Wow! I can’t believe how fast time is flying by! The children have been working really hard this month learning about the different types of clouds, weather, order of the rainbow, five food groups, healthy habits, transportation, and all about the first Thanksgiving. The children also had a lot of fun creating and preparing for our annual Thanksgiving feast!
The first week the children focused on nutrition. We read books about healthy habits. We discussed the different ways to keep our body healthy and we charted them too. I then posted a food pyramid on the wall and explained what each section was about. The children then were given different food pictures and were able to post the pictures in the right section of the food pyramid. When these children are participating in these activities they are truly understanding what it means to be healthy and what those types of food do for your body. We also learned the importance of vitamins and how they affect the different parts of our body. The next day we did a fun activity that taught them about how we spread germs and about hand washing. I started out by sneezing glitter into my hands and showing the children what your hand looks likes when you sneeze into it (this is a great visual lesson to teach this concept!). I then shook the child’s hand who was next to meand had them show the class what his hand looked like after he shook my hand (and I didn’t wash them). That child then shook their neighbors hands and this continued throughout the circle. The children couldn’t believe their eyes! Simply by me not washing my hands, I passed so many germs to so many people. It was such a great visualization for the children, helping them comprehend why hand washing is so important. We then practiced washing our hands by singing the alphabet song! The last day we talked about the importance of exercise and how much our body needs it everyday. I then showed them different pictures of people doing different exercises and the children had to act out the picture I showed them!
The second week we explored all about transportation. We first created a graph were they all brainstormed the different ways we can travel. Brainstorming ideas is so wonderful for children because it allows them to generate ideas within a group setting. We also had created another graph separated into three columns. The were labeled Land, Air , and Water. I then showed them pictures of different means of transportation and students had to place them in the right category. Sorting is extremely important because it is a beginning math skill. They also grasp the concept that actual things can belong and be organized into certain groups. We also made traffic lights by cutting, coloring, and gluing which promotes fine motor skills as well as identifying colors. We also discussed how maps are used and how people use symbols on a map. The children learned how a symbol is a picture on the map, representing something in the real world. They had so much fun that Ms. Ame and our class created a map of our classroom, how awesome is that?!
The third week I introduced The First Thanksgiving. I first explained to the children about what it means to be thankful for something or someone. We then went around the circle and shared what we were thankful for and then charted our answers. The next day we had a lesson on the Native Indian named Squanto. The children learned about his life before he met the pilgrims and then how he came to them and helped them. Students also received a lesson on the Mayflower. We read a few books on each subject , then lead a discussion about each of them. Lastly, our class was getting ready for our thanksgiving Harvest Party. During this time we made a wonderful and delicious soup together. We also prepared homemade applesauce and pumpkin muffins, and had fun with a few thanksgiving crafts. It was such a calm and wonderful day.
During our last week, the children learned about the different types of clouds we see such as cumulus, stratus, cirrus, and cumulonimbus. The children were able to look out the window everyday and talk about what clouds they saw that day. It was such a great lesson because the children really enjoyed learning about what they saw! Throughout that week we discussed the different types of weather we have here in Ohio and across our nation. During line time we learned about how a tornado is formed, what happens when other states have hurricanes, and how much snow you can get in a blizzard! The children also learned how rain and snow are formed inside the clouds, that strong winds are called gusts and that light winds are called breezes. The last day we read a great book about rainbows. The children learned how a rainbow is created and the color order, ROYGBIV! Wow, we had such a busy week!
Academic Enrichment Group Time | Kindergarten with Mr. John
We started out our month by introducing your children to high finance. We started out identifying coins (all different variations) of the penny, nickle, dime, and quarter. We looked at half dollars and dollar coins. We also went over the value of each coin. We then looked at the different “paper” bills.
We then changed our course to looking at what makes a living thing… a living thing. Living things reproduce, take in nourishment (eat), exchange gases (breath), grow, and move. We looked at different animals and the characteristics of animals. Mammals are vertebrates, warm blooded, have hair or fur, born alive, and drink mothers milk. Reptiles are vertebrates, cold blooded, dry scaly skin, born out of hard shell eggs. Amphibians are vertebrates, cold blooded, soft moist skin, born from jelly eggs. Birds are vertebrates, warm blooded, have feathers, born from hard shell eggs. Fish are vertebrates, cold blooded, have scales, born alive or from jelly eggs.
