March 2015 Newsletter

Classroom

We started off the month of March talking about Dr. Seuss and Eric Carle. The children (and teachers) loved coming to school dressed crazy with their hats, silly socks, and crazy hair! We enjoyed reading Green Eggs and Ham and watching the students cringe as they tried that first bite of their very own green eggs and ham.

 

 

 

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The second week of March we learned all about insects. The children learned how to identify animals belonging in the insect category and those that do not. They learned the main parts of an insect with the help of our own version of Head Shoulders Knees and Toes (Head, Thorax, and Abdomen.) Together the preschoolers made a beautiful diagram of an insect to display in the classroom. For the third week of March we talked about plants and flowers. The children discovered the four elements needed to grow a plant soil, seeds, sun and water. They also learned the word photosynthesis! We planted flowers to watch grow in the classroom.

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The last week of March we talked about butterflies and caterpillars. Students had a blast learning about how butterflies go through stages of growth and change called a life cycle. They even got to create a butterfly life cycles using different types of macaroni. We also designed butterflies using coffee filters and clothes pins.

I hope everyone enjoyed their spring break and is ready to get back into the swing of things!

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Kindergarten

The kindergarteners started their grammar unit by learning their five vowels and what isn’t a vowel is a consonant. We learned a fun song to the tune of BINGO there are five letters that I know and vowel are their name O’s A,E,I,O,U A,E,I,O,U A,E,I,O,U and vowels are their name O’s. Then we looked at noun and verbs. Nouns are people, places, and things. Verbs are action words or something you can do. We also learned that there are three articles, a, an, the.  We learned that “a” hooks up with consonants, “an” is very picky and only hooks up with vowels. And “the” is not picky at all and hooks up with anything!

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Science

For the first week of March we defied gravity using water cardboard and a cup! With no air inside the glass, the air pressure from outside the glass is greater than the pressure of the water inside the glass. The extra air pressure manages to hold the cardboard in place, keeping you dry and your water where it should be, inside the glass even when you hold the glass upside down.

The second week we made a tornado in a bottle by spinning a bottle in a circular motion which create a water vortex that looks like a mini tornado. The water is rapidly spinning around the center of the vortex due to centripetal force. Some vortexes found in nature include tornadoes, hurricanes and waterspouts.

The third week of March we filled baggies up with water and poked pencils through them. No water spilled out the holes because ziploc bags are made of a polymer. Polymers have long chains of molecules that are flexible. When we poked the sharp pencils through the baggie, the pencils slide in between the chain of molecules that made up the polymer. The molecule chains made a seal around the pencils and didn’t let any water out.

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Art

By: Ms. Faith

The first week of March was a celebration for Dr. Seuss’ birthday. So, in honor of his birthday, Ms. Michele brought in a piece of artwork that Dr. Seuss painted himself. The title of the pieces was called Dream and then the students got to draw their own dream. They were allowed to use markers, crayons, and colored pencils. The next week, Ms. Michele showed the students different pictures of structures from around the world. These structures included, the Great Wall of China, pyramids, and the Pentagon. Students were given sugar cubes, glue, and pieces of foam to create their own structure. Another project we completed was to go along with the classroom them of plants and flowers. We read a book about and garden and discussed what a garden needs to grow. The young artists got to paint their own gardens using paint, paintbrushes, and forks. The students dipped the forks into the paint and drug them on the paper to create the petals of a flower. We saw a lot of creativity just from using simple objects. Some children painted a sun or insects since those are things a garden needs to grow. At the end of the month, Ms. Michele brought in some art works from an artist who paints robots. The class got to draw their own robot using oil pastels and had to come up with a purpose for their creation. Some students designed robots to help them clean, do homework, and even plant gardens. The students love to be creative and can not wait until the next art class!

