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!

 

  

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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!

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!

 

 Primary Room

During the month of October the class learned about all the changes that happen during the beautiful Fall season.  For the first week we discussed leaves, how and why they change, and different types of leaves.  The kids also enjoyed collecting their own leafs for leaf rubbing.

  

The second week of October the students learned about apples.  They got to taste test three different types of apples and vote on what was their favorite kind.  We discovered what the inside of an apple looks like and how they grow.

Next, the class learned all about pumpkins.  We were able to explore the inside of what pumpkins look like by digging out the insides to separate the seeds from the pulp. The next day, the class was able to try the seeds they cleaned out of the pumpkin after they had been baked. The students also guessed how many seeds were in a pumpkin. Some thought a hand full and others thought thousands, turned out there were 504.

The final week of October we turned our attention to bats.  We learned about different types of bats and even found out that there is a bat that is as small as a bumblebee! The class discovered how and where bats sleep and that they find their food through echolocation.  The students were amazed by the fact that bats were mammals like them.

I wanted to thank all the parents who helped out with the Halloween party especially our party planner Brooke.  It was definitely a success, and the kids enjoyed all of the crafts, games, and delicious food. We could not have had a more successful party!

Academic Enrichment with Kindergarten Students

During Academic Enrichment Lesson, kindergarten students learned about landforms.  Ask them what the definition of a lake, island, bay, peninsula, gulf, harbor, cape, isthmus, straight, chain of lakes, and archipelago.  We went over telling time to the hour, half past, and quarter after. They also have been working hard and doing a great job on their journals.

Science
Over the past month, the students have been learning about the science behind the changes we see during fall.  We found out that the leaves change color because they are not receiving enough chlorophyll to keep their color green.  The students also learned the life cycle of apples, pumpkins, and bats. We also enjoyed a couple science experiments such as an exploding a pumpkin with rubber bands and blowing bubbles using a cd and lighter.

Music
In music class this month the children sang hello to Bernie the Bernard, Ellie the Parrot, Freida the Frog, and Rainbow Sparkles the Dragon! One of the first concepts Ms. Lisa taught the children was how many beats the whole, quarter, half, and eighth notes get. We practiced these notes in the song “Hot Cross Buns”. The children tapped rhythm sticks together for each note. The next skill we worked on was high and low sounds. Ms. Lisa taught the children the song “I wish I were a juicy orange”. While singing this song the children sang in high and low voices and shook egg shakers. The children also played tambourines and castanets throughout the month. Lastly we played some freeze dances with colorful scarves to sharpen our listening skills.

Art
Ms. Michele spent the first two weeks of the month having the children study the artist Georges Seurat. We watched a video about him and learned about his painting technique. He used the pointillism technique. His paintings look like they are made up of a bunch of dots. So to practice this, the children first drew an animal of their choice in pencil on poster board. Then they used q-tips to dot the animal in with paint.

Our next art lesson was on paper sculptures. First, Ms. Michele went over different types of lines. (dotted, squiggly, short, long, etc.) Then she showed lines in artwork and explained how our eyes “follow” the lines. Next she asked the children what a sculpture was. She explained that a sculpture isn’t flat but 3-dimensional. She then demonstrated to the children how to make paper sculptures using the lines she described at the beginning of the lesson. The children than created 3-dimensional paper playgrounds using strips of paper and gluing them down in different ways.

We started off our school year focusing on grace and courtesy to teach and fulfill our student’s innate need for order. Every student has a need to know and to absorb the social structures in order to be more at ease in their environment. Grace and courtesy lessons give the student the vocabulary, actions, and steps required for them to build their awareness and responsiveness of those around them. We worked on walking in the classroom, using our inside voices while in the school building, using kind words to one another, using safe hands, how to clean up our area when we are done working and how to use our words to express our feelings.

