We had a great first week of school! Over the first few days we have watched students learn and actively participate in our daily routines.

We read the book Chu’s First Day of School and discussed our feelings during our first few days of school, as well as some of our special skills and interests!

Students are slowly being introduced to our learning centers. This week in the Art Center, students learned how to use glue, (just a dot, not a lot) while creating free art with collage materials including paper scraps, cotton balls and foam pieces.

As a whole group we brainstormed ideas for classroom rules that will help keep us safe at school! We discussed being kind, helping and sharing, listening to friends and teachers, and keeping our bodies calm inside the classroom. We wrote a list and all agreed to practice the rules so we can have a fun and successful year in Pre-K!

Next week we will continue to learn our daily routines. We will also be practicing making choices on where to play using our Center Choice Chart.

Weekly Letter 9.13.19

 

This week we read Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback. The story talks about how Joseph starts out with an overcoat and ‘transforms’ it into a jacket, vest, etc. This led us into a conversation about how we already reuse materials. For example, we reviewed how paper is recycled to make to new paper, cans make new cans and bottles too!

We also began to discuss the changes we see around us. The children described some of the changes as plants growing, people growing, clouds changing shapes and colors.

In the Art Center, we mixed colors together to see what happens!

The children also learned that they are beginning to read using the sounds and letters they already know to create rhyming word lists like cat, hat, mat, rat …

Next week we will discuss what kinds of changes happen in nature. We will focus on the lifecycle of butterflies and how they go through different stages.

Weekly Letter 6.14

Family Engagement 6.14

This week, we read the book When I was Little and discussed the many ways the girl in the book changed as she grew from baby to child. As a class we brainstormed a list of vocabulary words and ideas related to the main idea of the read aloud. We also built text-to-self connections by discussing the ways each of us change as we grow.

At the Writing Center children responded to our read aloud by drawing pictures and writing words to describe themselves “then” and “now.” Some of our ideas included talking, walking, eating different foods, and playing with different toys like bikes and scooters.

At the Math Center children used string measured to their birth length to compare with objects around the classroom.  We really enjoyed seeing how small we were as babies and how tall we are now!

Next week, we will begin a new exploration of “Transformation!”

Weekly Letter 6.7

Family Engagement 6.7

This week, we read the book Over in the Meadow by Ezra Jack Keats. We discovered that a meadow is a habitat with many different types homes where various living things can live. 

In the Block Center the children had an opportunity to create these different type of habitats (pond, tree, and so on).

We also focused on what types of animals hatch from an egg. The children brainstormed a list of animals. Then in the Art Center they got to make eggs by winding starch covered yarn around balloons. Once the eggs were dried, the children created various types of animals that could hatch from an egg.

In the Science Center the children continued their science journals by documenting the animal that they chose to hatch from their egg, as well any other animal that caught their interest. 

Next week, we will be focusing on how babies change as they grow up.

 Weekly Letter 5.31

Family Engagement 5.31

This week, we read the book Stellaluna by Janell Canon. The book explored the differences and similarities among some baby animals.  One baby animal got lost and became friends with others. The children described how they would feel if they got lost and what they would do.

Together we charted the different types of baby animals. We discussed specific names of baby animals such as kittens, puppies and cubs. Our class also voted on whether to change our Dramatic Play Center to a Vet’s office, or keep a Pediatrician. 

We continued our research at the Science Center with information books and iPads, drawing and writing about chosen baby animals in our science journals.

In Art, we painted, collaged and drew pictures of baby animals to present to our friends during circle time. 

Next week, we will be continuing our study of animal babies.

Weekly Letter 5.24

This week, we began our Baby unit by discussing what human babies need and ways we care for human babies. The children were thrilled to share some of their personal experiences and loved guessing which classmate each baby picture belonged to!

We turned Dramatic Play into a baby nursery. The children were actively engaged in imaginative play, taking care of the babies using real baby items, such as bottles, toys and diapers. Children even bathed baby dolls at the Sensory Table!  We even opened our own Pediatrician’s office to take care of the sick babies too!

At the Art Center, children created additional baby items using recycled materials, such as baby toys, strollers, and car seats.  We experimented with various materials to create rattles with different sounds!

Next week we will begin to explore different baby animals. 

Weekly Letter 5.17

Family Engagement 5.17

This week we wrapped up our Plant unit by reading The Vegetables We Eat.  We discussed the difference between a vegetable and a fruit.  The children sorted out the fruits and vegetables in our Dramatic play area.

We took a nature walk outside in search of different kinds of plants. The children found various types of flowers and plants. They even tried to find fruit and vegetable plants!

In our Art Center, the children used their fine motor skills to stamp out pictures of flowers using various kinds of materials.

In our Science Center, we observed a lettuce head in water to see if it would regrow its leaves.  We are still watching!

Weekly Letter 5.10

Family Engagement 5.10

Next week, we will be starting our new unit on Babies. We will be focusing on what babies need.

This week we read An Orange in January by Dianna Hutts Aston. We discussed the journey of an orange from farm to home.  The children were then invited to try drawing and writing about the journey of other fruits and vegetables either to their home or school.

In the Art Center we looked at the paintings of famous artists, including Claude Monet’s Sunflowers and Georgia O’Keefe’s Poppy and then enjoyed recreating our own versions.    

This week we continued to plant more seeds and to record observations of our seeds sprouting in our science journals. 

In the Math Center we used unifix cubes to measure how tall our sprouts had grown, and also used the balance scale to compare which seeds were heavy or light.

Next week we will be discussing why plants are important to us.

Weeky Letter 5.3

Family Engagement 5.3

This week we celebrated Earth Day by exploring the many simple ways we can help take care of the Earth!

To help inspire our Earth-friendly ideas, we read 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World by Melanie Walsh and Big Earth Little Me by Thom Wiley. We were excited to see that we are already making choices that help the Earth every day!

At the Art Center, children designed and built “Earth inventions” using recycled materials. Our Earth inventions can vacuum up litter, clean the water and sort out recycling.   

We introduced many sustainable practices in our classroom this week, including recycling paper scraps and unwanted artwork, turning off the lights when we leave the classroom, and returning books and toys to the shelves to be used again and again!

We are so proud of the creativity and the enthusiasm the children showed for helping to keep the Earth clean and healthy!

Weekly Letter 4.17

Family Engagement 4.17

This week we read The Curious Garden by Peter Brown. It’s a story where a little boy finds some isolated plants growing on abandoned railway tracks. He takes it upon himself to become the gardener and help the garden flourish! The children learned that this story is based on the true curious garden, High Line Park in NYC.

The children created their own curious gardens by building them in the Block Center. They added trees, flowers, and plants of their own creation to it.

We have assembled and continued to add to our rain forest in the Dramatic Play area! The children are enjoying it! They like to design the vines, leaves, and animals that can be added to the rain forest. 

In the Science Center, we started planting the seeds that were brought in by the children. We can’t wait to see our garden of fruits, vegetables, and flowers grow!

Weekly Letter 4.12

Family Engagement 4.12

Next week we will continue to explore different kinds of plants, such as cactus, evergreen, succulent, and herbs!