.Our snack story was about the Eensy Weensy spider and the other adventures that she had. We had lots of energy for running and swinging after our good applesauce snack! Some of us ran as fast as cheetahs and dragons. We had another spider story about a spider who did not answer the other animals because...... We had a devotion for our "E" verse: "Even a child is known by his actions." It was about a boy named Bobby who saw a mime and could figure out what he was doing by his actions (washing windows; having his ice cream fall off his cone)

October 12, 2011 Another beautiful autumn day! We enjoy our outdoor time so much, even if we only get out for ten minutes. Today our room parents came and helped us with our fingerprints on the garden flags that will be part of the 3K-4K basket at the SCS auction. We got to use a variety of rhythm instruments and used them to copy a pattern of playing beats and resting beats. We were excited to get our present from our //Highlights// order (remember those yellow sheets you signed at orientation). Check out our question of the day! Our Bible story was about how Abraham's servant found a wife for Isaac. He prayed for a special sign and God answered his prayer! Next week we will have our first "vowel" letter of the week. We talked a little bit about long and short sounds and will be learning more about that next week.

October 10, 2011
I could not have planned it better! I was intending to do some listening for rhymes and when Noah walked in and showed his shirt with the "10" on it, Amie chimed in with "Ten, Jen". And off we went! We were doing lots of rhyming all day, especially at snack time. Many of us rhymed words we knew with nonsense words "chocolate, bocolate" which is great for demonstrating that we grasp what is needed to make a rhyme. We got to use our first rhythm instrument: sticks. We kept the beat along with a silly rhyming song called "Stuff it in the Closet". I wonder if any little ones were singing that refrain throughout the day...I know //**I** **was!**// There was more parading at choice time as this photo shows:



October 7, 2011
The children eagerly check out the helper hands each morning to see what job they will have. Cameron used the soccer ball pointer to count the calendar numbers and Maddie was able to put up another "sunny" card on our weather chart. We had fun pretending to play instruments on the introduction to our morning song, //Jesus, I Love You//. This has extended into our choice time with several children playing rhythm instruments and having a parade.For our devotional time today, we had a story book based on the truths in Psalm 139. It reminded us that God sees us all the time: wherever we are, whatever we are doing. In gym we used hula hoops and several children came up with ideas of ways to use the hoops. We used our letter pieces to do the //Letter Pieces Hokey Pokey// song before we did our letter of the week page. Ask your child to recall the silly story of the Hippo with hiccups in Alphabet Town. We enjoyed giving our clues for our "hidden" show and tell items and trying to guess what was in our friends' bags.