 

The third week of school we talked and learned about community helpers. We had many parents, family members and friends volunteer to come in and talk to the children. They briefly described their occupation, they talked about where they work, what they wear, tools they use, and tasks they perform. I would like to thank all of the volunteers that came into the classroom! It was a wonderful learning experience for both the students and teachers!

 

The fourth week of school we discussed families, each student has a chance to share their family tree with their friends. Their family trees included their name, parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. The students also brought pictures of their families either on the family tree or hard copies for the children to share with their friends. The children enjoyed learning more about their friends and where they came from. It was great to see the students discover the differences and similarities in all of the families and accept every family for who they are.

 

The fifth week of September we talked about feelings and emotions. The students brainstormed things they could do when they were angry, happy, sad, frustrated, and excited. Then they discussed with one another whether the reaction they came up with was a good choice or a bad choice. The students did a great job learning how to manage their emotions. We role played how to process, identify and appropriately express their emotions as much as possible. After a few days of talking about feeling and emotions it was great to hear the students tell their friends what they were feeling and why on their own.

 

The last week of September we explored the five senses of touch, sight, smell, taste and hearing. During this week the students got a chance to identify the different senses. Compare and classify items using their sense.

Kindergarten

We kicked off Kindergarten with a lot of Geography. The students learned about the seven continents, fun facts about the continents, and a few countries in each continent. The students became very familiar with the cardinal directions, the equator, the prime meridian, and the hemispheres. We took a look at our home state of Ohio and the surrounding states (their abbreviation and nickname). Make sure you ask your child all about Ohio! They will be able to tell you that the cardinal is the official bird, scarlet carnation the official flower, lady bug is the official insect, and tomato juice is the official drink. You will want to contact a company like Mid-Atlantic Wildlife Control that handles groundhog control in your city. They learned how we are the buckeye state and that the official rock and roll song is Hang on Sloopy.

 

Art
By: Ms. Faith

The first month of school the students learned many new and exciting things about their classroom, teachers, and friends. They also discovered how much fun art class is with Ms. Michele. Throughout the month, students were taught the rules and procedures for different art materials. To start off the first lesson, Ms. Michele discussed what an artist is and we decided that they create things. The students then made an Eric Carle inspired tissue paper butterfly using shapes cut out of tissue paper, coloring over top using crayon rubbings over different textures, and then gluing the shapes to create a beautiful butterfly. The next lesson was all about primary colors. There are three primary colors and they are red, blue, and yellow. The students then created their house by gluing black construction paper onto paper and then used primary colors to paint their houses. Ms. Michele showed the class works from Piet Mondrain who is best known for painting with lines and primary colors. Our third lesson was all about patterns. The class learned what a pattern is and practice making patters before creating their own flowers using oil pastels and filling them with different colors and patterns. Ms. Michele showed the students how paintings of flowers have changed over the years from realistic to more abstract by looking at works from Rembrandt, Vincent Van Gough, and Andy Warhol.

We cannot overstate the necessity that air conditioning cincinnati oh systems are regularly maintained.

 

During the fourth week, the little artists learned about secondary colors, which are the colors that primary colors make when mixed. We learned about a local artist, Don Drumm who is know for his sun sculptures, so the students got to make sun, sun catchers using Modge Podge mixed with food coloring on clear plastic. The colors blend together and when they are dry, the sunlight shines beautifully through. To end the month, we got to create shape animals using shapes cut out of construction paper and glued together on another piece of paper. The inspiration for this piece comes from an artist named Charlie Harper. He created wildlife prints using simple shapes. The students love getting to use the art materials and learn how talented they are. We can’t wait to see what next month’s art lessons will bring.

