Stone Soup

 

A Peek inside our classroom

Comparing sizes

parts of a Bird, labeling

Building words with the Movable Alphabet

Zucchini from our garden

Using watercolors to paint our Earth

Cards and Counters, making sets

November 2014

Thank you to all the parents who helped with our Halloween Celebration, it was a blast!!

A Peek into October and November

Scooping out the Pumpkin seeds

Estimating the Pumpkin Seeds (there were 517 seeds in the pumpkin)

Graphing and Voting for the eyes, nose and mouth for our Jack O lantern

Lifecycle of the pumpkin

Studying how apple trees grow,  and the parts of an apple (stem, skin, flesh, core, seeds)

Counting, voting for the favorite apple and cutting apples for the Applesauce

Tasting the roasted pumpkin seeds and applesauce

In Geography we began visiting the continents starting with North America, the children were introduced to the countries of North America.

In Zoology, we began our study of mammals; the children had a lesson on the Bats and Parts of a Horse

Other popular works have been corn tweezing, sunflower tweezing, hammering tees on a pumpkin, and pin-punching the world map.

Next Week

We will be making stone soup (taken from the story,’ Stone Soup’) and fresh butter next Wednesday, November  19, 2014 with the class, so we will need some ingredients to be brought in. To be sure we get all the ingredients; I assigned certain items to each student. The children will wash, cut and prep the vegetables to make the soup on Wednesday and on Thursday we will eat our soup for snack.

If there is a problem bringing in any items, please let me know and I can take care of it. We need all these items by Tuesday, Nov 18, 2014 except for the bread if we can have it on Thursday morning that would be great!!

Ingredients

3 year old boys- one potato each

3 year old girls- one carrot each

4 year old boys- one celery stalk

4 year old girls- one small zucchini

Kinders-

Vivienne- can of black beans

Mia- veggie broth

Miles- 1 small bag of frozen green beans

Josiah- can of tomatoes

Campbell- 1 small bag of frozen corn

Maddox –1 small bag of frozen peas

Zach- an onion and a couple of garlic cloves

Giuliana- heavy cream (quart)

Tesla-Loaf of bread

Dylan-Loaf of bread

Large Movement in the classroom-

 Turkey Pokey

(Hokey Pokey)

You put your right wing in

you put your right wing out

You put your right wing in

And you shake it all about.

You do the turkey pokey

And you turn yourself around.

That's what it's all about.

Add'l verses:

Left wing

Drumsticks (legs)

Stuffing (tummy)

Wattle (head)

Tail feathers (bottom)

Turkey body (whole self)

Although we enjoy very well equipped classrooms we are always looking to add to our collection of cultural materials from around the world. Since many of our families are world travelers, we have created the following ‘wish list’.

·         dolls from around the world

·         child-sized shoes, hats, clothing, instruments or cookware from different cultures

 As the snow begins to fly remember to send your child with boots, jackets, hats and mittens each day since we will be going outside on all but the most severe days.

·         All belongings should have names in them.

·         A pair of tennis shoes in their lockers to wear in the classroom.

·         Please check the Lost and Found lockers periodically.

Health and Wellness

Please be guided by your child, as the season of flu, fevers & other contagious illnesses continue. Children who have had fevers must be fever-free for at least 24 hours before returning to school. However, if your child is showing signs of lethargy, crankiness, has greenish discharge, or any other symptoms, please keep them home! Childhood

illnesses are typically very contagious, and your child will not love school if they are not feeling 100%. Please be sure to call the school to report absences.

Reminders-

·        Parent-Teacher Conferences - Nov 13^th to Nov 19th

·        Soup ingredients needed by Tuesday Nov 18, 2014

·        Wednesday, Nov 19 - Thanksgiving Luncheon

·        Nov 24^th   to Nov 28th-Thanksgiving Break

·        Monday, Dec 1^st- No School for 3 and 4 year olds

·        Monday, Dec 8^th- Winter Concert, only for full day students

Classroom Pet Sitting and Rugs Washing- Please let me know if anybody is interested in taking care of our classroom fish and if anybody is willing to take the classroom rugs home to launder during Thanksgiving Break.

Have a wonderful November!!!

October 2014 Newsletter

What a wonderfully, busy month September has been.   Everyone has settled nicely into our school routines.       

In the classroom we have been working very hard in the Practical Life area and have perfected many basic motor skills.  Among them are hand washing, floor sweeping, window washing, and polishing.   In the Math and Language areas we have completed all the beginning of the year assessments and are just focusing on our individual number works and on learning the sounds that correspond to the letters and using these to build and read words.   In the cultural area we have been discussing the seasons and have set up a nature tray where children are encouraged to bring nature items including signs of fall.   So many wonderful things to experience and discover at this age!

