Ms. Kate’s April 2016 Newsletter

Good day, mates! Spring is finally here! I love seeing the warm sunshine and the colorful flowers in bloom! This month has been super busy getting ready for the International Festival and learning about all of the different continents and countries. The children also enjoyed our guest speakers from different backgrounds and cultures.

IMG_20160414_122955  IMG_20160421_142917

(taste testing Chinese food)

IMG_20160427_103145  IMG_20160427_111524

During the first week, I introduced the seven continents to the children by showing them our continents puzzle. We discussed the four main countries in North America, including The United States of America, Mexico, Canada, and Greenland. The children also learned about our flag, which consists of 13 horizontal stripes, which are red, white, and blue and represent the first colonies and states in the union. The flag also has 50 stars, which represent the 50 states in the Union. The children also learned about Christopher Columbus, the climate, and cultures of North America. We also discussed South America and their famous Andes Mountains, The Amazon, and the Rainforest. The children really liked learning about the four layers, which are the forest floor, the understory, the canopy, and the emergent layer.

IMG_20160427_094219IMG_20160427_094233

The third week we focused on Asia. We discussed how Asia is the largest continent in the world. We mainly focused on China, Japan, and India. The first few days we learned about China. The children were able to see pictures of the largest Buddha, which is carved in the side of a cliff in china. It took workers about 100 years to carve! They also saw pictures of children at school, the beautiful mountains, their parades that they have when they celebrate new years. The children enjoyed learning about the Huang River, which is the third longest river in the world. It is also called the Yellow River because the yellow soil turns the river waters yellow. They also learned about their traditional clothing, families, and how most Chinese people live on farms and work in fields called Paddies. We also went over how they do not have an alphabet, but instead a symbol called a character. And lastly, we went over traditions, schooling, and how reading short stories or folktales are very popular. The second country we talked about was Japan. We discussed the weather and seasons, cultures and traditions, school and family, and also about country and city life in Japan. The children also learned about their food and how they have fun.

IMG_20160421_142855 IMG_20160414_141801

We also focused on Russia, the Philippines, and Lebanon. We learned that in Lebanon’s mountains were thick with cedar trees, and the evergreens were highly valuable because they were used for ships and a place for worship. The cedar trees than became the national symbol. We also learned about the different kinds of plants and animals that can be found, how to say hello and goodbye, all about their daily life, and their schooling. It was very interesting to learn how pretty much everyone in these countries all lived in huts and apartments and that the whole family lived together under one roof, so they need to keep this roof in perfect conditions, with the help of The Roof Clinic company. The children also had fun learning about all the different flags from each country and what they represented.

IMG_20160418_095940 IMG_20160414_122728

(taste testing Chinese food)

Lastly, we learned about Australia, The Land Down Under. We had fun learning about their different traditions they celebrate, the animals that can be found, like the Emu, kokkaburra, koala, platypus, and the kangaroo. The children also learned about the Australian flag, the Great Barrier Reef, the beautiful different landscapes. And also about the Outback. We had so much fun this month learning about all of the different countries. The children also worked very hard practicing all of their lines and songs! I can’t wait for the International Festival!

Academic Enrichment with Mr. John
In the afternoon lesson with kindergartners we continued our work with grammar. We started by We looked at the adjective which describes nouns and pronouns, the adverb which describes the verb and usually ends in “ly”, the conjunction which connects two sentences or thoughts and acts like a bridge, and the preposition which is a “where” word not a werewolf.

20160422_123559

Who thinks adverbs are difficult…our kindergartners don’t!

The kindergarten class count to ten in 27 different languages. Some of them are English, Sign Language, German, French, Greek, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Tagalog, Polish, Irish, Welsh, Hebrew, Arabic w/the Lebanese dialect, Japanese, Hungarian, Swedish, Swahili, Korean, Serbo-Croation, Hindi, Flemish/Dutch, Malay, Cebuano, Turkish!

20160422_122551-1

 

Ms. Ame’s Corner 

Science
Mr. John started off the month with dancing spaghetti! Mr. John had water and vinegar
in a tall pitcher. Then he added cooked spaghetti. The students then created their own
hypothesis on what would happen when they added baking soda. The baking soda and
vinegar created carbon dioxide gas causing the spaghetti to “dance”.
The next week Mr. John did another creative experiement with packing peanuts. We use these when we
move to keep breakables safe. What happens when we throw them away and they get
wet at the junkyard? Check out the papers to see what happens and why!
Art
In Art Ms.Michelle started the month off with Australia aboriginal animal art. The
students talked about different Australian animals and traced them in pencil on their
paper. Then they used colors traditionally used by Aborigines and outlined and defined
their animals. These willbe displayed at the international festival!
The next week we made bugs out of recycled materials or trash. The students used trash for the body and
eyes and then pipe cleaners for the legs. The next week the students were able to paint their
creepy creatures. Please start taking home any art off our cart over the next few weeks
and check backpacks for art creations!
Music
Ms. Lisa brought ber piano in this month for students to practice. They learned that the
pattern of the black keys are 3 black and then 2 black. They also focused on listeing to
high and low sounds during their favorite game, Cat and Mouse. Students also got a turn
playing on the piano. Students currently taking piano lessons performed pieces they had
learned outside of school.
IMG_20160426_135622
One week, due to Festival rehearsals we had a group music lesson
with the whole class. We worked on rhythym using tbe rythym sticks and sang some of
Ms. Lisa’s clever interactive songs. Don’t forget about the CDs Ms. Lisa sent home
earlier in the year. These CDs have many of the songs we sing with her in class!

