Over the past couple of week the children read a lot of holiday books and did a lot of different crafts. I am so proud of how hard they worked during our Christmas Show practices. They did such a great job on their performance last Friday!
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School Resumes | January 7, 2019
The kindergarten students have been working hard on learning different ways to solve multiplication problems. Below they are pictured using the multiplication bead board. This work gives them the opportunity to practice multiplication in a way that will lead them to memorization of the essential multiplication tables.
Cursive Handwriting: The students practiced writing the lowercase cursive words sat, us, rip, sad, gap and rust.
Over the past week the children started practicing for their Christmas Show multiple times a day. This will be their main focus for the next few weeks. We are doing a Christmas Tree theme. Feel free to dress your child up in anything Christmas Tree related for the show next Friday and practice singing the songs “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” and “O’ Christmas Tree” with them!
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Guest Reader
Reminders
Christmas Show Rehearsal | December 12 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm (Cuyahoga Falls High School Auditorium, 2300 4th St.)
Christmas Show | No Afterschool care available (student pickup by 3:15pm) | December 14 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm (Cuyahoga Falls High School Auditorium, 2300 4th St.)
Pajama & Show-N-Tell Day | December 21
The kindergarten students have been working hard on learning dynamic addition and dynamic multiplication using the golden beads and the stamp game. This past week they were introduced to another work called the dot board to solve both static and dynamic addition problems.
Cursive Handwriting: The students practiced writing the lowercase cursive letters a, d, g, qu, c and o. To make a lowercase c they learned to curve around to just below the midline and roll back around to just above the baseline. To make a lowercase o they learned to curve around to just below the midline, roll back around past the baseline and up to the midline and dip connector at the midline. To make a lowercase g they learned to curve up to the midline, roll back around to the baseline, swing up to the midline and drop down half way past the baseline and swoop. To make a lowercase qu they learned to curve up to the midline, roll back around to the baseline, swing up to the midline and drop down half way past the baseline and hook up to the baseline then swing up to the midline and down to the baseline, swing up to the midline, and down to the baseline. To make a lowercase a they learned to curve up to the midline, rollback around to the baseline, swing up to the midline and down to the baseline. To make a lowercase d they learned to curve up to the midline, roll back around to the baseline, swing tall to the top line and slide down to the baseline.
Lava Lamp: The students observed that when you mix oil and water together they separate from each other. The oil ended up on top because it has a lower density than the water. We then added food coloring and watched it fall through the oil and mix with the water at the bottom. We then added tiny pieces of Alka-Seltzer which created small bubbles of carbon dioxide gas that would rise to the top. The gas would then escape when it reached the top and the colored water would fall back down. The students learned the reason the Alka-Seltzer fizzed in such a way is because it contains citric acid and baking soda and the two react with water to form sodium citrate and carbon dioxide gas.
Traveling Water: The students learned that water has a lot of molecules that are held together by electrical molecular bonds. So we took a glass of water with a piece of string and and dumped the water along the string and into the empty glass. Because water has such strong hydrogen bonds it allowed the water molecules to stick together and travel down the string and into the empty cup.
Dissolving Sugar: We dissolved sugar in both cold and hot water. The students were able to observe that the cold water wasn’t able to dissolve as much sugar as the hot water. The reason the hot water dissolved more sugar is because it has faster moving molecules which are spread further apart than the molecules in the cold water. So with bigger gaps between the molecules in the hot water, more sugar molecules can fit in between.
Dynamic Multiplication: The students are doing dynamic multiplication using the golden beads. Dynamic multiplication simply means repeated addition where they need to carry over an amount. The process is similar to static multiplication except if the child has a group of ten he/she will need to exchange. Exchanging takes place when the child is combining the beads.
Cursive Handwriting: The students practiced writing the lowercase cursive letters a, d, g, qu, c and o. To make a lowercase c they learned to curve around to just below the midline and roll back around to just above the baseline. To make a lowercase o they learned to curve around to just below the midline, roll back around past the baseline and up to the midline and dip connector at the midline. To make a lowercase g they learned to curve up to the midline, roll back around to the baseline, swing up to the midline and drop down half way past the baseline and swoop. To make a lowercase qu they learned to curve up to the midline, roll back around to the baseline, swing up to the midline and drop down half way past the baseline and hook up to the baseline then swing up to the midline and down to the baseline, swing up to the midline, and down to the baseline. To make a lowercase a they learned to curve up to the midline, rollback around to the baseline, swing up to the midline and down to the baseline. To make a lowercase d they learned to curve up to the midline, roll back around to the baseline, swing tall to the top line and slide down to the baseline.
Over the past week the children started practicing for their Christmas Show multiple times a day. This will be their main focus for the next few weeks.
Work Time:
Guest Reader
Reminders:
Christmas Show Rehearsal | December 12 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm (Cuyahoga Falls High School Auditorium, 2300 4th St.)
Christmas Show | No Afterschool care available (student pickup by 3:15pm) | December 14 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm (Cuyahoga Falls High School Auditorium, 2300 4th St.)
Pajama & Show-N-Tell Day | December 21
Young children who spend after hours daycare suffer from stress which could make them shyer in later life. A study has found the stress levels of toddlers in creches are around a third higher than those who stay at home. While children at home with a parent become more relaxed over the course of the day, those in childcare grow more anxious. Children who spend more than eight hours in childcare are the most stressed, based on saliva samples taken by researchers and tested for the stress hormone cortisol. A study suggests this is because they miss their parents and have upsetting conflicts with other children.
The past couple of weeks we talked about Thanksgiving and being thankful. The children shared what their families do for Thanksgiving and learned that we all have our own traditions. We talked about why the Pilgrims and Indians ate a meal together. Each child shared what they were thankful for to create a classroom thankful turkey. We got a lot of fun responses.
We also talked about the Pilgrims and Indians. The class found out the Pilgrims came from England to our country for religious freedom. We read books about what the Pilgrims experienced during their journey on the Mayflower and once they landed at Plymouth Rock.
I want to send a big thank you to all the parents who volunteered to bring supplies in to make the Harvest Party a success!
Work Time
Guest Readers
Reminders:
Dynamic Addition: The students are doing dynamic addition using the golden beads. Dynamic addition simply means addition where they need to carry over an amount. The process is similar to static addition except if the child has a group of ten he/she will need to exchange. Exchanging takes place when the child is combining the beads.
Cursive Handwriting: The students learned and practiced the correct stokes to successfully make a lowercase c and lowercase o. To make a lowercase c they learned to curve around to just below the midline and roll back
around to just above the baseline. To make a lowercase o they learned to curve around to just below the midline, roll back around past the baseline and up to the midline and dip connector at the midline.
Floating Eggs: The students discovered that as an egg ages, air enters the egg and the air cell becomes larger. They learned to test an egg for freshness they can place it in a bowl of water. The fresh eggs will lie on the bottom of the bowl. Eggs that tilt so that the large end is up are older, and eggs that float are rotten.
Invisible Ink: We dipped a paint brush into lemon juice then drew pictures onto different colored paper. After the paper totally dried we used a hair dryer to heat the paper up revealing the original pictures we drew. The students discovered that lemon juice is an organic substance that oxidizes and turns brown when heated which is why we were able to reveal the hidden pictures.
