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CLASSROOMS - Preschool Kindergarten 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th Computer Art Choir / Band / Music P.E.
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3 Year Old Class
We finished up our mini study on friendship and kindness this week. We talked about some of our favorite things. We saw that we may have some favorites that are the same and some that are different and that is okay! We read the story about the little puppy who worked really hard to be friends with the big green monster. Eventually, the monster saves the puppy when he falls into the tub, and they become buddies. While reading this story, I pointed out the monster's face on the pages and asked the children to describe how the monster is feeling. We discussed that sometimes you need to look at your friend's face to see how they might be feeling and whether or not you need to change something you are doing.
We continued to build fine motor skills this week. We practiced using scissors to make little snips of paper that we glued to create the first letter of our name. All of our scissors have a tape mark on the whole that the thumb goes into. We remind the children that the tape goes at the top. The children used linking chains to build number sets from 1 - 10. Also we practiced writing more straight and slanted lines. I showed the children how these slanted and straight lines can be used to make numbers.
Next week we will begin our new study on Buildings. We will begin by exploring the topic with an overview. We will then look at these focus questions:
I will also begin to work on assessments with the children. I will use this information to work on the report card which will be handed out at conferences. We will be scheduling conferences during the weeks of February 25 - March 8.
Highlights for the weeks of 1/22/019
We continued to build fine motor skills this week. We practiced using scissors to make little snips of paper that we glued to create the first letter of our name. All of our scissors have a tape mark on the whole that the thumb goes into. We remind the children that the tape goes at the top. The children used linking chains to build number sets from 1 - 10. Also we practiced writing more straight and slanted lines. I showed the children how these slanted and straight lines can be used to make numbers.
Next week we will begin our new study on Buildings. We will begin by exploring the topic with an overview. We will then look at these focus questions:
- What do the buildings in our neighborhood and in other places look like?
- Who builds buildings? What tools do they use?
- What are buildings made of? What makes them strong?
- What is special about our building?
- What happens inside buildings?
I will also begin to work on assessments with the children. I will use this information to work on the report card which will be handed out at conferences. We will be scheduling conferences during the weeks of February 25 - March 8.
Highlights for the weeks of 1/22/019
- Virtue Focus: Patience - waiting your turn
- Books: The 3 Little Pigs and The Big Red Dog
- Song: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Once I caught a fish alive
- Step Up - Children will step up to the letter wall to identify a letter.
- Penguin Sorting - Children will sort the penguin colors by color and identify the name of each color.
- Which Has More? - Children will predict which bag of objects has more. They will then count out the number of objects in each bag and identify the higher amount.
- Say it, Show it - Children will identify a number 1 - 5, and display that number of fingers. They will then complete an action that number of times.
- Building Exploration - Children will look at pictures of buildings and then attempt to build them with the wooden blocks.
- Find the Shape - Teacher will give a description of a shape; Children will identify the corresponding shape.
- Letter and Number Assessments
4 Year Old Am
i Last week we had fun with several science experiments. Monday we explored air flow by floating ping pong balls and balloons with a hair dryer. For the finale (and just for fun too) we unrolled a roll of toilet paper by having the air flow over the top of the roll of paper. What crazy fun! Wednesday we used capillary action to move colored water from one cup to another, making new colors as they mixed. Friday we looked at the chemical reaction that occurs when we combined vinegar and baking soda and vinegar and lime juice to blow up balloons.
Our reading looked at the visit of the Magi and we worked on some beautiful water color and salt paintings. (Some of those went home on Friday and the rest will go home on Monday. ) Mrs. Pearce shared a story about the visit of the Magi as well. Basic shapes were reviewed and we began working on having the students describe the shapes--rhombus, square, rectangle, oval, triangle and circle. Rectangular prism, cube, pyramid, cylinder and sphere were introduced and we have begun working on describing those shapes as well.
This week when you come in on Monday, you will see some changes in the room--we have a new pizzeria in our dramatic play area. This week we will begin a unit on kindness beginning with one of my favorite reads--"Have You Filled Your Bucket Today?" This book, specifically "bucket filling" will find its way in our discussions during the next few weeks. So, don't be surprised to hear that term start cropping up at home. Skills that we will be focusing on this week include rhyming and listening for vowel sounds in words. We will continue to have fun with art--by using vinegar, baking soda and watercolors to paint snowflakes. Science will include two interesting experiments using candles.
We are continuing with assessment this week in preparation for conferences the first week of March and to direct our instruction. I will be sending our an email later next month to sign up for conference dates and times.
