Hello Pre-K Families!
This week we got back into our school routines. We had a wonderful time catching up with each other about our Spring Breaks and were excited to be back together. We are finishing up our Three Pigs study and will be moving on to our next unit of study-Gardening. Last week we read "The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark." In this version one of the fish uses seaweed to make his home. We will try seaweed in class this week and share our opinions about texture, taste and smell. We will also conduct an experiment to see what happens when seaweed gets wet. The kids were great helpers last week, as we welcomed Ms. Rachel (our new teaching assistant) into our classroom. We will begin our Spring Gardening Unit this week, we will be sharing what we know about different kinds of gardens (vegetable, flower and container). We will take a garden walk around the school and look for different kinds of plants and how they are growing. Please be sure to dress your child in appropriate (dirt friendly attire) as the weather continues to go up and down in Chicago. We will be spending extended time outdoors and playing in the dirt as we learn and explore about gardens and seeds. Children should also wear comfortable outdoor shoes for extended walking, running, climbing, and good old fashioned outdoor fun (flip flops are not recommended)! Wishlist: Dixie cups seeds of any type gardening tools appropriate for children Have a wonderful week! Welcome Ms. Rachel to our class!
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Hello Families,
We are looking forward to seeing everyone for Parent & Teacher conferences. Please be sure to check your email to sign up on the calendar! The children have thoroughly enjoyed a variety of math-focused activities this week. The children explored shapes, building with various sizes of shapes, and collecting data! The children enjoyed participating in several rounds of the Hula Hoop Freeze Dance! The children would dance and freeze when the music stopped, and then our data collectors would record how many children were in each of the hoops. The children also had a great time hunting for shapes throughout the classroom. We focused on the 4 basic shapes. Check out all the various shapes they found! Children were focused on trying to get the bean bag inside the hula hoop and recording the correct information on the data sheets. Be sure to check out the wall near the classroom door to see how we did! We also made our own collage paper that we will use for an upcoming Eric Carle project. A big shout out to Ms. Walls who has been a consistent substitute since Michelle went on leave.We have hired a new TA and she will begin officially next week (fingers crossed). This week we will dive into our 3 Little Pig exploration and celebrate National Week of the Young Child! We will be celebrating with various activities. We are asking parents to please bring a piece or two of fruit for our “Tasty Tuesday Fruit Salad” Please let us know if you can bring in the fruit! WOYC-Activities: “Music Monday”- We will play our musical instruments and jam to Chicago’s very own Ella Jenkins and Jim Gill! “Tasty Tuesday”-We will make a fruit salad and enjoy it for a snack! Wednesday- Parent & Teacher Conferences “Artsy Thursday”- Art activities all day! “Work Together Friday”-We will work on large building projects together and go out to our Garden and prepare the garden for planting (weather permitting). Have a great week, Preschool Families-
I hope everyone has enjoyed this beautiful Chicago weekend. We certainly enjoyed the weather last week and spent a lot of time outdoors! Last week we learned about the artist Yayoi Kusama. We made various types of dot art using stickers, watercolors and eyedroppers. Check out this video we watched in class: https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/explore/who-is/who-yayoi-kusama. We concluded our Goldilocks unit and will be voting on our favorite story tomorrow. The children shared their own versions of Goldilocks last week and also looked closely at the various Goldilocks characters we encountered and discussed character traits of each. The children were thoughtful about whether Goldilocks was naughty or nice and how they knew. We started a new morning routine and are using the book Alphabreaths to calm our bodies and discuss each letter of the alphabet and the sound it makes. This week we will add math and picture talks to our morning meeting. This week I will assess the children's ability to recognize letters and numbers to 20. Last week we read the book Sandwich Swap. The books follows the journey of two friends as they learn to try one another's special lunch sandwich- PB&J and hummus and pita. Last week we collected data on who has tried hummus and who has not. This week we will make hummus in class. I am excited to see what the children think. I am excited to announce that we have hired a replacement for Ms. Michelle. Her name is Rachel and she will begin as soon as her CPS onboarding process is complete. We have been so lucky to have Ms. Walls as a consistent substitute until she starts! Please check your child's cubby for appropriate change of clothing. The kids had an exciting time jumping in puddles las week and we realized many of the kids could use a refreshing of extra clothes for the current season. Don't forget socks and undies. Donations Needed:
Important Dates March 25-29- NO SCHOOL Spring Break April 1- NO SCHOOL. Professional Development Day April 10- Parent Teacher Conferences This week we will culminate our Goldilocks and the Three Bears Unit by writing and illustrating our very own Goldilocks Inspired Stories! We have amazing storytellers in our room! We have enjoyed dictating the children's stories and acting them out. Last week we did some more measurement activities. We looked for things in the room that were taller and shorter than us. We had great conversations about the difference between short and small and tall and large. I encourage you to continue the conversation at home and see if you can help deepen your child's understanding of measurement terms.