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Parent/Teacher conferences are set for the third week of November. I will send the link to sign up for conferences soon

I will also have a signup sheet on the clipboard at drop off and pick up,  to schedule observations, so you can come in to observe your child in the classroom before conferences,

In class we have been talking about:

Leaves/Trees

Seasons/Fall

Living/Non Living

Vertebrates/Invertebrates

 Insects

Continents

Flags

Art

Fall Trees- using torn paper

Literature

We focused on two authors last month, Eric Carle and Kevin Henkes.

Apples Unit

We are getting ready to begin a new and exciting unit on Johnny Appleseed/Apples, and we need your help! We have a lot of fun and educational activities planned to teach us everything from graphing, patterns, measurement and cooking applesauce.

In order to do all this we will need lots of apples! We are requesting that each student bring in at least one apple of any kind by Wednesday, Oct 22, 2014

We are looking for a variety of types of apples for our various projects, so we’ll take anything we can get.

Label EVERYTHING!   Please be sure to label every item that goes to school with your child or risk losing it into the black hole of lost items!

Cooler Weather:

As the weather starts changing, it would be a great time to check your child’s bag of extra clothes to be sure that their clothes are weather appropriate!  Please also make sure that your child has outerwear appropriate to the weather

Talking to your child about school

Some great opener questions to start a conversation about school with your child might be:

• What work did you like the best today?
• Did you work with anyone?
• Do you remember any songs you sang today?
• Did you do a sorting work?
• Did you do a pouring work?
• Did you do a number work?
• Did you do some art work?
• Did you do a matching work?
• Did you do an animal work?

Thank You’s

Andrea’s (Madeline’s mom) for taking care of our laundry (towels and nap sheets) every week and also helping out in the lunchroom and recess

Amy and Scott (Dylan’s parents), Kebbie (Zach’s mom),  Laura ( Maddox’s Grandma), Brooke (Josiah’s mom),  Margaret and Kiowa (Lucy Anne’s parents),  Noah and Diana (Tesla’s parents) for coming in to listen to our students read.

Monique (Clio’s mom) for bringing in wonderful books from the library to support our curriculum.

 “What do you like about Fall?” when asked of our students-
 Maya- The leaves changing color
Claire-Falling leaves going down to the ground
Mia- I like when the leaves fall down
Tesla- I like the rainbows
Vivienne-I like watching leaves turn different colors
 Lila- When my mom rakes up the leaves
Monroe- crunching the leaves
Christopher-I like picking the leaves
Hunter-I like to see the leaves on the tree
Maddox- I like to see the floating leaves
Liam-I like running into the leaf pile
Zach, Mateo, Adelaide, Esther, Chase, Josiah, Madeline, Alice, Clio, Marley, Dylan, and Marnee - I like jumping in the leaves

Happy Fall!!!!


Ms. Sheela, Ms. Kelly and Ms. Paula

Birthday Celebration

We celebrate birthdays by explaining to the children that it takes the Earth one year to travel around the Sun – this is one unit of measurement for time.
A candle is lit to represent the sun and we talk about events in the life of the child in the 3-6 class. The ‘birthday child’ holds a globe of the world and walks around the Sun once and stops; the first birthday has been reached. If a photograph of the ‘one year old’ is available then we all look at it, we will then mention a special event, provided by the parent, that happened to the child during that year. This is repeated until the current birthday is reached.
The child then blows out the candle and Happy Birthday is sung. This is then followed by a birthday snack provided by the child’s parents. 

The Birthday Snack

The birthday snack can be cookies, fruit, or vegetables, suitable for the children to eat with their hands. 
We can discuss food allergies and if able, bring something in that all children could eat. These children always appreciate being able to eat the same food as everyone else. 

September 2014

Lincoln Elementary Montessori

Ms. Sheela’s Classroom

Room #112

September 7^th, 2014

 

 “Teach by teaching, not by correcting.”

Dr. Maria Montessori

 The first few days were filled with sharing summer news and experiences, and getting back into the “rhythm” of our school activities. The school year begins with simply following the routine of the school day at a pace that allows each student to take in the new experiences. There are classmates and teachers to get to know, routines to figure out (e.g., sitting on the green line, singing songs, waiting for a turn), lockers to find, and new activities to discover and even the younger students soon enjoy the routine. This simple consistency builds their confidence and independence. This is what Dr. Montessori referred to as "normalization" - the transition of the child into the responsibility, productivity and joy of the school day.

