Over the last few weeks we have continued to get to know one another including all of our similarities and unique differences.
Integrated within our All About Me theme, the children have been practicing 1:1 counting, learning alphabet letters and their sounds, practicing patterns, cutting, sorting, sequencing, writing and practicing their social skills with peers. We have been busy!
The students are also starting to take on more responsibilities in the classroom. Each day I choose a new Leader of the Day to help with the weather, calendar and group activities.
After exploring our physical attributes, we turned to looking at our families and interests. After reading a story about different kinds of families, the children shared photos of their own family. They then used manipulatives to show how many people, and pets, are in their family. Finally, we created a class graph showing how many people are in our families.
Students also shared their family albums with one another.
Next we read I Can Do It by Trish Holland. The students shared different activities that they enjoy and can do independently. They cut out pictures demonstrating some of these activities and created an "I Can Do It!" collage.
The children also shared items from home that they brought in their All About Me bags. It was wonderful to learn about their interests.
As we learned about our similarities and differences, it was important to address that we all have feelings and that sometimes how we look on the outside is not how we feel on the inside. To encourage conversation about this I read the book Red, A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall. As a follow up the children each shared something about themselves that others can't tell just by looking at them.
We also read the book One by Kathryn Otoshi which talks about being an upstander- standing up for others when they are being treated unfairly.
One of our goals for the students is for each of them to be able to write their name. For some children this will include their first name in capital letters, for others it will be their first name in lowercase. By the end of the year some children my write their first and last name. Some children my be writing their name already! Wherever the children are, we are still practicing recognizing our name, naming the letters in our name and writing it with correct letter formation.
Below the children are putting together name puzzles.
The children also had the opportunity to fish for the letters in their name.
Throughout the year we will practice drawing representational pictures. One important skill is for students to be able to draw a person with identifying parts. We use Mat Man to help us remember all of the parts that should be included when we draw a person. Below you will see the children building Mat Man along with a song. Following this activity the children drew self portraits.
The children have also been learning how to properly hold a writing utensil. We have been practicing with small crayons. Below you will see the children watching the "Crayon Song" from our Get Set For School Curriculum. It demonstrates how to hold a crayon with an accompanying song. The children then practice in their workbooks. 
Free play time is an opportunity for the children to explore new toys, use their imagination and socialize with their peers. While we still try to keep a safe distance, the children have learned how to play while talking with their friends about what they are doing or the toys that they are using.
Art Projects are a wonderful way to practice fine motor skills. Students worked on cutting and gluing to create a paper collage.
Letter recognition is embedded throughout the school day. Here students are searching for letters to spell out family words.
The playground is open!
