Cherries and Lemons...

On Friday our Mother Goose lesson was all about cherries and lemons!

 

 The kids started out the morning working on the number 3 page in their monthly journal.

 They drew 3 baskets with 3 apples in each basket, and then counted how many apples they had total.  They also completed the sentence, "I picked my apples for _____."

  During circle time we practiced the words "Thank you tree."  We discussed all the reasons why we can be thankful for trees.

 Mother Goose provided us with the following supplies for a cherry tree craft.  I painted the kids hand on their pink paper ahead of time...

 Then I stapled the pink paper to a larger white piece of paper.  I wanted the kids to be able to paint on their own as well.  They LOVED this project!  They tasted the popcorn and then even painted it!  They were free to be as creative as they wanted!  One child even drew a bear den and pretend the pieces of popcorn were bears!  What great imaginations they all have!  This was another project that used all 5 of our senses!

 All done!  Look at how he stands back and stares at his work.  He was so proud of himself!

Next, I set out three stations with supplies that Mother Goose provided us.

Station #1: Mother Goose counting cards, play-dough, number stampers, dice (for math equations), and a few other supplies.  The kids were encouraged to pretend the play-dough was for pretend apples, cherries, oranges, or lemons on the trees!

 Station #2: Harvest Roll.  I set out a plate of oranges, apples, and lemons and we discussed the shapes we could see inside each fruit.  Then the kids at this station chose a basket.  They rolled the cube provided by Mother Goose and collected that same shape pattern block (also provided by Mother Goose Time this month).  Once they collected all the shapes they wanted, they could trace the shapes on their paper and try to make a picture!

 Station #3: Patterning, and Letter Roll

The kids could complete the ABB pattern card or build a pattern on the pipe cleaners with the fruit beads.  After this, the kids at this station could take turns tossing the red pom-pom (that they pretended was a cherry) on the letter phonic cards.  When the cherry landed on a letter, they identified the name and sound of the letter and then flipped it over to reveal a photo that had the same beginning sound.  All of these supplies were provided by Mother Goose Time!!!

 Mother Goose also provided each child with a new "I Can Read" book titled, "Big Pig."  The kids LOVE these books!  Please save all of these books at home and build a library for your child.  Remember to practice reading together!

 I LOVE our new sight word pointers and sentence builders Mother Goose time created new this year!

 Our sight word pointer arrows hang in our library area.  The kids can help themselves at any time and try to search for the matching words in our books!

 I laminate and attach magnets to the back of our sentence building words.  The kids can work freely on our BIG magnetic whiteboard!  They play with this almost daily!  They are retaining their sight words better than any other year I have taught!

 Last month's words...

 This month's words...

 We also taste tested lemons and lemonade!  The kids looked at their sour faces in handheld mirrors as they snacked!  It was so much fun to watch!

 Our books for the day...  "Lemons Are Not Red" is HIGHLY recommended!

 I could not find any fresh cherries at the grocery store, so we made mini cherry pies for snack time!

 Thumbs-up! :)