This week in Aspen it was all about Apples!! The Aspen students spent the week learning how apples grow, what they need to grow, learned how to identify and name the parts of an apple, and got to observe and explore the parts of an apple with our apple observation activity. At the same time, Aspen took their scientific observation to the next level by engaging in a very yummy science experiment involving apples. We took a red apple (Red Delicious), a green apple (Granny Smith), and a yellow apple, (Golden Delicious) and taste tested them! Our experiment was to see if they tasted the same or different! Ask your apple scientist what they discovered! Since we were slicing apples, Aspen then took the opportunity to discuss fractions. Aspen learned about whole, half, one- third, and one- fourth while slicing our apples for our experiment. A very big thank you to Lily for bringing in apples for us to use for this lesson. Finally, we shifted gears and used our apples for something other than eating! We made apple prints with sliced apples and paint. Our Week in Aspen sure was Appletastic!!

This week we also had our first field trip to Ramseyers Farm and enjoyed some Fall themed fun ! We learned all about Pumpkins, how they grow, and got to pick our very own perfect pumpkin!! A big thank you to all of the Aspen parents that made our field trip special and fun! Ms. Angela and I truly enjoyed spending the day with you and your child! Happy pumpkin carving with your perfect pumpkins!!

This week in Readers and Writers Workshop the kindergarten students continued their literary and phonics fun! In Readers Workshop the Cardinals continued their work exploring phonological awareness, sight words, sentence structure, and comprehension skills ( focusing on the concept of sequencing). We read the book If You Give A Pig A Pancake and The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate The Wash and discussed sequencing within these stories. We then placed events in order from from their occurrence within the story! Our Cardinals have some great recollection and comprehension skills!! The Chickadees continued their fun with phonics and phonemic awareness by engaging in sound games, sound activities, and began practicing segmenting words! They also continued to practice following directions and completed two worksheets this week. The Chickadees also engaged in more sight word work!

Next week Aspen will be learning all about Pumpkins and the life cycle of a pumpkin!

Creative fun with the Geometric Magnetic Tiles!

Pattern work with the Apple Pattern activity.

Labeling the parts of an apple.

Exploring phonics with the CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words! Phonics is fun!!

Matching and folding socks is a favorite Practical Life activity in the Aspen room!!

Practicing handwriting skills tracing letters!

This week in Aspen we began our Botany lessons with learning all about the Parts Of a Tree. The Aspen students used our Botany Tree puzzle to learn the names of each part of a tree. At the same time, we also discussed that each part of the tree has a special job or function that it does. Each part of the tree performs a special job that helps the tree grow strong and healthy. For example, Aspen learned that the roots collect water , minerals, and nutrients from the soil and help to stabilize and keep the tree upright. Aspen then examined the trunk and branches of a tree and learned that the bark protects the wood inside the tree. In fact, something amazing occurs inside the trunk! Aspen learned that the trunk and branches have different types of wood underneath the protective layer of bark. The part called the inner bark or “Phloem” is the part or pipeline through which food is passed to other parts of the tree.This is the part of the tree that; only lives a short time , turns to cork, and eventually becomes part of the protective Outer Bark! The Cambium cell layer or growing part of the tree trunk produces new wood and gets its food through the phloem from the leaves. The Sapwood is the pipeline through which water is transported to the leaves and the Heartwood is the center supporting pillar of a tree. Aspen was fascinated by how many special events occur inside the trunk! Finally, Aspen discussed the important function of the Leaves. We learned that the leaves are the food factories providing nourishment for the tree!

After investigating the parts of a tree, the Aspen children became scientists and discussed the needs of a tree! We learned what trees need in order to grow and then researched different types of trees. For instance, the Aspen students determined that a tree needs water, sunlight, soil (minerals and nutrients), and Carbon Dioxide. We then explored where carbon dioxide comes from and discovered that we help the trees and the trees help us! They help by giving us the Oxygen we need to survive! We learned this is called a symbiotic relationship! Finally, we discussed the difference between deciduous and coniferous trees. We then took a closer look at different kinds of tree seeds, leaves, and bark with our Botany tray! We encourage your child to bring in any leaves, seeds, bark, or scientific nature related objects. However, we do ask that you limit the amount of objects for our Botany tray to two items. I know they will discover so many fascinating treasures but please have them choose their favorites! Happy hunting!!!

In Readers Workshop the Cardinals continued to practice using their decoding skills while practicing preliminary comprehension activities, they also practiced following directions, and mastered their first box of sight words! The Chickadees continued to be Sound Detectives and decoded object clues and matched them to their corresponding letter sounds! We practiced segmenting words and we realized that words are just made up of sound clues! The Chickadees also engaged in following directions by completing worksheets utilizing the skills they have acquired. Both groups are learning how to write the date when writing their name on their work!

Next week it is All About Apples! We will take a close look at the parts of an apple, engage in a scientific taste test, explore fractions with apples, and engage in apple themed art projects!!

PICTURE DAY – Wednesday September 20

RAMSEYER FARM FIELD TRIP – Friday, September 22

Tracing the Sandpaper Numbers while learning the linear sequence of numbers!

Preliminary classification work with our shell activity!

Labeling the Parts Of A Tree!

Science fun with Mr. John!!!

