December 17-20

This week, we read and learned about both Christmas and Kwanzaa. On Monday, we read 2 stories about Hispanic Christmas traditions, one of which was in both Spanish and English. On Tuesday, we read a Kenyan Christmas story where “Father Christmas” rides an elephant instead of a sleigh! On Wednesday, we learned and read about Kwanzaa. We also got a visit from the previous preschool teacher, Mr. Rob! He read us an Elephant and Piggy book with the help of Mrs. Becka and he played with us during choice time. On a Thursday, we read another Christmas story and danced to Christmas songs! Throughout the week, Ms Alexia, our high school student teacher, lead a picture frame craft with the student as a gift to their families! If you have not received one yet, you will soon after break. I hope you all enjoy your snow day and Winter Break! Happy Holidays!

Mr Rob and Mrs Becka reading and acting out a story

Working without Mr Rob 

Play-doh fun

Mrs. Becka wanted to see if she’d fit under the tire like the kids!

Finger painting is fun and messy!

We still love playing dreidel

Painting our picture frames

December 10-14

This week, we read different versions of the Gingerbread Man and compared and contrasted them. On Monday, we read two versions of the original story of the Gingerbread Man and noticed that some of the characters were different, but the story was still the same. On Tuesday, we read Jan Brett’s “Gingerbread Baby” and “Gingerbread Friends” and talked about how they were similar and different from the original stories. Children acted out the story using puppets throughout the week, and some children even created their own gingerbread puppets! On Wednesday, the students learned about Saint Lucia Day (even though Ms. Rice was out). Ms. Becka read a story about the holiday and Mr Matt brought in traditional St Lucia Day bread for the students to try! On Thursday, we had our winter craft event! The children created holiday crafts with parent volunteers and everyone had so much fun! On Friday, Ms Karen (the sign language teacher) came and taught us some signs to go along with the Gingerbread Man story! We also had a Spanish lesson with Leslie, Ellis’s mom! The students learned the word “casa” (house) and the words for all of their family members. We will continue to have Spanish class on Fridays as often as we can! Next week, we will talk about the winter solstice, Kwanzaa, and Christmas!

Acting out the Gingerbread Man with paper puppets

Hard at work on a puzzle

Masks!

Stringing beads and sorting by color

Yarn ornament craft at the winter craft event

Making "reindeer food"

Reindeer ornaments

Painting personalized ornaments

A warm little elf :)

Ms. Karen signing about the geoboard

Signing along with the Gingerbread Man story

Playing doctor

Hard at work on the counting basket

Deep in imaginary play

December 3 - 7

This week, we learned about winter and some December holidays! On Monday, we did a science experiment to find out whether snow would melt faster on the window sill or on a table in the middle of the classroom. First, the students made predictions which we made into a graph. Then, we placed the bowls full of snow in each of the locations and waited for them to melt. It took almost all day, but after rest time we noticed that the snow by the window sill had melted faster! We had a discussion about why we thought that had happened, and the students concluded that it must have been the heat from the heater by the window and the sun that had melted the snow. We also learned about Hanukkah on Monday since it was the first day. We read stories and learned how to play dreidel! On Tuesday, we continued to learn and read about Hanukkah. Mr Matt shared his own family traditions with us and brought some books and dreidels from his home to share with us! On Wednesday, we learned about winter and read “Owl Moon” and “Bright Snow, White Snow”. We also did an impromptu science experiment when a student found a thick chunk of ice on the playground. We took the ice inside and placed it in a bowl, and we also got a bowl full of snow. The students each made predictions about whether the ice or the snow would melt faster, and a few hours later we found the the snow had melted faster since it was less tightly packed together than the ice. On Thursday, we learned about Saint Nicholas Day which is celebrated throughout Europe and in a few other places around the world. On Saint Nicholas Day, good chileren receive gifts and treats in their boots from Saint Nicholas while they are sleeping. During rest time, Saint Nicholas left gifts and treats in the students’ boots which was quite an exciting surprise when they woke up! We also had music class with Mr Norm and Mrs Jen and we got to visit kindergarten to play with them during choice time! It was a very fun and exciting day! On Friday, we took a trip to the library and had a very fun story time with Mrs Samantha where the students created their own “disco ball” ornaments! Next week, we will learn about Santa Lucia day and read various versions of the Gingebread Man story! We will also have our winter craft even on Thursday!

Our snow experiment chart

Our new favorite dress-up dress!

He's a big fan of the horse costume

Spelling words with the moveable alphabet

Using our new listening station

Playing dreidel

More dreidel

Painting with  kindergarteners

Dress up with kindergarten friends

Kindergarten has some fun toys!

A princess and her tower

When the playground is too icy to play on, we make"bridges" out of ice chunks!

November 26-30

This week, we had a lot of fun learning about Jan Brett and reading her amazing books! Throughout the week, we learned about the concept of foreshadowing, or hinting at what is coming next in a story. Jan Brett does this by drawing illustrations in the side panels of each page that show a character or event that will be seen on the next page. On Monday, we read and acted out the story of “The Mitten”. We also learned a little bit about who Jan Brett is and what authors and illustrators do. On Wednesday, we read Brett’s newest book, “The Snowy Nap” as well as “The Hat”. Both books involved a wonderful character named Hedgie that the students loved. On Thursday, we read the story “Trouble with Trolls” and laughed as Treva tricked all of the silly trolls into giving her back her things. On Friday, we read a big book of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, retold and illustrated by Jan Brett. We also brainstormed some questions and comments for Jan Brett and wrote them in a letter that we mailed to her! Hopefully we will get a letter in response from our new favorite author and illustrator! Next week, we will begin learning about holidays around the world!

All bundled up!

Taking good care of their babies

Road builders

Our finished "We Are Thankful" book

Playing our new exchange game

Reading the Three Bears big book

Music class with Mr. Norm and Mrs. Jen!

Playing so nicely together :)

Crawling up the slippery sledding hill

Everyone wants to ride with Mrs. Becka!

Our brainstormed list of questions and comments for Jan Brett

The finished letter!