          

NOTES & REMINDERS

Nut Allergies-Please note we have two students with severe nut allergies in our classroom, please do not send nuts in your child’s snack, we really need your support here.  

 

**Non-Student Contact Day

Monday, Sept 22^nd, 2014

Monday, Dec 1^st, 2014,

Friday, April 17^th, 2015

 

3 and 4 year olds will not have school on the above dates. Only Kindergarten students will attend school as we will have a Substitute teacher for that day.

Please mark this on your calendars now so it won’t be a surprise later on.

 

**Arrival and Dismissal

 Thank you for your patience and support as we help our little ones adjust to the routines.

 

Please say good-bye quickly, lovingly and go. This is important for your child’s transition as well as traffic flow. We will help at easing the transition for your child and we will let you know if there is a problem. Groups of parents lingering in the classrooms or in the hallway can affect an otherwise calm routine. 

With younger children you may want to discuss and role-play saying good-bye. Be sure to convey your confidence that school is a good place for them to be. Some families establish a ritual such as “hug-kiss-snuggle” that reassures them both at parting. Saying good-bye quickly, warmly, lovingly and matter-of-factly just as you rehearsed (no matter how anxious you are feeling!) will ease them through this transition.

Please be on time, allowing us to prepare a peaceful, harmonious and happy environment for your child. And if you are late picking up, we have a hard time fitting in cleaning, prepping, phone calls, lunch and meetings.   Children are often worried and distressed when they arrive too early, too late or when parents are late for pickup.

 

**Tote Bags

All students should bring their Tote Bags to school every day with one snack for half days and two snacks and a lunch (unless buying a hot lunch) for full days, They should all have a water bottle, and a change of clothes at school. They should be quite independent in dressing for the out-of-doors so please make sure your child can easily put on and take off his/her own shoes, especially during winter. If your child cannot yet tie laces, please provide shoes with buckles, Velcro or slip-on styling. We also ask that you ensure your child can open all containers for snack and lunch by him or herself to foster independence.

 

 We would like all children to bring a water bottle to school on Mondays to use in the classroom during the week.   We will send water bottles home on Fridays to be washed and returned on the following Monday.   This is especially important during this hot, end of summer days.   

 

 

**ECE Forms/Classroom Funds

Our three and four year old children must turn in all paperwork ASAP.   Our program is licensed by the state and it is a state regulation that we have this paperwork in your child’s file.   If you are missing any forms we will be contacting you at arrival/dismissal times.

Also, don’t forget that we ask parents of Kindergarten children to contribute $35.00 and parents of Preschool children to contribute $25.00 to the classroom fund for consumables and supplies.   If you haven’t sent this in yet please do so.

 

**Scholastic Books

We will be sending Firefly (Preschool) and See-Saw (Kindergarten) book orders home with your child monthly.   Scholastic Books offers quality paperbacks at reasonable prices.   We enjoy the added plus that Scholastic offers bonus points with your orders to obtain books and materials free for the classroom.   So we really appreciate all your orders.   We are offering you the opportunity to order books from Scholastic online if that would be more convenient for you.  All orders for this month are due on Friday, Sept12, 2014

 

**What is Show and Tell? For New Parents

Show and Tell is an oral language experience designed to give the children an opportunity to talk about an object they bring from home and to answer questions the other children ask.  The children sign in on the Show and Tell book as they arrive in the classroom.  We will again be using the alphabet sounds to guide your child’s choice of items.  Show and Tell will officially begin on Monday, September 15th, 2014.   The sound for the first week is ‘a’ as in apple.   The sound for each week will be posted on our bulletin board.   We ask that you help your child choose an item that begins with the sound of the week.   Also, help your child think of clues such as what color the object is, or what the item is used for, as your child will keep their item hidden and give these clues to the children at Circle Time.   The other children will then guess what the item is.  These items will be available to take home from the basket at dismissal. We encourage your child to bring educational items, items from a trip, or from your back yard; a book, telescope, painting, picture, etc. We ask that you please do not select stuffed animals or toys. Thank you!

 

Thank you for your support as we begin this school year.   Please feel free to contact me at school anytime you have questions or concerns.   Dismissal times are good times to catch me or you can call and leave a message at school for me to call you.   The school’s number is (720)424-5990, and my email is sheela_dharmarajan@dpsk12.org

 

We are looking forward to a fantastic year!  Thank you again for your patience, help, and your understanding these first few weeks.

 

We hope that your September is happy and healthy!!!

Peace,

Ms. Sheela, Ms. Kelly & Ms. Paula