This week we will look at all the letters. We will try to place the letters in our name in order, recognize the sounds letters make and match them to the initial sounds of objects and have fun playing with letters!
Our KDI of the week is alphabetic knowledge- Children identify letter names and their sounds. As we work through our letters our ears should be able to recognize which letter makes which sound, or scientifically, which grapheme (written letter) matches which phoneme (spoken sound). This is the foundational skill needed for reading (decoding) and spelling (encoding). Taught in isolation and by direct instruction, ie. Tt makes the /t/ sound, /t/, /t/, /t/. We practice how our mouth moves to make it and look at what it looks like. Then as we get to know more sounds, we can blend them together- /t/ /a/ /p/ makes tap. If you know the sounds the letters make, you can sound out thousands of words, as opposed to memorizing sight words. Most words can be sounded out! So we are learning the basics to help us read for the rest of our lives!
Table Activities- This week we will have fun with a letter sensory bin, dot painting letters, letter playdough mats, magnetic letters and cookie sheets, sticky paper letters, letter coloring pages, letter beading and giving our letters a bubble bath!
Small Group Activities- This week we will arrange the letters in our name, letter/sound match, and add our name to our journal.
Large Group Activities- We will see if we can shape our bodies like letters, have a letter hide and seek and write some letters with sidewalk chalk.
Books of the Week- "Chicka-Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin and John Archambault, "The ABC's of What I Can Be" by Caitlin McDonagh and "A, you're Adorable" by Buddy Kaye, Fred Wise and Sidney Lippman.
Bible Story- This week we hear the account of Jesus interaction with his fishermen disciples. Peter, Andrew, James and his brother John were all fishermen on the Sea of Galilee, near Capernaum where Jesus set up his home base. Jesus had been preaching and the crowd was pressing close to him. He asked Peter if he could step into his boat and Peter could take his boat out a little and Jesus preached from in the boat. Peter and his brother had been fishing during the early hours and had caught nothing. After Jesus had finished preaching, he told Peter to go out a little further and let down his nets. Peter protested, saying they had been working hard all night and had not caught a thing! But because Jesus asked, he'd put the nets out. When he did, immediately his nets were so full, they were in danger of sinking the boat! He called out James and John to help him pull them in. They filled both boats!
Peter fell to his knees and said to Jesus- "Get away from me! I am a sinner!" They were so amazed at their great catch of fish!!
Jesus told him that he would no longer be catching fish, but catching men! Jesus was taking smelly, poor, uneducated Galilean fishermen for his disciples. Through their sharing the story of Jesus, they would bring many to faith, including you and me!
Do we ever think we know better then Jesus? But because he asks us to , we will do what he calls us and sometimes there are amazing results, sometimes there aren't, but we are the better for it because we did His will. God loved us enough to send his Son and we show our love for him by doing what He asks! Who knows who or what we will catch!
Some pics from our jungle week-