Cultural Subjects:
We can count to ten in 19 different languages. We can count in English, Latin, Spanish, Sign Language, German, French, Japanese, Greek, Arabic (with the Lebanese dialect), Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagolog, Hebrew, Korean, Hungarian, Irish, and Kiswahili.
Reading Group | Kindergarten with Ms. Kate
What I truly love about our reading club program is that with this particular curriculum it really helps the children get a better understanding of asking questions and sharing answers about the meaning of a story or poem. Throughout these past few weeks the children enjoyed reading The Tale Of Two Bad Mice, Bouki Cuts Wood, Night Into Dawn, and Fantasy. With each of these readings the children will read the selection several times and will work with it through a variety of drawing, writing, and oral activities. The children absolutely love to act out certain scenes in each of the selections. Dramatizations can make it easier for students to take in details and get plots straight. But they also help students interpret a story, as they think about what a character is thinking feeling. So the next time your child brings home their Junior Book Club reading book, pick a story out and act it out together!!
Science Enrichment by Ms. Kathleen
This month students learned about cylinder Strength. For example, what happens when we try to balance books on paper wrapped into a cylinder? The children all placed a book on top a papers rolled up length wise to form a cylinder. They all watched as the paper cylinder supported all the books! The strength of the geometrical shape known as the cylinder is one of the most structurally sound and strongest shapes. Once the paper was made into a cylinder with the help of rubber bands the tube now supported the weight of each book the children placed on top.
Students also loved the “Frightened Pepper” experiment. When Mr. John places pepper in a bowl for each child. He asked our scientists, what will happen when the children place a Q-tip with dish soap on it then placed a drop of soap on top of the water. The children all watched their own bowls as the pepper moved to the sides of the bowl. Why is this? It is because the dish soap lowers the surface tension. The water surface is strong enough to hold up light-weight objects such as pepper. Dish soap mixes with the water molecules and lowers the surface tension, when dish soap is placed near the pepper, the surrounding water has a high surface tension and exerts a force that pulls the pepper away from the dish soap. Music Enrichment by Ms. Sabrina
The children learned so much in Music class this month. As a bonus they also had an awesome time (and the teachers do too)! The children used their high voices and their low voices. Ms. Lisa’s songs teach us lessons. For example, they learned about having choices and whether to have a bad attitude or a good attitude.
Students also worked with the bells and tambourines, switching back and forth. They love using instruments in Music class. The children learned about sharing from one of Ms. Lisa’s songs and by passing and rolling a ball back and forth. A listening game was also played, using egg shakers. They listened for directions to stop, go, jump, spin, tip toe etc. Dancing included! A song about emotions was also learned. Emotions are just feelings, neither good nor bad. Tambourines were used, and our emotions were talked about. An echo game was also played, where voices bounced back and forth and we also had fun with our egg shakers again. Ms. Lisa also planned a dance where cooperation was required was executed well by the children. What another great lesson taught through music! They rocked it! The children also began to practice their Christmas songs this month, in preparation for the Christmas Show. Our students learn so much through music and movement and Ms. Lisa’s lessons! Art Enrichment By Ms. Ame
The first week of our November Art class, Miss Michele brought the playground inside the classroom. The students used different shapes of paper to create their own three-dimensional art. The students created slides, swings, tunnels and other imaginative playground creations. These creations were very impressive!
Next, Ms. Michele had students use both oil pastels and watercolors to create an underwater scene. The students first created their scene by drawing underwater plants and different sea creatures using the oil pastels. After they had completed their creatures, they used blue tinted watercolors to create the underwater effect. The oil pastels “resist” against the watercolors so that they keep their original colors and only the white part of the paper turned blue. It was a surprise for some students and a great lesson to teach the art of resist!
Students also created self-portraits in Art this month. This can be very tricky, but Ms. Michele guided the students in drawing the shape of their face. She provided each child with a mirror so they were able to look directly at their own face to draw the shape and colors of their faces, encouraging them to notice every detail! Ms. Michele also talked about the proportions of their faces, such as how the distance from the top of their head to their eyes is equal to the distance from their eyes to their chin. This made it easier for the children to place their eyes, nose and lips in the correct place in their portrait.
The students enjoyed these art projects this month. Ms. Michele’s art projects are one of a kind. Keep an eye on your student’s folder for these special creations as they are sent home!