 

Music
By: Ms. Faith

All the students get so excited when it’s music day and it’s no wonder why. Ms. Lisa brings music and movement to their lives once a week. In music class, the little musicians learn how to use different musical instruments such as tambourines, egg shakers, and rhythm sticks. Ms. Lisa also teaches musical terms and plays games with the class to help them remember the term. So far, we have learned Adagio which means slow, Allegro, which means fast, Piano which means soft, and Forte which means loud. Our music teacher brings puppet friends with her and makes them move slow or fast and sing loud or soft to help the students guess the musical term. Every class, the kids get to sing to the puppet friend and either sing in a Piano or Forte voice. The students also learn many valuable life lessons like patience and following directions through music class. They have to learn how to use the instrument properly and how to wait for Ms. Lisa to tell them when they can pick their instruments up. It’s amazing to see how much the students improve over the school year with their rhythmic skills and ability to use the materials. Throughout the week, students will ask when Ms. Lisa is coming because they love learning about music with her.

 

Science
By: Ms. Faith

For our first science experiment of the year we made explosive chalk with cornstarch, water and food coloring. We added an alka seltzer which made it pop and send the sidewalk chalk bursting out, creating beautiful chalk art.

 

The second week we put different candy bars in a bowl of water, some of them sank and floated. We discovered that if something is more dense than water, it sinks. Snickers will sink, but a 3 Musketeers bar will not because it contains trapped air, so it’s less dense than water.

 

The third week we made a bottle rocket using a 2 litter, cork, water and bike pump.

 

The fourth week we soaked an egg in vinegar and highlighter. The eggshell dissolved and a glowing effect occurred because the vitamins are fluorescent. When the eggshell dissolved the membrane of the egg became permeable so some amount of the glowing vinegar infused the egg, causing it to glow!

 

The last week of September we made ice grow by putting colored water in the freezer until it got slushy like. We then dumped the water on ice cubes keeping the stream of water going moving it around a bit and our ice grew taller.

Classroom

We started off May talking about the Solar System. The children learned the positions of the planets and their relative sizes and distances. They had a blast using 3D models of the sun and planets to put in order. We talked about how the sun is the biggest star and why it is so important. We discussed the different phases of the moon and made a classroom book of the phases during preschool lesson.

The second week of May we talked about dinosaurs and what their habitats were like then the children did a dinosaur dig with our practical life work throughout the week. They learned different physical attributes of dinosaurs and their names. The children demonstrated an understanding of herbivores, omnivores and carnivores. We also made real life size paper dinosaur feet to compare to theirs in preschool lesson.

The third week of May we talked about transportation the children quickly developed an understanding that transportation means to carry things from one place to another. We named all the different methods of transportation like plane, car, boat, bike, horse, train, bus, subway, helicopter etc. The children also had a blast painting with different forms of transportation.

The children really enjoyed the last week of May when we talked about sports. The children used their gross motor skills to march, skip, gallop etc. They learned how to engage in imaginative and creative play indoors and outdoors involving their friends. We played a lot of games that involved team effort and good sportsmanship.

The first week of June we focused on summer games, activities, and experiments the children could do at home. We also talked a lot about summer safety rules while playing outside and playing with or in water. The children also practiced A LOT and setup for the talent show.

I hope everyone has a fabulous summer and I can’t wait to see all the smiling faces in the fall!

Kindergarten

In kindergarten lesson we finished our work with grammar. We went over how interjections help a sentence show more emotions, and we went over when to use a . ? ! We then reviewed when we capitalize words in a sentence. We capitalize the beginning word of a sentence, proper nouns and “I”.

Science

The first week of May we did a fire resistant water balloon experiment. We filled a balloon with water, held a lite candle underneath it, and the balloon never popped! Water is a great substance for soaking up heat. The thin balloon allows the heat to pass through very quickly and warm the water. As the water closest to the flame heats up, it begins to rise and cooler water replaces it at the bottom of the balloon. This cooler water then soaks up more heat and the process repeats itself. In fact, the exchange of water happens so often that it keeps the balloon from ever popping! The soot on the bottom of the balloon is actually carbon. The carbon was deposited on the balloon by the flame, and the balloon remains undamaged.