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Music

By: Ms. Faith

In the last month, Ms. Lisa reviewed many of the terms we have been learning throughout the year. The students reviewed the terms Adagio and Allegro. Adagio is Italian for slow and Allegro is Italian for fast. She uses these terms for describing tempos of songs. To reinforce these concepts, Ms. Lisa played a song from Beethoven, which had a slow tempo, and a song from Chopin, which had a fast tempo. The students used scarves to dance along with the different tempos. The students also got to practice singing in their high and low voices as well as quite and loud voices. Since the students enjoyed the game called “Cat and Mouse” that Ms. Lisa introduced to them last month, she brought it back again this month. The students have a lot of fun trying not to get caught by the cat. To wrap up music class before spring break, Ms. Lisa brought back her keyboard and taught the students the difference between the black and the white keys. She had two students come up and play a duet on the white keys, then the black keys. The students had to learn how to be an audience and listen respectfully while their peers were playing their duet. Once their duet was finished, the students took a bow and their audience clapped for them. We hope Ms. Lisa has a great spring break and I know the students will look forward to the first music class in April.

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April 2015 Monthly Overview

Themes of the week for the month of April (In addition to Montessori Individual Work Time)

4/6:  International festival

  • The children will learn about the geography, culture, and language of North America and South America.

4/13:  International festival

  • The children will learn about the geography, culture, and language of Europe, Africa and Asia.

4/20:  International festival

  • The children will learn about the geography, culture, and language of Antarctica and Australia.

4/27: Recycle/Reduce/Reuse

  • The children will understand the importance of taking care of the environment.
  • The children will practice ways to reduce waste in the classroom and at home.
  • The children will become more environmentally aware in their daily activities.
  • The children will learn the terms recycle, reduce, and reuse.

Letters of the week

4/6: Yy

4/13: Zz

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

  • Practice your line for the Festival at home!
  • Look around your home and see what you can do to Reduce/Reuse/Recycle
    • Use reusable grocery bags.
    • Use a refillable water bottle.
    • Use natural light when applicable.

February 2015 Newsletter

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 picture frames for their moms and dads out of popsicle sticks and puzzle pieces and had a fantastic Valentine’s Day party. I would like to thank all of the parents who made the party possible! 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 pictures 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, shiny and bright from brushing and eating healthy foods. We talked about cavities and cut a hole in an apple to show us how a little hole in your teeth can get pretty yucky inside. The children also took turns brushing a stained egg with real toothpaste and it turned white again.

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Kindergarten

We started out the month continuing with multiplication using the golden beads.  The introduction of beads shows the kindergarteners 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.

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Science

For the first week in February in science we took three raw eggs and placed them into different liquids (vinegar, water, and milk) we left the eggs in the liquid for a couple of hours to see the different effects the substances had on the eggs.

The second week of February Ms. Stacey did a science experiment with the students called dancing conversation hearts. She took 4 alka seltzer tabs and crushed them up and placed them in the bottom of a glass, then she took a few conversation hearts and placed them on top of crushed alka seltzer. After that she poured 1 cup of sparkling water over the hearts and we sat back and watched them dance. The students discovered that carbon dioxide was forming and pulling the hearts to the surface then the bubbles would burst and the hearts would fall until the bubbles formed again to pull them back to the top again.

The last week of February we inflated balloons using vinegar and baking soda and the children learned when you mix the two together it creates carbon dioxide and the gas rises up and escapes the bottle feeling the balloon.

Art (By Ms. Faith)

In art class this month, Ms. Michele had three great projects for the students. The first project was dealing with fears and what makes us afraid. The students drew what they were afraid of on a piece of black construction paper using oil pastels. After they drew what they were afraid of, Ms. Michele had the class draw themselves bigger on a separate piece of paper to show that they are bigger than their fears. She used this project to teach the students about how artists use the foreground, middle ground, and background in their drawings and paintings.

The next week, the students learned what a mosaic is, an image made up of smaller pieces of glass or other objects. Ms. Michele used cardstock for the base of the mosaic and brought in many colors of foam squares. The students could create any image they wanted using the small squares of foam to fill up the piece of cardstock.

For the last project, the students got to illustrate their own book. Ms. Michele showed the students images of large art works, such as paintings that take up a whole side of a building or a large sculpture of a stuffed animal bunny. The students were given these inspirations to create a book about giant things. First, they had to draw pictures and then the teachers walked around and wrote on the pages what was going on in the illustrations.