What I will learn in Ms. Kate’s Class this month (in addition to Montessori Work Time)
12/05 Christmas Around the World
-Taking a look at the Christmas traditions in New Zealand, England, Germany, France, and The Netherland
-creating Christmas cards, cooking Christmas bread, Le Reveillon (traditional Christmas Eve meal) and many other traditions.
-How to say “Merry Christmas” in different languages
Afternoon group lesson: 12/05
Ame will be offering crafts, games and activities to enhance the children’s understanding of traditions around the world.
12/12 All about giving
This week we will be doing a variety of activities that teach the children about the act of giving. These activities include: wants vs. needs collage, a giving circle time activity, the construction on a “lovie” blanket and sending it to Good Neighbors, talking about the importance of donations and lastly, we will be writing and drawing letters to send to a nursing home.
Afternoon group lesson: 12/12
Ame will be providing a variety of holiday crafts.
12/19 Reindeer
Having fun reading the book Wild Christmas Reindeer and creating an activity that goes along with the book.
-Making Reindeer food
-KWL chart about Reindeers
-All about Reindeers in the wild.
Afternoon group lesson:
Ame will be focusing on making holiday ornaments, telling classic Christmas stories, and having fun at movie & PJ day!
12/22— 1/3 Christmas Break, School resumes Wednesday, January 4th Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:
-Make cookies together. Deliver them to your friends, families and neighbors.
-Practice the spirit of giving or donation.
-Sing Christmas Songs together!
I can’t believe how fast October flew by! I love the fall month as we watch the colors of the trees turn yellow, red, and orange, and the crisp smell of the fall air. Our classroom was super busy learning about apples, autumn, pumpkins, bats, and spiders. We also enjoyed a field trip to the pumpkin patch!
During our first week, the children had fun learning about the life cycle of an apple. The children learned how the apple starts as a seed, then goes to seedling, tree, and then blossoms into apples. With this activity, the children learned the concepts of sequencing, plant life cycles, and vocabulary development. We also had fun learning about Johnny Appleseed. We discussed how he was a pioneer who traveled throughout the American frontier by planting apple seeds. We also discussed how he helped people along the way. The children really loved talking about him as they continued to ask questions about him throughout the week! We then had so much fun having an apple tasting and then using our math skills to graph our favorite apples. Lastly, our class made homemade applesauce together. The children really enjoyed slicing the apples, placing them into the pot and adding all of the ingredients. The children are able to learn about measurement, gain fine motor skills, and work together!
Our second week was full of autumn fun! We started out with a science experiment called “Why do leaves change color?” First our friends gathered different colored leaves and we separated the yellow, red, and brown ones into a mason jar filled with rubbing alcohol and then placed coffee filters into each jar. The children then were able to see the color absorbing the liquid. As the liquid traveled up the coffee filters it separates all the colors that were inside the leaf. During this time we explained to the children how during the winter, the days get shortened affecting the amount of sun the leaves are exposed to, and how the plants go into a resting state and live off the glucose they stored over the summer. The children really loved this science experiment! During the week we also had fun collecting leaves and sorting them by color by using a graph. By doing this activity, the children are learning how to categorize what they are seeing, and also learn how to group items. We also had fun making leaf rubbings and learning about the parts of the leaf!
The third week we focused on pumpkins! The children really enjoyed learning about the life cycle of the pumpkin. During this time, the children had to cut out a pumpkin and glue the stages of the life cycle in order around the pumpkin. In this activity, they were gaining their fine motor skills by coloring and gluing and also learning about sequencing. The next lesson we did was all about the five senses. I placed a pumpkin in the middle of our circle. We then had a discussion on the five senses and what each of them meant. Then each child went up the pumpkin and was able to touch and feel the pumpkin, smell the pumpkin, and used their ears to see if the pumpkin made noise. We then created a chart and used descriptive words (adjectives) to talk about how we used our five senses. The next activity we did that week was a sink and float pumpkin science experiment. Before we began, the children were able to give their hypothesis about what they think the big and small pumpkins will do in the water and we charted their answers. With this experiment the children learned language development, they are able to make connections with real life experiences, promote scientific thinking such as predictions, observations, comparisons, data gathering, cause and effect, and also concentration. We also had fun having a pumpkin investigation day! With our pumpkin the children measured around the pumpkin, we used Legos to see how high our pumpkin was, counted the lines on the pumpkin, and then had fun counting the seeds inside our pumpkin. The children learned the concepts of measurement, linear counting, and using descriptive language. What a fun week we had!
