Happy New Year!!

We are starting off the new year right with lots of wind, cold and snow!

Our theme for the week is Snowmen!

Table activities- Real snow to build snowmen with, along with button and stick and orange foam noses, paper snowmen to create, snow clay and sticky paper cotton ball snowmen.

Small group- Making a snowman out of Model Magic and adding Ss is for snowman to our journals.


KDIs for the week-
Phonological awareness: Children identify distinct sounds in spoken language. - These kids are amazing- when asked what snowmen starts with they said "C" when I asked what other letter makes the "sss" sound, S was said right away, they know their letter sounds!

Community: Children participate in the community of the classroom.- We had a break, but are quickly learning how to relate to one another again.

 Building relationships: Children build relationships with other children and adults. It is wonderful to see the friendships that are built with each other and some of them even missed their teachers!


Jesus time- This week we hear the last story that takes place while Jesus is still an infant. We linked this story to the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego that we heard earlier. Someone who was from Israel told people in the East about the promise of a Savior. When these wise men studied the sky, they saw a bright star which meant that the promised Savior was born. They packed up and began to follow the star. When they reached Judah, they naturally went to Jerusalem, the capital city. If there was a new king, isn't that where he would be? As they began to look for him, King Herod heard about them. King Herod was a very bad king. He invited the wise men under false pretenses and shared what he knew about the birth of a king. He directed them to the small village of Bethlehem, just a few miles outside Jerusalem. He told them to return once they had found the child so he could go and worship him too. That was not his plan, he wanted to get rid of Jesus. He would be the only King. 
The wise men went and saw Jesus in a house where the star stopped. They gave him their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They were warned in  a dream not to go back to see Herod, but to return home another way. Joseph was also warned in a dream to wake Mary and the baby and flee to Egypt until Herod was dead. God protects his children, Jesus and us! He sends his angels to protect us! Psalm 91:11 says "For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;".

Books of the week- "Snowmen at Christmas" by Caralyn and Mark Buehner, "Frosty the Snowman" by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins and "The Biggest, Best Snowman" by Margery Cuyler.

Stay warm and have a wonderful week!
Mrs. Schneck