Ms. Kate’s May/June 2016 Monthly Overview

5/02: Plant and Butterfly Life Cycle

  • Exploring a plant and butterfly’s life cycle
  • Variety of activities that show a plants growth
  • Parts of a plant
  • Parts of a butterfly

Afternoon Group Lesson: Variety of fun books, activities and crafts having to do with plant and butterflies.

5/:09 Sea Life

  •  Warm water vs. cold water and types of fish in each environment
  •  Sea creatures, different types of Fish
  •  Coral Reef
  •  Sink and float science experiments

Afternoon Group Lesson: Variety of fun books, activities and crafts having to do with sea life.

 

5/16: Outer Space

  •  The planets in our Solar System
  •  Facts about each planet
  •  What is Gravity?

Afternoon Group Lesson:  Variety of fun books, activities and crafts having to do with outer space.

 

5/23: Outer Space

  •  Constellations, the Sun
  •  History of the space shuttle, Kennedy Space Center
  •  Astronauts, Neil Armstrong

Afternoon Group Lesson:  Variety of fun books, activities and crafts having to do with outer space.

 

5/30: All About Insects

  •  What makes an insect?
  •  How are insects different than spiders?
  •  All about bees and ladybugs!

Afternoon Group Lesson: Variety of fun books, activities and crafts having to do with insects.

 

Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.

5/04- 6/01: Review

 

rhyming words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.

5/02: Bee
5/16: bright
5/23: blue
5/30: sun

 

Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:

  •  While reading a book have your child point to all of the letter of the week she/he can find. Have them do this with the sight words as well. Play I‐Spy using things that only start with the letter of the week/ sight words.
  •  Make fish sugar cookies together! Read Rainbow Fish and create an underwater scene in your child’s bedroom (use blue saran wrap to cover the windows and create fish out of paper).
  •  Visit the aquarium in Cleveland. Create a story about all of the Fish and Mammals you saw!
  •  Make a telescope out of paper towel rolls, tape, markers and crayons. Talk about the constellations you see!

Ms. Kate’s March 2016 Newsletter

March was a busy month for us. The children had fun talking about Dr. Seuss, learning about different artists, and exploring the Rainforest. We also had fun celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day.

IMG_20160303_082915IMG_20160303_082839

The first week was all about Dr. Seuss. Throughout the week the children came to school dressed in crazy & mismatched socks and hats and Wacky Wednesday! The first few days we concentrated on rhyming activities; the first activity was a rhyming ball game. I placed different words onto a ball and the children had to throw the ball to one another. When a friend caught the ball they were able to pick out a word and identify another word that rhymes with it. The children loved this activity! During the second activity, I wrote out a number of sentences from The Cat In The Hat and placed note cards at the end of every other sentence. The children had to guess what word was under the note card that rhymed with the last word of the sentence. I was super impressed at how well they knew the rhyming word! Throughout that week we went down in the kitchen and cooked green eggs and ham and then had a taste test, for this we used the best cooking utensils and knives from https://www.all-knives.org. We then graphed who liked what better. For the last activity we focused on four sight words, “I, and, the, & that.” Four students came up at a time. As I was reading The Cat In The Hat my four friends had to keep a tally on the sight words that we were looking for. At the end of the book we counted up the tally marks to see which sight words were used most in the story. At the end of the week the children made a Cat In The Hat hat to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday. It was a very fun week!

2016-03-03 08.34.332016-03-02 08.41.15

The theme for our second week was, Art Appreciation. This week we focused on different artists and their works. The children were able to create their own works from the artists they learned about. The first day we learned all about Claude Monet. We discussed landscapes and why he chose to only draw them. We also learned about oil pastels and how to blend them. The children then created their own landscape while using oil pastels. On the second day, we discussed Pablo Picasso and his different Periods. The children learned about his Blue period and how he was very sad. We also talked about his Rose period where he fell in love and became very happy and all of his paintings were a rosy hue. We then went over his angry period, where all of his paintings were a bit scary. I showed them how he would drew faces in a different way and how all of his drawing were different. The children then drew self-portraits of themselves, cut their pictures up and created their own Picasso with Ms. Ame. The next thing we learned about was Vincent Van Gough. The children learned the history behind his art, they were also able to explore his different paintings and why he painted certain paintings the way he did. The children then created their own 3D Sunflower portrait! They also had a lot of fun learning, exploring, and doing different types of art with Ms. Ame!

IMG_20160303_083144IMG_20160309_093636 IMG_20160309_093527

Then we had fun exploring the Rainforest. The children learned about the four layers of the rainforest which are The Forest Floor, The Understory Layer, The canopy Layer, and the Emergent Layer. The children learned about which animals and creatures lived in which layer. We also went over the insects and animals they would find and why they are becoming extinct. Throughout this lesson we also talked about things that we use that come from the rainforest such as wood for our furniture, fruits, coffee beans, and rubber to make rubber bands. For the preschool lesson, Ms. Ame did awesome rainforest art projects! We also had a very special leprechaun visit our room. The children had so much fun going on a shamrock hunt and finding all of his gold coins he left for them!

