Ms Julie and Ms Ann love teaching preschool!

Ms Ann showing the children their name cards on the first day of school.

During the 2nd phase of our Pet Project children created pet supplies to sell in our classroom pet store. They used a variety of materials including clay, beads, paint and paper.

During the 3rd phase of the Pet Project these girls worked in the grooming salon, taking care of the pets that had just received a bath!

These boys worked in the vet's office and operating room!

An expert visits our classroom during the 2nd phase of our project and shares his knowledge of pets. The children got to visit with his puppy and tour his mobile vet clinic. The children learned a lot from this expert!

During the 3rd phase of our Pet Project the children shared their pet rocks with the class!

At the beginning of the Pet Project the children participated in a scavenger hunt at a local pet store. The children and their families took photo's of the items and brought the pictures to school to create a scrap book of their experience. The children chose the photo's and labeled them by using their knowledge of letter sounds.

This young girl shares her pet rock and home she created during our Pet Project!

Our last project of the 2009-10 school year was the movie project. On the first day after creating a poster of everything the children knew about movies and theaters, they created their own movie theater in the classroom. Using a piece of white paper they created scenery for the 3 Little Pigs, set up chairs in rows and used the overhead projector as a spotlight. This completely spontaneous puppet show movie was enjoyed by all twenty children.

During the 2nd phase of the Movie Project, this boy draws pictures of what the scenery will look like for the movie his group wrote and will perform.

During phase 2 of the Movie Project, this group of boys does research in the school library for scenery ideas.

Conducting research on dinosaurs for their movie, 'My Favorite Dinosaurs'.

Before filming student movies, each group created a title sign. The children used their knowledge of letter sounds to write the movie titles with assistance using inventive spelling.

A student movie about dragons. The teachers videotaped each movie and edited them to show to the families during phase 3 of the project.

In preparation for the movie theater, the students created tickets and money. Using inventive spelling and knowledge of letters, the children made over 100 tickets and paper money.

An example of a ticket.

Tickets!

Creating signs for the snack bar, ticket booth, ticket takers and red carpet.

A sign welcoming families to our movie premiere!

An example of a name tag the children created to show families what their job was during the learning celebration.

Creating a St. Therese Walk of Fame complete with hands and photo's. The walk of fame was part of the scenery for the movie theater.

Once families purchased a ticket and gave them the ticket taker, they were escorted by the ushers to their seats. We had over 50 family members attend our premiere.

Families watched a movie about the three phases of the movie project and the student movies.

The children collected the money they made and served up treats from the snack bar. The children chose the menu: fresh popcorn, candy, muffins, water and juice boxes. After the families left, one child looked at the basket of money and said, 'Look at all the money we made Ms Ann!'.

The Movie Project was a huge success. The children took their jobs very seriously and were excited to share what they learned with their families! The children worked very hard and had a great time creating a movie theater for their families.