Our Week At A Glance:
Books: Have You Filled a Bucket Today?, The Lion and The Mouse, The Duckling Gets a Cookie?!, and Zen Ties
Songs: Exercise and Write the Letters, Fun with Rhyming Words, Count to the Macarena, The Clapping Machine, Fun and Fast with Short Vowel Sounds and Rhyme and Freeze.
Virtue: Perseverance--meaning finishing something you don't want to do
Specials: Monday--Religion with Ms. Chrystal, Wednesday--Visit with Fr. Dave, Friday--Music
Focus: Kindness
Journal Response: What can I do at school to fill buckets?
Art: Painting a snowflake with watercolors, baking soda and vinegar/ time permitting we will start work on String Art (very messy so dress accordingly)
Science: See Sawing Candle and Jumping Flames
Reminders:
* We will go outside daily unless raining or if temperatures drop below 10 degrees. The exception to the rule--we do not go outside on the days we attend mass.
* Please send your child with a healthy snack daily(no nuts or products that my have been contaminated with nuts and nut products) and a bottle of water.
Our reading looked at the visit of the Magi and we worked on some beautiful water color and salt paintings. (Some of those went home on Friday and the rest will go home on Monday. ) Mrs. Pearce shared a story about the visit of the Magi as well. Basic shapes were reviewed and we began working on having the students describe the shapes--rhombus, square, rectangle, oval, triangle and circle. Rectangular prism, cube, pyramid, cylinder and sphere were introduced and we have begun working on describing those shapes as well.
This week when you come in on Monday, you will see some changes in the room--we have a new pizzeria in our dramatic play area. This week we will begin a unit on kindness beginning with one of my favorite reads--"Have You Filled Your Bucket Today?" This book, specifically "bucket filling" will find its way in our discussions during the next few weeks. So, don't be surprised to hear that term start cropping up at home. Skills that we will be focusing on this week include rhyming and listening for vowel sounds in words. We will continue to have fun with art--by using vinegar, baking soda and watercolors to paint snowflakes. Science will include two interesting experiments using candles.
We are continuing with assessment this week in preparation for conferences the first week of March and to direct our instruction. I will be sending our an email later next month to sign up for conference dates and times.
Our Week At A Glance:
Books: Have You Filled a Bucket Today?, The Lion and The Mouse, The Duckling Gets a Cookie?!, and Zen Ties
Songs: Exercise and Write the Letters, Fun with Rhyming Words, Count to the Macarena, The Clapping Machine, Fun and Fast with Short Vowel Sounds and Rhyme and Freeze.
Virtue: Perseverance--meaning finishing something you don't want to do
Specials: Monday--Religion with Ms. Chrystal, Wednesday--Visit with Fr. Dave, Friday--Music
Focus: Kindness
Journal Response: What can I do at school to fill buckets?
Art: Painting a snowflake with watercolors, baking soda and vinegar/ time permitting we will start work on String Art (very messy so dress accordingly)
Science: See Sawing Candle and Jumping Flames
Reminders:
* We will go outside daily unless raining or if temperatures drop below 10 degrees. The exception to the rule--we do not go outside on the days we attend mass.
* Please send your child with a healthy snack daily(no nuts or products that my have been contaminated with nuts and nut products) and a bottle of water.
Kindergarten Prep PM class
This week we finished up our mini study on friendship and kindness. We have reviewed how being a safe keeper can help us to make and maintain our friendships. The book we read, Try a Little Kindness, illustrated many simple ways you can show kindness by greeting people, offering someone else to go first, and helping others with challenging tasks.
Our discussion of cotton and sand paper words continued through out the week. We pointed out things in our stories and conversations that were either cotton or sand paper. We were challenged to think of more cotton things we can say to solve problems or express ideas.
I worked with the children on assessments this week and will continue with more assessments next week. I love to work individually with each child and see the growth they have made since the beginning of class. I will share this information with you during conferences which will be February 25 - March 8.
Monday of next week is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We will be doing some activities to honor him. Discussion of his life and legacy does include some concepts that I feel would be too heavy for preschoolers. We will be focusing on his message of treating everybody the same and honoring him by doing good deeds. We will also read a story that introduces the word tolerance and discusses being accepting of people who may look differently from us or have different abilities from us.
For the rest of the week we will begin our new study on Pets. The first week will be an introduction to the topic. The focus questions for the study include:
Highlights for the weeks of 1/21/2019
Our discussion of cotton and sand paper words continued through out the week. We pointed out things in our stories and conversations that were either cotton or sand paper. We were challenged to think of more cotton things we can say to solve problems or express ideas.
