Thank you for sending your children to school so well prepared for the weather! We have a large group every day who happily put on snow gear to go out to recess after lunch. They have so much fun outside!
Special Events
Last week we had Valentine's Day.
The children were thrilled to deliver the valentines they made and equally thrilled to receive valentines from crew members! Ms. Lisa and I loved making special valentines for the children. Thank you for supporting your child in making both the valentines and the wonderful boxes to hold the cards!
Ashlyn's Birthday was also February 14th
We had our regular birthday celebration and yummy, healthy treats too. Thank you Ashlyn!
Expedition Activities
For the past few weeks we have been busy taking care of our bulbs, documenting growth and changes, and even measuring and comparing the size of different plants. Do pop in and see the work which is displayed on the wall opposite the door. Your children are sooo proud of their work as scientists!
You may see that some of your child's words are spelled incorrectly. This is totally normal at this age. The children are developing their spelling skills by spelling most words phonetically at this time. Please praise your child's efforts.
This week the crew also made How To directions for taking care of their bulbs. The expedition work will be placed in the children's portfolios later in the year.
Children read to their plants every day
Today we capitalized on the fresh new snow and did an experiment to find out which melts faster: snow on a plate or snow which has been packed into a snowball shape. This generated lots of lively discussion and predictions. When the children examined their plates after P.E. and found that the snow melted before the snowballs, they had another discussion, and shared their thinking about the results. Wow! We have lots of great thinkers in our room. If your child wants to do a snow experiment with you, it is an extension of our work at school.
Writing
Daily writing activities have included:
*descriptive writing about the bulbs
*note writing
* stories from the children's lives
*How To instructions
Reading
Reading activities have included:
*independent reading from book boxes
*buddy reading with a friend
* daily reading of big books - at this time we read a book together. The children read the book with me for a number of days. Reading simple text together helps children to know what fluent reading sounds and feels like. Fluency is important for the child to comprehend the text. When children have to keep sounding out words they don't remember what they are reading. This is one of the reasons why your child brings home reading books which he can read easily.
Math
In addition to measuring and recording the growth of our bulbs we continue to learn coin amounts through money games e.g., Collect Ten, Collect Five.
Children are learning correct number formation by saying a simple rhyme and writing the number.
They enjoy the number/rhyme combination e.g., "Around a tree, and around a tree. That is how you make a three."
The children enjoy Minute Math activities. This is a time when I pose a problem and children figure it out quickly, in any way they want.
An Exciting Week in P.E.
This week the children have been learning about archery.
Wow! They are excited and enthusiastic.
Maddie's Birthday
Yesterday we celebrated Maddie's birthday (Tuesday was Maddie's sixth birthday).
We celebrated using the sun and globe. Maddie brought healthy fruit kabobs.
Thank You Maddie!
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