Music (Ms. Faith)

In the month of February, Ms. Lisa brought some review activities and some new activities for the students. To review, students had to choose when they wanted to sing in a loud or quiet voice and had to recall the musical terms forte or piano. Other musical terms the students got a review on are: adagio, allegro, and andante. These all refer to the tempo of a song; slow, fast, and a medium pace. Ms. Lisa brought in her electric keyboard and played songs from Peter and the Wolf for the students to remember which song was for which character. We were amazed at how well the students could pick up after not hearing the story for a month!

The students got to participate in two new activities in music class yet. We played a game called Cat and Mouse. The students were all mice and the teacher got to be the cat. When Ms. Lisa played a song on her keyboard with high notes, the “mice” had to come out of their hole and play. When Ms. Lisa played the same song using low notes, the “cat” could then chase the “mice” and try to tag them. If a student was tagged, he or she would then become a “cat” as well. The students enjoyed this game and wanted to keep playing. Another new activity using Ms. Lisa’s keyboard, was to identify different sounds. Her keyboard has a built in synthesizer and can make many different sounds. The sounds the students had to identify were: birds, a telephone, a helicopter, and an audience clapping. The students loved making guesses for what the noises were!


Ms. Courtney’s March 2015 Monthly Overview

Themes of the week for the month of March

3/2: 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.

3/9: 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.

3/16:  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.

3/23: 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.

Letters of the week

3/2: Uu

3/9: Vv

3/16: Ww

3/23: 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 week.

Ms. Courtney’s January 2015 Newsletter

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Classroom

We kicked off January by talking about polar animals. The children enjoyed making fake snow out of hair conditioner and baking soda and playing in it to build snowmen, igloo’s and snowballs. The students 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 (noble). 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 to create a class book for the library.

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The last week in January we took an imaginary trip to the zoo and sang all about the tigers, lions, chimpanzees, kangaroos 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.

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Kindergarten

The kindergarteners have been working so hard on their journals. I hope you enjoyed the ones they brought home! They also started practicing writing in cursive. I can’t believe how they cruised through learning addition and multiplication with the golden beads. We have even been working on more abstract materials like the stamp game and dot board to solve our problems.

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Science

For the first week of January we were curious to see what salt would do to ice so we froze a block of ice. Then took turns placing spoonful’s of salt onto the ice. It was interesting to watch the salt create holes in the ice. After the holes were created we took turns dripping primary food colors into the holes and the colors mixed together to form new colors.

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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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For science we also 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!

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Milk goes great with a lot of things: cereal, cookies, cake, and pie. So we decided to mix it with a bottle of coke. The milk and coke separated when the phosphoric acid molecules attached to the molecules of the milk which increased the density and separated them from the rest of the liquid. The remaining liquids had less density than the phosphoric acid and milk molecules so they float on top.

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Enrichments by Ms. Faith

Art 

For three weeks of January the students worked to create an imaginary creature with Ms. Michele. This project is always enjoyed by the students and brings more whimsy into the classroom. To start the lesson, Ms. Michele talked to the group about mythical creatures and showed some examples of artists’ renditions of the creatures. After this, each child got to pick three pictures of animals and had to choose one part of each of the animals to use in drawing a new creature. The next week, the students then got to create an armature out of foil, which is the base structure for their sculpture. Once the armature was in place, the young artists formed clay around the foil and the creatures began to come to life. After the clay animals were baked, the class got to paint their creatures. The students loved making up their own creature and letting their creativity soar. To end the month, Ms. Michele started a new series where each week she will introduce a new artist and we will complete an artwork in the style of the individual. The first artist we learned about was Claude Monet, who is very well known for the Surrealism movement. Surrealism style is soft and blurry, which some believe to be caused by Monet having poor eyesight. To recreate this style, Ms. Michele had the students use their fingertips to make dots of different colored paint all over a piece of paper. Once the colors were blended together by their fingerprints, it created a blurrier look just like Claude’s. We are all in suspense to find out who the next artist Ms. Michele will introduce us to next week!

