Happenings With Hemme - Blog

Happenings With Hemme

Apples

9/13/2017

Before we started our APPLE weeks we charted what we already knew. The first chart is from the 3 year old class. The second chart is from the 4 year old class.

We measured ourselves with APPLES!!

We did SO many things with APPLES!!

Name Apple Puzzles

More practice with GLUE!

The morning kiddos made patterns and put numbers in numerical order.

They also sorted letters, UPPERCASE and lowercase.
Our letter of the week was Aa.

The Afternoon Class sorted apples by color. Then we counted. We are VERY good at sorting and matching colors, but need some practice with knowing our colors.

After sorting as a whole class, we sorted in small groups.
This helped me see who needed a little bit more practice.

I charted exactly what the kiddos said for The Parts of an Apple.
They sure did pay attention.

We even looked inside the apple.

"Wow there's a star, like up in the sky!" -Elena

Then we stamped the apples to see the star in the middle.

Of course we had to taste test the apples, all 3 different colors.
We chose our favorite too. Red Apples were the overall favorite.

Peeling our Apples is one of my favorite things to do with preschoolers. I don't know that any of them had even seen an "old fashion" apple peeler before. Each kiddo got a turn cranking and peeling the apples. Man oh man, we really had to use our muscles.

I love their faces in these next 2 pictures. They don't even realize they are learning.

After we peeled and sliced the apples we placed them in a crock pot. I asked them what we needed to add to make applesauce. There was silence, which doesn't happen very often, no one knew.

Javier added the cinnamon.
(maybe a bit too much)

Karla added the nutmeg.

Alliana yelled, "YOU'RE MISSING SOMETHING!!"
I said, "What, Alliana?"
Alliana replied with the sweetest most thoughtful answer, "You need to add lots of love!"

Trying to hold back tears, I told the kids to pull some love out of their heart, wad it up in a ball, and throw it to Alliana. She was now holding all the LOVE. I had her bring the "love" to the crock pot full of apples and sprinkle it inside. (If you look at the picture below you will see how proud she is to add all that love."

Oh my goodness, if this doesn't melt your heart, I don't know what does.
This is another reason why I LOVE my "job" and my kiddos.

After cooking overnight, we tried our homemade applesauce.
Most of us LOVED it!

The afternoon class charted whether or not they like our homemade applesauce.
I wrote down a few of their reactions. (I love them)

It was a GREAT 2 weeks learning about APPLES!!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

9/13/2017

The Morning Class had fun with this book. I read the book to them the first day, then the second day we listened to this cute song.
They really got to dancing!

We started the week learning about "OUR" letter (the first letter in our name). Then we stamped it A LOT!

We always work with numbers. Today we counted coconuts to go on our tree.
These kiddos are working on number identification (#s 0-10).

This was a short week because of Labor Day and our Field Trip.
We still had FUN with "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom"!

Fishing Trip

9/11/2017

Our morning class had a great time fishing.
Although none of us caught a fish, we practiced being patient.

Fishing was EXHAUSTING!!

The Marshall High School FFA students were great teachers and helpers.
We learned so much.

The Afternoon Class fun too!! It was a bit hot for us and the attention spans were a little shorter than the 4 year olds,
but we made it and one student caught a fish from our class.

This fish took a combined 4 people to catch it. Feisty little thing.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

9/7/2017

The Afternoon Kiddos read/listened to "Brown Bear, Brown Bear,
What Do You See?"

We focused on:
*identifying animals
*identifying colors
*discovering a pattern
*remembering the sequence of animals

We practiced sorting bears by color. The students were put with a partner.
They had to work together to sort their bears. This was a challenge for some of them.

Pete the Cat

8/30/2017

Pete the Cat books are some of my favorite!
We did SO much this week it was hard to keep track.

The 3 year olds reviewed their coloring and gluing skills.

"Just a dot, not a lot."

The PM class made their very own Pete the Cat.
This was a big listening activity with many steps.
We talked about colors, shapes, and we even counted.

"Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons", taught us so many skills;
*Identifying Our Colors
*Locating Our Own Buttons
*Listening for rhythm and repetition
*Identifying body parts
*Counting (forward and backwards)
*Basic Subtraction Skills

Both classes charted whether or not they were wearing buttons.
(As you can see this is very student made. That's my favorite)

"Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes", taught us so many skills;
*Identifying Our Colors
*Locating Our Own Shoes
*Listening for rhythm and repetition
*Identifying different food
*Discussing clean and dirty

After reading the book, we charted our favorite color
(based on the story).

The 4 year old class, charted, colored their own shoes, and reviewed colors. Look at these cute pictures!! I love how they turned out.

The 4 year olds had to put their name bus together. This was a hard task.
We are going to be working hard this year on our names.
By Kindergarten we will have them down.

"Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses", taught us so many skills;
*Identifying different animals
*Discussing the word "magic"
*Pretending we had magical glasses
*Discussing the weather

We pretended to have magical sunglasses. We decorated our own pair and discussed what we would do if we had magic sunglasses. These kiddos have some great imaginations.

"Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes", taught us so many skills;
*Identifying places in our school
*Positional words, acting them out
*Discussing the word "rocking"
*Identifying our own shoes, comparing, describing
*Listening for rhythm and dancing a little too

Positional words are very difficult for preschoolers. We did a lot of practicing and acting these words out.

All About Me Week

8/23/2017

We really got to know our classmates this week!
In the 3 year old class (PM class), we talked about boys and girls, then graphed.
We have more boys than girls.

First, we read the story, "I Like Myself!"
Then, we talked about all the ways we are different. Everything from our looks to our families to what we like. Last, we made our own self portraits. The 3 year olds impressed me!
This was a great diversity lesson!

We graphed our favorite color then colored with our favorite color. I'm really working on using sentences (especially with the 4 year old class). Instead of answering "Green," I have them answer, "My favorite color is Green."

In the 4 year old class (AM Class), we charted our eye color.
Brown eyes are the most popular.

We measured ourselves too! Our kiddos sure did grow over the Summer!!

In our 4 year old class we are really diving into our names. What are the letters, what do they sound like, and how do we write them. Today we worked on identifying our names, just simply recognizing them. The kiddos are getting great at that. Then we counted the number of letters in our name. Finally we charted.

Our First Week of School

8/18/2017

Our first few days of school were full of practice, Practice, PRACTICE.
We practiced using our school supplies and kept practicing procedures.

We practiced being safe with our school supplies, especially our scissors.

Look at that nice line!!

We even learned the rules at RECESS!

We All Fit Together

This was such a fun activity. We made a circle with our friends, holding hands. Then 2 of our friends in the circle got to hold the "magic" energy stick. It lit up and made a funny noise. The kiddos thought it was hilarious. We then had several friends let go in the circle. Our energy stick did NOT light up. We discussed how we all have a purpose in our classroom, we are all important in our classroom, and we make a team. Great lesson.

Welcome to Preschool!!

8/14/2017

Before we start this super fun year, let me introduce myself...briefly.

I'm Mrs. Hemme and this is my 8th year of teaching!!

Hometown: Bolivar, Missouri

<<<<<<Yes, that's ME as a preschooler. I slept in curlers every night and wore lots of accessories (not by choice).

College: College of the Ozarks
(Elementary Education with Early Childhood Emphasis)

Grad School: William Woods University
(Masters in Teaching and Technology)

Family: I met my husband at college,
got married, and then joined him on his Dairy Farm. We've been married for
7 years!

My husband, his Dad and Brothers grow crops, milk cows, and make cheese.
Maybe you've seen their products around
(S&P Meats, The Cheese Store, various wineries, Hy-Vee, etc. )

We have 3 Kids!

Paxton is 5. He is a typical farm boy and loves to ride in the tractor with Daddy.

Reese is 3. She is a girly-girl. She loves dressing up and HAS to have her nails painted all the time.

Jules is 1. She is beginning to take a few steps and is even talking.

What did I do this Summer?

I went to Vegas with a bunch of other Early Childhood Teachers. We celebrated Ms. Jan's upcoming wedding.

I represented EC with Mrs. Kris and Mrs. McMellen and wrestled a PIG.
We got 4th place!!

I spent LOTS of time outside with my kiddos!

I had a WONDERFUL Summer at home with my kids but I am SO ready to be back in the groove of school.

I can't wait to get to know your student and family.

Summer Is Coming To An End!!

8/3/2017

As I typed that title my stomach filled with butterflies of excitement!
I don't know about you, but I am READY for another school year.

Make sure to register your student. You can register on the school website www.marshallschools.com/

Below is the School Supply List

Last Week of School

5/16/2017

I get the question a lot whether or not the last week of school we "do anything". Of course we do. I consider it one of the most important weeks of school. We not only DO things and learn, but we have the most fun of all.
It's a time where we review in really fun ways.
Here are some things we've done this last week.

The PM Class is still focusing on COLORS, colors, COLORS! We played a lot of matching games this week then talked about the different colors.

Shape/Color BINGO is a favorite. Today we played with marshmallows.

This group of AM kiddos (4/5 year old) is SUPER smart. They are my number class. I have really had to challenge them this year. This last week we have been ordering numbers (1-20). This is a fun Smart Board game.

My BIG Graduates

I absolutely LOVE my kiddos, all of them, but these ALMOST Kindergarteners have a very special place in my heart. I've had them for 2 years and am very sad to see them go. I have watched them grow and mature. They are ready for Kindergarten!!

Take a look at our Graduation Slide Show. This was played before graduation. Mrs. Roder and Miss. Wiecken's classes are also in the video.

www.wevideo.com/hub#media/ci/919437252