World of Color-week 1- Feb. 2-6

Monday- We will be going to the high school to watch the Italian classes performance of Carnavale.  Last week the Italian teacher from BHS came down and showed us masks the students use in their performance and teacher us a few words in Italian.
World of Color Unit
This week we will begin Unit 4,  World of Color. During this unit students will interact with colors explore topics such as color mixing, stains, fading, camouflage, and color patterns. Students will learn that color can be found in nature, that color can carry information, that paints and dyes are used to color things, colors can be mixed to make new colors and that sun and washing can make colors fade.

Books This Week

Max's Dragon Shirt 

Dog's Colorful Day

Small Groups
-Math- Patterns-We will be talking about patterns and explaining what is and what is not a pattern.  Then we will creating pattern frames for our self portraits.
-Book- We will be creating a shape book inspired by Dog's Colorful Day
-Science- Is it Colorfast? We will experiment with tissue paper to see how colors run out of the different colors of tissue paper.  Vocabulary words: colorfast, non-colorfast, absorb, dye, run, stain, tint
-Science- Will colored paper fade? We will be conducting an experiment to see how paper fades in the sun. This experiment will continue for our entire unit to compare and discuss how different colors fade in the sun. Our experiment will be in our classroom windows for us to check everyday.

Center

Blocks-Blocks
Independent Multi-Step Table: Copying AB patterns
Sensory Table- Colored Water
Dramatic Play-Laundry Sorting
Library- A variety of books about color
Art Table- Colored Bubble Painting- We will blow colored bubbles then put a white paper over it to make a print of the bubbles.
Easel- Designing Dragon Shirts
Puzzles- Puzzles
Manipulatives-  Colored Snap Cubes
Writing Center- Teacher led activity

Song, Word Play and Letters
Poems- Boom, Bang, Raindrops
Songs-Green Grass Grows All Around, Diagonal Lines
Literacy Skills- Rhyming Word Guessing Game, Interesting Sounding Words(squash, squish, splash)

Let's Talk About It
-Color Fading from washing clothes
-Color Fading from exposure to light
-Littering (related to Dog's Colorful Day)

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 1-7.
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.
Continuing to work on:
8-When an adult tells you to wait say, "Okay", and your waiting words.  (Waiting Words= "When I wait quietly, I get what I want")

We also have been working on:
"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. Ask your child to show you what this means.

Wind and Water January 26-30

Wind and Water Theme

This theme allows children explore wind and water using observations, experiments,

 and books to learn more about topics such as evaporation, weather, temperature, insulation, rain, and snow

Books this week

-The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

 -A Hat for Minerva Louise by Janet Morgan Stoeke
- Rabbits and Raindrops by Jim Arnosky

Small Groups this week

-Sequencing- We will sequence our unit book The Snowy Day.  We will look at 6 pictures and write the numbers for each picture in the sequence.
-Learning about thermometers- We will use a thermometer to observe temperature inside our school and outside our school.  We will also use a thermometer to see what the temperature is of ice water compared to room temperature water.  
-Phonemic Awareness- We will clap syllables of unit words then sort the words by one syllable through 3 syllables.  
-Insulation Experiment- We will place ice in a cooler and ice in a plate on the table.  Later in the day we will see how they are different and draw pictures to show how they are different and discuss why.
- Journal Writing- "The wind blew so hard that Gilberto was afraid. What makes you afraid?"

Center Activities

Art: Painting on wax paper (repelling surface), painting with spray bottles

Multi-step independent activity table- Sequencing building an igloo, making mittens
Sand and Water: Transferring water in hoses
Library: Exploring books
Puzzles and Manipulatives: Matching uppercase alphabet arch letters
Dramatic Play: Snow Ball Contest 
Blocks: building with blocks and animals from the book (Bringing the Rain to the Kapati Plain)

Let's Talk About It
-Understanding Feelings- Dreams
-Insulation (Pizza boxes to keep things hot/ coolers to keep things cold)
-What to do if you are frustrated (Relate to Gilberto)
-How to wait

Songs, Word Play, Letters
Songs:  Bingo using Windy and Repel words, Magic C rap song
Poems:  My Big Balloon; Mix a Pancake; Five Little Owls in an Old Elm Tree
Literacy Skills: Naming sound game and rhyming word game

Try this at home: 
-Observe signs of weather with your child.

-When you are outside ask them to look at the sky about talk about clouds, rain, wind, and storms.
-Listen to interesting sounds around.  (We listened to how water sounds when light and heavy objects fall into water). Compare the different sounds you hear.
-Freeze objects at home

Handwriting
-We will be working on our "Magic C" letters for the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum within our workbooks as well as other hands on activities.
-Literacy Groups will begin.  Our handwriting small groups in the morning will be grouped into RTI groups so children can get the support for what skills each child is working on.  Some of our classmates will stay in our room and others will be going into kinderstars classroom.  Each group will be working on different skills but working toward the common goal of literacy(letter, sounds, writing letters)

Preschool Life Skills
We are continuing to review our previous skills 1-4.
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 want something from a teacher or friend and they are doing something, say, "Excuse me" to get them to look at you."
6- "When someone is in your way or has something that you want, say"Excuse me"to get their attention, and say, "May I____" to get what you want.  
New Skill with this week: 
"When a teacher tells you to wait, say, 'Ok' and use your waiting words." (ex. When I wait quietly, I get what I want)

Anemometer Wind Experiment and Pinwheel Observations

We counted how many times the wind spun the anemometer to see how we can measure the wind.  