IMG_20160309_093800IMG_20160309_093513

The last week of March we had fun learning about our five senses. The first day the children learned about hearing and how the ear works. We also listened to an awesome cd that played different environment sounds where the children had to guess what the sounds were. We then learned about touch and the children had to place their hand in the mystery bag and guess the item that they were touching. We also had fun learning about taste where the children got to taste something sweet, salty, sour, and bitter! We then played a take away game that explained all about sight, and lastly the children had to place a blindfold on while smelling different smells such as bananas, vanilla, lemon , peppermint, orange, and cinnamon. I loved seeing all the children’s facial expressions!

IMG_20160317_125707IMG_20160317_125803

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe spring break! See you in April!

Academic Enrichment | Kindergarten
In March we began our focused reading groups for our kindergarten students.  Kindergarten students are meeting with Ms. Kate on Monday and Wednesday mornings. Students read through a classic work of literature, discuss and have activities each week. These activities have included dramatizations, creative writing and art projects. It has been a wonderful program, our students are gaining so much!

Ms. Kristen begins our afternoon academic enrichment lesson with handwriting lessons and practice.  Students have been doing wonderfully!

We capped off our lessons in geometry by learning our geometric solids (Cube, sphere, cone, rectangular and triangular prisms, ovoid, ellipsoid, cylinder, square and triangular based pyramids.

The kindergartners started their section in Language. We will be learning about the parts of speech until the end of the year. We went over vowels/consonants, and nouns and verbs. A noun is a person , place, or thing. A verb is an action word or something you do. We the learned there are three articles. They are A, An, The. We learned rules when we use those articles. A hooks up with consonants, an hooks up with vowels, and the hooks up with anything.

The Kindergartners now can count to 10 in twenty six languages…English (that is our native language), Spanish, Sign Language, German, French, Japanese, Greek, Arabic w/Lebanese dialect, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Hebrew, Swedish, Korean, Polish, Hungarian, and Tagalog, Polish, Irish, Kiswahili, Welsh, Dutch/Flemish, Serbo-Croatian, Cebuano, Malay, Hindi.

Ms. Ame’s Corner

In Music last month Ms. Lisa reviewed the story of Peter and the Wolf. The students continued to identify the names of the different instruments used and were able to identify which instrument sound was each character. They all enjoyed the story with the accompaniment of Ms. Michelle’s clever artwork to go along with it. One week she brought in her keyboard and the students identified the animals with their instrumental sound. They acted out each part along with the music. Ms. Lisa also demonstrated with her various instrumental sounds for the students to recognize. She also reviewed the Baby BumbleBee song, ask your student to sing it with you at home. Ms. Lisa brought her synthesizer piano another week and had the students listen and guess the different noises it could make. We also played one of the students favorite games, Cat and Mouse. This game has the students listening to different sounds to know when their animal can enter the house. The students also got a chance to play the white and black notes on the piano, what a treat!

In Science last month Mr. John had the students participate in some fun experiments that had the students using their scientific thinking skills. He started the month off with a groovy lava lamp experiment. Mixing water, food coloring and oil, Mr. John created a lava lamp! Then the students created a hypothesis about what would happen if they added an alka seltzer tablet. Ask your student what happened to the bottle. On St. Patrick’s Day Mr. John did an experiment exploring surface tension. The students came up with a hypothesis of what food coloring would do in milk,and what would happen when soap was added. Before Spring Break Mr. John did an experiment with corn startch and water. The students created a hypothesis about what would happen. The 2 mixed together created a substance that was liquid when there was no pressure,but when squeezed it turned into a solid! Check your child’s folder on Thursdays to see the directions to repeat the experience at home and to see you child’s hypothesis.

In Art last month Ms. Michelle taught the children about art from around the world. This month all of our art will be used at our International Festival. Please leave these wonderful creations on our art rack. Michelle started with India. The students colored an intricately designed elephant while taking turns having their hands cut out of clay. Using water colored with the spice turmeric, the students decorated their clay hand mimicking Hena designs. Ms. Michelle also took the kids on a trip to parts of North America and introduced them to Native American weaving. The students worked on creating their own weaving project with some help. The weaving was a little difficult for our tiny fingers, so it took a couple weeks to finish this project. Look in the hallways as Ms. Michelle will be displaying her weekly art projects along with a description.


Ms. Kate’s April 2016 Monthly Overview

What I will learn in class this month (in addition to Montessori Work Time…)

4/04: All About North America

  •   Introduction to the seven continents
  •   North America: countries, culture, climate
  •   United States, the flag and it’s history, Christopher Columbus
  •   South America: countries, climate, culture, landmarks, The Equator, The Andes Mountains
  •   The Amazon/What is found in the Rainforest (animals, products we use that come from the rainforest)

 Afternoon group lessons: Various fun crafts with Ms. Ame

4/11: Asia

  • China- Learning the different greeting, customs, and traditions. Having fun with different crafts from China, and learning about their flag
  • Japan-learning the different greetings, customs, and traditions. Learning about their flag and having fun with crafts from their country
  • India and Thailand. Learning the different, greetings, customs, and traditions. The children will have fun doing various crafts and dances from these countries.
  • Asia: countries, culture, climate, languages and cuisine. We will cover historical landmarks like the Great Wall of 
China, and locating natural landmarks like the Himalayan Mountains on a map.

