Author Study- Helen Lester

 

This week we are going to look at books by author Helen Lester. We are going to primarily be looking at Tacky the Penguin books. Tacky is an odd bird, but a good bird to have around!

 Our KDI of the week is reading- Children read for pleasure and information. We have previously learned the terms fiction and non-fiction. We will read mostly for pleasure this week and one factual book about penguins for information!

Table Activities-  Our table activities for the week include a Tacky playdough mat, creating Olympics medals like Tacky's team won at the Winter Olympics, creating a penguin, a penguin sensory bin, Tacky coloring pages, picking up tiny penguin erasers with tongs and putting them in ice cube trays, and penguin paper dolls.

Small Group Activities- Our small group activities include matching upper and lower case letters, acting out some Helen Lester stories, making Hawaiian shirts, and learning to draw a simple penguin (following directions).

Large Group Activities- We will take the time to act out some Tacky stories as a large group!

Books of the Week- A variety of books authored by Helen Lester, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger.

Bible Story- With only three weeks until Easter, we are going to begin Holy Week this week with Jesus entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Jesus had just visited with Mary and Martha after he had raised their brother, Lazarus, from the dead. Because of this and his increasing following, the religious leaders of that day wanted to get rid of him. Soon, many people of the Jewish faith would be making their way to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. Jesus and his disciples were going to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem also. Many people were there who had heard about Lazarus being raised from the dead and they wanted to see Jesus. Jesus instructed his disciples to get a young donkey from a certain place, just to use to enter Jerusalem. They did just as he said. As Jesus and the disciples came into the city, a huge crowd had gathered and they began to shout, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna to the Son of David!" They waved palm branches and took off their coats and laid them on the road. They praised Jesus and cheered him on. Those palm branches meant victory!! Hosanna means "Oh, Save!" Jesus was being cheered on as the Savior! But many of those cheering on thought he was going to start a revolution and save them from Rome, not die on a cross to save them from their sins. Just five days later, this same crowd is shouting "Crucify Him!". 

When the religious leaders saw how embarrassing this was for them, they told Jesus to tell his followers to quiet down. He said if he told them to be quiet, the very rocks would shout out!

I pray that we are always ready to shout our Hosannas!! to a God who saves us!

Pictures from box week-

Xx is for boxes.

 

This week we will be looking and listening for the letter Xx as we play and create with boxes.

Thank you to all who brought boxes in!! We will have lots of fun with them!!

Our KDI for the week is Gross Motor Skills- Children demonstrate strength, flexibility, balance and timing in using their large muscles. We will build, carry, lift and play with boxes, big and small.

Table Activities- Our table activities include coloring inside and outside of big boxes, making little boxes, pounding golf tees into boxes, building with boxes, adding pipe cleaners, buttons, beads to our holey boxes, matching games with different boxes and decorating little boxes.

Small Group Activities- Our small group activities include making our box into a "Not A Box", making a gift to go in our gift boxes, adding Xx is for box to our journal, and using our imagination on a Not a Box worksheet.

Large Group Activities- Box obstacle course, playing with boxes outside and finally wrecking a box will be our large group activities this week!

Books of the Week- "Not a Box" by Antoinette Portis and "What to do with a Box" by Jane Yolen are our books this week.

Bible Story- This week we are hearing the story of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a wealthy tax collector who lived in the town of Jericho. He had heard about Jesus and wanted to see him. When Jesus was passing through the town of Jericho, Zacchaeus tried to see him, but he was too short, so he climbed up a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus. When Jesus passed by the tree, he called up to Zacchaeus and said, "Zacchaeus, come down! I'm going to your house today!" People were complaining- Jesus was visiting the house of a sinner, a tax collector! Zacchaeus gave half of his possessions to the poor and if he had cheated anyone, he paid them back four times the amount he had cheated. The Holy Spirit had worked faith in Zacchaeus' heart and he couldn't help but respond. Jesus commented- The Son of Man has come to seek and save the lost.  Just like the prodigal son, the lost sheep, the lost coin. We were lost and Jesus came to save us and everyone else lost in the world. He became one of us to save all of us!! I pray we'll have peace and comfort knowing that better and better as we draw closer to our Easter celebration of all Jesus has done for us!

