from Ms. Julie: We sure would love some more snow… just two inches of fresh powder every day would be great! It is true that this time of year for teachers of Primary-aged students is unofficially called “the Winter Gear Olympics” (by me). That said, many Pre-K students show great enthusiasm for getting dressed independently and are eager to become proficient “zip and tuckers” (gotta tuck those snow pants and mittens just right to create the snow seal around boots and coat!) Mittens are the preferred hand coverings for Pre-K students at school. It has been my observation that children who can’t snap their fingers, tie and write their names also do not have the manual dexterity and coordination to get their fingers into the designated holes of gloves. We do have extra gear, but due to cleaning and storage issues: please contact me if your child won’t have winter gear so that I can be sure it is ready by 10:15 (when we will be getting ready to go outside.) Snow gear and accessories will come home each day so that the floors in the cubby area can be washed & so that personal gear can get clean and dry before coming back to school.
We use the gym each morning from 8:05-8:30 to do group games and movement before settling in for snack and centers. We have perfected playing “Duck-Duck- Goose” (the first time we played, when I said “goose”- EVERYONE ran..) and we were introduced to “What time is it Mr. Fox”. Everyone was super excited to wave goodbye to November, and for our new month to appear on the classroom calendar, as December is “santa” and “snow” month! We have three birthdays to celebrate in December, as well. Our calendar pattern has candy canes and gingerbread boys, and that works well for our next literacy focus: many versions of the gingerbread man! Pre-K students are working hard to connect beginning letter sounds to their letter symbols, identifying and making rhymes, identifying and writing letters in their names.
Pre-K Art
What are we learning……
from Mrs. Baird
This week in literacy, kindergarten and first grade read a book called Galapagos Adventure. It is part of our South America unit and is another sound search book. This book focused on the sounds /n/, /m/, and /f/. We wrote to our pen pal, Grammie Shirley, about our favorite winter activities. We continued practicing our handwriting, and students are working very hard on writing nicely and neatly!
The kindergarten and First grade listened to two stories called One Even Day and One Odd Day. They counted by twos to one hundred . They also learned that an odd number is between two even numbers . The kindergartners also played a BINGO subitizing game and worked on writing and recognizing the teen numbers . The First grade continued to work on word problems and played Shake and Spill which helps with equation writing practice.
What are we learning…….
from Mrs. Thoner
2/3 ELA-This week we read a book several times about a summer of snow. Ask your child about what the summer of 1816 was like.
4/5 ELA-Students finished the book Bud, Not Buddy, a compelling story of a young boy who lost his mother at a young age, ended up in an orphanage and foster homes, ran away, and found his grandfather.
6-8 ELA-Students have gotten into Esperanza Rising. Ask your child what Esperanza’s life was like prior to her father’s death; and what is going on now!!!
from Ms. Bebell
6-8 Super Studies
This week, the class researched winter holidays around the world and created infographics about them for a bulletin board for the whole school to enjoy. They also continued learning about the basics of the periodic table.
4/5 Super Studies
This week, the students explored what pre-industrial fiber processing was like by weaving small wall hangings using wool. They saw what wool is like at all phases of processing, including looking at photos of Mrs. Bebell’s own sheep and handling unwashed, carded, and spun wool.
2/3 Super Studies
This week, the students read about how different animals migrate as a means of surviving winter. They also learned about how frogs hibernate by nearly freezing and then challenged themselves to free a small plastic frog from a block of ice. The students tried some ingenious tricks to get their ice to melt faster! They also spent some time in the woods looking for animal tracks in the fresh snow, and were delighted to find lots of squirrel, mouse, and deer tracks.