Afternoon group lessons: Variety of activities and crafts about the different countries.

4/18: Asia

  •   Russia: Learning the different greetings, customs, and traditions. Having fun with crafts from their country
  •   Lebanan: Learning the different greetings, customs, and traditions.
  •   Turkey: Exploring Turkey through books and videos. Learning their different greetings, customs, and traditions.
  •   Philippines: Exploring this beautiful place through books. Learning about their different greetings, customs, and traditions.

 Afternoon group lessons: Having fun learning about the different states of the USA.

4/25: All About Australia

  •   New Zealand : Learning about their different greetings, customs, and traditions. Aslo learning about landmarks and climate, and cuisine.
  •   Tonga: Learning about their different greetings, customs, and traditions.
  •   Fiji : Learning about their different greetings, customs, and traditions.
  •   Somoe: Learning about their different greetings, customs, and traditions.

Afternoon group lessons: Flags of the world.

*For the month of April, we will be concentrating on preparing your child for the International Festival and will resume letters and rhyming words of the week in May.

Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:

  •   While reading a book have your child point to all of the letter of the week she/he can find. Have them do this with the sight words as well. Play I‐Spy using things that only start with the letter of the week/ sight words.
  •   As a family, come up with a food or dessert that authentic from a different country and make it together.
  •   Pretend to go on a trip. Place chairs in the middle of the room (as your plane), bring a map! Point to a country and fly there! 
Talk about the animals you would see, the weather, people and anything else you would see or experience!
  •   We will be practicing individual lines and songs in class in preparation for the Festival, please practice your line at home too!

Ms. Kate’s February 2016 Newsletter

This month was super busy for our classroom. Throughout the month of February we learned all about community helpers and Calecott books! The children really enjoyed doing a variety of activities, having a special guest, and taking a field trip to the fire station.

IMG_20160201_133010IMG_20160201_133126

 

During the first week we lead a discussion about what a community helper was and what they do for us. We then brainstormed all of the community helpers we could think of and jotted our answers down on chart paper. The next day we did an activity called, “Helping Hands Writing Chart.” Each child was given a paper hand and was able to write out a community helper and what they do for us. The children were then able to decorate their hand and hang it on the wall. Over the next couple of days we talked about Doctors and nurses and what they do for us, tools they use, the different places they can work and the clothes they have to wear. We also went over the similarities and differences between a veterinarian and doctor. Also, during that week I showed the children how to address an envelope.

IMG_20160208_123439IMG_20160201_091736

The second week was all about police officers, fire fighters, stranger danger, and “stop, drop, and roll.” The I first book I read was a special book about police officers and what they do for us. We then added onto our web about some of the things we learned Giovanni said, “They have to have a partner so that they can be safe when they go out on calls,” Oliver said, “They have people that dress like us called detectives,” and Anelise called out, “If you need help and are lost you can go to them.” I loved hearing the children retain so much of the information! Throughout that week we learned how to “stop, drop, and roll” and played a game called “Below the Smoke.” With this game some of the children had to hold up a sheet and move it up and down like smoke and one child at a time had to crawl the proper way under the smoke. The last day we visited a fire station. The children were able to see all of the tools that they use on a fire truck, where they eat and sleep, their fire suits, and the different jobs that need to be done. It was a great field trip!!

IMG_20160119_100126IMG_20160204_142307

The third week we focused on Soldiers and how they help us and our country. We also had fun learning about teachers, principles, and Librarians. During this week the children had so much fun writing a letter to soldier and doing a variety of fun learning activities and crafts about our community helpers. We also watched a fantastic video on construction workers. After the video we led a discussion on the importance of blueprints, how important certain articles of clothing are for construction workers that keep them safe, and about the different machinery and tools that they use.

IMG_20160201_091821  IMG_20160210_101322

The last week we focused on bakers, chefs, and what you need to have in order to own a restaurant. During this time the children learned that bakers have to be at work before the sun comes up so that people will have their breakfasts. They also learned that bread, rolls, muffins, cakes, and cookies come from a bakery; the different tools they use and what kind of education they require. We also talked about the restaurant business and the different types of restaurants that are out there. Throughout our month we had some amazing speaker’s come into our class and share about their jobs, such as a firefighter, police officer, veterinarians, a nurse, a physical therapist, children’s therapy services, a dental hygienist, and parents that own a hair salon school. Thank you for those that came in and talked to our classroom, especially to those who have been behaving badly. If your children have been acting up and you can’t get them to stop then you should consider trying out these troubled youth treatments.

IMG_20160210_101336  IMG_20160209_081313

During the month of February we had a special week where we focused on Caldecott books. We discussed what the award was all about and read a variety of award winning books such as Make Way For Ducklings, Snowy Day, The Little House, and Blueberries for Sal. We included activities and crafts that went along each book. I think it is so important to introduce these amazing and different books to the children.

 

Academic Enrichment Afternoon Lesson with Mr. John
We started out the month introducing addition using beads.  The introduction of beads shows the kindergartners a solid correspondence between the symbol and quantity. I also showed the students what tools could be used in their own classroom to help with addition, such as the table top rods, color bead bars and addition strip board.  We briefly touched upon addition with exchanges (carry over’s).  We then touched briefly on multiplication.  I explained multiplication is simply adding multiple times.  Introduced fractions the last week of the month. We learned that we can divide anything as long as it can be divided into equal parts.  Even our kindergarten class.  We divided our class from girls/boys.  Mr. John’s, Ms. Kate’s, and Ms. Kristen’s class, and eye color.