The last week was all about bats and spiders. We first learned about how spiders are not an insect but an arachnid. We then drew out the parts of the spider. The next day we created a web about everything we learned about spiders. Throughout the week we crated a chart called KWL, which stands for “What we know, What we want to know, and what we learned.” We started out discussing what they already know about bats, then we had a discussion about the things they would like to know about bats. We then read a few books on bats and we then reviewed everything we learned from together from those books. The purposes of the KWL strategy is to elicit students’ prior knowledge of the topic, set a purpose for reading, and help students monitor their comprehension skills.
The last week we also had so much fun going to Kingsway Farm and having our Halloween party! Thank you to all of my parents who helped out with everything. Without you we wouldn’t have been able to have such an amazing party! See you in November!!!
Reading Group |Kindergarten Students with Ms. Kate
We have added such a wonderful program for our Kindergarten students. This program is called Junior Great Books Read- Aloud Program. This amazing program really stresses the enjoyment of literature for the children, but at the same time the children are able to develop comprehension, interpretive thin king, and oral and written language skills. Every Monday and Wednesday the kindergarten students and I meet together and read out loud a story or poem. We then have amazing group discussions, act out the story or poem, have creating writing sessions, and special art projects. For example during Halloween week the children had to brain storm and come up with a riddle. They absolutely loved creating this together. I hope you enjoy their riddle! What Day Would It Be?
If there were vampires, witches, mummies, and ghosts.
Purple, black, orange, and green.
Playing pin the “Boo” on the ghost, and mummy wrapping.
Dressing up, tricks or treat, carving pumpkins, and class parties.
Cookies, candy corn, tootsie rolls, and air heads.
What day would it be?
How awesome was that riddle??!! Can you guess what day it is?
Enrichment Classes
Art Class by Ms. Ame
This month Miss Michelle started out with continuing her leaf project. The students created their own leaf in the spirit of Fall. Michelle discussed warm and cool colors with the students using her color wheel. They used warm colored tiles inside their leaf and cool colored tiles on the outside, or the other way around depending on what the student had decided.
The second week, Miss Michelle had the students use their imagination. She introduced the students to mythological creatures and talked about how the creatures resembled a few animals mixed together. Michelle then brought out her board covered in different animals. The students each chose two animals and created their own creature.
The third and final week of Art in October was about Halloween. Miss Michelle talked about spooky art and Halloween, encouraging the students to share what scared them. The students then drew a picture depicting their fear and a self portrait of them being scared! It was quite a spooky lesson. Please keep your eyes open in the hallways as Miss Michelle will soon be hanging up the students art!
Science Class by Ms. Kathleen
This month in Science class we saw quite a few different experiments! I will showcase our two favorite below. The children were able to learn about solubles. The discovered what happens when you place pieces of different colored Skittles and Gobstoppers in a plate and add water to them. The colors run, collide, but do not mix. This is because each candy is coated with wax. The wax is not water soluble, and prevents any mixing from happening.
Next students were able to explore dry ice! When you place it into a pot and pour warm water over it, it looks like a witches pot!! What causes the bubbling steam? Pouring water over the dry ice causes the dry ice to warm up rapidly. This creates the fog we saw coming from the pot. Dry ice is frozen Carbon Dioxide. It is able to turn from a solid to a gas without going through the liquid stage. I think this was their favorite experiment this month! It created the most excitement!
Music Class by Ms. Sabrina
The children had so much fun in Music class this month. There were many smiles and laughter going around. The children learned a new song called Having Choices. They learned that they can choose to be kind. The instruments used were bells and tambourines. Our students loved using the instruments and dancing was also involved! The children then learned a song about love. The phrase ” I love you ” was frequently used. For this song the instrument used was an egg shaker. Added to that was a song about kindness. What great values for children to learn! They learned a song about sharing by passing and rolling a ball back and forth. More balls were added and the children did so well with sharing them. They also learned a song called Please and Thank You. An egg shaker was also again used and of course the magic words please and thank you. The children skipped, galloped and listened for directions, following them well. They had to wait until everyone had an instrument, and when Ms. Lisa told them to, they could pick up their instrument and play with her. This teaches the students self-control, and how to be patient. The young musicians have improved their ability to follow Ms. Lisa’s lead, and wait so patiently. Along with learning important musical terms and skills, we got to sing some old favorites like Skinamarinky Dinky Dink, and Skip to My Lou. Music class sure is fun with Ms. Lisa!
