Nn is for Noodles

This week we are playing with and listening for Nn and noodles!

Table activities include playing with various cooked noodles, putting angel hair and spaghetti in colander holes, searching for treasure in dry noodles and making noodle sculptures on pipe cleaners.

Small group activities are making a noodle necklace and adding the page Nn is for noodles to our journal.

KDIs of the week are-

Phonological awareness: Children identify distinct sounds in spoken language.- Where is the word is the /n/ sound? 

Fine-motor skills: Children demonstrate dexterity and handeye coordination in using their small muscles. - Still working on this as we thread noodles on yarn and pipe cleaners and try to slide angel hair into tiny colander holes with out breaking it.  

Jesus Time- This week we hear about Jesus feeding a great crowd of people. Jesus had been teaching people as he walked around the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Now as it is getting close to meal time, they are all far from home or any town and they are starting to get hungry. When a disciple points this out to Jesus, he instructs him to feed the crowd. The disciple balks- "Me? Even if I had an entire years salary, it wouldn't be enough. Not to mention, there is no town nearby that would have enough food for this crowd." There seems to have been about 15,000 people in the crowd. One disciple takes Jesus seriously and sees what he can find. A young boy is willing to share his lunch which is 2 small fish and 5 small loaves of bread. Jesus instructs the people to sit down and he blesses the food. Then he begins to break of pieces and hand them out. The food stretches on and on. He tells the disciples to collect the leftovers once everyone has had their fill and there are 12 baskets left over! The crowd is amazed and wants to make Jesus their "Bread King", they'd never have to worry about food again. But Jesus did not come to be their "Bread King", he came to be their Savior! He disappears from their midst and they return home. How often we seek to make Jesus our bread king, praying for what we want, physical needs, when forgetting to thank him for blessings already received and the faith and trust we really need! And the forgiveness he so freely gives for our misguided priorities. Jesus is our Savior!

Books of the week- "Noodles" by Sarah Weeks and David A. Carter, "Wednesday is Spaghetti Day" by Maryann Cocca-Leffler, and "Today is Monday" by Eric Carle.

Don't forget, Wednesday is Career Day and NO SCHOOL Friday as we cheer our Panther basketball team on to victory in their tournament!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Schneck

Ee is for experiments!

This week we are looking and listening for the letter Ee and experimenting as scientists and researchers. Asking questions, making guesses, looking for answers.

Table activities include exploring with magnets, experimenting with oil and water, a non-Newtonian fluid, and static electricity.

Small group activities are experimenting with oil, water and an "Alka Seltzer" type tablet to make a lava lamp or volcano. Oil is lighter than water, because the seltzer tablet binds with the water to create carbon dioxide, it lifts the water higher than the oil, creating "bubbles" of colored water. Friday we will experiment with colored water, milk and dish soap on Q-tips. As the fats and proteins of the milk molecules interact in different ways with the molecules of detergent and water, they attract and repel them to make interesting color swirls in the milk.

KDIs for the week are-
Experimenting: Children experiment to test their ideas. - Every morning they can try things out and test how things work together.
Predicting: Children predict what they expect will happen. - During small group we ask for a prediction or hypothesis, and then we test to see if we are right!

Jesus Time- This week we hear a sad story with a very happy ending. In our story a young girl is very sick. Her parents have tried everything to help her get well, doctors, medicine. She just keeps getting worse, feverish, not eating. The little girl's father is even a government official and tapped into every resource he has to no avail. Finally, the father decides to try to find this man, Jesus, that they have been hearing about. He heals people, maybe he can heal his daughter. The man, Jairus, scours the city and finds Jesus. He begs him to come with him to his home to heal his daughter. When they arrive, they are told they are too late, the little girl has died. Jesus tells Jairus not to worry, she is only asleep. The mourners laugh in derision and Jesus asks them to leave. He takes Jairus, his wife, Peter, James and John into the room where the little girl does indeed lie dead on her bed. Jesus takes her hand in his and says, "Little girl, get up." AND SHE DOES! He has healed her, completely. He tells her mother to get her something to eat and drink and tells all those present to keep this miracle a secret. Jesus wants people to follow him because of the words he speaks, not the miracles he performs. Jesus loves and cares for his people!