The second week we did a pepper and soap experiment. We filled a bowl up with water and sprinkled pepper on top of it. Once we added the soap the pepper instantly went to the sides of the bowl. The first question to ask is why the pepper flakes float. Why don’t they sink or dissolve in the water? Well, pepper is hydrophobic, meaning that water is not attracted to it. Because of that, the pepper can’t dissolve in the water. But why do the flakes float on top of the water? Water molecules like to stick together. They line up in a certain way that gives the top of the water surface tension. Because pepper flakes are so light, and hydrophobic, the surface tension keeps them floating on top. The next question to think about is why the pepper shoots to the sides when soap touches the water. Soap is able to break down the surface tension of water that’s part of what makes soap a good cleaner. As the soap moves into the water, and the surface tension changes, the pepper no longer floats on top. But the water molecules still want to keep the surface tension going, so they pull back away from the soap, and carry the pepper along with them.

The third week we made our own functioning compass. All we needed was a magnet, needle, cork, tape and bowl of water. First we rubbed the needle against the magnet, then tapped it to the cork, and dropped it in the bowl of water. We watched in amazement as the needle briskly turned so that one end was pointing north. Wondering if it was a fluke, we dropped the needle in over and over again, and each time the result was the same. The needle would turn until it was pointing north.

Art

By: Ms. Faith

To finish up an awesome year of art, Ms. Michele brought in some great projects for the students. The class got to make a 3-D animal out of construction paper using methods learned at the beginning of the year. Some of the animals students made where giraffes, dinosaurs, and foxes. To make their animals, they had to twist, bend, and glue the construction paper together. The next week, each student got to share one thing he or she learned from art class over the year to start off the lesson. Ms. Michele then reviewed what a tint and shade are, which a tint is any color mixed with white and a shade is any color mixed with black. Next, the class got to study real flowers for inspiration and then everyone headed outside to paint their own flowers while enjoying a lovely day. Our last lesson ended with the inspiration of our school’s field trip to the zoo. The students discussed what animals they want to see at the zoo to refresh their memory of zoo animals. The class then made their very own animals using pipe cleaners. Ms. Michele showed them how to build a frame for their animal and how to wrap and twist pipe cleaners around each other to make a solid creature. After everyone was finished, the students lined their animals up and got to look at each other’s creations just like they were at the zoo.

The students absolutely love having art with Ms. Michele and we hope she has a great summer!

Music

By: Ms. Faith

I can’t believe the school year is over, but we have had a great time in music class with Ms. Lisa! The students learned new music concepts this month, staccato and legato. Staccato is the musical term for notes that are played short and detached, legato is the musical term for notes that are played smoothly and in a flowing manner. To help the students learn the concept of staccato, Ms. Lisa played a song called “Bubble Song” and she blew bubbles for the class to pop to represent the shortness of the notes. We then danced with scarves to a song that played legato notes and waved the scarves around smoothly and when the staccato notes started, we danced quicker and used sharp motions with the scarves. The next week, our students’ grandparents got to come have a special music class during the schools’ grandparents’ day. The children got to show off their knowledge of musical terms and great memories. One of the grandparents even got to be a volunteer to help out with one of the activities! Everyone had such a blast enjoying music together.

Thank you Ms. Lisa for a wonderful year of music! We hope you have a great summer and can’t wait until the first music class in the fall!

Classroom

We started April off by talking about the seven continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia. We learned that Africa, is where the elephants, giraffes and lions live. South America has tropical forests and one of the longest rivers in the world the Amazon River. North America is where we live. Europe and Asia are together on the map, but Australia is an island where the kangaroo and koala bear live. Last but not least Antarctica is way down below frozen and home to the penguins.

The last week of April we learned about the three R’s Recycle, Reuse and Reduce. Which are three great ways we can eliminate waste and protect our environment! We learned all about waste and how we choose to handle it affects our world’s environment and everything around us like the air, water, land, plants and even man-made things.