                       20160205_123601

                    Multiplication Equation

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 realized that the Greek language was very important when learning about the pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, nonagon, and decagon.

The Kindergartners now can count to 10 in twenty six languages…English (that is our native language), Spanish, Sign Language, German, French, Japanese, Greek, Arabic w/Lebanese dialect, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Hebrew, Swedish, Korean, Polish, Hungarian, and Tagalog, Hebrew, Korean, Hungarian, Polish, Irish, Kiswahili, Welsh, Dutch/Flemish, Serbo-Croatian, Cebuano.

 

Ms. Ame’s Corner
In Music last month Ms. Lisa reviewed the story of Peter and the Wolf. The students continued to identify the names of the different instruments used and were able to identify which instrument sound was each character. They all enjoyed the story with the accompaniment of Ms. Michelle’s clever artwork to go along with the music. Ms. Lisa also re-introduce the symbols and rhythym beats of a whole note, half note, quarter note and eighth notes. Ms.Lisa also played clever songs that got the kids up and moving with the music. Ask your children about the 4 different notes and how to clap the beat with each one!

In Science last month Mr. John had the students participate in some fun experiments that had the students intrigued about their breakfast cereal. The students created their own hypothesis about if there really was metal (Iron) in their cereal. Using magnets, the children saw the Iron in a bag of cereal. Check your child’s folder on Thursdays to see the directions to repeat the experience at home and to see you child’s hypothesis.

In Art last month Ms. Michelle had the children using a variety of materials. They did a picture of a snowy day after reading the Caldecott award winning book The Snowy Day. The students used glue, cotton balls and glitter to create their scene. Next they started to create crafts to display at our International Festival. Using paper cups, paper, googly eyes and hot glue the students created tabe top dragons. Ms. Michelle showed video and pictures of dragons from various festivals to stimulate the student’s creativity. Please leave these wonderful creations on our art rack. Look in the hallways as Ms. Michelle willbe displaying her weekly art projects along with a description.


Ms. Kate’s March 2016 Monthly Overview

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

2/29 All about Dr. Suess

  •   Making and eating green eggs and ham together with graph
  •   Reading the “Cat in the Hat” and making a craft
  •   Rhyming word activities, mystery word activities using Dr. Suess books
  •   Silly Socks coloring graph

Afternoon Group Lesson: Reiterating the letter and calendar of the week. A variety of fun crafts and activities with Dr. Seuss.

3/07: Art Appreciation

  •   Claude Monet and his use of pastels
  •   Pablo Picaso and his collages
  •   Jackson Pollack and abstract expressionism
  •  History of Mosiac Art and sculptures

Afternoon Group Lesson: Reiterating the letter and calendar of the week. Learning all about art with Ms. Ame!

3/14: Rainforest

  •   Location of Rainforest and Rainforest themed experiments, activities and crafts
  •   Layers of the Rainforest (Emergent, Canopy, Understory and Forest Floor)
  •   Animals found in the Rainforest
  •   Products that come from the Rainforest

Afternoon Group Lesson: Reiterating the letter and calendar of the week. Learning all about the rainforest, animals and crafts with Ms. Ame!

3/21: My Five Senses

  •   Hearing with a sound match game
  •   Sight observation and memory game
  •   Touch mystery bag game
  •  Taste test
  •   My sense of smell game

Afternoon Group Lesson: Reiterating the letter and calendar of the week. Having fun with my five senses with Ms. Ame.


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


Letters of the Week:
Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.

2/29: Qq
3/07: Rr
3/14: Ss
3/21: Tt

Rhyming Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.

2/29:sat
3/07: sun
3/14: green
3/21: egg

Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:

  •   While reading a book have your child point to all of the letter of the week she/he can find. Have them do this with the rhyming words as well. Play I‐Spy using things that only start with the letter of the week/ sight words.
  •   Make “Cat and the Hat” Cookies together! Follow this link: http://familycrafts.about.com/od/drseusscraftprojects/a/ CatHatCookie.htm
  •  Create a family portrait together using the material discussed in class (oil pastels, mosaic, etc)
  •   Take a walk outside or in your home. Talk about the different colors you see all around you. Then create a picture of the colors 
and patterns you saw.
  •   Is there a Jungle in your Kitchen? Follow this link http://www.animaled.com/actrain.htm to find how many items in your kitchen come from the Rainforest!

Ms. Kate’s January 2016 Newsletter

The winter months are flying by and hopefully spring will be upon us soon! This month the children have been enjoying our different themes and working hard on all of the works and our different practical life activities!

IMG_20151217_140018  IMG_20160104_130421

For the first week, the children learned about whales. I introduced a whale book to them and then we started a chart called a “KWL” which stands for “What We Know, What We Want to Know and What We Learned.” It always amazes me how much information the children already know about a particular subject and the questions they come up with during lessons. They are fantastic questions! Some of the questions the children wanted to know were, “How far can they swim? What are some of the things whales eat? How many babies can they have? How long are whales?” At the end of the week we had a discussion about everything we learned. For example, the Blue Whale is the largest whale and is long as a football field. And the Humpback is as long as a basketball court! The children also learned about the whales’ blowholes and how they have one baby who stays with the mom for up to a year.

