Ocean Animals and Mother's Day

Hello Pre-K Families,

I apologize for not getting my post up sooner this week.  We have been working so hard in Pre-K with 4th quarter testing and our daily schedule has been packed with exciting things!  Thanks for being patient and understanding!

This week, Monday and Tuesday, we focused some more on ocean animals.  The children completed a task that was 100% new to them.  They were assigned partners, given directions and then went to work without direction/help from the teachers.  Of course, we were there to check up on them and help out if needed. The task included "scuba diving" through our room to find ocean animals.  Once they found the animal they were looking for, they were to match the animals to the number listed on the page.  (You may have seen this book in your child's folder on Mon./Tues.)  It was a lot of work, but they did an amazing job!!  I was so proud to see them work WITH their partners, helping each other out when need be.  What a cool thing to observe!

Wednesday and Thursday of this week we are focusing on Mother's Day.  We are making some neat gifts, with the help of Ms. Cheri and some FFA students.  Our mothers will surely enjoy them! 

There were many reminders and field trip updates that came home in the Classroom News this week.  Please be sure to check out the dates and mark them on your calendars.  We are looking forward to all of the fun events that are going to take place as the school year comes to a close.

I hope you have a great rest of the week!  Below are some pictures from our scuba diving adventure!  Enjoy!

Gage and Lexus are hard at work finding 2 seals.

Mason, Lucian and Taleika are finding 10 star fish.

Brier and Mya work hard to find 9 eels.

Sadie and Mason are gluing on 4 turtles.

Hannah and Sydney capture 9 eels.

Ian and Jeweliana catch 8 crabs.

Alexandra and Lily work together to count 10 star fish.

Ocean Animals

Greetings,

This week our theme is "Ocean Animals."  Monday and Tuesday we talked about the different kinds of animals that a scuba diver might see while diving deep into the ocean.  The children came up with GREAT animals like sea lions, eels, sea urchins, seahorses, sword fish, and tiger sharks, to name just a few.   We continue to review the letters and the numbers during our morning circle time.  The children love to write them with their "imaginary pen or pencil" in the sky!  For projects this week, we are making a scuba diver and a crab.  These are kind of lengthy projects where the children have to do a lot of cutting, gluing, and direction following.  This continues to gear the children up for kindergarten!!  Other fun activities will be playing an ocean animal match game, journaling about ocean animals, painting the crabs, and exploring the ocean books in our classroom library.  

Reminders:

**Our theme for next week is "Oceans and Mother's Day."

**Tuesday, May 15th is an Early Release Day.  The students will be dismissed at 1:52 p.m.

**The May FBI workshop is scheduled for Friday, May 18th.  More information was sent home with your child today.

** Check out this week's Classroom News for information regarding our upcoming field trips.

**The last day of Pre-K is Tuesday, June 5th and Wednesday, June 6th.  We will enjoy a field trip to the park that day, however please send your child's backpack with them to school.

The pictures below are of our newest bulletin board that Ms. Teresa and I worked on.  These are the scuba divers that the children made this week.  Their pictures were taken with goggles on for the scuba diver's face.  Fear not, this was before the lice scare at this end of the building AND we sanitized them between each child's use.  :)

Have a great week,

Ms. Brittany

 

Field Trip to the County Highway Shop

The kids were ecstatic about this field trip!  They loved the big machines, crawling in the bucket of the enloader, exploring the machinery, and most importantly, tooting the horns on the different trucks!  Here are some pictures from both groups.  Enjoy!

Week of the Young Child and Transportation

Welcome back to another week of Pre-K!  This is definitely a fun and exciting week as there are many different events and activities planned to celebrate The Week of the Young Child!  Thank you to those families who returned their slips for the Beach Party on Thursday.  I look forward to seeing you there!  It should be a blast!  

