Jan. 31, Feb 1 and the week of February 7-11

WELCOME BACK AFTER THE SNOW DAYS AND TEACHER IN-SERVICE DAYS!!!

On January 31, we celebrated Oliver's 4th birthday!  Thank you for the yummy treats!



Mrs. Hawkins stayed and shared a wonderful book with animals to go along with it.  Thank you!

SNOW DAYS!!!!

We prepared for the coming blizzard on Tuesday by playing outside, reading lots of snow books, and measuring.  We got out the measuring stick and found 2ft.  Then we went around the room to measure things in the classroom that are two feet and how high 2ft was compared to ourselves.

Because of the snow days our centers carried from the week of Jan 31 to Feb 8.  We had four centers that each child went to. 

In the Math center, the children compared their height to a life size poster of a penguin to see if they were taller or shorter.  Then they measured themselves and the penguin with unifix cubes to see how many more unifix cubes taller or shorter they were.

In the Language Arts center, the children read a book titled Bill.  They were creating rhyming words with the word Bill and then finding them in the story.  Also a big hit of the story was all the popcorn words they found! POP! POP! POP!  They all took their Bill books home.  Everyone is working on their magic reading finger to track words and make sure they "stick in the brains."

In the fine motor center, we combined reading skills with scissor skills by creating a book about a polar bear that hides inside a cave, over a snowball, etc.  The children enjoyed putting this book together and playing with the polar bear!  They worked really hard on smooth cuts on the lines so the polar bear was able to go all over the place. 

In the technology center the children were able to listen to Polar Bear, Polar Bear on CD in both English and Spanish and followed along with the book.  They also could choose to follow along on the Leap Pad with interactive phonics and math books.

During circle time we read many books about Polar Bears and their habitats.  The children loved changing the song, "If I were a penguin..."  to "If I were a polar bear... oh what could I do?"   This week during circle time we focused on the question, What makes a good friend?  We read books such as Rainbow Fish  and The Crayon Box that Talked. We made a list like a good friend is working together.  A good friend shares.  A good friend likes to play the same games.  During work time the children made little "rainbow fish" to show that they are the same and different and we can all work together to be good friends.  Next week, we will take those fish and create one large fish!  Good friends work together!!!

During work time, the children also worked in reading groups, in their journals and sequencing the book The Little Polar Bear.

The JK kids enjoyed the 7th grade reading buddies on Friday. 

Everyone made their Valentine's bags getting ready to pass out their Valentine's cards.  They made Valentine cards for special people in their lives too, ie grandparents, moms and dads.  In the morning they were introduced to the JK mailbox, where they made Valentine's all week for their friends and then the JK mail carrier passed them out!  We will keep the mailbox out and write letters to our friends as the year continues.

Next week we will continue our Friendship theme.  We will celebrate Valentine's day with lots of fun learning heart themed center activities.  We will learn friendship songs and poems.  The children will write in their journals about good friends.