Thursday, September 15th

Summer Memories 

We started sharing our summer storybooks with one another this week.
With a little help from Sam and Ines, both Saul and Finlay have had the opportunity to read their stories to their friends.
We will continue sharing our stories until everyone has had the opportunity!
Storytelling and reading does not necessarily mean being able to read written word. Having the opportunity to "read" to the rest of the class provides an opportunity for children to engage in literacy skills, expands their vocabulary, strengthens self-confidence, develops communication, promotes independence, and demonstrates ownership and pride in their work.
Children also benefit greatly from being a member of the audience! When hearing stories read aloud, children are engaged in active listening and story comprehension, build stronger connections with one another, and demonstrate being respectful and considerate of others work.

If you know that your child has not brought their summer storybook into school yet, there's still time!
We hope to incorporate these stories into future provocations and would love if every child's storybook is represented in the classroom. 
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My story is about owls and bees.
​- Saul

​Saully wrote an awesome story about his lovie, Owly, going to summer camp with other owls to learn about honeybees! 

​He and Owly visited the Museum of Natural History this summer where Saul was able to learn a lot of interesting information about bees. He was able to share some of these facts with us while reading his storybook. 

In connection to his story about honeybees, Saully also brought in honeycomb for everyone to taste!

Before eating, we took some guesses about what the honeycomb might taste like.
We even described our predictions about the texture! 

We also shared some of our thoughts about the experience afterwards.



Not everyone was a fan of the taste, but we appreciated being able to try something new! 

My story is about Coon Coon and Cookie. - Finlay

Finlay wrote a story about his lovies taking an adventure! 
They used a map to figure out how to travel to "Raccoon Paradise" where they hoped to find treasure. 
Ultimately, they discovered that being home together is the real paradise. 

Cookie is getting hungry because his name is Cookie. - Lily
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I added that part for a funny line.
​- Finlay

The last page of Finlay's story included a question mark and a paw print symbol. 


This means there's gonna be another book because the story is not done! - Finlay

We discussed the concept of a sequel and how some books are written in a series with more than one story included. This reminded Wilder of chapter books.
​We look forward to introducing chapter books into our group story time read alouds this year!

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Family Photos 

This week children have visited the greeting hallway in small groups to see the family photos on display. 
On the large light table, family photos are also displayed on transparencies.
Children were drawn to the tracing paper, sharpies, and collection of markers available at the table and explored tracing their family photos which have created some awesome  silhouettes! 
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​Oh, look! I can still see daddy's shirt without the picture! - Hugh

I did our bodies and the hats.
- Wilder 

​Where did mommy go? - Jack

These drawings are now displayed in our classroom window.

If you stop by the photo display in the greeting hallway, you can see if your child has had the opportunity to add any additional thoughts to the information you shared  underneath your family photo!