We Like Apples, Yes We Do. We Like Apples Do You?

This week we are studying apples before we go visit our local apple orchard. We read Apples, Apples, Apples and Apple Farmer Annie. In the Dramatic Paly area we set up our own apple stand. The fake apples were purchased from our local Hobby Lobby, the visuals were printed from makinglearningfun.com, reusable bags donated from the local Wal-mart, and we use fake money and junk mail credit cards as currency. The roles the children are assigning themselves are the cashier, shoppers, and the order taker. In the Math Center we are counting seeds. The seeds are medium black pom poms. Children pick up the "seeds" with tweezers and add the correct amount that corresponds to the apple's numeral. We are focusing on the numbers 0-4 while building our muscles we use to write and cut with. In the water table we are "bobbing" for apples with fish nets and small plastic apples bought from Wal-mart. Children must scoop up the apples with the nets and place them in the measuring cup hanging on the table. At the Discovery Center children are tasting Granny Smith and Red Delicious apples and choosing which one we like best. They love to find their friends names to see which one they liked. When our graph is finished we will see which one had the most and least votes for apple we liked best. We are making orchards in art using our arm for the trunks, our palms for the tree top and our fingers for the apples. The children are loving these activities and are becoming excited about our future trip.

First Full Day

Wow! I am exhausted from playing today. The kids have great imaginations. We built a castle on the rug and had a dragon knock it down. We cooked dinner in housekeeping after shopping for just the right doughnuts and took care of some sick babies. We had a zoo in the block center and we even went to the beach out in the sandbox on the playground today. We are making new friends and getting along very well with each other. I can't wait to see where we will go or who we will play with tomorrow.

First Day

Phase-In was a success. All the kids loved coming to school and we had very few tears these first four days. Monday will be the first day with all 20 students. Mrs. Olivia and I are excited about this group and look forward to work with all our students and their families.