Monday- Wednesday we will be finishing up our Gingerbread Unit

Monday- Wednesday we will be finishing up our Gingerbread Unit

When we return to school, we will begin our next unit.

Unit 3 SNOW weeks 1 & 2

This week we will begin our unit on SNOW. We are so lucky to have such an abundance of it to explore in our yard. As soon as the temperatures warms up a bit, we will be able to play in it at school.

Here are the theme concepts for this unit:

• When it is very cold, sometimes it snows instead of raining
• Snow comes from the clouds
• Every snowflake is different
• Animals and people need protection from the cold and the snow
• Some animals hibernate during the winter  months
• Tools and machines keep us safe when it snows such as shovels and snowplows
• There are many ways to enjoy the snow
• When the temperature gets warmer, the snow melts
• 
  

Questions for the unit:

• What is snow?
• When does it snow?
• Where does the snow come from?
• What do you wear when it snows?
• Where does it snow?
• What happens when it snows?
• After the snow falls, what happens to it?
• What can you do in the snow?

Week of January 4

Books for the week:

Goodnight Baby Bear by Frank Asch

Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Small Groups:

1. Making Pairs - Students will color pictures of items that show a pair of something (groups of 2)

2. Creating a snowy day picture and describe what is happening in the picture.

3. Bear Positional book

Let's Find out About It - The states of water, hibernation, and winter clothing

Choice Time

Art Table: Gingerbread Names -

Work Table - Sorting by shapes and colors

Easel: Snowflake pictures with stencils and glitter paint

Block Area: Marble Mazes

Library Area: Snow themed books

Sensory Table: Sand

Writing Table: writing/tracing winter words and playing with winter stamps

Dramatic Play: Getting dressed for winter and throwing snowballs at a target

Ipads - making a snowman

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who is able to join us for our show yesterday.  The Lucky Ducks did a great job and we are very proud of them.  We wish you and your family a safe, happy and healthy holiday season and New Year.  The last day of preschool is December 23, and school will resume on Monday, January 4th, 2016.

Thursday at 10:45 is the Lucky Ducks Show!

We hope to start promptly at 10:45.

This week in the Lucky Ducks

This week we are reading alternate versions of the Gingerbread Man including:

Gingerbread Girl
The Stinky Cheeseman

Small Groups
Journal Pages
Decorating a Gingerbread Man
Color by Number

Choice Time
Testing objects in our sensory table - Sink and Float
Gingerbread Bakery
Making words with stamps
Gingerbread Math cards
Painting at the easel
Straw builders on the rug

Thank you!!

We collected 72 sets of pajamas.  

Thank you to all of the families and staff for donating to the pajama drive.  Your generosity and kindness has hleped to make this pajama drive a great success.  This is the most we have collected since starting the drive in 2012.  We wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday season.  

The Gingerbread Man

The Gingerbread Man

What's happening in the Lucky Duck Class?

• This is our last week we are collecting pajamas for the Scholastic Pajama Drive

• Save the Date - December 17th will be our family show.

We are beginning our unit on the Gingerbread Man. During this unit we will read multiple versions of this clever fellow. We will be comparing and contrasting story characters, endings and settings. Some of our stories take place in the country, others in the city. This is my favorite unit to teach as the children love to act out and retell this story.

Stories

The Gingerbread Man - Karen Schmidt

The Gingerbread Boy

Small Groups

Making Large Gingerbreads with friends

Creating Gingerbread Patterns

Putting Together a Gingerbread Puzzle.

Choice Time:

Art - Decorating a large gingerbread house

Brown Table: Ipads

Writing: Making a list to give to the baker

Blue Table: Potato Heads

Sensory Table: Sink and Float

Dramatic Play Area: Bakery

Rug Toy: Straw Builders

Easel - Painting Gingerbread Houses

Happy Thanksgiving!

We want to remind you that Wednesday, November 25th is a half-day of school for the entire Burlington School District.  All BECC classes will be dismissed at 11:30.  There will be no afternoon classes on Wednesday.  The BECC will be closed on Thursday, November 26th and Friday November 27 for the Thanksgiving Holiday.  If you have any questions, please call us at781-270-1808.

Family Traditions

Family Traditions

• Thank you for sending in your houses they look Terrific!

What's happening in the Lucky Duck Class?

• We are collecting pajamas for the Scholastic Pajama Drive
• We have started talking about Family Traditions
• No School November 26th and 27th
• December 3rd is conferences - I will send an email with your time.
• Save the Date - December 17th will be our family show.

Theme concepts for this unit are:

-A family is a group of children and adults who care for each other.

-A family tradition is a special way of doing things

-Family traditions may be connected to ethnicity

-Traditions are observed with different frequencies

-Traditions can take many forms: food, activities, and clothing

-Traditions have common themes

November 23-25

Books for the Week:

Bunny Cakes

Thanks for Thanksgiving

Small Groups:

Patterns with animals

Making a shopping list

Choice Time:

Art - Making Turkeys

Brown Table: Small Groups

Writing: Making a shopping list

Blue Table: Letter Matching

Sensory Table: Corn Meal

Dramatic Play Area: Grocery Store

Rug Toy: Legos

Blocks: Small blocks

Pajama Drive

The 6th-Annual Great Bedtime Story Pajama Drive

Dear Parents,

It’s time for the annual Scholastic Reading Club Great Bedtime Story Pajama Drive benefitting Pajama Program, a nonprofit organization that provides new pajamas and books to children in need—especially those living in group homes, shelters, foster care, and orphanages.  