Books of the week- "The Magic School Bus Gets Cold Feet" by Joanna Cole, "Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein" by Don Brown and "Ada Twist, Scientist" by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts.

Tomorrow is the Field Trip to Ann Arbor Hands On Museum- Meet you there at 10am!

Next week is Spirit Week and we have dress up days and NO SCHOOL ON FRIDAY, MARCH 1!

Monday is Hat Day- wear your craziest or favorite hat!
Wednesday is Career Day- What do you want to be when you grow up?

Have a terrific week!!!
Mrs. Schneck

Vv for Valentines!

This week we are listening for the Vv sound and looking for Vv for Valentines!


Table activities include coloring wooden hearts, making Valentine volcanoes, drawing hearts, playing in a Valentine sensory bin, making bead hearts and decorating foam hearts.

Small group activities include making our bag for our Valentines, handing out and receiving Valentines and adding a Vv is for Valentines page to our journals.

KDIs for the week-
Fine-motor skills: Children demonstrate dexterity and handeye coordination in using their small muscles.- Lots of peeling stickers, coloring, stringing beads in our activities this week.

Art: Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine, and feel through two- and three-dimensional art.- creating Valentines for those they love this week. 

Jesus Time- This week we hear the miracle of Jesus calming the storm. Jesus had been preaching, teaching and healing all day. He and the disciples were crossing to the other side of the Sea of Galilee and Jesus fell asleep on a cushion in the back of the boat. A storm blew up, and the disciples became frantic. Keep in mind that at least four of his disciples were fishermen who had experienced storms before. They thought they were going to drown, and Jesus slept on. Finally they woke him up and asked, "Don't you care that we are about to die?" Jesus shook his head, their faith was still so weak. They had seen miracles and heard his teaching, and still didn't trust him! He stood at the front of the boat and with three words, "Peace! Be still!" calmed the storm. He stands with us in the storms of life and calms them for us. Trust him, don't worry! He is with us always!

Books of the week- "Pete the Cat: Valentine's Day is Cool" by Kimberly and James Dean, "I Love Hugs" by QEB publishing, "How Spider Saved Valentine's Day" by Robert Kraus.

We will hand out Valentines on Wednesday of this week.

Field trip to Ann Arbor Hands on Museum on Thursday, February 21st! Return slips by this Friday.

NO SCHOOL next Monday for Presidents Day and Pastor/Teacher conference.

Have a fantastic week!

Mrs. Schneck

Ll is for all our letters

We are hoping to have a normal week of school and finally finish our review of all the letters we've covered so far this year!

Table activities for the past three weeks are magnetic letters, letters in bubbles, matching foam letters, ABC activities, paint dot letters, letter coloring pages, hole punch letter match, catching magnetic letters with magnet wands, making pattern block and duplo letters and matching lettes with clothespins.

Small group activities are letter/sound match, painting the letter that begins our name, circling the letter and adding our letter to our journal.

KDIs for the week are-

 Alphabetic knowledge: Children identify letter names and their sounds.- We are working hard on this every day!

Phonological awareness: Children identify distinct sounds in spoken language. - which sounds are the same? 

Jesus Time- This week we hear about a man who couldn't walk. His friends heard about Jesus and the miracles that he could do and they heard the great news that Jesus was visiting their town. So they took their friend on a stretcher to see Jesus. The house that Jesus was teaching and preaching in was so crowded that they couldn't fit. They weren't about to give up. They carefully carried their friend up to the roof, once there, they moved some tiles and lowered their friend down, right in front of Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said,"Be happy, your sins are forgiven." When the leaders who were there grumbled about Jesus forgiving his sins, Jesus showed that he was God by telling him to rise up, take up his mat and go home. People were astonished, Jesus had healed a man who was paralyzed completely! 

Books of the week are "Animalia" by Graeme Base, "Eating the Alphabet" by Lois Ehlert and "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault. The last two weeks we read "R is for Robot: A Noisy Alphabet" by Adam F. Watkins, "alphabet adventure" by Audrey Wood and "Amazon Alphabet" by Martin and Tanis Jordan.

We will celebrate Valentine's Day on Wednesday, February 13th. I will send a list of names via email. We may have some cookies and punch, but most of the time will be spent passing out Valentines!

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Schneck