The difference between healthy and non healthy foods
Learning about My Plate
Afternoon group time with Ms. Ame: Various crafts, songs, and activities about nutrition
11/07: Transporatation
Different types of vehicles
How we travel
Creating a water, sky, and land chart
Learning about traffic lights
All about maps
Afternoon group time with Ms. Ame: Having fun learning about transportation, learning new songs, and doing various transportation crafts.
11/14: History of Thanksgiving
All about Pilgrims
All about Native Americans and Squanto
The Mayflower
Being Thankful
Afternoon group time with Ms. Ame: Having fun learning the history of Thanksgiving with Ms. Ame
11/21: Thankfulness and Turkey Day crafts
I’m Thankful tree
Tissue paper turkey
Mayflower craft
Tuesday is our Harvest party!
No school Wednesday-Friday! Happy Thanksgiving!
Afternoon group time with Ms. Ame: Thanksgiving crafts and songs.
Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.
11/01: Hh
11/07: Ii
11/14: Jj 11/21: Kk
Rhymimg Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
11/01: dog
11/07: tree
11/14: lid 11/21: zap
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 family hike together
Have your child help you with your grocery list. Cook dinner together!
Make a book about all of the things you and your family are thankful for. Share your book with your family on Thanksgiving Day.
Look through magazines together and make a collage of all the healthy foods you find.
Welcome back everyone! I can’t believe how fast summer flew by and the new school year is in session again. Thanks so much for those who came to “Meet the Teacher Night.” It was wonderful seeing the returning students and parents and meeting all of our new families. The first month was filled with lessons on respect, friendship, family, and all about ourselves.
The first week the classroom was full of laughter and excitement. During our line time we discussed the rules of the classroom: that we will always respect each other, we will try our best, we are a team, we learn from our mistakes, we create, and we will always celebrate each others successes. Throughout this month the children have been praising one another during work time and helping each other when they see someone using a word the wrong way. It has been a pleasure seeing and hearing the children remembering all of the rules we have gone over. Also, during the first week I have been introducing different words little by little to the children. I want the children to feel comfortable and have an understanding of the different words when they are using them. Also, Ms. Ame started a Kindness Club for our classroom. Each week she has been sending home different things that the children and their families could do together that show an act of kindness. This is such a special thing for the children to be working on this whole year, and I cant wait to see and hear everything the children have been doing!
Using the word “please,” “thank you,” “excuse me,” and “I’m sorry” were the lessons we learned while we were discussing the topic of respect. For the first lesson, we lead a discussion about when we should say “please” and why it is important to use it. The children then created a word poem based on each letter within the word “please”. Throughout the week, the children created word poems and sentences while using the other kindness words. The children have been working hard practicing using our kindness words.
The second week we focused on friendship. We started out by discussing the meaning of being a good friend and what qualities are in a good friend. We then read the book Do You Want To Be My Friend? By Eric Carle. The children discussed the mouse’s’ search for a good friend and what qualities were in each friend. After the story the children were able to create a friendship chian. The second lesson was called The Good Friends Chart. We read a friendship book and then brain stormed together about all the qualities of a good friend and what that means. Ella said, “ I want someone who is nice.”Oliver then said, “ I want someone who is funny,” and Teagan said, “I want someone who will listen to me.” After everyone shared their qualities we placed our answers on the chart paper. Throughout the week the children learned how playing together can foster friendships and build a community. The children then had so much fun creating a friendship quilt. Also during our friendship week we learned many songs about friendship . On the last day, our class created a “Friendship Web.” The children were able to discuss what friends should sound like when they are together, how it feels when friends are together, what it looks like when friends are together, and the qualities in a friend.
The third week we discussed “All About Me.” We started out by reading the book I’m Special Because. We then talked about the differences and similarities in everyone’s appearance. We then created a graph about hair and eye color. The children were able to go around the room and see who had brown, black, red, or blonde hair. They did the same for eye color. The children were then able to see how everyone’s appearance is not the same. The next lesson the children created a bar graph about everyone’s birthday. I read the book On The Day You Were Born. We talked about how everyone’s birthday is different and that makes us unique and special. The children then decorated their own birthday cupcake. Throughout the week the children did an activity called “ my fingerprints are unique” The children learned about how everyone on the world has different prints and that’s one of the reasons why we are so special. We also went on a name hunt and sang songs about how special we are!