I worked with the children on assessments this week and will continue with more assessments next week. I love to work individually with each child and see the growth they have made since the beginning of class. I will share this information with you during conferences which will be February 25 - March 8.
Monday of next week is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We will be doing some activities to honor him. Discussion of his life and legacy does include some concepts that I feel would be too heavy for preschoolers. We will be focusing on his message of treating everybody the same and honoring him by doing good deeds. We will also read a story that introduces the word tolerance and discusses being accepting of people who may look differently from us or have different abilities from us.
For the rest of the week we will begin our new study on Pets. The first week will be an introduction to the topic. The focus questions for the study include:
- What kinds of animals are pets?
- What are some characteristics of pets?
- Where do pets live?
- What do pets eat?
- How do we care for pets?
- How do pets make us feel?
Highlights for the weeks of 1/21/2019
- Virtue -Patience - waiting your turn.
- Books - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; Everyone is Equal: Kid's Book of Tolerance; Pig the Star; When the Fly Flew In; Chick 'n' Pug
- Journal Writing - Topic 1 - What would it be like to live in an igloo? Topic 2 - If I was a sprinkle, I would like to go on a...
- Shake the Beans - Teacher will shake a can of magnets and children will guess how many are in the container.
- Martin Luther King Jr. Heart Poem and Heart Art Activity
- 3 D Shape Hot/Cold Hunt - a 3D shape will be hidden in the room. The children will give clues to help find the shape.
- Guided Drawing - Children will listen and follow directions to draw a picture of an animal.
- Toilet Paper Roll Animals - Children will design a toilet paper roll to look like an animal.
- Sorting and Classifying Animals - Children will sort animals into categories.
- Can you find it? Children will listen to clues to find shapes based on the description of the shape and positional words.
- Planning Maps - Children will look at a map of the classroom and identify where they want to play in the room for centers.
- Frozen Animals - Children will use warm water to free animals frozen in the ice.
Science Club
Science Club is an optional activity for students who are enrolled in either the AM-4 or Kindergarten Prep classes. The club meets on the second Thursday of the month from 9:30-11 am at Hemlock Crossing, September through May. Meetings are lead by Hemlock Crossing naturalists and the membership cost is $7.00 per meeting.
Parents are an important part of the program--you will be actively involved in exploring the topic of the month with your child as well as providing transportation to and from the meetings. Some exceptions can be made for working parents, provided you are able to find a member parent who is willing to transport your child and fill in as your designated adult explorer. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Mrs. Carey at ccarey@stmarysl.org
Snow days: if St. Mary's does not have school on a meeting date, the meeting for that day will be canceled. We will not try to reschedule--just too many schedules to try to accomodate. You will not be billed for that month's meeting.
2018-2019 Meeting Topics
February 14th --Snow Fun/ Snowshoeing (This meeting to be held at Pigeon Creek Park)
March 14th--Wiggly Worms
April 11th--Wonderful Wetlands
May 9th--V.I.P.’s—Very Important Pollinators—Bees, Butterflies
(Picnic Lunch to Follow)
*All meetings (except January Meeting) are held at the Education Center at Hemlock Crossing Park. Meetings start promptly at 9:30 and end at 11 am.
Parents are an important part of the program--you will be actively involved in exploring the topic of the month with your child as well as providing transportation to and from the meetings. Some exceptions can be made for working parents, provided you are able to find a member parent who is willing to transport your child and fill in as your designated adult explorer. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Mrs. Carey at ccarey@stmarysl.org
Snow days: if St. Mary's does not have school on a meeting date, the meeting for that day will be canceled. We will not try to reschedule--just too many schedules to try to accomodate. You will not be billed for that month's meeting.
2018-2019 Meeting Topics
February 14th --Snow Fun/ Snowshoeing (This meeting to be held at Pigeon Creek Park)
March 14th--Wiggly Worms
April 11th--Wonderful Wetlands
May 9th--V.I.P.’s—Very Important Pollinators—Bees, Butterflies
(Picnic Lunch to Follow)
*All meetings (except January Meeting) are held at the Education Center at Hemlock Crossing Park. Meetings start promptly at 9:30 and end at 11 am.
Science Club
Inspired by Saint Mary and rooted in our Catholic faith, St. Mary's School fosters spiritual development, academic excellence,
responsibility to self, and service to others in order that the Gospel of Christ may be known in the world.
responsibility to self, and service to others in order that the Gospel of Christ may be known in the world.
