Mouse...

"Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse!"
On the Monday before break our Mother Goose lesson was all about mice...

During circle time I set out these colored houses.  I placed our letter M (mouse) phonic card under one of the houses as the kids closed their eyes.  We said, "Little mouse, little mouse, I think you are hiding under the (color) house."  One child at at a time got to guess which house the mouse was hiding under.  The kids really liked this one!

Our circle time song...

The kids worked on the letter M page from their journal.  "M is for mouse and and macaroni!"

Each child was given their own mouse math activity.  This was really great!  I was very happy that Mother Goose provided the kids with the math equations, and that each math problem resulted in either 7 or 8.  This made things a lot easier for the kids.

Next, the kids were given their own "I Can Read" book titled, "Rat-a-tat-tat!"  They had fun reading and rhyming!  Please practice reading at home with your child.

Buddy reading...

Mother Goose provided us with this new Cat & Mouse board game.  After playing one time though, I had to switch out the gray pom poms for one black, one white, one gray, and one brown.  This made it easier to tell the difference between the players as the game was being played.

We also received new monthly sight words and sight word arrows!  I love these!  The arrows are always kept in our library reading area, and the other words are laminated and given magnets of the back of each one.  We keep them as a reading center at our magnetic whiteboard room divider.

Our book for the day...

On this day I set out a Santa workshop dramatic play area. The kids had a BLAST!

I also gave the kids this gingerbread packet of learning activities to keep them busy in the afternoon.

Gifts for the kids this year...full of fun little toys for each child!

House Guests...

On Friday we spent our day learning how to be a good house guest and how to host guests properly.  This was a very valuable lesson for the kids being that Christmas celebrations are right around the corner!
(Mother Goose Time)

During circle time I introduced the kids to a new global friend from Mexico.  We reviewed the areas of land and water, sang the continent song, and reviewed where we live in reference to Mexico.  We learned that people in Mexico bring flowers to the host of a party.

We passed around flowers and practiced saying the word "Mexico."  We imagined we were giving the host of a party flowers.

We sang, "I'm a Little Teapot!"

The kids worked on these math story problems...

Next, we discussed what it means to be "loving." (Loving is our Mother Goose friendship word for the month of December.)  I gave the kids some time to act out being loving to their friends, stuffed animals, and the dolls in the classroom.  The kids split into two different groups.  They pretended they were hosting friends, or they were a house guest.  They had a blast, and I LOVED listening to their imaginations soar.  They sure know how to be loving!

Offering a drink or a snack to a friend is very polite to do when they are in our home!

Here we discussed how we can share with a friend when they are a guest in our home.  We can also show forgiveness when someone breaks a toy or knocks down a block tower, etc.

After play time, the kids each got a "Loving" badge to show their mom and dad all that they had learned about!

Next, the kids worked on this bilingual book...

This "Teapot" lesson was supposed to be for a separate day, but I thought it paired well with our "House Guest" lesson...

Mother Goose provided us with this tea sandwich recipe card...

  ...and these supplies for a teapot craft...

I set the table for the kids to make their own tea sandwich and tea!

Cutting the bread...

Spreading cream cheese...

Adding cucumbers!  They showed such polite manners!

Next, the kids removed their tea bag from the wrapper...

Mmmmm!

The kids placed their tea bag in their warm water. 

They were amazed at what happened!

Not many of the kids actually liked tea.  Ha!

The kids showed such polite manners during this activity, but their is always room for a giggle or two...G is making a mustache with his bread.

After eating the kids used their tea bags to paint their teapot craft!

I set out a pretend Keurig and tea set for the kids to play with!  They loved pretending to make tea, hot cocoa, and coffee!

This was our book for the day!  This is a great book!