Glue, Giggles and Grace: Sealed With a Kiss

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Sealed With a Kiss

Sealed with a Kiss!

Our opening unit is always so much fun. The munchkins so enjoy getting to know Chester the Raccoon and his family & friends with the Audrey Penn story

The Kissing Hand.

We also added some extra fun throughout our first three weeks with two of the follow-up stories:

A Pocket Full of Kisses and Chester Raccoon and the Big, Bad Bully.

Our First Day

We started our unit on the very first day of school. Chester helped us explore our feelings of being at school and away from Mom and Dad. For our first activity, the munchkins completed the sentence:

On my first day, I felt __________.

We cut out our hand prints and added heart (kiss) to the center.

We compiled all our pages together for a cute keepsake until the end of the year.

Getting to Know Chester

Everyone had a great time as the weeks continued. These are the mini "Chesters" that we hung in our front window.
But that's not all!

Math and More!
Counting, Graphing & Directionality

This unit gave us several opportunities to explore some of our math concepts.

The munchkins worked hard with their counting skills using Chester Counting Cards. Each card had a number. The munchkins counted out "kisses" to match the number on each card.

We used a probability spinner to with pictures from the story on it. Each munchkin had a chance to spin. What will it be? Maybe a kiss...maybe a hand...maybe the heart or Chester himself! Each of the spins was represented with a picture card on a floor graph. The munchkins did a great job analyzing the graph by counting each column and comparing the rows for greatest and least. Then, last of all, the munchkins transferred the floor graph onto a take home graph of their own. They did a fantastic job!

And then there was our little Chester mask. It looks more like art than math, but with nine different sizes of hearts, each turned or flipped in a different direction in order to make a raccoon face, it becomes quite a project on directionality (not to mention following verbal directions!). They turned out so cute and the munchkins did a great job listening.

Reading, Writing & Fun

Chester's unit was a fantastic opportunity for us to dive right in to reading and writing. The munchkins ate it up!

We focused on several beginning of the year sight words:

I, like, the, this, is, my, see
We used our pocket chart with the sight word sentence: This is ______'s hand. The munchkins traced their hands so we could practice name recognition. It was a great exercise in learning each others names in print and practicing one-to-one-correspondence. Then we created a class book using the same sight word sentence. Everyone will have a chance to take the book home and read it with their families.

Our second pocket chart reinforced more sight words using: I see the ______. This time we connected picture clues with phonic clues to determine the word in the blank. The munchkins did a fabulous job with that too! We took it a bit further by using those simple sight words to practice some guided writing.

The munchkins wrote: I see Chester.

What a great opportunity to work on letter placement & form, spelling & phonics and that all important /ch/ sound!

And we can't forget about the fun "Chester's Pockets" we made, which we filled with all sorts of patterning, sorting and reading activities to do during transitions times in class. At the end of our unit, the munchkins couldn't wait to take them home and show off their new skills to Mom and Dad!

Fun with Food

No unit is ever complete until we've had a recipe day! The munchkins loved creating "Kissing Hand" sandwiches (and, of course, eating them!).

YUM!