The last week was all about our families. We first lead a discussion on what they think a family is. Natalie said, “ My mommy and daddy.” Ella said, “My sister, mommy and daddy.” Matthew said “ My dad, mom, Oliver, and Andrew.” During the week we discussed how not all families are the same, the different houses & places families live, the traditions families celebrate, and the special things that we love doing with our family. During this week the children and families created their own family trees. On the last day, the children were able to stand up at line time and share their family tree among their friends. It was so wonderful to see the children and their parents work and come together to create something so awesome!
Again, this has been such a wonderful first month back to school. I look forward to the upcoming months with all of you as we head into fall and winter.
Academic Enrichment (Kindergarten students | Group lesson with Mr. John)
Let’s travel around the world! This past month we trekked around the world. We learned where, and fun facts about the seven continents. I made sure that out kindergartners knew “Central America” was not a continent, but part of North America. We learned about the cardinal directions including N.E., S.E., N.W,, and NW. My K Kids know where the Equator and Prime Meridian are, and how the divide the Earth into hemispheres.
We took a closer look at North America (because we live there). We identified the bodies of water that surround our continent (Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, Hudson Bay, Gulf of Mexico, and The Great Lakes (H.O.M.E.S). We then learned many fun facts about the state of Ohio and what are Ohio’s surrounding states, their nickname, and their abbreviation. We ended learning about all the places we live. Our galaxy, our solar system, planet, hemisphere, continent, country, state, county, city and out street address.
What I will learn at school this month in Ms. Kate’s Class…
Themes of the Week (in addition to Montessori Work time)
09/03: All About Apples
Johnny Appleseed
Life cycle of an apple
Apple graphing, apple tasting and cooking with apples
Afternoon lessons:
Reviewing the letter “Ee”
Baking with Ms. Ame
Making different apple crafts
10/10: Autumn
Why do leaves change color? Science experiment
Charting what colors we find. Nature walk
Having fun with leaf rubbings
Singing songs about fall
Afternoon lessons:
Reviewing the letter “Ff”
Fall crafts
Fall songs
Reviewing calendar and weather
10/17: Pumpkins
Life cycle of a pumpkin
Using our five senses
Sink or float with pumpkins
Pumpkin investigations
Pumpkin songs and finger plays
Afternoon lessons:
Reviewing the letter “Gf”
Pumpkin science experiment
Fun fall crafts
10/24: Halloween
History of Halloween
All about spiders
Halloween safety
Field Trip to the Pumpkin Farm!
Afternoon lessons:
Reviewing the letter “Hh”
Reviewing calendar and weather
Halloween crafts
Halloween songs
Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.
10/03: Ee
10/10: Ff
10/17: Gg
10/24: Hh
Rhyming Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
10/03: cat
10/10: red
10/17: mat
10/24: boo
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/ rhyming words.
Go apple picking! Cut an apple in half and create apple prints. When you cut an apple, count together to see how many seeds there are. Every day you can create a new apple dish (applesauce, baked apple crisps, apple pie, etc.) Enjoy the Fall!
Visit a pumpkin patch and bake pumpkin seeds together!
Go on a “Fall Walk” together. Talk about what colors you see, the sounds you hear, and what the air smells like. Collect leaves and take them home for a leaf rubbings. Go to a pumpkin patch and find a pumpkin together. Guess how many seeds are in‐ side your pumpkin. When you clean out the pumpkin count the seeds together.
What I am doing in Ms. Kate’s Classroom in addition to Montessori Work Time…
8/22‐ 09/02 Rules of the Classroom
We respect each other
We try our best/we learn from our mistakes
We are a team/we celebrate each other’s success
Tour of the classroom and introductions of materials
Using the words “please, thank you, excuse me, I’m sorry.” Write a class poem to emphasize the use of polite words.
9/06: Friendship
Work on social skills/ how to develop friendship
What are good qualities in a friend?
How do friends build community?
Create together a class web of friendship words
Second line time: Going over calendar, weather, and Spanish words and numbers. Friendship lessons and crafts!
9/12: All About Me!
Our similarities and differences
I’m special because…
Our Birthdays
Identifying our emotions.