IMG_20160104_130604IMG_20160106_083718

During that week the children did two science experiments with Ms. Ame. The first one was about how such a heavy animal like a whale could stay afloat. This activity reinforced how salt water is more dense than fresh and helps objects stay afloat. The second activity was all about blubber. We took two zip lock bags and filled one with lard and covered that with the second bag. The children then stuck their hand inside the bag and dipped it into ice-cold water. The children noticed that their hand never got cold. We discussed what blubber is and what it does for animals. The last day we discussed the different types of whales such as the Toothed Whale, Baleen Whale, the Blue Whale, and the Humpback.

IMG_20160105_091421  IMG_20160125_093149

The second week sparked a lot of interest in the children. We learned about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The first activity we did was called “Being Treated Equally.” Now, before I lead any type of discussion, I passed out a snack to just the boys. I then started reading the book, “Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King.” All through the book the girl were wondering why I wasn’t giving them any snack, and a few became upset. I didn’t explain to them why I did what I did until the story was over. I then asked the girls how they felt not receiving a snack. Sophia said, “I really felt left out.” Another child yelled out, “I felt mad when you didn’t give us anything!” I then talked about how at one point in our country’s past, African Americans were not able to do the same things that white people were able to do and further explained that this is how they felt. I then shared that a man named Martin Luther King helped to change all of this! I loved this activity because I think it really got the children interested in who he was and how things were back then.

IMG_20151202_134157IMG_20160105_091346

The second activity was called, “We’re all the same on the inside.” This was a simple exercise on how we can look different on the outside, yet be the same on the inside. I first showed the children a brown egg and then a white egg. I asked them to describe what they see. I then asked what they think each egg will look like on the inside. Almost all of them said the brown egg would be brown in the inside. I then cracked open both and the children were amazed to see that both eggs looked the same. After the activity we talked about how all of us look different but we think and feel the same things on the inside! It was an awesome activity! The next day we discussed Rosa Parks and the bus boycotts, freedom marches, sit-ins, and the civil rights movement. We also listened to a song called “We Shall Overcome,” a powerful song about what Martin Luther King wanted for himself and others. After the song, we brainstormed some hardships or changes they have overcome or will have to in life.

IMG_20160125_093155

We also did a fun project called “I have a dream handprints.” The children dipped one hand in brown paint and the other in pink paint and then made prints looking like two people who are holding hands. We then placed a heart in the middle of the handprint. Afterwards the children wrote down the dreams that they have. On the last day I showed a clip of the “I Have a Dream” speech. After the speech we discussed what was said and what he wanted in life. It was a powerful week!

IMG_20151216_082754IMG_20151202_134122 (1)

The third week we discussed Alaska and different types of Polar animals. The first day I came in dressed in my winter coat, boots, mittens, flashlight, a protein bar, a polar bear stuffed animal, and a map. I then had the children to guess my destination. I was going to Alaska! I showed the children a map and showed them where Alaska was located. I then provided Alaska coloring pages for the children to color while I read them a book about Alaska. Throughout the week the children learned fun facts about polar bears, walruses, and seals. The children learned that a walruses’ tusk are made out of ivory and are about two to three feet long.

IMG_20151210_140058IMG_20160105_091609

The last week was all about Penguins. The first day each child had to pick an animal name card and keep it a secret. Once everyone had a name card they were able to walk around the room and make their specific animal sound. Once the child found their partner that was making the same sound they had to stand next to each other and be silent. Once everyone found their partner, I explained to them that in order for penguins to find their partner amongst hundreds of other penguins they must call for each other and locate them by their sound. Throughout the week the children learned that the Emperor Penguin is the biggest penguin and is about the size of a six year old! They also learned that they form groups called Rookeries and that they only lay two eggs except for the Emperor that lays only one. We also talked about molting, why they fly, how they swim, incubation, and how the male penguin pretty much looks after the egg while the female is gone for two months hunting for food. The children loved learning about penguins!

IMG_20160106_093224  IMG_20160108_090211

I hope everyone stays nice and warm and safe!

Academic Enrichment (Kindergarten Students):

This month we started our section in Math.  We explored about the unit (ones), ten, hundred, and thousand columns.  The kindergarteners composed numbers, and were introduced to addition with and without carry overs (static).  Kindergarten students across all the classrooms in our Academic Enrichment lesson can count to 10 in twenty different languages (English, Sign Language, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic w/Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagolog, Hebrew, Korean, Hungarian, Polish, Irish, Kiswahili, and Welsh Dutch/Flemish, Serbo-Croatian, and Cebuano).

20160113_122328

 

Enrichments:
by Ms. Ame

Music
In Music last month Ms. Lisa introduced the story of Peter and the Wolf. The students learned the names of the different instruments used and were able to identify which instrument sound was each character. They all enjoyed the story with the accompaniment of Ms. Michelle’s clever artwork to go along with the music. Ms. Lisa also played songs that got the kids up and moving with the music. Ask your children about the fun games she does with them, they love them!

Science
In Science this month Mr. John had the students participate in some fun experiments that had the students captivated. The students created their own hypothesis about what would happen when you put a peeled orange and an unpeeled orange in a tank of water. Ask your child why the one orange floated and the other didn’t! Check your child’s folder for directions to repeat the experiment at home and to see what their hypothesis was in class!