Kindergarten

In kindergarten lesson we learned more parts of speech. We learned that a pronoun (I, me, he, she, herself, you, it, that, they, each, few, many, who, whoever, whose, someone, everybody, etc.) is a word that takes the place of a noun. That an adjective describes a noun. Adverbs describe verbs. That prepositions are ‘where’ words not a ‘where’ wolf.

Science

The first week of April we made a salt volcano. We filled a jar with water and oil then we added a drop of food coloring. Since salt is heavier than water we sprinkled salt on the oil and it sank to the bottom of the mixture, carrying a blob of oil and food coloring with it. In the water, the salt started to dissolve. As it dissolved, the salt released the oil, which floats back up to the top of the water.

The second week we did a water color transfer experiment. We filled one glass of water with a few drops of yellow food coloring and another glass of water with blue food coloring. We left the third glass empty. Next, we tore off some paper towel, rolled it up, and stuck one end in the blue water, and the other end in the empty glass. Then we did the same thing using the yellow glass of water and the empty glass. The blue and yellow colors started traveling up the paper towels. Once they became saturated, they dispensed the colored water into the middle glass and created a completely new color green! We also noticed that the middle glass, which was once empty, now had the same amount of colored water as the other two glasses.

 

The third week we made rain clouds in a jar. We filled a jar up with water, squeezed shaving cream on top, and then put a few drops of food coloring on top of the shaving cream. Just like real clouds, the shaving cream cloud became saturated because there was too much water for it to hold so some leaked out just like rain falling from a cloud.

  

The last week we did a gummy bear experiment and put a gummy bear in plain water, sugar water, salt water, vinegar, milk and baking soda water.  We let them sit for about 6 hours and then checked on them in the afternoon to see what had happened. The results were really surprising. Instead of dissolving, the gummies grew, some to almost triple their original size!

 

Music

By: Ms. Faith

To start of the month of April, Ms. Lisa shared about her missions trip to El Salvador from spring break. She showed the students pictures of kids from the country and even sang songs she sang with them. Ms. Lisa discussed how the kids looked different from what the students look like, but they still enjoy games and music just like them. We reviewed the notes and how many counts each note receives, and the musical terms forte and piano. Forte is Italian for loud and piano for quiet. To reinforce these terms, the children marched in a circle around me singing “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt” as I pretended to be asleep. They sang piano at first and then when it got to the part where they had to sing the la, la, la’s, they had to sing forte to try to wake me up. They got a kick out of trying to wake the teacher up! Along with reviewing the musical terms, Ms. Lisa had students use some instruments such as: tambourines, castanets, rhythm sticks, and egg shakers. Thank you Ms. Lisa for another great month of music class!

 

Art

By: Ms. Faith

In celebration of the International Festival, Ms. Michele took the students on a couple journeys to different countries. The first trip she took us on was to Japan. The class learned about the celebration of Child’s Day and looked at pictures of decorations they use in the celebration. These decorations were, paper lanterns, dragons, and coy fish streamers. So, Ms. Michele had the students make the coy fish streamers out of construction paper. We decorated them with crepe paper, sequence, and different types of paper for scales. While the class was learning about the country, they listened to Japanese music to inspire their artwork. The next journey landed us in Australia where the class got to hear an instrument native to the country called the Didgeridoo, and watched a clip from Steve Irwin to hear his accent and see some of Australia’s animals. Ms. Michele showed pictures of the Aborigines that live there and their artwork. The students then got to use materials from the earth to paint a picture to look like an Aborigine painting. The class used turmeric, clay, charcoal, dirt, and terracotta mixed with water as their paint and Q-tips to make dots to fill in their drawing.

 

To finish up the month, the class went back to the focus on a specific artist, Vincent Van Gogh. Ms. Michele showed a picture of his painting called “The Bedroom”. This inspired the project for the students to make a 3-D model of their “dream” bedroom. They got to use felt, markers, wooden pieces, and foam shapes to decorate their room. It was amazing to see the detail the students used to create their own bedroom. Thank you Ms. Michele for the adventure through art class!