This week in Aspen it was all about the Seasons! Aspen learned that there are four seasons Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring! We also learned that here in Ohio we are lucky to experience all four seasons! We then discussed the characteristics of each season and our Aspen students shared their observations and talked about their favorite seasons! During Line Time, we used our Painted Globe and a flashlight to demonstrate the reason we experience four seasons in Ohio. Therefore, the Aspen students were able to visually experience the concepts of seasons, day and night, and learned some new vocabulary words ( rotation, axis, tilt, and orbit). Aspen learned we live on a planet called Earth that orbits a star called the Sun. As our Earth rotates and orbits our sun, only part of our planet experiences day and night. The part facing the sun has daytime and the part facing away from the sun has nighttime. The Aspen students had so much fun creating day and night with the flashlight and Painted Globe! We then took our experiment to the next level and discussed how the Earth rotates on its axis and experiences a tilt. We can’t feel the Earth rotating and tilting but we can feel the results of the tilt of the Earth! When Earth’s axis or our part of the world is tilted towards the sun and is receiving lots of direct sunlight, we will experience summer! Lots of sun equals lots of heat! Then something special happens, the tilt shifts the axis a bit giving us less direct sunlight leading to cooler temperatures giving us Fall!! As we experience Fall we eventually tilt receiving even less direct sunlight. Which leads to a significant drop in temperature giving us cold weather with snow and ice! Then something special happens again, as our Earth continues its orbit, it’s rotation, and the tilting of it’s axis the Earth begins to tilt towards the sun giving us more direct sunlight melting the snow and ice while warming us! As a result, we experience Spring! Then the process repeats all over with Summer, Fall,Winter, and Spring! This Repeating process lead Aspen to also discuss patterns and repetition! Aspen also learned that different parts of the world experience different seasons at different times and some do not experience four seasons like Ohio!! This allowed for us to learn two more vocabulary words (Hemisphere and Equator)! It sure was a busy and scientific week in Aspen!

Next week the Aspen students will begin their Botany classification work with the Tree Puzzle! Students will learn how to identify and name each part of a tree. At the same time, they will also learn the function of each part! See you Monday!!

The Kindergarten students continued their work with phonics in Readers’ Workshop and began illustrating books in Writers’ Workshop! In Readers Workshop the Cardinals engaged in more word play manipulating sounds to create words, discussed new Sight Words ( he, she, me, we, I , see, look, you and a). They then practiced following directions completing in class follow -up work. The Chickadees continued their work with the identification of letter sounds and then engaged in multiple in class follow-up work activities. Chickadees then used their knowledge to identify sounds and name things beginning with the corresponding sound! They also practiced writing their name and date on their follow-up work.

Reason For Seasons – Science Experiment! Using our Painted Globe to visually experience the concepts of Day and Night and the Seasons!

Visual Discrimination of color with The Color Tablets! Matching colors for Sensorial fun!

Phonics fun with The Moveable Alphabet!

Handwriting practice!

This week in Aspen we began our calendar work during our morning group lesson (Line Time). We discussed what a calendar is, how we use it, and identified The Days Of The Week, the Months Of The Year, and learned how to find the date on a calendar! All week we practiced learning the names of The Days Of The Week and worked on the order in which they appear on the calendar. Aspen even learned a special Days Of The Week song to help them remember the order and names of The Days Of The Week! Ask your child about our special Days Of The Week song! During this process our kindergarten students were learning how to write the date on their work plans while utilizing the calendar in our classroom to find days, dates, and months. The Aspen students also continued to practice their Procedural Movement Lessons and have begun to acclimate and settle into classroom routines! Aspen has been doing a great job staying in line when walking in line to the classroom or outside for recess. We have been practicing staying behind the person in front of us!

The kindergarteners received their first kindergarten lessons this week and began learning some valuable time management skills! After each kindergarten lesson the kindergarteners will be given follow-up work pertaining to their lesson. Therefore, receiving a reinforcement and an independent exploration of the concepts within their lessons. This is a new concept for many of our kindergarteners and will take practice and time learning how to accomplish academic tasks while engaging socially within the classroom.

This week Aspen also began going to their Enrichments! Aspen students got to experience Music with Ms. Lisa, Art with Ms. Varela, Science with Mr. John, and Library with Ms. Lindsey! We had so much fun in each of these classes!!

The Kindergarteners also experienced their first Readers’ and Writers’ Workshop this week! Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon the kindergarteners will receive in depth lessons where they practice their reading and writing skills while independently applying the skills they learn. The kindergarteners are divided into two groups The Cardinals and The Chickadees to allow for more individualized instruction. This week in Readers’ Workshop The Cardinals engaged in “word play” by manipulating phonetic sounds to form words. As a group we created three and four letter words and began our discussions regarding the rules of reading! Therefore, the Cardinals learned that the key to reading involves being a good “Sound Detective” , learning phonogram rules (sh, ch, th, Vowel Teams, e at the end …etc), and identifying Sight Words. The Chickadees engaged in various Phonics activities (games) and played Bingo identifying their letter sounds! The Chickadees also learned the importance of being good “Sound Detectives ” and also discussed the rules of Reading. Both groups did an awesome job and are going to have so much fun in Readers’ Workshop this year!

The Cardinals and Chickadees also engaged in pre-writing and writing activities with Ms. Tonya in Writers’ Workshop! They discussed expectations, manipulated sounds they learned, and engaged in writing activities! Our kindergarteners will become Authors and will begin writing and “publishing” their own books this year! Ms. Tonya is looking forward to an amazing year with her Writers!!

Next week our topic is Seasons! We are going to learn the names of the four seasons, identify characteristics of each season, and will engage in a very special Seasons Experiment! See you next week!

Practical Life – learning how to use scissors and cut along lines! Sometimes messes are made, but the clean up can be fun! Using a dustpan to clean paper scraps that fall on the floor! We sure have some amazing helpers in the Aspen Room!

Kindergarten follow-up work! Learning the names and locations of our Continents!

More kindergarten follow-up work! Tracing then labeling the Horse puzzle!

Fun with the Sandpaper Numbers!!

Library fun with Ms. Lindsey!!

Reading our book selections after Library time with Ms. Lindsey before afternoon Dismissal!