We made instant porridge (oatmeal) and slow cooker porridge and talked about if the porridge was just right. We discussed level of sweetness, temperature and thickness. This week we also got out some new materials during playtime including a new printmaking tool called a gel plate, plastic cups for building, gems and other loose parts and new duplo cars. My family obligation was reschduled for the end of May. Thankfully I will not need to be out for the next two weeks. Thanks for your well wishes and understanding. Upcoming: March 25-29- Spring Break April 1- No School Professional Learning Day for Teacher I found the image below inspiring. I hope you do too! Have a great week! Hello PreK Families,
I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. The weather has been so crazy with a mix of snow, rain and sun. Please continue to send your child to school dresses for the weather. I will continue to set out the "Lost and Found" underneath the classroom windows. Please check for missing items. Please also pop in to the classroom to check your child's cubbie for adequate and appropriate change of clothes. It is so nice to have dry clothes when accidents happen. Last week was Ms. Michelle's last week. This week Ms. Walls will be the substitute teaching assistant, as we word to fill Ms. Michelle's position. We have really enjoyed reading different versions of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears". Last week we talked about what makes something just right. The children are also working on numeral identification skills and some basic measurement skills. Of course we are talking about sizes, since it is common in the Three Bears stories. Thanks so much to all of the families that have been volunteering in the lunch time slot. It will continue to be helpful throughout the month of March, as I have to be out for the next two weeks beginning March 11th. I will be traveling to southern Indiana to be with my siblings, as we deal with a family situation of significant importance. Unfortunately, the timing of the event is beyond our control. I am securing a substitute for the duration of the time I am gone. If you are able to help out in the classroom between 11am-1pm, please let me know. Mr. Miles has been a wonderful constant for the children and really appreciate the children's (and families') flexibility through all of these changes. Don't forget blankets, water bottles and Green for Warrior Wednesday Upcoming Dates: March 25-29- Spring Break Hello Pre-K Families:
We had a fun week! We created our Black History Month project by painting to jazz great Ella Fitzgerald and blues great Muddy Waters. We talked about how the different kinds of music make us feel. We also made our bird feeders and hung them by the little kids' playground on Kimbark Ave. We enjoyed eating the delicious mandarins before using the skin to make bird feeders. We had a huge amount of fun making a huge dragon for Lunar New Year. Happy year of the dragon. The children loved documenting the creation using our classroom cameras. This week we will begin a study of the story "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." We will look at story elements including sequencing, plot, characters, and setting. We will begin to compare the different versions. We will also talk about what makes something "just right." The children will learn a new game called Roll to the Top. The game provides number writing practice, as well as counting numbers up to six using a 6 sided die. This will be our last week with Ms. Michelle as she get some much deserved and needed rest preparing for her sweet baby boy due in June. Please have your child bring one or two flowers with a small note or homemade card on Thursday, February 29th. We will use all of the flowers to create a unique and beautiful bouquet representative of our class. DONATIONS NEEDED:
Looking Forward: March 25th-29th Spring Break April 1st- Professional Development Day April 10th- Parent Teacher Conferences Have a great week! Hello Pre-K Families,
We wanted to thank everyone for the Valentine and bird feeder materials. We are looking forward to making our bird feeders this week! We started off last week filled with lots of love (and a little sugar!) as we kicked off the week celebrating Valentine's Day. We answered love and kindness-focused questions in our journals and made detailed LOVE MONSTER portraits during Mat Man. We learned about Lunar New Year last week and are making our own dragon to display for the Year of the Dragon. We also read Chopsticks, Dim Sum Palace and Dim Sum for Everyone. We had a wonderful donation from Noodles Etc. pot stickers and chopsticks. Please support this local business that serves delicious Thai food. The children loved trying to eat with them and loved the pot stickers. We are working on creating our own dim sum cart by drawing our favvorite foods on paper plates. The children had a wonderful time creating JAZZ and BLUes inspired art today. They shared how jazz makes them feel and also shared what kinds of things gave them the blues. This week we will be learning about Amy Sherald, the artist who painted Michelle Obama's portrait. We will read the book Parker Looks Up by Parker and Jessica Curry and discuss museums and some of the other paintings in the story. Thank you to all of the families that were able to come to Raise a Glass for Ray. A BIG thanks to the parents of Desmond and Alice for being part of the organizing team for this event. Please join us this Thursday night for the Black History Month event from 4:30-7:45pm. There will be a movie in the auditorium followed by a gallery walk through the school and dinner in the lunchroom! Have a wonderful week! Hello Pre-K Families,
We want to thank the families who have donated supplies for our bird feeders! We still need bird seed and another container of whipped cream cheese. Wednesday, we will be celebrating Valentine's Day and talking about what Love means and how we can show love and kindness to others. We read Love Monster today and are beginning to brainstorm things, places, and people we love. The children have been enjoying learning about the music of famous Black musicians. We learned about Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald last week. We are learning about the Blues this week and will read a book about Muddy Waters and also read the book "Yellow Dog Blues." The class will make some art that is jazz and blues inspired later this week. This week in small groups we explore letter-making with materials from our curriculum Learning Without Tears (LWT), and some Valentine inspired learning games. We will begin making bird feeders during free choice time and after nap time. Valentine's Celebration-Wednesday, February 14th If your child would like to share a Valentine with their classmates, that would be great, we have 18 students in our room! If you want to bring a small store-bought pre- packaged treat, please make sure that it is a nut free treat. If your child would like to give out cards, please simply have your child sign (grownups are encouraged to help if signing 18 cards is too overwhelming for your child) their name on the cards. Please DO NOT send individual personalized Valentines…we only want your child’s signature. We will assist the children in passing the valentines out to their classmates. Each child will bring home a securely closed bag of valentines to enjoy at home. We will have a small celebration during class time but treats and valentines from classmates will be sent home. Reminders:
Pre-K Families,
We had an amazing week last week trying more citrus fruits and making ice cream. We played with our new overhead projector and experimented with different materials on the projector. Thank you so much for your donation. This week we will talk about animals that hibernate as we continue our exploration of winter. We will also start a new unit of study of music. In the month of February, we will have a packed agenda. We will begin our “Acts Of Kindness,” continue Animals in the Winter, and begin our Black History Celebration. We will explore the contributions of African American musicians and artists. During this month we will read books about Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Alma Thomas, Amy Sherald, and more! We will make bird feeders (in which the squirrels will also enjoy…sometimes more than the birds). We will need a few donations: we will need cuties (or any cheap orange/citrus fruit), whipped cream cheese, mini bagels, and 1 bag/container of bird seed (a little goes a long way). If you are willing to donate any of these items, please let us know, we will really appreciate it. Items Needed for Bird Feeders: Mini bagels WHIPPED cream cheese 1 bag of birdseed (a little goes a long way) Valentine's Celebration-Wednesday, February 14th We will help the children make Valentine Bags for receiving cards and will decorate cookies. If your child would like to share a Valentine with their classmates, that would be great, we have 19 students in our room! If you want to bring a small store-bought pre- packaged treat, please make sure that it is a nut free treat. If your child would like to give out cards, please simply have your child sign (grownups are encouraged to help if signing 19 cards is too overwhelming for your child) their name on the cards. Please DO NOT send individual personalized Valentines…we only want your child’s signature. We will assist the children in passing the valentines out to their classmates. Each child will bring home a securely closed bag of valentines to enjoy at home. We will have a small celebration during class time but treats and valentines from classmates will be sent home. Reminders:
Have a great week! Families,
I hope you had a wonderful weekend and were able to enjoy your family and friends, as well as rest. Speaking of rest- this a reminder that your preschooler needs 10-12 hours of sleep. It is easier for a child to handle struggles, changes in routine and regulate their feelings and emotions when they are rested. We encourage all of the kids to rest their bodies at rest time and generally they do a great job. We were so happy to see the sun today and enjoyed our outdoor playtime so much. This week we will talk about what animals do in winter. We read "The Mitten" by Jan Brett and are having a fun time acting out the story. We are also reinforcing letter recognition through letter BINGO and developing the children's understanding that letters make certain sounds using our daily question. Today the question was "does your name begin with the same sound as jam?" WE had a fun time brainstorming other /j /words and even came up with a few that began with the letter g and sounded like /j/. We will continue our water study this week by exploring the three forms that water takes: liquid, solid and gas. We read a cute book called "Ploof" all about a little cloud that changes shapes. The children practiced categorizing other items into the three groups LIQUID, SOLID and GAS. This is an easy activity to incorporate into everday activies at home. On Friday we will make ice cream in a bag with our 7th grade buddies. Please donate the following items if you can. Please reply all to the group email so we know what items are being provided. Please bring the items by Thursday of this week.
Have a great week! |
Room 411
"Play is the work of children" -Vivian Paley |