Ms. Courtney’s February 2016 Newsletter

 

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Classroom

The First week in February we had a blast talking about all the different types of farm animals and what each farm animal provides for us. We talked about where milk comes from and what else we can get from farms like fruits, vegetables and grains.

 

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The second week of February the children learned about all the different types of pets and how to care for them. To wrap the week up the children made Valentine’s Day boxes and had a blast at their Valentine’s Day party. I would like to thank all of the parents who made the party possible! As always it was very successful.

 

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The third week of February the children learned how Washington was a great man, the father of our country, who led in war and peace. They discovered that Abraham Lincoln was also known as “Honest Abe”. They also talked about what they think life is like for the Obama family in the White House.

 

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The last week of February we did a sorting activity with different objects of foods with a dental hygienist. She explained that our teeth get sad and full of tooth decay from sweets and soda and get happy and shiny and bright from brushing and eating healthy foods.

 

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Kindergarten

We started out the month continuing with multiplication using the golden beads.  The introduction of beads shows the kindergartners a solid correspondence between the written symbol and physical quantity. We also discussed what tools could be used in the classroom to help with multiplication, such as the stamp game, multiplication bead board and dot board. We even talked about dynamic multiplication with exchanges (carry overs). We introduced fractions. We learned that we can divide anything as long as it can be divided into equal parts. Even our kindergarten class can be divided! We then learned about different shapes. We knew that a triangle has three sides but we learned that a triangle with three equal sides is called an equilateral triangle, with two equal sides is an isosceles, and with no equal sides it is called a scalene triangle. Any shape with four sides is a quadrilateral.  Some examples include a square, rectangle, rhombus, trapezoid, and a chevron. We learned all about agons like pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, nonagon, and decagon.

Science

Children believe that if their hands look clean, they are clean. So we decided to do an experiment on the power of germs and the importance of hand washing. We took two slices of bread and wiped our clean hands on one slice and our dirty hands on the other slice. Mold grew on both slices, but much sooner and more abundantly on the dirty slice. This experiment helped us understand that the germs became food for the mold. Although is dangerous to have a lot of mold on your house, we recommend to call an expert like mold remediation miami to get rid of the mold.

For our second experiment in the month of February we put an egg in salt water and an egg in ordinary water to see the difference. Since the salt water was denser than the ordinary water, the egg floated in the salt water.

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The last week of February we did a leak proof bag experiment with colored pencils and a Ziploc bag. We learned that we could stick a bunch of pencils right through the bag of water without spraying water everywhere. This is because when we punctured the bag with the sharpened pencils, we were essentially separating polymer chains without breaking them. The long chains of molecules squeezed in tight around the surface of the pencils preventing any sort of leak.

Art Article (By Ms. Faith)

In February, the students got to participate in some great art projects with Ms. Michele. We started off the month with a piece of art inspired by Ezra Jack Keats’ book The Snowy Day. Keats started out illustrating books and then decided to write and illustrate books with African-American and other minorities being the main character. In his book The Snowy Day, a young boy, Peter decides to explore in the snow after the first snow of the season. While he is out exploring, Peter makes tracks in the snow, makes snow angels, and many other fun things. Ms. Michele then had the students draw a picture of what they would do on a snowy day. To create the snow in their drawings, the students pulled cotton balls apart to make it look like they were playing in fluffy snow. Some of the students drew pictures of themselves sledding, having a snowball fight, and building snowmen. The next week our art teacher started off a series of projects based off of different cultures to gear the students up for our annual International Festival in the spring. We learned about the Chinese New Year and watched a traditional lion and dragon dance that are part of the celebration. The young artists got to make their own Chinese dragons or lions out of paper cups and decorations like pipe cleaners, sequins, feathers and different kinds of paper. While creating their pieces of art, the children got to practice their scissor skills by cutting paper into different shapes to decorate their dragons or lions. Our next adventure with Ms. Michele will lead us to India where we will learn about the tradition of Henna tattoos and get to create our own tattoos on clay hands.

