The Class Photo Books Are In!

The class photo books("In Mrs. Bonura's Class...2009-2010") are in!! If you ordered one, I will be shipping them to you tomorrow after Summer Fun Camp. If you did not order one but would like to, I have a couple of extra ones or I can order them at any time - just let me know :)

Click on the photo or on the link below to view the pages inside the book.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Mrs.Bonura/Class20092010PhotoBook#5485716546411282258

Click the "buy it now" button to order the book.
Each book is 8'x8", hardback, 30 page and cost $65 plus tax and shipping.

Getting Ready For Summer Art Lessons!

I'm getting ready to teach my first set of summer art lessons!  That's right, my studio is finally ready for students :)

As I started to prepare for the lesson, I decided I needed some fun children art books to start the lesson with.  I wanted to share the two books that I picked: "the dot" and "Mouse Paint"


"the dot" is a wonderful story of encouragement and "Mouse Paint" is a fun story about mixing colors.
Enjoy :-)

Rolling Pins and Handwriting: What's the Connection?

June 2010

Rolling Pins and Handwriting:  What's the Connection? We all know that children love to use rolling pins with Play Doh®, but did you know that rolling pins foster development of the precision muscles of the hands?  The precision muscles of the hands are the muscles that support the tripod pencil grasp and allow the child to adjust the amount of pressure when holding a pencil.  The action of rolling a rolling pin with hands flat and fingers alternating between extended and curved is a natural action by a child who is using a rolling pin to help make real or faux cookies!  Explaining this developmental rationale to other educators, administrators, and parents is one essential example of how to connect theory to our practice and convey the incredible value of hands-on, early childhood experiences.  Provide a wide variety of rolling pins in the kitchen and art station to create multiple opportunities for children to build their hand skills and maintain interest in pattern making.  See our Dough Roller that leaves a neat pattern without Play Doh® sticking to it!  I also love our Pizza Cutter for a fun way to develop the longitudinal arch of the hand (needed for holding a pencil).  In my workshops, I always reinforce the use of rolling pins, pizza cutters, and other art tools, as fun ways to build the hand skills young children need for future, efficient handwriting!  Be sure to engage young children in kneading the dough in our fabulous recipe below for Kool-Aid Playdough.  Children love to knead dough, which strengthens their hands and allows them to gain conficence as your big helpers!  This hands-on activity is sure to provide hours of summer fun. Roll thorough a fabulous summer...Write Out of the Box! Marianne (http://writeoutofthebox.com/) Kool-Aid Playdough 1 cup flour 1 cup water 1/2 cup salt  1 pkg Kool-Aid (any flavor) 2 tsp. cream of tartar 2 tbsp. vegetable oil   Mix all together and cook in a saucepan over medium heat until mixture forms a ball.  Let cool on waxed paper.  Knead a little when cool.  Store in a ziploc bag or air tight container.

A Page Out Of This Year's Photo Book

Here is a page from the photo book I am creating from all the pictures I took this year:

THANK YOU!!

I want to thank everyone for an incredible year!!  I hope you all have a great summer and be sure to stay in touch with me :)

Here are a few pictures from today:

Last Day Of School!

Can you believe Friday is our last day of school?!?!  It has been an incredible year!  I have enjoyed teaching this group of kids so much :) 

As I work on the class's photo book(which will be available to purchase this summer), I am reminded of all the amazing things we learned this year.  I have titled the book "In Mrs. Bonura's Class..."  and I have written it to be an early reader that your kids can enjoy for years to come!  On every page, it says "In Mrs. Bonura's class we learned..." followed by whatever we learned that corresponds to the pictures on that page.  I decided to wait until after our end of year party to finish it so I can capture the awesome party we will be having!

Speaking of the party - Staci Gray will be the main entertainment!!  Her performance will begin around 11:45 in the Fun & Fitness Room and everyone (parents & siblings) are welcomed to join us in celebrating a great year! 

Friday's schedule will look like this:
9am drop off
9:45 snack
10:15 playground
11:00 bathroom break/wash hands
11:10 lunch in our room
11:45 concert in Fun & Fitness Room
12:30 playground / dessert
1:00 dismissal from playground

You will only need to bring a snack.  Lunch (pizza) will be provided.