I would like to send out a  "thank you" to Nestle (Tombstone) Pizza Division who graciously donated 4 cases of pizzas for our celebration this week.  I'd like to send out another very special "thank you" to my dad, Steve (who works there) for getting the donation ok'd and for getting the pizzas lined up for us! 

This week in Pre-K we are learning about different modes of transportation.  We will be talking about what the big, long word means, ways we can get around, and also get to see some of the fascinating machinery that is used to keep our roads in good conditions as we venture to the County Highway Shop for a field trip!  We are finished going through each letter and its sound, but will continue to practice them throughout the weeks.  Please continue to practice at home as well.

Just in case you misplaced the Classroom News, here are the events that will be occurring this week:

***Monday April 23 - Live with Colleen and Uncle Squaty!  Shake it Down and Turn Around!
Performances at 1:00 and 4:30 in the Medford Area Elementary School Gymnasium.  All children and parents are encouraged to attend. 

***Thursday April 26 - Potluck Dinner and Dance
Dinner at 5:00 and Dance at 6:00 pm at Medford Area Elementary School.  DJ Scott Woller will be providing the tunes for the children and parents to dance along with.  MAES will be providing hamburgers, hot dogs, buns and punch and each family will bring a dish to pass.

***Saturday April 28 - Movie at Broadway Theatre
Special movie for early education children and families at Broadway Theatre in Medford at 11:00 A.M.  $5.00 admission and 50% off soda and popcorn.  Kid Friendly Movie to be determined.

Dress up days during The Week of the Young Child include:

Monday = Crazy Clothes Day
Tuesday = Sports Day
Wednesday = Pajamas Day
Thursday = Beach Wear Day

REMINDER:

**Please read the note that was sent home with your child regarding head lice.  Also, please remember to continue checking your child's head at home.  

I will be updating the blog with numerous pictures from our field trip to the county highway shop!  Be on the look out for those within the next few days!

Have a great week,

Ms. Brittany

Zoo

Greetings,

Our theme this week is "Zoo Animals."  We will be learning about different animals you might see at a zoo and will create some of them too!  Be on the look out for some cute giraffes and zebras coming home in the next few weeks.  We might keep them at school to decorate our room for awhile.  :)  The letter this week will be Zz.  We have made it all the way through the alphabet!  WOW!!  Please continue to practice letter recognition and letter sounds at home.

REMINDERS:

Please fill out and return the slips for our Potluck Dinner and Dance.  These are due Monday and Tuesday, however if you have forgotten, please return them as soon as possible!  The dinner and dance is on Thursday, April 26th in the MAES cafeteria/gym.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

~Please read over the note sent home in your child's folder from the school nurse. 

~The week of April 23rd will be The Week of the Young Child.  Please see the flyer that was send home this week in your child's folder for more details and events.

~Our theme next week will be Transportation.

~We will be going to the Taylor County Highway Department for a field trip on Monday, April 23rd and Tuesday, April 24th.

~Next Early Release Day = Thursday, April 26th.

Have a wonderful week!

Field Trip to the Medford Veterinary Clinic

Wednesday and Thursday of this week we ventured to the Medford Veterinary Clinic for a field trip about pets.  Both classes were able to see x-rays of animals who were pregnant, had broken bones, and a dog who had bladder stones.  They were able to see and touch a bladder stone, which looked like a smooth, white rock.  There were dogs that we were able to pet, our favorite being Mazy.  Mazy is a 12 year old beagle who belongs to one of the vets.  She was an absolute sweetie!  We also had visits from Zoe (my dog) and Gus (Ms. Teresa's dog).  Unfortunately, Zoe wasn't able to make it in on Thursday, but I'm hoping next week my husband can bring her in to visit!  Needless to say, the kids LOVED the field trip.  They were excited about the pets and had many stories to share with the staff!  Here are some pictures of the event:

Here Dr. Matt is showing the kids what to do if they are playing on the ground and a strange dog comes up to sniff them.  They are to cover their face and sit as shown above to let the dog sniff them, ask someone for help or wait for the dog to leave.