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Music 

This past month in music class, Ms. Lisa shared the story of Peter and the Wolf by Sergi Prokofiev. The story is a musical symphony that was commissioned by the Central Children’s Theatre in Moscow in 1936. Each character in the story is represented by a different instrument; the flute is used to copy the sound of the bird, the cat is represented by the slinking sound of the clarinet, the oboe plays a smooth sound that reminds the listener of the duck swimming gracefully on the water, the character of Peter’s grandfather has a bassoon which plays low and slow notes, and the hunters’ melody is loud and in a marching tempo with the woodwind instruments and timpani drums. Now the villain of the story, the wolf, has a sharp sneaky song that is played with the French horn, and last but not least, Peter, who is the hero, has the stringed instruments to play his triumphant and heroic theme. The students enjoyed the story and learning about the different instruments and their sounds. I was amazed at how well the children could recall which instrument played for the different characters each week. Peter and the Wolf is a very exciting symphony, which captivated the students’ attention and was able to expose the group to many different instruments.

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Ms. Courtney’s February 2015 Monthly Overview

Themes of the week for the month of February (In addition to Montessori Work Time)

2/2: 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

2/9: 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

2/16: 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
  • Monday, February 16th President’s Day- NO SCHOOL

2/23: 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
  • The children will talk about what foods are good and bad for their teeth

Letters of the week

2/2: Qq

2/9: Rr

2/16: Ss

2/23: 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

December 2014 Newsletter

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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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The kids created a winter scene by gluing red and green tissue paper on construction paper and cutting Christmas tree shapes out, then painting another piece of construction paper with blue water color, and lastly glued on the trees to complete the scene. We also made Rudolf pictures by tracing the students’ hands for the antlers and feet for the face, and then 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 kids really enjoyed making reindeer food to leave out on Christmas Eve to give the reindeers energy to fly Santa around. They also made popsicle stick Christmas tree ornaments and sock snowmen to put in their gift bags to parents for the night of the Christmas show. We all enjoyed the students’ show and tell items and they enjoyed sharing with the class.

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The children especially had fun wearing their pajamas to school and watching classic Christmas movies like The Grinch, Frosty, and Rudolph. The kids did an amazing job at the Christmas program and were the cutest cowboys and cowgirls! I hope everyone has a wonderful break and a Merry Christmas! See you next year!

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Kindergarten

The kindergarteners worked hard on their journals and 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.

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Science

Our fist science experiment for December was a gross spit experiment. We crumbled an unsalted cracker on one plate and then took a second cracker and chewed it really well to get it nice and mushy. Then we had to do the gross part and spit the chewed up cracker onto the second plate. After that we put a drop or two of iodine on both crackers. We discovered that digestion begins in our mouths because the iodine only turned black with the chewed up cracker because it reacted with the starch.

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The second week of December we did a floating paperclip experiment and learned about surface tension. We overfilled a cup without water spilling out and the surface tension of water was strong enough to support a paperclip! Then we put soap into the water which disrupted the order of the water molecules. The kids had many questions like how is the water keeping the paperclip from sinking? How big of a paperclip can we float? Can we float another paperclip on the water after we add the soap? How many paperclips can we float at a time?

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Music (By: Ms. Faith)

During the month of December, Ms. Lisa had many fun Christmas activities for the students, she even got the best decorative tree rings from Amish Baskets. The class got to sing Christmas carols such as Away in the Manger, Jingle Bells, and Deck the Halls. Ms. Lisa played a fun game called Freeze Dance where she played Jingle Bell Rock and when the music stopped, the students had to freeze in a silly way. We also got to learn Feliz Navidad and played Castanets along with the music. The students loved singing Christmas music with our wonderful music teacher. Thank you Ms. Lisa for another great month of music class!

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Art (By: Ms. Faith)

Ms. Michele prepared some great art projects for our students. The first project we learned how to use a technique called resist. To complete the project, the class got to draw different geometric shapes on a piece of paper with oil pastels and then painted over their drawings with liquid water colors. The watercolor did not cover up the drawings because of the oils in the oil pastels. Ms. Michele also introduced the young artists to Pablo Picasso who is known for the art movement Cubism. We looked at a few portraits Picasso painted and made observations on the different shapes and colors he used. The students then used different shapes cut out of construction paper to create a self-portrait. Each project came out different and unique. It’s always a joy to see the creativity Ms. Michele brings out of the students!