Claire's New Car Design

Claire used shape magnets to design a car for her family...

Hula Hoop!

Grant tries to master the hula hoop - it's harder than it looks!

Look What We Built!

Trevor, Zach & Henry had a blast building their different "ships"...

Last Week Of School!

I can't believe this is the last week of school!!!
Friday will be our End Of Year Class Party.  It will be on campus at St. Matthew's and all parents are welcomed to come!  On Friday, lunch will be provided but please pack a snack for your child.  We will be dismissing at our regular time - 1:00pm. 

THANK YOU!!!!

Thank you for all of the amazing and heartfelt teacher appreciation gifts!!  Also, thank you for coming to the Mother's Day Tea!  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did :)

I'm placing the last scholastic book order for the year this week.  Please order asap - the easiest way is to look online and order/pay using their website.  Otherwise, look for the order forms this week - money due Friday.

In case you haven't ordered online before here are the directions:

Scholastic Book Orders Now Available Online!

Scholastic now offers parents the option to order books online. When you do this, not only do you get a great bargain and earn books for our classroom!!

Ordering online is fairly simple:

1. Go to the parent sign in at Scholastic.com
2. *Click "Don't have a User Name and Password?"
3. *Click "If you have a 5-digit code from your child’s teacher,
   click here to register."
4. *Enter "1FBVH" for the 5-digit code
5. *Create your account, click submit
6. Browse the available catalogs by clicking on the "place an order" button for the catalog you want to view.
7. Once you find a book you would like to order, change 0 to 1 (or how ever many) then click the "Update Qty." button
8. When you are finished shopping, click the "checkout" button at the top of the page.
9. Once you've entered your payment information, the books will be ordered and then shipped directly to our classroom. Once I receive the books, I will give them to your child(or put them in his/her backpack).
10. Yeah! You've now helped build our classroom library(by earning points for our class) at the same time you added to yours at home :) THANK YOU!!

Claire Crosses the Monkey Bars

Katie Crosses the Monkey Bars

Feel What You Want, Control What You Do

I found this short article (http://www.pbs.org/wholechild/providers/dealing.html) and thought I'd share part of it:

One of the most valuable skills we can teach children is how to express strong emotions without hurting themselves, others or damaging property. What we want our children to learn is: feel what you want, but control what you do. Begin by communicating with the child in a non-judgmental way, showing her you understand how she feels. Perhaps she's angry or sad because someone won't let her play or perhaps she wants something so badly, she can't wait another minute for it. Whatever the cause, the first thing to do is to put those feelings into words for her. Encourage the child to say the feelings out loud and tell the other person how she feels. If the child's too young or inexperienced to know what to say, model a simple sentence for her to copy. Finally, do whatever else is necessary to resolve the situation.
        Of course, adults lose their temper and must learn to control their anger. The important thing to remember is that the same rule applies: feel what you want, but control what you do. You can't fool children by denying you are upset or angry or frightened. It's better to simply admit it as calmly as possible.

Doodlebug!!

Addie & Welden helped Doodlebug with a magic trick!

Clowning Around

Grant & Ben clowning around!

Today we introduced our Circus unit... the kids hads fun clowning around, listening to stories about the circus & painting clowns!  Next Friday, Doodle Bug will be putting on a show for our class:)

Claire, Katie, Allison & Faith

Sidewalk Art!

Friends create some art on the playground with sidewalk chalk!

"Man Bites Dog!"

Or should I say "Boy Bites Dog" ?  This weekend we went to South Austin's Trailer Park & Eatery were we sampled the best "hot dogs" ever! I tried the My Big Fat Greek Dog which was a merguez lamb sausage w/tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, olives, cucumbers & feta cheese!  YUM-O!!!  There were several other places to try & since you get to sit outside on picnic benches it's a great place to take the kids!

Save the Date for our Mother's Day Tea!

Mother's please save the date:

Friday, May 7, 10:00AM to 10:30AM 

Our class will be celebrating Mother's Day
in a very special way.

Songs will be sang, books will be read

and best of all, everyone will be fed!

Please be sure to RSVP!

Link to evite.