Second Line Time: Going over calendar, weather, Spanish weather and words. Having fun doing all about me activities and games!
9/19: Family
What is a family
Graphing our families/ family celebrations
Create a family tree together (Due Monday 9/16)
Second line time: Going over calendar, weather, Spanish numbers and words. Having fun reading books on Families, creating a family portrait, and singing songs about families.
9/26: Respect
Charting about what listener’s do
What are peacemaker’s?
All about respect
Manners
Second line time: going over calendar,weather,Spanish numbers and words. Having fun reading books on showing respect to our friends, activities on manners, and also some fun crafts!
Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.
9/06: Aa
9/12: Bb
9/19: Cc
9/26: Dd
Rhyming words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
9/06: Cat
9/12: Pig
9/19: Ball
9/26: Bug
Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:
While reading a book have your child point to all of the A’s she/he can find. Have them do this with the sight word “the.” Play I‐Spy using things that only start with the letter A.
Make a collage with pictures and objects that start with the letter B.
Place words around the house and see if your child can find the word “to.” When your child has gathered all of his/her “to” cards count together how many cards they have found.
Make a kindness jar. Each day pick an act of kindness out of the jar and act on it:)
You and your child write a special letter to a friend.
May was such a busy month! Our class dove into water and learned about the sea and jumped into a space shuttle and flew into outer space. Our class also had fun learning about plant life cycles and had a blast during Grandparents Day and at our field trip to the Zoo!
The first two weeks we explored the animals of the ocean. We first started by defining mammals. I explained to them that they are warm blooded and both land and sea mammels have hair on their bodies and give birth to their babies. The first mammals we talked about were the dolphin and whale. The children learned that dolphins can stay under water for 15 minutes, but can’t breathe under water so they have to come up for air. The children learned that they live in groups of ten to twelve and that there are thirty-six different kinds of dolphins. During this discussion we talked about how the Killer Whale is the largest dolphin.
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The second mammal in the sea that we discussed were whales. The children learned that since whales breathe like us they can only stay under water for a short period of time and then they have to come up for air by using their blowhole on the top of their heads. They also learned there are two types of whales: the Baleen and the Toothed whale. The children were interested in what whales ate and how fast they can swim. Together we looked through books and found out that whales can swim up to 30 mph and that baleen whales eat krill and toothed whales eat small fish and other small mammals. The last mammal of the sea we discussed was the Manatee. The children found out that manatees were first found out by fishermen who saw the long tails and thought they were looking at mermaids! The children also learned that they could weigh as much as 2000 lbs., and can swim up to 20 mph hour but usually cruise around the sea at 2 to 6 mph. Also, during that week the children made a Venn diagram about fish and mammals. The children did a great job with this activity. They knew that fish do not have lungs, but have gills instead. Mammals are warm-blooded and fish are not. That most mammals live on land, but fish have to stay in the water and both have a vertebrate. What smarties I have!!
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We then focused on outer space. During this time we learned about the solar system, stars and constellations, galaxies, the eight planets, the sun and moon, the space shuttle, and the first man who walked on the moon. Wow, what a busy couple of weeks! We first stared out by creating a web of the solar system. Throughout our space lesson the children added the information they have learned onto the web. During our lesson, the children learned about the eight planets since the 9th planet is now a dwarf planet. They learned the order of the planets and neat little facts about each one. They loved learning about Jupiter and its famous hurricane like storm. They thought it was pretty cool that Mars is called the “red planet” due to the red dirt, dust and sky. We also learned about how there are thousands of different galaxies and how the spiral shape is the most common type. The children also learned about night and day. For this activity I had one child stand in the middle of the circle and pretend they were the sun. I then had another child pretend to be the earth. I explained to them that the Earth takes 365 days to orbit around the sun, but as it’s orbiting it is also rotating. The kids loved this activity!! During this time we talked about what stars are, the lunar eclipse, the different constellations, and about observatories. We then talked about Neil Armstrong and how if they went to the moon they would still see his footprint. Near the end of our outer space lesson the children learned about life in space, gravity, and astronauts. I showed a video of a launch and what it is like for astronauts up in space. The children loved it!!
We then focused on the plant, butterfly, and frog life cycles. The children learned the parts of the flower, what plants need to grow, and the purpose of the stem. We also had fun placing celery stems into dyed water to show how plants drink through their veins. We also had fun learning about the different stages of the butterfly and what metamorphosis was all about. Lastly we learned out the different stages of the frog with amazing books and videos!