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Ms. Courtney January 2015 Monthly Overview

1/5: Polar Animals

  • The children will be making their own snow.
  • The children will talk about ice fishing and then do their own 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.

1/12: 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.

 

1/19: M L King

  • Monday, January 19th– 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.

1/26: Zoo Animals

  • Learning about different animals we find at the Zoo.
  • On Thursday 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

1/6: Mm

1/13: Nn

1/20: Oo

1/27: Pp

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

  • Go to the pet store together and have fun exploring different animals.
  • 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 December 2014 Monthly Overview

Themes of the week for the month of December ( in addition to Montessori Work time)

12/1- 12/19: Christmas Program

  • We will be taking time in the morning and afternoon to practice for our Christmas Show!
  • We have fun Christmas themed crafts and activities planned for our students!

Christmas Show Rehearsal (not a dress rehearsal)
Wednesday, December 17th 6:00– 7:00pm
Cuyahoga Falls Hgh School
431 Stow Ave. Cuyahoga Falls, OH  44221

Christmas Show
December 19th 6:30pm
Cuyahoga Falls High School
431 Stow Ave. Cuyahoga Falls, OH  44221

**  All students arrive by 6:00pm
** Doors will open at 6:00pm

 

Christmas/Winter Crafts and Baking

  • The children will be enjoying the holiday spirit by doing a lot of fun crafts and baking.
  • The children will be making holiday rice krispie treats together.
  • The children will be making a snow globe.
  • The children will be making sock snowman.
  • The children will be making reindeer out of their hands and feet.
  • The children will be making Christmas trees out of popsicle sticks.

 12/20—1/4         Christmas Break—School Resumes Monday January 5th

 

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

  • Bake holiday treats together.
  • Make homemade ornaments and festive decorations together.
  • Watch classic winter and Christmas movies together.
  • Go caroling as a family.
  • Volunteer at a homeless shelter as a family.
  • Play outside as a family and enjoy the winter weather.

Ms. Courtney’s Corner – October 2014 Newsletter

Tallmadge Preschool

 

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.

 

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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.  Some of the students even brought home beautiful paintings using apples as stamps.

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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 and even sampled some of the actual meat of the pumpkin cooked.

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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.

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I wanted to thank all the parents who helped out with the Halloween party.  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!

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Kindergarten

During Kindergarten Lesson, 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.

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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 oozing jack-o-lantern when we mixed hydrogen peroxide with water and yeast. The students also made water crystals mixing colored water with ­­­­­­­­­polyacrylamide.

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Music

During October Ms. Lisa brought in some fun instruments and musical terms for our class. The students learned how to sing in either a piano, which means soft, or forte, which means loud, voice. She also had the students practice their hi and low voices. The instruments the students experienced were egg shakers, rhythm sticks, tambourines, and castanets. They continued to learn about the different notes and this month Ms. Lisa had the students lead clapping out the notes Some of the songs Ms. Lisa sang with the students were, “Grand Old Flag”, “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad”, “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”, and “The ABC’s”. An activity the children got to participate in was a ball toss game while listening to “London Bridge”. Students had to wait to pass the ball if the singing stopped and then when the singing came back on they could start passing again. This helps to develop listening skills while having fun! Thank you again Ms. Lisa for another great month of music!

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Art

Ms. Michele finished up her unit on What is Art by talking to the students about sculptures. They were able to create their own sculpture out of random objects from home and painted them all one color, which we learned the art term is monochromatic. During this lesson, Ms. Michele also introduced complimentary colors, and the students had to pick out other objects that were complimentary to the paint color they chose for their sculpture. After this project was completed, we started a new unit called What I See. The children will have to draw and paint objects that are in front of them. We started off by picking a picture of a flower, studying it, and drawing a detailed picture using oil pastels, markers, water, and paint brushes. The next week, Ms. Michele brought in some fun toys to set in front of the class and they got to dig into many different art supplies including, oil pastels, markers, colored pencils, whiteboards from  writeyboards.com and crayons to draw the toys. We can’t wait to see what Ms. Michele has in store for us next month!

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