Music Article (Ms. Faith)

To start off this months music activities, Ms. Lisa wrapped up her unit on Peter and the Wolf by having the students pretend to play the instruments that were played for each character and then they got to act like the different characters. The students absolutely loved this activity! Throughout the rest of the month, Ms. Lisa reviewed each of the notes with the students and how to sing in a high and low voice. Some of the instruments we got to use where rhythm sticks, bells, and castanets. Ms. Lisa uses a lot of movement along with the instruments in her lessons, which helps the students develop their coordination and gross motor skills. The young musicians got to march in a parade to Yankee Doodle while playing the rhythm sticks, gallop while playing either bells or castanets, and got to have a scarf dance. Music class is not only a fun experience for the students, but provides cultural experiences as well as brain and muscle development. We appreciate all the thought and love that Ms. Lisa puts into each lesson.

 


Ms. Courtney’s March 2016 Monthly Overview

Themes of the Week (in addition to Montessori Work Time)

2/29: Dr. Seuss/ Eric Carle

  • The children become familiar with the similarities in an author’s body of work.
  • The children will gain an appreciation for the word play and rhyme featured in the work of Dr. Seuss.
  • The children will identify, produce and extend patterns.

3/7: Insects

  • The children will identify animals that belong in the insect category and those that do not.
  • The children will learn there are over five million different kinds of insects in the world.
  • The children will identify the main parts of an insect.
  • The children will learn ways insects can be helpful and ways insects can be harmful. Learn more about the to improve your skills.

3/14:  Plants and Flowers

  • The children will discuss the four elements needed to grow a plant. Soil, seeds, sun and water.
  • The children will observe and describe similarities and differences in the appearance and behavior of plants and flowers.
  • The children will identify major structures of plants (seeds, roots, stems, leaves).
  • The children will understand the life cycle of plants and flowers and what they need to grow.
  • The children will discover that plants provide resources for clothing, food, and oxygen.

3/21: Butterflies and Caterpillars

  • The children will discover that butterflies go through stages of growth & changes called life cycles.
  • The children will design a butterfly of their own using shapes and creativity.
  • The children will create a mobile to represent each stage of the Life Cycle of the Butterfly.

 

3/28-4/1: SPRING BREAK (school resumes Monday 4/4)

 

Letters of the week

2/29: Uu

3/7: Vv

3/14: Ww

3/21: Xx

Things to do at home this month to reinforce our themes:

  • Talk to your child about their favorite Eric Carle or Dr. Seuss book and why they find that book interesting.
  • Visit your local library for a Dr. Seuss or Eric Carle reading.
  • Take a walk and see how many insects you can spot.
  • Plant a flower or garden.
  • Visit the Cleveland Botanical Gardens.
  • Take a walk and see how many butterflies and caterpillars you can spot
  • Make dinner with foods that start with the letter of the w

March 2016 Academic Enrichment Monthly Overview | Tallmadge Campus

Our Academic Enrichment time is daily from 12:00-1:00pm. This time is specifically designed for our Kindergarten students to join together as a group to work and progress through the advanced materials and lessons in the Montessori primary curriculum. Throughout the school day in their classroom they are still working individually with their classroom teacher on these and other materials at their level. 

Reading Group (Junior Great Book Program):
In March we will begin our focused reading groups for our kindergarten students.  Kindergarten students are meeting with Ms. Faith on Monday and Wednesday mornings.  Please review the information sent home. There will also be work sent home on Wednesdays and will need returned the following Monday for their next lesson.

2/29: Geometric Shapes continued/ Vowel and Consonants  

  • Introduction to geometric shapes and constructive boxes
  • Geometric cabinet
  • Hexagon, rectangle and blue rectangle boxes
  • Creating triangles, rhombus, trapezoid, parallelogram, squares, etc.

3/7: Parts of Speech/ Grammar

  • Introduction to nouns and their rules (name of a person, place, thing or idea)
  • Introduction to verbs and their rules (action word or something you do)
  • Vowels, consonants and their rules
  • Using worksheets, diagramming sentences and sandpaper letters

3/14:  Parts of Speech/ Grammar

  • Introduction to the article (a kind of adjective always used with and gives information about a noun)
  • A definite article is the word “the”
  • An indefinite article is the word “a” or “an”
  • Using worksheets, diagramming sentences and sandpaper letters

3/21: Articles

  • Rules of the articles
  • Worksheets, grammar symbols, diagramming sentences

3/28-4/1: SPRING BREAK (school resumes Monday, 4/4) 

 

Synonyms of the week

2/29: WET, damp, moist, soggy, drenched, soaked

3/7: HEALTHY, hearty, athletic, sound, strong, fit

3/14: SICK, weak, unhealthy, ailing, infected, frail

3/21: MEAN, selfish, unkind, malicious, hurtful

 

Sight Words

2/29: he

3/7: go

3/14: we

3/21: in

Things to do at home this month to reinforce our themes:

  • Look for our words of the week when reading a story, cut out pictures beginning with the letters of the week.
  • Practice using the different synonyms of the week in a sentence together.