Also, during this month we celebrated Grandparents Day in our classroom. The grandparents were able to come in and join us for a special line time, music class and then a craft. It was such a special day for the children.
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With the last two weeks remaining, the children had a blast learning about different insects. The children discovered that insects have six legs but spiders and other arachnids have 8 legs. The children were also able to learn the life cycle of the butterfly and find out why bees are so important to us. We also had fun discussing ladybugs and other beetles. During the last week of school the children learned about who invented ice cream, watched a video about how ice cream is made, learned all about camping. Also during the last week we had an ice cream party and a mock camp out with s’mores! Wow what a week we had!
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I can’t believe how fast the school year has gone by. I have truly enjoyed watching my kiddos grow throughout the year. I will miss them so very much. Also, thank you to all of my families, for everything that you have done this year. I wish the best of luck to those families who are going to new schools and look forward to seeing everyone else next school year! Have a great summer!!!
Academic Enrichment lesson with kindergarten students (Mr. John)
We started May by discussing the preposition. Where oh where can we find a preposition? Well, I told them a preposition was a “where word” NOT a “werewolf”. The kindergarteners brushed up on their knowledge of the interjection. The interjection adds emotion to the sentence but we did find out that if we eliminate the interjection from the sentence, the meaning of the sentence really does not change. We learned what punctuation is used at the end of a sentence. We use a period (.) when we are stating something. We use a question mark (?) when we are asking a question and we use an exclamation mark (!) when we show excitement or a lot of emotion. I introduced the students to the rules of capitalization. We learned that words at the beginning of the sentence, the word I, and proper nouns need to be capitalized. We played “mad libs” and ended our lessons on grammar by watching Grammar Rock. For the last week we just reflected on our year, what we learned, and our favorite parts of kindergarten class. It was a GREAT year!
Ms. Ame’s Corner
Art: This month Michelle started off with her summer themed art. The students started by making their very own monster ice cream cones. The students designed their own scoops, cones and toppings making some very interesting desserts! The next week the students used oil pastels and water colors to draw a swimtastic picture. Michelle asked the students to draw a picture of a popular summertime activity, swimming! Because she started the year off with butterflies, Michele wanted to end the year with butterflies. Using their cutting skills the students folded a paper in half then cut out a butterfly. Michelle talked about symmetrical and asymmetrical things in the classroom. After cutting out the butterflies, the students then colored them using either warm or cool colors. Thank you Miss Michele for a wonderful and creative school year!
Music: Ms. Lisa spent the first two weeks in May preparing the students for different activities and songs to sing on Grandparents day. We continued to learn and review different notes. Ms. Lisa has some clever pictures to help the students. Then we also practiced clapping and tapping out different patterns using the different notes. Grandparents day was fantastic. We hope all the grandparents enjoyed Ms.Lisa’s class. On our final day of music, Ms. Lisa incorporated all the favorites from the year. This year the students learned so much about notes, rhythm, singing, musical terms, identifying noises (both instrumental and common sounds) and had a wonderful time playing Ms.Lisa’s musical games and instruments. Thank you so much Lisa for another wonderful year!
Science: Mr. John’s first experiment of the month was making gloop! Using glue, water and borax, Mr. John made a substance that turns from solid to liquid depending on the amount of pressure is being put against it. His second experiment was a popping sensation. Mr. John took 2 balloons, one filled with only air and the other with water and air. He then put the balloons over a candle flame. Check in with your student to see what happened to both balloons! At our last science class with Mr. John (insert dramatic crying sounds here), Mr. John did a tea bag experiment. Taking an empty tea bag and unwrapping it, what happens when you set it on fire? Mr. John rolled it into a cylinder, lit the top on fire and then it started to burn. When it was almost burnt all the way to the bottom the burning tea bag floated into the air like one of the lanterns in Tangled. Then as it floated up it extinguished itself. Why did it float? Ask your student or look at Mr.John’s paper with the experiment that was sent home in your child’s folder. Thank you Mr.John for another science filled year! The kids loved all the crazy experiments. Can’t wait to see what new one’s you’ll come up with next year!
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.
(taste testing Chinese food)
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.
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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.
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. The children also had fun learning about all the different flags from each country and what they represented.
(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.
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!
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.
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!
