Little Busy Bodies Preschool
Newsletter
March 5th, 7th & 9th
Dear Preschool Parents,
Yeah! Another weekend has arrived! This week we finished up our cumulative stories unit!
On Monday we read “Mr. Gumpy’s Outing,” by John Burmingham. “Mr. Gumpy lives in a house by the river. He owns a boat, and today he is going out on the water. The children ask if they can go with him, and Mr. Gumpy agrees so long as they don’t ‘squabble.’ Mr. Gumpy soon discovers that the children are not the only ones who want to go on a boat outing. As he poles the boat along the river bank, a rabbit, a cat, a dog, a pig, and numerous other animals ask if they can join the expedition. Mr. Gumpy agrees to let the animals join him as long as they behave themselves. ‘Don’t muck about’ he tells the pig, and ‘don’t kick’ he tells the goat. Of course, It isn’t long before Mr. Gumpy’s passengers stop behaving themselves”….and can you guess what happens next? (Through the Looking Glass Children’s Book Reviews). After reading this story, we reenacted the story using a big cardboard box as our boat. The kids had a great time hopping in and out of the boat and then, of course, tipping over.
On Wednesday we read, “The Old Woman and the Pig,” by Paul Galdone. This is a classic and the perfect example of a cumulative tale. The Old Woman decides to sweep her floor and upon doing so, finds a sixpence which she takes to the market to buy a pig. Once she’s purchased the pig, she decides to head home and soon finds that her new pig is quite an uncooperative one, as he refuses to cross the stile. So she continues a ways until she sees a dog, stick, fire, stream, ox, butcher, rope, rat, and a cat. Will any of them help her get that pig to cross the stile so she can get home tonight? Not really…until she meets the cat. That sets a frenzy in motion! I actually introduced this story using giant dominoes. I explained how this cumulative tale is like a “domino effect.” Afterwards, we retold the story using stick puppets.
Today we read the story, “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt,” by Michael Rosen. "We're going on a bear hunt. We're going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We're not scared." And we weren’t! We had quite the journey crossing a grassy field, swishing across a river, trudging through mud, and, of course, finally seeing THE BEAR, who chased us all the way back to our home. I began by showing them several items that were all linked to the story. I had the children guess what story we might be reading today. After they guessed correctly (this book is pretty well known), we read the story, reenacted it using the song and motions, and finally, went outside where we continued to be adventurous with an obstacle course.
*KING/ QUEEN OF THE WEEK MAR: 26th & 28th: Ethan
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
*NO SCHOOL: March 12th -21st (My son has no school the first week and MUSD has no school the second week)
*LAST DAY OF SCHOOL: May 23rd
Have a nice Spring Break!!
Sincerely,
Amber