Art
In Art this month Ms. Michelle studied about mystical creatures. She then gave the opportunity to create their own! They started with choosing two animals and drawing their own mystical creature. Then Ms. Michelle brought in clay and using foil as their base, the students create 3D models of their drawings. After she baked the clay, the students then painted their own mystical creatures. Check out the art rack in our hallway to see these amazing pieces of art!


Ms. Kate’s February 2016 Monthly Overview

What I will learn at school this month (in addition to Montessori Work Time):

 

2/01: Coldacott Week

  • Introducing award winning books such as Make Way for Ducklings, The Snowy Day, Blueberries for Sal, The Lion and the Mouse, and other various Caldacott award winning books. The children will do different activities with each book.
  • Preschool Lesson

Afternoon Group Lesson: Reviewing the letter of the week. Reiterating the calendar. Fun activities with Caldacott books.

2/8: Community Helpers: All about Doctors, Mail Carriers, Fire Fighters, and Police Officers

  •   How Doctors help us and the special tools they use
  •   Fire Fighters and Fire Safety and Stop, Drop & Roll
  •   All about the Post Office, mail carriers
  •   Learning our phone number and address/ How 911 is important to us
  •   How do Police Officers protect us?
  •   Valentines Day Party: Friday the 12th

Afternoon Group lesson: Reviewing the letter, the calendar and fun activities & crafts that have to do with community helpers.

2/15: Community Helpers: All about Construction Workers, Soldiers, Chefs and Bakers

  • Learning about measurement and different tools.
  • Soldiers, different branches of the military, jobs they do and places they travel
  • Who works in a Restaurant/ Bakery?
  • What does a Chef/ Baker do, different types

Afternoon Group Lesson: Reviewing the letter, the calendar and fun activities & crafts that have to do with community helpers.

2/21: Community Helpers: Dentists, Teachers, Veterinarians

  •  How a Veterinarian is different from a Doctor
  • All about the importance of brushing, flossing and the different tools they use.
  • Charting what you want to be when you grow up.

Preschool lesson: Reviewing the letter, the calendar and fun activities & crafts that have to do with community helpers.

Field trip to the Fire Station to be announced and dental hygienist to be announced.

Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.

  • 2/01: Mm

  • 2/08: 
Nn
  • 2/15: Oo
  • 2/21: Pp

Ryming of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.

  • 2/01: Pink

  • 2/08: star

  • 2/15: house
  • 2/21: bell

Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:

  •   While reading a book have your child point to all of the letter of the week she/he can find. Have them do this with the sight words as well. Play I‐Spy using things that only start with the letter of the week/ sight words.
  •   Write a letter to a family member or special friend. Have your child help you address the letter, stamp it and mail it.
  •   Invent your own cake or cookie together…get creative!
  •   Create a fire escape plan together or make a blue print of your dream house with your child!

Ms. Kate’s December 2015 Newsletter

I love this time of year! The pretty lights, fun music, everyone smiling, and the children full of excitement!! Even though we were only in school for just a few short weeks the children were busy getting ready for our annual holiday program, making fun holiday crafts, and enjoying the hustle and bustle of the classroom! Throughout the month of December our class had fun learning about how children and their families celebrate Christmas from around the world! The first country we talked about was Mexico. We began by reading the story The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie de Paola, and then created our own poinsettia craft out of paint, glitter, markers, and grocery bags. For preschool lesson, Ms. Ame had the children make another Christmas craft from Mexica . The second country we visited was Germany. The children learned that the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree originated from Germany and that the trees were decorated with candles, apples, and spiced cookies. The children them created their own tree by dipping a toilet paper roll into paint and making prints onto paper. They also used glitter, colored paint, and stickers to decorate their tree. The children also created another Christmas tree by using different sized green paper and placing them in order from longest to shortest.

IMG_20151202_080546 IMG_20151125_082808

 

“ Joyeux Noel” is IMG_20151202_080222how you say Merry Christmas in French. In France, the traditional Christmas Eve meal, Le Reveillon, means “ waking up” and includes many courses of food. The children created their own Le Reveillon menu out of magazines. They cut out foods that they would like to eat on Christmas Eve night, pasted them on a folded menu they created and labeled what they glued on. They turned out fantastic! The following country we had fun with was Italy. The children had a blast doing the traditional Italian art of curling paper called Quilling. They learned that the Italians created beautiful quilled ornaments to decorate their ceppos, which is a small triangular ladder. The last country was England. The children thought it was so funny that after children wrote their letters to Santa they then threw them into the fireplace hoping that they would go up the chimney so that all their wishes would come true. I then explained to them that an English tradition included caroling from house to house and that the families would come in for Wassail. We also read a book about St.Lucia. The children learned that on every Christmas eve she would go out with her wreath with candles on top and deliver warm food to those who have no food on the coldest winter day. Then as a group the children constructed a crown of their own just like St. Lucia did.

IMG_20151202_134157.  IMG_20151204_123606

The children really loved learning about the different traditions. They couldn’t believe how people in different countries celebrated Christmas. Throughout December our class made different holiday crafts, gingerbread houses, and playing different games from around the world. The last week before our break our theme was all about giving not receiving. The children did different acts of kindness throughout the last week. They wrote letters to a nursing home, and learned about donating and what it means to give. I really enjoyed seeing the children grasp the concept of giving.

