Week 3 Apples
This week was all about apples. The children did various apple themed projects throughout the week. Every year we have some children that love arts and crafts, and some, not so much. Our goal is for every child to explore the different mediums and tools we have at school to create “art.” The focus is on trying new things and acquiring skills throughout the process, not the product. If they glue one button on a page or get one stroke of paint on a paper, that's great!
This week we got to paint, stamp real apples, staple, glue, and use pipettes with water colors. The last project was ten apples on top and I was surprised to find out how many great counters we have in class! We also finished building our class bear using the brown paintings from last week. Each child glued their part on and added some “flair” with buttons and pom-poms.
The books we read during circle time, which I discovered is a rectangle( so silly!), were Apple Farmer Sally, Say Please, Ten Apples On Top, and Waiting is not Easy. Story time and circle are great opportunities to practice listening, taking turns, and following directions. In the beginning of the year I might not read all the words to a book and just describe the pictures, or decide sitting is not working and get up to move. The lessons adapt to the children. The green class this year really likes to interact during circle time, as a result I am building more of those moments into the lessons and shortening the time spent sitting and listening. This week we practiced our poem ‘5 apples on the tree.’ Everyone got to take a turn taking an apple off the tree and pretend to “munch, munch, munch.” As the year progresses, and our listening skills strengthen, I will begin to stretch out our circle.
Snack time was a lot of fun this week. The children got to taste test apples, honeycrisp was the winner beating out golden delicious. Thursday we had a birthday celebration for Thomas and had a special snack to celebrate. Snack time was very quiet that day, thanks Thomas!
We continue to work on basic foundational skills; such as turn taking, walking in a line, listening to directions, and social skills in play. Social skills will be a theme throughout our year as so many of us have not had an opportunity to practice them. I sent home our poem from this week, including our birthday poem, and the daily schedule.
Here are some conversation starters
What color apples did we taste? Red and yellow
What color did you like? What color did the class like best? Red (Honeycrisp)
What was in your sensory bin? Beads, bears, cups, letters
Did the fairy visit the garden? Yes and left a special gem for Thomas
Did we have a special guest to celebrate Thomas? Singing birthday dog
What is the special new way we walk to the playground? Walking line with loops, that we call our ‘train’.
What happens if I let go of the train? It stops
Have a wonderful weekend,
Ms. Rappaport