 


Ms. Courtney’s January 2016 Newsletter

Classroom

We kicked off January by talking about all the different polar animals. The children made a bar graph based on their favorite polar animal to see which was the most popular. The children also enjoyed waddling around the classroom like penguins.

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The second week in January we learned all about ocean animals. We learned about things that exist in an ocean habitat like sand, small shells, smooth stones, seaweed, coral etc.

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After having Martin Luther King Jr. Day off we talked about how he was a hero because he was brave and honest. We shared who are heroes are and who we’d like to be like someday with the most popular answers being either Mom or Dad. We discussed how MLK made a speech and worked hard toward peace because back then people were treated badly if they did not have the same color skin. Each child made a picture of what their dream was and wrote about it.

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The last week in January we talked about tigers, lions, chimpanzees, kangaroos, elephants etc. Some of our friends even invited their favorite zoo stuffed animals to school to spend the day with them during work time, line time, recess, lunch and snack.

Kindergarten

The kindergartners worked hard on learning both static and dynamic addition and multiplication using the golden beads. They have even started working on more abstract materials like the stamp game and dot board to solve problems.

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Science

We made waves in the bottle and discovered that on our planet waves happen when our earth spins on its axis and water is pulled by gravity across the geological formations of the ocean floor. When we moved the bottle we got to see the energy move through the water to make waves, just like out in the deep blue sea!

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During the week of MLK we took two eggs one white the other brown that have not been cooked and compared their similarities and differences on the outside and took a guess as to whether they will be the same or different on the inside. We determined even though different on the outside, they were the same on the inside, just like people!

We also did a humpty dumpty experiment where we tested if we could protect a hardboiled egg from cracking. We placed six boiled eggs into Ziploc bags filled with different items to cushion the fall to see which protected the egg the best.

Music (Ms. Faith)

During the past month, the students have enjoyed the story of Peter and the Wolf with Ms. Lisa. Peter and the Wolf is a musical symphony composed by Sergei Prokofiev, a Russian composer in 1936. During the symphony a narrator, in our case Ms. Lisa, tells the story while the orchestra plays the music. Before the class heard the full story, they were introduced to the characters. Each character has a song and instruments to represent them throughout the symphony. The characters are, Peter (string instruments), Bird (flute), Duck (oboe), Cat (clarinet), Grandpa (bassoon), Hunters (tympani drums and woodwind instruments), and Wolf (French horn). The students learned what the instruments sounded like well enough to be able to identify which character was being portrayed in the symphony. It was amazing to see how well the children remembered week to week which instrument belonged to the characters. Ms. Lisa always does an amazing job bringing the story to life and engaging the students in learning this musical masterpiece. Last year she commissioned Ms. Michele, our art teacher to paint pictures for Peter and the Wolf to give a wonderful visual aspect. Thank you Ms. Lisa for sharing another piece of the world of music with our young learners!

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Art (Ms. Faith)

It was time again for one of my favorite art projects with Ms. Michele, imaginary creatures! To inspire the students, Ms. Michele shows the class pictures of mythical creatures such as a Griffin and a Centaur. The young artists got to pick two different animals to combine into a new creature and draw their ideas. Some of the combinations the group made were a squirrel/fish/flamingo, a panda/butterfly, a zebra/fish, and many more. After drawing, Ms. Michele instructed the students on how to make a foil armature, which is a base to mold clay around. Once the armatures were formed, clay was used to start making their creatures come to life. The next week, after Ms. Michele baked the creations, students painted the imaginary creatures. When the creatures dried, the children sat in a circle and were able to share what their creatures’ names were, what they eat, and where they live. I love how much effort and creativity each student puts in to this project. Thank you Ms. Michele for bringing some fun and whimsy into our lives through art!


