Pumpkins, Teddy Bear Names and Self Talk

Hi Magnolia Families,

This week, we’re gearing up for lots of fun with pumpkin projects! You’re invited to bring a tiny, small, or medium pumpkin to donate to the classroom. We can’t wait to enjoy pumpkins with our senses!

A Few Reminders:

Fall Conferences are Friday, October 27th and Friday, November 3rd. Don’t forget to sign up!
Emily will be a visiting teacher in Caterpillars Classroom for the week of October 23rd through the 26th. I’ll be on campus and responding to Magnolia emails as well as stopping in to let the children know i’m nearby and spending outside time together, but if you have an emergent need please don’t forget to also include “magnoliateachers@theberkeleyschool.org” as well as “eccoffice@theberkeleyschool.org” so that all of us receive your message!
ECC Picture Day is Wednesday, October 25th *Emily will be there!*
Friday November 10th is a Professional Development Day for teachers. No school or childcare.

Five Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate…

The first one said “oh my it’s getting late!”
The second one said “there are witches in the air”
The third one said “but we don’t care!”
The fourth one said “let’s run and run and run!”
The fifth one said “Let’s have some fun”
Then ooOOOooOoo went the wind and *OUT* went the lights
and the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

Is this poem familiar? We’ve been busy practicing it all week! In fact, most friends memorized it the first day 😀 ask your Magnolian to demonstrate the hand movements 🙂

Teddy Bear Agreements and Names

Here are the agreements we have in Magnolia that will help keep our teddy bears safe.

∗Teddy Bears stay in Magnolia Classroom
∗Teddy Bears live on the shelves, and can join us at circle time and activities that are not wet or messy. Teddy bears do not go outside to play.
∗We can visit with our teddy bears anytime we need a snuggle- including naptime!
∗We take care of our teddy bears and others.

The children met with their teddy bears this week to ask them what they would like to be called. Here are some of the names: Polka Dot Circle, Flower, Astronaut (he), Astronaut (she), Hardy Bardy, Cupcake, Pirate on the Seven Seas, Teddy Bear, Ryan…

Julianne joined Magnolia to create Teddy Bear Self Portraits! Did you know you can draw a teddy bear using only circles?

Self Talk

Sometimes, talking yourself through your task can help you remember what you’re doing. For example, if you are washing your hands you might sing a song that describes what you are doing: “over under over under in-between, in-between, rub them all together, rub them all together, now they’re clean! now they’re clean!” This is called “Self Talk.” It comes in handy when you’re doing a task that might require a few steps. We learned a new poem to recite to ourselves at circle time:
Eyes watching
Ears Listening
Voice Quiet
Body Calm
Attention Focused
This is how we listen, this is how we listen at circle time- at circle time.

Whether we are at circle, at play, or listening to someone, we can remember these steps to show the other person that we are ready and listening. Can you make up your own self-talk poem?

Yayoi Kusama

This week we were introduced to an artist named Yayoi Kusama. Yayoi is a Japanese mutlimedia artist, and some of her work includes pumpkins. Growing up, her family owned a plant nursery and seed farm. She used to draw pumpkins when she was a child, and they are prominent in her work. One of Kusama’s artistic styles is to “obliterate” objects with dots. In the coming days, we will “obliterate” a piece of classroom furniture. Stay tuned!