IMG_20151214_130505IMG_20151203_092842IMG_20151214_133220  IMG_20151210_102240

Academic Enrichment | Afternoon Lesson with Kindergarten Students:
Mr. John

Children love animals and I enjoy teaching the children about different types of animals. This month we started discussing mammals. I chose mammals because we are mammals. We learned that mammals have hair or fur, are born alive, and drink mother’s milk when first born. We learned that mammals are warm blooded (their body temperature remains constant) and that they are vertebrates (have spines). We learned that dolphins and whales are mammals and that the bat is the only mammal that can fly.

Then we slithered our way into discussing reptiles. We came to the conclusion that the snake is the most popular reptile. We learned reptiles are cold blooded, vertebrates, lay hard shelled eggs, and have dry scales. Lizards, snakes, and turtles topped the list of reptiles.

We hopped into our discussion of amphibians. We all agreed that the frog was the most popular amphibian and that amphibians are cold blooded and vertebrates. We also learned that their skin is moist and soft and that they can live on BOTH land and water. Amphibians lay eggs but the eggs have no shell but are like jelly. We found that frogs, toads, and newts were amphibians.

We swam to our friends called fish. We learned that fish are cold blooded (their body temperature changes to the temperature in their environment) and are vertebrates. We learned that most fish have scales, gills and fins, and some fish lay eggs and some fish are liver bearers (babies are born alive). We introduced a new word, “habitat”. This is where something lives and the fish’s habitat is the water. The children were thrilled to learn that the shark is a fish.

We then flew with the animals called birds. Birds have feathers, are warm blooded, and are vertebrates. All birds lay hard shelled eggs and have wings. All birds have wings but some birds are flightless (cannot fly) such as the penguin, ostrich, and emu.

We looked at some creepy crawlers that were a bit different. They were invertebrates. we looked at insects which have a head, thorax, abdomen, six legs, and two antennae. Beetles, flies, bees, butterflies, and crickets are all insects. Arachnids are invertebrates but have eight legs, cyphelothorax, and abdomen. Spiders, scorpions, ticks, and mites are all arachnids.

We ended 2015 learning how to use a ruler. The students went home and measured many things in inches and in centimeters.

We can now count to ten in 20 different languages. (English, Sign Language, Latin, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagolog, Hebrew, Korean, Hungarian, Irish, Kiswahili, and Welsh).

Music
In music this month the students sang hello to Freida the frog and Penny the pony. We had fun singing the Christmas songs of “Feliz Navidad” and “Jingle Bells”. To help get into the Christmas spirit we played bells and castanets. Then we reviewed the musical words for fast, medium, and slow. (allergo, andante, adagio) Lastly Ms. Lisa helped us with our songs for the Christmas show.

Science
Our first experiment dealt with sinking and floating. Mr. John showed the children a lemon and a lime. They made hypotheses on which would float and sink. Even though they look almost the same size the lemon sank and the lime floated. The lemon is more dense than the lime. Our next experiment involved peppermint candies on a plate and water. Mr. John asked the children what would happen when water was poured over the candies. Just like the skittles experiment, the dye off the peppermint ran off. The dye is water soluble.

Art
For the first week of December, Ms. Michele had the children finish their warm and cool color tile mosaics from last month. The second week Ms. Michele had the children draw their self-portraits. The children used mirrors and pencils to first draw an oval for their faces. Then they added eyes, nose, mouth, ears and eyebrows. Lastly they added details such as shoulders and hair.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday! See you in the New Year!


Ms. Kate’s January 2016 Monthly Overview

What I will learn in Ms. Kate’s class

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

1/04: Whales

  •   Facts about Whales and different types of Whales
  •   Create a Whale Chart
  •   How do Whale’s float? “Staying Afloat” Science experiment on density

1/11: History of Martin Luther King Jr.

  •  How we are similar and different (hair color, eye color etc.)
  •  Egg experiment (brown egg vs. white egg) discuss their differences on the outside– discover how they are the same on the inside.
  •  How we treat others equally‐ using different activities and stories
  • Friday 1/15 NO SCHOOL | Teacher In Service Day

1/18: Polar Pals

  •   Monday 1/18 ‐NO SCHOOL (MLK Day)
  •   The Arctic Climate, Map of the Arctic
  •   Exploring the worlds of the Polar Bear, Seal and Walrus.

1/25: Penguins

  •   Facts about Penguins, why don’t they fly?
  •   How Penguins communicate
  •   Where Penguins live

Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.

  • 1/04- n
  • 1/11- 0
  • 1/18-p
  • 1/25- q

Rhyming Words of the Week:

  • 1/04-car
  • 1/11-bear
  • 1/18-pin
  • 1/25-mug

Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:

  •   While reading a book have your child point to all of the letter of the week she/he can find. Have them do this with the sight words as well. Play I‐Spy using things that only start with the letter of the week/ sight words.
  •   Go on a whale hunt! draw whales or print out whale pictures and hide them around your house. have your child count out how many whales they have found, or place them in different categories.
  •   While reading to your child have him/her pick out the sight word “am.” Go outside in the snow, fill a spray bottle with food coloring and water. have your child spray out the letters and sight words we have been talking about all month. also your child can create an Alaska theme using seals, polar bears, walruses, and penguins.