After our calendar and morning circle, we learned the words to some holiday songs that we will be singing during our Christmas Performance later this month. We will practice them MANY more times between now and then....but the kids were excited to hear about the "show" for parents!
Ms. Abby was here today and, even though the ground was wet, we still went outside. The lesson was all about tee ball....and that's kinda difficult to practice inside! First, the kids had a relay race. There were two balls and the starting point, and when Ms. Abby said GO, they had to run to a second marker with one ball, leave it there, and run back for the other ball. We have some very good sportsmanship in our class....that or maybe they don't yet grasp the concept of a "race".....either way, it's so super cute! The next activity was to practice hitting a tee ball with a bat and running the bases. The kids were all good hitters.....but again....I'm not sure they completely understand because many of them hit the ball and ran to pick it up before running the bases! One more session with Ms. Abby this year.....and then we take a break from Young Athletes until it gets a little warmer!
Our story today was Dear Santa: The Letters of James B. Dobbins by Bill Harley. James begins early in December writing letters to Santa. From an aquarium (with a piranha), to earplugs for blocking out his little sister, to a full-size hockey rink, James wants a lot for Christmas. This series of letters to Santa follows James from his first outrageous requests, to apologizing for all his mishaps and misbehaviors, to a final Christmas Eve surprise where Santa actually reads his last letter!
What better way to learn about letters than to actually write and send one? During our language activity we talked about the parts of a letter. I wrote a sample letter to Ms. Tiffany (with some of the kids help) to tell her what I wanted for Christmas. You need the "Dear" part first, so that you can know who is supposed to read it.....you need the sentences in the middle that tell what the letter is about.....and at the end we say "Love" and who the letter is from. The kids were paying close attention because they wanted to get the letter to Santa just right!!
We moved to the table and used a template to write our letters. The kids used pictures of toys, games, and activities instead of sentences to describe things they wanted for Christmas. We glued those down and signed our names at the bottom. Once the letters were in the special red envelopes with Santa's address, we stamped them.....and headed off to find a mailbox!
We walked down East Boulevard to the blue mailbox. The kids each took turns putting in their letters and watching them disappear! The highlight was on our walk back to school we saw the actual, real live, mailman delivering mail. We stopped and told him about our letters, and he said he would go pick them up right away. It takes mail a long time to get to the North Pole where Santa lives.....and we don't want it to get there late!
Your children may receive a special surprise in the mail in a week or so.....so be on the lookout.....sometimes Santa writes back!!
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