Sunday, November 16, 2014

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 13th to Nov 19th
·        Soup ingredients needed by Tuesday Nov 18, 2014
·        Wednesday, Nov 19 - Thanksgiving Luncheon
·        Nov 24th   to Nov 28th-Thanksgiving Break
·        Monday, Dec 1st- No School for 3 and 4 year olds
·        Monday, Dec 8th- 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!!!