Flat Stanley has become quite the world traveler! This week he visited Boston, Massachusetts, Naples, Canada, California, and Morocco!  Also, we had a special guest visit our classroom and teach the children about Islam and Muslim traditions. She read the story, Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns, which beautiful pictures highlighted the culture. The children learned about the Quran and got to see authentic jewelry and dress.  Also, they tried Barfi (a sweet treat) and Samosas (savory-fried dish with spiced potatoes and peas) All of the kiddos tried these new foods! 

Earth Day

The Pre-K and K kiddos discussed a variety of ways they could help the Earth and shared their ideas through pictures. Also, they used puffy paint to create an Earth mural.  

STEAM challenge

The kiddos challenge this week was to create a catapult using popsicle sticks, rubber bands and spoons.  When the catapult was complete, the children launched pompoms and measured the distance.  They loved figuring out how to increase the distance of the pompom each time.

 

Language Arts

Literacy Stations- The skills we worked on this week were manipulating initial sounds to make new words and blends.  Also, the children sorted pictures and words differentiating between the short and long U. The literacy games this week were based on the theme of Earth Day. The kiddos identified the problem and solution from the story, Ninja Red Riding Hood by Corey Rosen Swartz, at the listening station. At the writing center, the children wrote post cards.  

Birthday Celebration!

In P.E, the children participated in a color bean bag race! 

Reading buddies :)

 

We will continue Flat Stanley and Around the World themes this week.

Welcome back! We had a fantastic first week back to school and the K-kids were excited to see their friends and teachers.  We jumped right back into our routine and started the units, Flat Stanley and Around the World!

This week Flat Stanley was busy traveling the world! We received postcards, letters and pictures from India, Pakistan, Iceland, Philadelphia, and Canada. The kiddos were excited to receive mail and helped me find these locations on the map.  This started our discussions on different cultures around the world. You can see the map on the outside bulletin and stay up to date on his travels.  Also, I wanted to thank you for reaching out to your family and friends because without your participation, this would not have been a success!

Writing

We are finishing up our 5th unit- Informative Writing.  As the children are progressing this year, they have been working on setting one goal each day for Writer’s Workshop.  For example, they will focus on capitalization, adding punctuation, using the word wall to spell words correctly, and focusing ideas.  They are really improving on these skills and it is exciting to see their growth! During this unit, the kids made a list of super topics. A super topic is one broad idea and then five details relating to the main idea.

Language Arts

This week I assessed the children for new reading levels. They will bring home new ‘just right books’ this week. Please continue to sign their reading log each week! We will begin new literacy stations this week.

I read the book, Piggie Pie this week and the children completed a few activities in their journals.   The favorite activity was writing a new ending to the story.  They had fun sharing these with their friends. 

STEM

(Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)

Each week we will be completing a new STEM project.  This week the K-kids were introduced to the concept of Force and Motion.  They watched a Brain Pop movie about pushes and pulls. Next, the children were given a challenge to complete.   Using only construction paper, unifix cubes, and tape, the kiddos had to build a race car ramp.  The challenge was can you create a ramp that will make the racecar go the farthest distance.  They measured the distance of the car with unifix cubes. After each test drive, they had to add or subtract cubes on the ramp to see if this correlated with the distance of the car.  It was fun to see their thinking in action!

Math

The children continue to solve word problems using manipulatives, pictures and really understanding the different strategies you can apply. In the upcoming weeks, we will continue to solidify number sense with teen numbers, money, and addition and subtraction so these kiddos will be ready for first grade!

Upcoming Events

Auction and Scholarship Dinner: Saturday, April 28th 
Please RSVP to Sara Mcguire

SUMMER CAMPS: Inspiration Factory “IF” (Discovery) and Camp Griffin (Summer Camp)  Register with Melinda Orzoff, spaces are limited!