Mad...

On Thursday our Mother Goose lesson was all about mad feelings.  We talked a lot about how it is okay to be mad, but the actions we choose to show when we are mad are most important.  We practiced taking a deep breath.  I shared that it is okay to be mad, but it is not healthy to be mad for a long period of time.  Sometimes taking a deep breath helps us to let go of our mad feelings, and allow us to forgive.

  I worked one-on-one with the kids in their "My Feelings" book as they arrived.  They completed the sentence "I feel mad when ____."

"I feel mad when I don't win my fish game."

 "I feel mad when my sister won't let me in her room."

 We explored what our mad face looks like in our hand-held mirrors again...

  Mother Goose provided the following four paper magnifying glasses to go along with our theme poster for the month.  The kids are asked to look for these pictures on our poster.  When they find the picture, they give a thumbs up.  I then choose someone to describe where the picture is using positional words and adjectives (ex: above, under, beside, between).

 These discussion questions are written on the back of the magnifying glasses...

 Our theme poster...

 

 Our September calendar has an AB pattern this month...

 We used our paper magnifying glasses to make an AB pattern with our facial expressions (happy, sad, happy, sad, etc.)

 New this year!  Mother Goose provided these sight words for teaching and playing with.  I laminated them and added magnets to the back. 

 Mother Goose also made these sight word pointer arrows for our library area...

 I hung our pointer arrows in our library area.  The kids can help themselves to the arrows and look for the matching word in our library books!  I LOVE THESE!!!!  We will add to these throughout the year!

 What is something that makes you mad?  Do mosquitoes make you mad?  We pretended our sight words were mosquitoes.  I called a sight word out and one child at a time pretended to swat the mosquito by hitting the matching sight word with their hand.

 How would you feel if you missed the bus to school?  This was a question not many of the kids could relate to, but they could imagine how they would feel.  We played a game with paper cups, and our bus counters that Mother Goose Time provided for us this month.  I wrote all of the basic concepts that we are learning about this month on the bottom of each cup (letters: Ff, Kk, Pp...Numbers: 1, 2...Sight words: he, she, is, a... the circle shape, the color blue, and word respectful).  I asked the kids to hide their eyes while I hid one bus under a cup.  One child at a time had to guess which cup the bus was hiding under by saying, "I think the bus is hiding under the cup with the _____"  This game helped the kids reinforce their basic concepts without them even knowing it.  This is how Mother Goose makes learning fun!  I left the cups and buses out so the kids could continue to play during their free-play time.

 Mother Goose provides each child with an "I Can Read" book each month!  Please save this book and practice reading with your child.  Encourage your child to read with a pointer stick or their reading finger.  If you continue to save these books, your child will have a library of books that he or she can read independently from by the end of the year!  What a great goal to set!!!!

 After reading together as a group, the kids did a "Buddy Read" with a friend somewhere cozy in the room.

 Mother Goose provided us with this science experiment card...

 We discussed that it is better to "squeeze than scream" when we are mad.  We talked about squeezing a squishy ball or pillow when we are mad to let our aggression out.

 The kids explored the textures of the cornstarch and conditioner separately before we mixed them together...

 Messy fun!!!!

 Did you know squeezing play-dough helps with fine motor skills!  Fine motor skills are used when writing!  Strengthen your child's hands, and you will strengthen their writing skills!

 The kids worked on this matching page in their math workbook...

 ...and this pattern page in their math workbook.

 The kids also worked on this letter p mini-book from their literacy workbook.  They practiced reading, and circled all the letter P's they could find.

 I have to laugh!  Some of the kids were experimenting with resting a pencil on their ear while they were working today.  I wonder what grown-up they saw do this.  So cute!

This was our book for today...