February 2016 Academic Enrichment Monthly Overview | Tallmadge Campus

Our Academic Enrichment time is daily from 12:00-1:00pm. This time is specifically designed for our Kindergarten students to join together as a group to work and progress through the advanced materials and lessons in the Montessori primary curriculum. Throughout the school day in their classroom they are still working individually with their classroom teacher on these and other materials at their level.

2/1: Introduction to multiplication continued

  • Working with 9 tray / 45 layout
  • Using single units, 10 bars, 100 square and 1000 cubes
  • Working with stamp game
  • Working with dot board

 

2/8: Introduction to fractions

  • Exploring fractions
  • Fractional insets (whole up to 1/12)

 

2/15: Geometric Shapes

  • Introduction to geometric shapes and constructive boxes
  • Geometric cabinet

 

2/22: Geometric Shapes continued

  • Introduction to geometric shapes and constructive boxes
  • Geometric cabinet

 

Synonyms of the week

2/1: APPROPRIATE, suitable, fitting, apropos, correct, proper 

2/8: BAD, incorrect, awful, unsatisfactory faulty, defective

 2/15: GOOD, pleasant, fine, honorable, wonderful, valuable

 2/22: DRY, dehydrated, arid, parched

 

Sight Words

2/1: am

2/8: you

 2/15: down

 2/22: a

 

Things to do at home this month to reinforce our themes:

  • Look for our words of the week when reading a story, cut out pictures beginning with the letters of the week.
  • Practice using the different synonyms of the week in a sentence together.
  • You can view this link to give you more information on how the math materials are used in the Montessori classroom http://www.montessorialbum.com/montessori/index.php?title=Math
  • You may also google the name of the work to find more videos and information on the purpose of that material.

Ms. Courtney’s February 2016 Monthly Overview

Themes of the Week (in addition to Montessori Work Time)

2/1: Farm Animals

  • The children will learn about different farm animals
  • The children will discover all of the products that come from farm animals
  • The children will understand all of the responsibilities of a farmer

 

2/8: Pets/Valentine’s Day

  • The children will learn about a variety of pets
  • The children will learn about caring for a pet
  • We will discuss the differences and similarities between different pets

 

2/15: Presidents

  • The children will learn how Washington was a great man, the father of our country, who led in war and peace
  • The children will discover that Abraham Lincoln is on the penny
  • The children will talk about what life is like for the Obama family in the White House

 

2/22: Dental Health

  • The children will practice teeth brushing using an egg soaked in tea
  • The children will see how a little hole in your teeth can get pretty unpleasant on the inside by watching how a hole in an apple rots. Having a regular checkup with dentist and teeth cleaning is essential to maintain healthy teeth and avoid discolored teeth.
  • The children will talk about what foods are good and bad for their teeth

 

Letters of the week

2/1: Qq

2/8: Rr

2/15: Ss

2/22: Tt

 

Things to do at home this month to reinforce our themes:

  • Take a trip to a local farm!
  • Allow your child to help care for your pet.
  • Take a trip to McKinley Presidential Library & Museum.
  • Take your child to watch you get a dental checkup.
  • Find objects around the house that start with the letter of the week!

Ms. Courtney’s December 2015 Newsletter

Classroom

December was filled with many fun winter and Christmas activities.  We started the month off with focusing on practicing our songs for the Christmas program.  The students worked very hard to memorize the lyrics and to get the motions down just right.

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Our students created candy canes out of their fingerprints. We also made Rudolf pictures by tracing the students’ hands for the antlers and feet for the face. Next, we added a red nose and eyes to complete the reindeer.  The students also made a winter scene snow globe out of paper plates and sandwich bags. The students loved making Christmas tree ornaments out of sticks and ribbons and melted snowmen ornaments to put in their gift bags to parents.

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We all enjoyed the students’ show and tell items and they enjoyed sharing with the class. The children especially had fun wearing their pajamas to school and watching classic Christmas movies like The Grinch, Frosty, and Rudolph.

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The kids did an amazing job at the Christmas program and were the cutest misfit toys!

Kindergarten

The kindergarteners worked hard on their journals and have no learned how to measure in inches and centimeters using a ruler and tape measure. They have been measuring many different objects in the classroom including their teachers and recording it.