Just a couple of pics this week- next week I'll remember to take more!!

Qq is for quilt.

 

This week we are listening and looking for the Qq sound and having fun with quilts.

Our KDI for the week is Phonological Awareness- Children identify distinct sounds in spoken language. As we listen for the /q/ sound, we hear the /kw/ sound that it makes. We will work on decoding- what sounds do those letters in the word make- so what word is it? and encoding- what letters make those sounds- so how do we spell or write it? Hearing the different sounds and linking them to letters is the foundation for learning how to read!

Table Activities- Our table activities this week include sewing with yarn, magnet letters, cutting quilt pieces of paper and fabric, coloring quilt pictures and a giant quilt, gluing fabric and paper to make quilts and fabric on contact paper.

Small Group- Our small group activities include making a fabric quilt, making our name out of quilt squares, adding Qq is for quilt to our journals, putting letters together to sound out words.

Large Group- Large group activities include under the quilt (parachute) and starting to roll and crawl on tumbling mats.

Books of the Week- "llama llama red pajamas" by Anna Dewdny and "The Quilt" by Ann Jonas.

Bible Story- This week we hear the story of the Prodigal Son. Prodigal means someone who left the family. Jesus had been preaching with parables for quite some time, instructing those who came to him. Often the people who followed Jesus were the people looked down on by society, the tax collectors, prostitutes, sinners. The Pharisees, religious leaders who thought they were perfect enough to go to heaven without a Savior, were grumbling about the fact that Jesus didn't really pay attention to them or praise their good deeds. He just spent time with the sinners. In response, Jesus told several parables about things that were lost- a lost coin a woman spent all day looking for, a lost sheep, even though 99 were safely in the fold, the shepherd wouldn't rest until he found the last one and finally, the lost son.

There was a man who had two sons. The younger son was tired of living at home and the work on the family farm and he asked his father for something outrageous. He wanted his inheritance, now, without waiting until his father died. Even though his father was heartbroken by his request, he gave it. The older son stayed home and worked hard and was upset by his younger brother and put his nose to the grindstone to prove he wasn't like that. 

The young son went to the big city where he spent his money freely, partying, wasteful spending and before long, the money was spent. Those who befriended him because of his wealth soon were his friends no longer and he found himself alone, abandoned and homeless. He found a job feeding pigs, he worked alone and in filth. As he worked, he thought about the family he had abandoned and came to realize that the pigs were eating better than he was. If he went home and begged his father to take him on as a servant, he would have a much better life than he had right now. 

So he went. As he came down the road to his father's house a figure came running toward him. It was his father!! He had been keeping an eye on the road all this time, hoping his son would come home! The son threw himself at his father's feet begging to be taken on as a servant. His father lifts him up and swallows him up in a hug!! He calls for his robe and his ring- his lost son has returned!! He calls for the fattened calf to be butcher and neighbors invited for a party, for the son he thought was dead is alive and home!!

Meanwhile, the older son hears the ruckus and wonders what is going on. When he is told, he comes to his father, very upset- what is this?? I have worked hard for you many years, never abandoned you, always stayed faithful. I was never given a party or a sheep to share with my friends? How is this fair?? His father replied that all he had to do was asked and he would have given him anything- all that he has is his son's as well. But rejoice with me, because your brother is found and safe!!

Lost and found- One sinner at a time. Some of us have known Jesus as our Savior our whole lives it seems, some come to know Jesus through the Holy Spirit after a life full of sins we can't even imagine. Jesus loves us all!! He loves us because of who he is, not because of who we are. Rejoice over the lost who are found and ask for all the blessings that are yours because you are a child of God!

Pictures from our week of under-