A Differnt Kind of FEELING

We skipped the Touch and Feel this morning because we needed to do some name writing practice.  We figured that we would get plenty of "touching" and "feeling" with Ms. Kim.  Everyone traced their names, first with a pencil, then with a highlighter.  They were all so attentive and excited about the finished product.  Some of them even asked for another sheet!  It was great to see them working so hard at a task that isn't really easy for any of them!

We did our regular morning circle and added two new letters to our chart.  The kids can all now identify the six letters we have reviewed.  They learn so much during the morning circle time and it's the first 20 minutes of our day!!! 

We stopped at the playground for a couple quick races....and some energy release....before heading off to the courtyard for Ms. Kim and Natural Wonders.  The kids were so excited to see what kinds of things she would have to explore!  She had about six stations set up with all kinds of sensory fun.  Many of you are familiar with Natural Wonders, but in case you've forgotten, there aren't any real rules or directions.  The kids can explore and play with each center any way they like.  For the first 10 minutes, they all move quickly around the stations checking each one out.  They don't want to miss out on anything!  Eventually, they all settle into a routine of finding a station they like for a while and moving when too many people get around them.  It's hard to believe, but they can monitor and regulate all by themselves!!  It was so much fun and they had lots to say about each station. 

 

For literacy we read, What's That Noise by Michelle Edwards and Phyllis Root.  This book is about two brothers who hear some scary noises one night and get scared.  They talk to each other across the room, but only feel better when they get in bed together.  They realize that all the noises they heard are just dogs and owls outside.  The shadows they see on the wall are just trees blowing in the wind.  The sing a song together and drift off to sleep, no longer scared of the dark.



After the story, we talked about the ways you can tell how someone is feeling.  Sometimes people will use their words and tell you how they are feeling.  We practiced that using a sentence starter.  Each child said "I am feeling...." and used one of the new vocabulary feeling words.  Today our emotions were a little more varied than happy or sad.  Since people don't always tell us how they are feeling, we spent some time talking about how you can sometimes tell how they feel by looking at their faces.  We took some paper plate faces and the kids guessed what that face might be feeling.  The kids were getting really good and having a great time, so we all played the Feelings Game....just like Bert and Ernie from the video.  Each child stood up and took a turn pretending to "feel".  They stomped their feet, growled, laughed, rolled on the floor coughing, cried.....you wouldn't believe the actors we have!  The other kids yelled out which emotion they thought they saw.  It was great, interactive fun!

More center time before lunch, but today's focus was math.  We counted and ordered numbers, did some basic patterns, matched shapes, and filled in number charts.  Again.....they LOVED it!  For the most part they work independently and ask for help when they need it. The room is so quiet because everyone is concentrating.  It's a proud teacher moment for sure!!