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They also enjoyed the holiday season by making many holiday treats to share with their friends like rice krispy treats and sugar cookies.

Science
We did a blubber science experiment by putting Crisco between two plastics bags, then putting our hand in and into freezing cold water. We learned the animals of the Arctic and Antarctic circles spend their lives surviving subfreezing air temperatures and frigid water. Their secret is blubber, a thick layer of body fat that comprises up to 50% of some marine mammals. The students were amazed at how different the water felt with and without the blubber glove.

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Music
By: Ms. Breanna

The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear, and sing, we did! This month in music class we spent a little bit of time perfecting our songs for the Program, but after doing great work, we need some time to have fun and dance! We sang and danced with Ms. Lisa to songs such as Feliz Navidad, Dashing through the Snow, and Jingle Bells. She also brought her castinets, jingle bells, and other fun instruments to play as a band! We had a great time together playing and preparing with Ms. Lisa, and we hope you enjoyed our performance! Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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Art
By: Ms. Breanna

December marked the start of our figure drawing unit. We started the month off with creating foil figures and cutting shadows out of black paper for them. The next week, we got into the Christmas spirit by drawing ourselves as elfs working in Santa’s workshop. It was a short month for art, but it was filled with fun and excitement as we prepared for our Christmas Program!

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January 2016 Academic Enrichment Monthly Overview | Tallmadge Campus

Our Academic Enrichment time is daily from 12:00-1:00pm. This time is specifically designed for our Kindergarten students to join together as a group to work and progress through the advanced materials and lessons in the Montessori primary curriculum. Throughout the school day in their classroom they are still working individually with their classroom teacher on these and other materials at their level.

1/4: Introduction to 9 Tray/ 45 layout/composing numbers

  • Learning what is and says ( 1, 10, 100, 1000)
  • Reinforce by placement and identification of numbers within each decimal place
  • Reinforce number placement with creation of numbers

1/11: Introduction to addition

  • Working with 9 tray / 45 layout
  • Using single units, 10 bars, 100 square and 1000 cubes

1/18: Introduction to exchanging

  • Introduction of exchanging 1s, 10s, 100s and 1000s
  • Using single units, 10 bars, 100 squares and 1000 cubes

1/25: Introduction to multiplication

  • Working with 9 tray / 45 layout
  • Using single units, 10 bars, 100 square and 1000 cubes

Synonyms of the week

1/4: LOUD, noisy, piercing, deafening, booming, crashing, boisterous, raucous
1/11: QUIET, peaceful, mute, calm, silent
1/18: SKINNY, thin, lean, emaciated, scrawny, slender
1/25: FAT, overweight big, bulky, heavy, plump

Sight Words

1/4: are
1/11: and
1/18: up
1/25: see 

Things to do at home this month to reinforce our themes:

  • Look for our words of the week when reading a story, cut out pictures beginning with the letters of the week.
  • Practice using the different synonyms of the week in a sentence together.
  • You can view this link to give you more information on how the math materials are used in the Montessori classroom http://www.montessorialbum.com/montessori/index.php?title=Math
  • You may also google the name of the work to find more videos and information on the purpose of that material.

Ms. Courtney’s January 2016 Monthly Overview

1/4: Polar Animals

  • The children will be making their own snow.
  • The children will talk about ice fishing and then do some ice fishing in the classroom.
  • The children will experience what it is like to be a penguin.
  • The children will learn about all of the different polar animals.

1/11: Ocean Animals

  • The children will learn about the ocean habitat.
  • The children will compare their length to a blue whales length.
  • The children will create waves in a bottle.
  • Friday 1/15 NO SCHOOL | Teacher In Service Day

1/18: M L King

  • Monday, 1/18 NO SCHOOL | MLK Day
  • The children will learn what a hero is.
  • The children will create a classroom “I Have A Dream Book”.
  • The children will learn that even though everyone is different on the outside, we are all the same on the inside, through an egg experiment.

1/25: Zoo Animals

  • Learning about different animals we find at the Zoo.
  • On Friday 1/29 each child is invited to bring their favorite stuffed animal. The animal should be one commonly found in a zoo. They can have snack or lunch picnic style with their stuffed animal.
  • The children will create zoo cookies.

