Wind and Water-Last week of unit Jan. 28- Feb 1

Classroom Happenings:
-Thank you for completing the wind and water project with your child.
-We are having a special visitor next week.  A parent who happens to be a chemist is going to come to our classroom and do an experiment with polymers.  It is to reinforce our unit concept of absorption.

To the left is our experiment of moving a fly swatter in the wind with a fan.  It moved slowly like a turtle.  To the right is a letter popping game on the touch it board.  Balloon is a unit vocabulary word and each student had to pop the right letter in the correct order from left to right. 

Unit Concepts
-We find water in different forms (liquid as rain, solid as snow, and gas as steam.
-Water can be absorbed and repelled by different materials (ie. sponge, plastic film)
-Wind affects things. Wind cannot move heavy things. Wind can make light objects move fast.
-Water comes to us in forms of rain or snow.
-Water evaporates from puddles and from things that are wet.
-Plants and animals need water to live.
-Water and wind provide opportunities for recreation.

Last week we discussed cooperation and frustration.  We talked about how the wind cooperated and frustrated Gilberto in our unit book Gilberto and the Wind.  We used pictures from the story to make a chart and described how the wind made him feel. 

Books this week

The Snowy Day

A Hat For Minerva Louise

Small Groups
Continued from last week:
-Language-Sequencing The Snowy Day- We will recall the events in our class unit book The Snowy Day.  We will cut and place pictures in order to retell the story.
-Letter Boats- We will put uppercase and lowercase letter in order
New Small Groups this week
-Drying and Reconstituting Clay-Part 2- We will observe what happened to our clay after we left it out in the air and what happened to the clay that we put in an air tight container.  We will complete our book to show our results.
- Thermometers- We will discuss thermometers and how they work. We will put one thermometer outside and one inside to compare.  We will also talk about why we need to know the temperature of things.
-Syllables of unit vocabulary- To complete our unit, we will clap out the syllables of unit words.  We will sort the words onto a chart to sort 1, 2, and 3 syllable words.
Center
Science Table- Observation Sheet to observe our 3 gerbils
Blocks-Blocks
Sensory Table- Treasures in Ice (We will put items in water then put them in the freezer. The next day we will put the ice in the sensory table to explore and "get the treasures out")
Dramatic Play-Snow Ball Toss Game
Library- A variety of books about weather
Art Table-Making Rain Sticks
Easel- Paints in colors from Rabbits and Raindrops
Puzzles- Puzzles
Manipulatives-  Iceberg animal (using arctic animals we will balance them on icebergs in trays)
Writing Center- Writing Animal words

Song, Word Play and Letters
Poems- Boom, Bang, Raindrops
Songs-Down by the Bay, Windy was the weather
Literacy Skills- Frog Jump Letters, Diving Letters, Change/ Rearrange of Words

Let's Talk About It
-Insulation- Putting ice in a cooler and putting ice on a tray- Talk about how thermos and coolers keep things hot or cold.
-Discussing Thermometers
-How to "Check" our bodies (How to sit during large group activities on the rug)
-Effects of too much rain(Bringing Rain to the Kapiti Plain)

Handwriting
-We will be working on Diagonal Line Letters. (Z, N,R, M,) We will also be singing songs related to diagonal lines.

Preschool Life Skills
We are continuing to review our previous skills 1-6.
1-When a teacher calls your name, stop, look and say, "Yes".
2-When a teacher tells you to do something, do it "Right Away".
3-When a teacher tells you to do 2 things, do it "Right Away".
4-When something is too hard, first try then say,"Can you help me please?"
5-When you something from a teacher or a friend and they are doing something, say, "Excuse me" to get them to look at you.
(6and 7 are join together)
7-When someone is in your way or has something that you want, say "Excuse me" to get their attention, and then say"May I_____?" to get what you want.
New skill:
"Checking our Body" - This is to remind us how to sit during large group activities. We will talk about how to "check" our bodies to get ready to listen.  This is a important skill as we transition into kindergarten.