Since 2009, caring classrooms across the country have risen to the challenge and donated nearly 350,000 pairs of new pajamas. The Scholastic Reading Club has more than matched those numbers with nearly 700,000 new books donated directly to Pajama Program headquarters, where they are then distributed across the country by Pajama Program.

Our school wants to be part of this drive so that we can help make a better bedtime for these children. Together we can help the Great Bedtime Story Pajama Drive reach even more kids with pj’s and books.

If you and your child are able to participate, please have your child bring in a new pair of pajamas to school by___December 10, 2015.

Here are some simple guidelines for the pajamas:

• Pajamas must be brand-new.
• Pajamas in all sizes are needed—from newborn to adult.
• Pajamas must be in complete sets or nightgowns.
• Pajamas in children’s sizes must be manufactured as pajamas—this ensures that they are flame-retardant and safe.

Thank you for helping us share the gift of a good night’s sleep and a sweet bedtime story.

The BECC Staff

If you have any questions please contact, Katie Roofe at roofe@bpsk12.org

PS: You can find out more about the drive and the program at: scholastic.com/pjdrive

Family Traditions

What's happening in the Lucky Duck Class?

• We are collecting pajamas for the Scholastic Pajama Drive
• We have updated our schedule to better meet the needs of the Lucky Duck students. Some of the changes include - moving away from free play to a longer choice time first thing in the morning. We are also including small groups during choice time. This allows us to meet everyone's needs in a smaller group setting. Groups will continue to change and grow throughout the year. Snack time is a little bit longer - this class of Lucky Ducks is very social and truly enjoy snack time. Our handwriting time is near the end of our morning
• We have started talking about Family Traditions
• A family homework project was sent home today
• No School November 10th and 11th
• December 3rd is conferences - More information will come home shortly
• Save the Date - December 17th will be our family show.

We began a new unit this week; Family Traditions. 

Theme concepts for this unit are:

-A family is a group of children and adults who care for each other.

-A family tradition is a special way of doing things

-Family traditions may be connected to ethnicity

-Traditions are observed with different frequencies

-Traditions can take many forms: food, activities, and clothing

-Traditions have common themes

Some questions we will answer in this unit are:

-What is a family?

-What is a family tradition?

-Why doesn’t everybody have the same tradition?

-Why are some traditions seasonal and some aren’t?

-What are your family traditions?

November 2-6th

Books for the Week:

Full, Full, Full of Love by: Trish Cooke

Titch by: Pat Hutchins

Small Groups:

Food Memory from Full, Full, Full of Love

Counting Fingers and Sequencing hands by size - Thank you for sending in your hands

Choice Time:

Art - water colors

Brown Table: Small Groups

Library: Thanksgiving and November Books

Blue Table: Doll Houses

Sensory Table: Sorting Pasta

Dramatic Play Area: Taking care of babies

Rug Toy: Rescue Heroes

Blocks: CLOSED

November 9-13th (No School 11/10 and 11/11)

Books for the Week:

Bunny Cakes by: Rosemary Wells

Small Groups:

Bunny Cakes shape matching

Pumpkin Carving

Tomorrow is our Harvest Soiree!

Check out our pumpkin pictures on our picture blog!

Farm & Harvest

We are getting ready to Celebrate the Harvest Moon - On October 29 the Lucky Ducks will dress

as they wish (costume, fancy, silly, or not at all) for this festive event. We will parade through central office as we celebrate the close of our Harvest unit, just like Possum does in Possum's Harvest Moon. Information about this event will be sent home on Wednesday.

We are continuing our unit Farm/Harvest. Some of the concepts that we will be covering will be:

• food is grown
• farming involves many different kinds of work
• seasonal changes relate to planting and harvesting
• people and animals harvest to have food for the winter
• people celebrate harvest

Some key questions that we will be answering will be:

• How does food grow?
• What are everyday jobs on the farm?
• What does the farmer do at harvest time?
• Why do animals harvest?
• Why do people celebrate the harvest?

This week we are reading:

Apples and Pumpkins - Anne Rockwell

Federick - Leo Lioni

The Little Old Lady Who was not Afraid of Anything

Next week we are reading:
Possum's Harvest Moon - Anne Hunter
Federick - Leo Lioni

Small groups from this week:

-sequencing pictures of a plant growing

-making lanterns (for our harvest celebration)

-farm bingo

-building the little old lady

-animal memory

Small Groups Oct - 26-30

Positional Book

What belongs on a farm

Celebrating the Harvest Moon

Choice Time

Easel: painting pumpkins

Library Area: Harvest/ Halloween Books

Sensory Table: farm animals in the hay

Writing Table: Open

Dramatic Play: Acting out Farmer Duck

Math - Counting Farm animals

Blocks - Cardboard colored blocks

Big Pumpkin on Cd

Art - Making 5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate