This week we discussed what makes Earth a good planet for humans. We made the following list of what we need to live-
air to breathe water to drink food to eat shelter for protection Earth has all of those things, which makes it a great place for us! We will be learning how we can protect our planet and keep it safe for us. We learned that our planet is mostly water, so one of our activities illustrated that. We tore green (land) and blue (water) construction paper and glued them together to represent the Earth. We read the book “The Curious Garden” and realized that other living things (plants, animals, trees) have needs, too. We began an experiment using identical plants (a type of ivy called “Pixie Dixie”). We labeled one A and one B- for plant A, we are going to supply all of its required needs (water, nutrient-rich soil, sunlight, fresh air); plant B will not receive any of those things. We made predictions about what will happen to both plants, and we will observe them over the next week or so. We read “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss, a prophetic tale about how greed can destroy the environment. We identified that the Onceler took away food, clean water, fresh air, and shelter from the animals who once lived there. Since the Lorax asked for help keeping the world safe, we are planning to do our part! In Handwriting we have been focusing on the capital letter R (big line, little curve, little line), so today we made rabbits! We used scissors to cut out the rabbit shape then glued decorations to it. It was hard work guiding the scissors with our little fingers. We had such a wonderful time at our Easter egg hunt at the Helena House! Our grand friends were so happy to see us and watch us run around their courtyard. We each found eggs and got a treat bag from the Easter Bunny, and they can go home with us today. Hola! In Spanish this week we learned a new song for Springtime, "Pedro el Conejito" (Peter the little rabbit). We also learned some insect names in Spanish to go along with the song: una mosca (a fly), una abeja (a bee), and una mariposa (a butterfly). See a link to the song here! http://www.spanishplayground.net/spanish-song-actions-pedro-el-conejito/ Our photos are here.
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Our week was full of holiday fun and focus on the letter P! Our study of the planets included making our own with marbled paper and wrapping yarn around circles. Our work is hanging on the wall outside our classroom, so be sure to check it out!
With St. Patrick's Day this week, we used our creative thinking skills to design and build a leprechaun trap. We also decorated a treasure box in the hopes Lucky would leave us some goodies. He did! The children were so excited with the festivities, and I heard some great comments about how much fun they had. One child wished "every day was St. Patrick's Day!" Next week we will bring our solar system study back down to our own planet, and Mrs. Cook will be working on the letter R. We have a field trip to the Helena House on Thursday for an Easter Egg hunt (just the 3s and 4s classes). We are closed Friday in observance of Good Friday. Have a great weekend! Our photos are here. We've had another great week exploring our solar system! From constellations to planets, we learned more about what's "out there" when we look up. One of the main constellations we discussed was the Big Dipper, so if you can, try to find it! Then, we designed our own unique constellations with a variety of materials. One activity used star stickers and rulers to connect them. Another fine motor lesson involved marshmallows and toothpicks as we made 3D models of constellations using our imaginations. Then, of course, we got to eat our creations!
During Handwriting this week we focused on the letter P- big line down, little curve. Mrs. Cook showed us how to make P using pompoms and pennies. Then we strengthened our finger muscles by rolling, cutting, and squishing playdoh. Baker had a great time with Pluto this week, and he confirmed that Pluto loves pizza! We used this opportunity to identify other P words that Pluto has experienced such as play, packing, planet, and more. Denise will get to play with Pluto this weekend! Friday is our trip to the Helena House with the whole school. We will leave at 9:30 and would love for you to come! Wagons are welcome, too. ¿Dónde está? This week in Spanish, we learned the name for several animals: el perro (dog), el gato (cat), el caballo (horse), la gallina (hen), and la vaca (cow). We learned that in Spanish, people say the sounds some of those animals make a little bit differently. Did you know a perro says "guau, guau", not "woof, woof"? Then we practiced the question ¿Dónde está? (Where is it?) by hiding a cat inside one of two cups, and seeing if anyone could keep track of it when we mixed them up. Our photos are here. This week we focused our outer space study on rocket ships. Using recycled materials we designed our own rockets with toilet paper rolls as the base. Mrs. Ines helped us attach “flames” as if the rocket ship is blasting off! They look great and can go home soon. The children strengthened their fine motor muscles as they squeezed glue and arranged small objects.
Ms. Weldon started a gravity painting activity outside in this beautiful weather. Using different painted objects, we dropped them to see how gravity pulls them to the paper. Some of the items left perfect prints, others rolled off or fell over. We were allowed to select our own objects, so all of our paintings are unique. They will be displayed in the hallway, so be sure to check them out. We listened to a couple of Mrs. Fastenau’s favorite songs that relate to our rocket study. We enjoyed “Space Oddity” and “Rocket Man,” both songs that you parents probably know! As we listened we paused the music as we heard words relating to space, such as “ground control,” “planet Earth,” and of course “rocket man.” It was a fun activity that required paying attention and using listening ears. Thank you all for participating in Wacky Wednesday/Dr. Seuss’s birthday! We had so much being silly and listening to our guest speakers read some of our favorite books. Mr. Fastenau read Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree, Mr. Levi read Go, Dog, Go, and one of the Port Royal police officers read a Pete the Cat story in recognition of Read Across America Day. Turner turned 5 on Tuesday! Sofia and Gabe are leaving us this weekend for their move to Virginia. We will miss them so much and plan to write them letters soon! Friday March 18- the whole school will be visiting the Helena House for St. Patrick’s Day! Please plan to join us to leave at 9:30 am. Have a great weekend! Our photos are here. |
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Class of 2016
Researchers TeachersMolly Fastenau Archives
June 2016
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