The kids are looking at animals that were preserved in jars.  They saw two tiny twin calves, two larger twin calves, tapeworms from numerous animals, and a kitten.

Here is our friend Mazy.  The kids LOVED petting her!

Here is the Monday/Wednesday group, throwing the ball for Gus to catch!  He sure is fast!

Here are the Tuesday/Thursday friends learning how to "stand like a tree" if a strange dog comes up to them while they are standing. 

The nurse is showing the different tools used to examine the animals.  In the jar on the table, are the bladder stones.

Dr. Heather is showing the Tuesday/Thursday group the preserved animals.

The children are looking at x-rays of broken bones.  Dr. Heather also showed us x-rays of the metal plates and screws that are put in the bones to fix them.

Here are Bryce, Emily, and Ms. Teresa giving Mazy a friendly pat!

Pets

Welcome Back Pre-K,

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter break and that the Easter bunny treated everyone well!  The kids are bubbling with excitement over their surprise gifts from the Easter bunny!  It's great to see them so happy and excited!  This week, in Pre-K, we will be learning about pets.  We will have discussions about which animals make good vs. bad pets, what happens at the veterinary office and how vets help our pets/animals.  We do not have a letter this week, but please continue to practice recognizing letters and sounds with your child.  This week, we will be doing a fish project with focuses on direction following and listening skills, a snake project which works on cutting/fine motor skills, and a Pet Riddle Book.  Be sure to ask your child about the book...It's a fun one!  Ms. Teresa and I both have dogs that we'd like to bring to school to meet the kids.  We're hoping that the weather cooperates as the kids have heard LOTS about our animals and would love to meet them! 

Please remember that on Wednesday and Thursday of this week we will be going to the Medford Veterinary Clinic for a field trip!  Our class will be going from 9:45-10:15 and will return to school afterwards.  Each class will take a turn going at different times so it is not so crowded and overwhelming.  

UPCOMING EVENTS/REMINDERS: 

~Cans for Kids will end on May 4th.  Please remember to take aluminum cans to Reliable Recycling and tell the workers who your child's teacher is so they can be recorded.

~There will be a presentation by Dr. Laura Shank from the Achieve
Center that will focus on "Current research providing new ideas for
behavioral interventions in children with developmental disorders."
It will be held on Wednesday May 2 from 4:00 to 5:30 in the MAES Media
Room.  Parents and families are invited to attend.

WEEK OF THE YOUNG CHILD:

Here are the events going on during The Week of the Young Child.  More information will be coming home with your child as well!

***Monday April 23 - Live with Colleen and Uncle Squaty!  Shake it Down and Turn Around!
Performances at 1:00 and 4:30 in the Medford Area Elementary School Gymnasium.  All children and parents are encouraged to attend. 

***Thursday April 26 - Potluck Dinner and Dance
Dinner at 5:00 and Dance at 6:00 pm at Medford Area Elementary School.  DJ Scott Woller will be providing the tunes for the children and parents to dance along with.  MAES will be providing hamburgers, hot dogs, buns and punch and each family will bring a dish to pass.

***Saturday April 28 - Movie at Broadway Theatre
Special movie for early education children and families at Broadway Theatre in Medford at 11:00 A.M.  $5.00 admission and 50% off soda and popcorn.  Kid Friendly Movie to be determined.

Dress up days during The Week of the Young Child include:

Monday = Crazy Clothes Day
Tuesday = Sports Day
Wednesday = Pajamas Day
Thursday = Beach Wear Day
Friday = School Colors Day

Have a great week and hope for some warmer, spring weather,

Ms. Brittany

Here is our dog, Zoe.  She is a Brittany Spaniel and is a sweetheart!

Here Zoe is as a puppy, all tuckered out.

This family picture was taken last fall at Timm's Hill.  Zoe loves to hunt, and run in the woods.