PUMPKINS

 

We started our morning out in Lundholm woods.   It was a cold and beautiful morning.  The masks helped keep our faces warm.  

Before going to work choices we looked at our pumpkin and guessed how many seeds would be inside.  There was a wide range of guesses.

Lucy:         ten

Mila:         one hundred

Jenna:        one hundred

Grace:       three

Farrah:      one hundred

Livio:        one million

Charlotte:  one thousand

Brooklyn:  three thousand

Annie:       one thousand

Kaia:         one hundred

Maxi:        one hundred

Max:         one million

Ren:          one billion

We will find out tomorrow if anyone was close to the correct number.

When I opened the pumpkin a few people were initially disgusted by the inside, but they still helped get the seeds out.  We started using spoons but most people quickly realized it was easier to use our hands.  

                           

                              Kaia came up with the idea of using a flashlight so we could see inside.

Later on in the week we will vote on what type of face we want to give the pumpkin.

November 3rd is quickly approaching and some of the children have commented on the upcoming election.  Pre-Kers will vote each day this week.  They will vote on which book they want me to read at storyteller time.  Today they had a choice of  Mind your manners B.B. Wolf and Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed.

  

If they wanted me to read this book they picked

 a yellow 

piece of paper and wrote their name on it.

If they wanted me to read this book they picked

 a red piece of paper and wrote their name on it.

Today there was not a very good turn out at the polls.  Only four people chose to vote.  We discussed that if you do not vote you cannot get upset at the result. All four voters chose  Mind your manners B.B. Wolf by Judy Sierra.  

We ended with a short conversation about manners.

Ms Small: What are manners?

Annie: Be good.

Lucy: Be nice.

Livio: You need to be nice.

Max: And listen.

Ren: You need to behave.

Annie: You have to behave at the table.

Ms. Small: What manners did you notice BB Wolf use?

Jenna: Excuse me.

Ren: No biting.

Ms. Small: Can you think of a time you used nice manners?

Annie: At the table.

Lucy: I was nice at the Mall of America.

Brooklyn: My mommy asked for help and I helped her.

Max: I helped my dad.

Ms. Small: What can you say if a friend is struggling with the cap of a pen?

Jenna: Do you need help?

Ms. Small: What if someone is playing at the dollhouse, and you want to play, too?

Livio: May I please have a turn when you’re done?

QUESTIONS
What was different about the pond?

What animal tracks did you see on your hike?

CORNBREAD AND BUTTER

We will not have any Specialists join us on a Friday for the next few weeks.  During this time we will have the opportunity to cook together as a Community.  Today we made butter and cornbread. 

 First we went outside and had fun in the snow.

My intention was to bring my butter churn in so the children could use it and see how people use to make butter before electricity.  Of course, I forgot it.  We used a jar to shake the cream and salt, and friends soon realized it takes a long time to turn cream into butter this way.  We turned to a modern alternative and got the electric whisk out.  Within minutes we had thick cream, which very quickly separated into butter and buttermilk.  

Each person tried spreading butter on their bread and everyone gave it a thumbs up.

Ms. Castillo worked with other students to make cornbread muffins.  Measuring, mixing and spooning the mix into the muffin cases.

During storyteller time we ate our cornbread while listening to Mr. Andrews Gunny wolf story.

QUESTIONS
What happened in the Gunny wolf story?

How many M words did we get?

What spanish M word did we learn, and what does it mean?(clue: it's a color)

JOURNALS

 Journals are a useful tool in Pre-K.  Even though most our children cannot write words we use drawings to help us record memories, share feelings, create stories and practice letter of the week.

Everyone received a journal and we practiced writing an uppercase and lowercase 'Mm'.  We also thought about all the M words we have on our list. An amazing 92, at present and tried drawing one of them in our journal.

During work choice time friends had the option of coming to the large art table to continue working in their journal.

We read Hurty Feelings by Helen Lester, a gentle introduction to talking about hurting others feelings and how to be a good friend.

While reading the book we discussed a few words like the following

Ms Small: What does rude mean?

Charlotte: When you’re not nice

Kaia: When someone’s mean.

Brooklyn: Not being nice.

Ren: Hurting people.

Annie: Why is Rudy mean?

Ms. Small: Does anybody want to guess why he’s mean?

Ren: Because he’s a bully.

Kaia: I actually know what rude means because my sister called me that. When we’re both angry we’re mean.

Ms. Small: When we are angry it can be hard to talk to each other. Do you think it would help to have some quiet time, so you can calm down before talking about the problem?

Everyone: Yes!

Charlotte: What happens if they don't listen?

Ms. Small: Good question, what could you do?

Charlotte: Ask a teacher.

Which lead to this  conversation

Ms. Small: What can you do when you have sad feelings?

Kaia: I get my stuffy and lay down and sometimes I fall asleep.

Brooklyn: I just take my teddy bear.

Lucy: When I feel sad, I just cuddle with my snowy tiger in my bed.

Charlotte: I snuggle with my stuffy, Margaret. It’s a rainbow bear that Santa made, and was Jules’s before it was mine.

Mila: I use my puppy.

Jenna: I pick my purple unicorn and my other unicorn that is rainbow. I snuggle with both of them.

Ren: I get all my stuffies and sometimes I look at the window to feel me better.

Max: I play with my baby (brother).

Livio: Sometimes I cuddle with my doggie. Sometimes I kiss it, too; and I hold my doggie so hard.

Annie: I put my million hundred stuffies in a circle all around me.

Grace: Sometimes I snuggle with my lovies and stuffed animals to help me feel better.

Mila: I also have a baby doll.

Farrah: Sometimes I get my unicorn, but sometimes it doesn’t help me. Sometimes I just cheer up on my own.

We want your children to know they have the power and ability to control their emotions.   Hearing each other share how they help themselves, allows the class to see how they all deal with this emotion.

QUESTIONS

What color did you decide matched feeling sad?

What did you draw in your journal?