Anemometer Wind Experiment

Our Experiment

10:45- 5 times

10:46- 2 times

10:47 - 11 times

Our Conclusions

1.The wind was the fastest the last time we measured.

2.The wind was the slowest the second time we measured.

Then we observed the wind using pinwheels:

Pinwheel Observations

Wind and Water Unit Jan. 20-23

**No School Monday- Martin Luther King Holiday**

Wind and Water Theme

This theme allows children explore wind and water using observations, experiments,

 and books to learn more about topics such as evaporation, weather, temperature, insulation, rain, and snow

Books this week

-The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
 -A Hat for Minerva Louise by Janet Morgan Stoeke
- Rabbits and Raindrops by Jim Arnosky

Small Groups this week

-Writing- We will create books about the animals from our unit book Rabbits and Raindrops.  We will reinforce pre-writing and phonemic awareness during this activity
-Alphabet Go Fish
-Snowman Letter Books- We will look at pictures on a snowman and place the hat that has the same beginning sound on the snowman.  (K hat on the kite)
-Science- We will experiment with how water creates a variety of sounds using a variety of materials to make sounds(ie. eye dropper, cotton ball, block) We will try to come to the conclusion that heavier objects can make a louder sound. 

Center Activities

Art: Painting epsom salt to recreate the snowy day like Peter

Multi-step independent activity table- Sequencing building a snowman, Penguins that only eat /P/ sound foods
Writing: blank books with crayons and markers
Sand and Water: Ice discovery
Library: Exploring books
Puzzles and Manipulatives: Matching uppercase alphabet arch letters
Dramatic Play: LL bean store 
Blocks: building with blocks

Let's Talk About It
-Winter Equipment
-Home activity of how air moves
-Drying wet mittens
-Self Regulation

Songs, Word Play, Letters
Songs:  Bingo using Windy and Repel words, Magic C rap song
Poems:  My Big Balloon; Mix a Pancake; Five Little Owls in an Old Elm Tree
Literacy Skills: Naming sound game and rhyming word game

Try this at home: Observe signs of weather with your child.

When you are outside ask them to look at the sky about talk about clouds, rain, wind, and storms.

Handwriting
-We will be working on our "Magic C" letters for the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum within our workbooks as well as other hands on activities.
-Literacy Groups will begin.  Our handwriting small groups in the morning will be grouped into RTI groups so children can get the support for what skills each child is working on.  Some of our classmates will stay in our room and others will be going into kinderstars classroom.  Each group will be working on different skills but working toward the common goal of literacy(letter, sounds, writing letters)

Preschool Life Skills
We are continuing to review our previous skills 1-4.
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 want something from a teacher or friend and they are doing something, say, "Excuse me" to get them to look at you."
New Skill with this week: (continues)
6- "When someone is in your way or has something that you want, say"Excuse me"to get their attention, and say, "May I____" to get what you want.  

Wind and Water January 12-16

Wind and Water Theme

This theme allows children explore wind and water using observations, experiments,

 and books to learn more about topics such as evaporation, weather, temperature, insulation, rain, and snow

Books this week

-Giberto and the Wind by Marie Hall
 -One Dark Night by Hazel Hutchins
-Rabbits and Raindrops by Jim Arnosky

Small Groups this week

-Phonemic Awareness- We will be focusing on the beginning sounds we hear in our unit books to create a book. 
-Science- We will be conducting experiments on a variety of materials to see if they absorb water or repel. Then we will create a chart to show our results.
-Engineering-We will be using aluminum foil to try to create boats then fill the boats with bears.  We will problem solve to change our designs to see how we can get the most bears on the boats as we can.  
-Tangram Exploration-We will be using tangrams and reinforcing concepts of corners and sides of objects.  How many corners is the shape? How many sides does the shape have?
-Science- We will experiment with how water creates a variety of sounds using a variety of materials to make sounds(ie. eye dropper, cotton ball, block) We will try to come to the conclusion that heavier objects can make a louder sound. 

Center Activities

Art: Painting-moving paint on paper blowing straw

Easel: Painting with colors from the book Gilberto and the Wind  (black, brown and and white paint)
Writing: blank books with crayons and markers
Sand and Water: water and student and teacher created sailboats
Library: Exploring books
Puzzles and Manipulatives: Matching uppercase alphabet arch letters
Dramatic Play: play clothesline and clothes pins for dramatic play
Blocks: building with blocks

Let's Talk About It
-Taking care of animals
-Animal Homes
-Effects of little rain(Kapati Plains Book)
-Times you have been afraid (ie. thunder storm)

Songs, Word Play, Letters
Songs:  Bingo using Windy and Repel words, Magic C rap song
Poems:  My Big Balloon; Mix a Pancake; Five Little Owls in an Old Elm Tree
Literacy Skills: Naming sound game and rhyming word game

Try this at home: Observe signs of weather with your child.

When you are outside ask them to look at the sky about talk about clouds, rain, wind, and storms.

Handwriting
-We will be working on our "Magic C" letters for the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum within our workbooks as well as other hands on activities.
-Literacy Groups will begin.  Our handwriting small groups in the morning will be grouped into RTI groups so children can get the support for what skills each child is working on.  Some of our classmates will stay in our room and others will be going into kinderstars classroom.  Each group will be working on different skills but working toward the common goal of literacy(letter, sounds, writing letters)

Preschool Life Skills
We are continuing to review our previous skills 1-4.
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 want something from a teacher or friend and they are doing something, say, "Excuse me" to get them to look at you."
New Skill with this week: (continues)
6- "When someone is in your way or has something that you want, say"Excuse me"to get their attention, and say, "May I____" to get what you want.