Letters of the week

1/4: Mm
1/11: Nn
1/18: Oo
1/25: Pp

Things to do at home this month to reinforce our themes:

  • Go to the pet store.
  • Try and spot all the different animals outside during winter.
  • Have a birthday party for M L King.
  • Talk to your child about what his/her dream is and share yours.

Ms. Courtney’s Class November 2015 Newsletter

The month of November sure did fly by! The past month was filled with many fun activities and learning.  During the first week the class learned about different body parts. The students even learned about the lungs and heart and made their own models. We introduced our anatomy apron and the children enjoyed learning about the organs and where they belong by attaching the fabric organs to the apron!

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The next week we talked about food groups. The students learned about the five main food groups; fruits, vegetables, dairy, proteins, and grains.  As a group the children clipped out pictures of different types of food and sorted into the group on our classroom diagram.

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The third week of November was all about Pilgrims and Indians.  The class found out the Pilgrims came from England to our country for religious freedom.  We read many books about what the Pilgrims experienced during their journey on the Mayflower and once they landed at Plymouth Rock.

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The last week of November was a continuation of Thanksgiving and being thankful.  The children shared what their families do for Thanksgiving to learn that we all have our own traditions.  We focused more on why the Pilgrims and Indians ate a meal together.  The students finished designing their costumes and making the center pieces for the Thanksgiving Feast. Each child shared what they were thankful for.  We received responses from mom and dad, to pets, to sandwiches.  The Feast was a great experience for the students to share a meal together and to have their families involved.  A big thank you goes out to all the parents who made food and came in to help with the set up and clean up!

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Academic Enrichment- Kindergarten Students

The first week of November the kindergarteners finished up learning how to tell time down to the minute.  I would love it if they continued to wear their watches throughout the rest of the school year! We then learned all about coins and their amounts like pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and half dollars. We even learned a little song to help remember their names and values.  The kindergarteners also learned about dollar bills and their amounts.  It was fun to watch them compare the dollar bills and coins and figure out different ways to make the same amount of money.  The last week of November they learned how to label all the puzzles using the control charts in the classroom.  The kids have been working so hard on their handwriting by journaling each day and they are fun for me to read!

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Science

For our first science experiment we mixed hot water and Epsom salt together and quickly cooled it. Epsom salt is another name for the chemical magnesium sulfate. The temperature of the water determines how much magnesium sulfate it can hold. It will dissolve more when it is hotter. Cooling the solution rapidly encourages fast crystal growth, since there is less room for the dissolved salt in the cooler, denser solution.

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For our second experiment we blew up a balloon using nerds and coke. The carbon dioxide contained in the nerd candy wouldn’t be enough to cause the balloon to inflate. That’s where the coke came into play. The coke contained pressurized carbon dioxide. When the nerds were dropped into the coke some carbon dioxide was able to escape from the high fructose corn syrup of the coke and because the carbon dioxide gas has nowhere to go in the bottle it rises into the balloon making it inflate.

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Art

By: Ms.Breanna

Much like the weather, it has been both warm and cold in Art this month. We started the month off by learning about the colors of the color wheel and creating our own to take home. We then used warm and cool colors to create a mosaic leaf. Mosaic is a beautiful art form in which fragments of a material, foam in our case, is pieced together in order to create a design or image. Our friends were given the option to use either warm or cool colors to create their leaves, but had to use the opposite option to fill in the background. As most people know, sometimes art takes a long while to complete, and this project has definitely been one of those sometimes. We spent the entire month on this project so that we could add as much detail and contrast as possible to these gorgeous mosaics. We have thoroughly enjoyed this project, but are excited to see what Ms. Michelle has in store for us next month!

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Music

By: Ms. Breanna

The holidays are quickly approaching and preparations for Christmas are underway! This is such an exciting time of year and what better way to get into the holiday spirit than through music?! We have been working very hard at learning our songs for the Christmas Program next month and Ms. Lisa has been lending us her musical expertise during music class to help us perfect our sound and rhythm.  Christmas is not all about work and perfection, however, so in our extra time, we have been playing some great musical Christmas games with instruments such s the rhythm sticks and jingle bells and songs like Dashing Through the Snow, Jingle Bells, Little Drummer boy, and many more!

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