We have been discovering or re-discovering the wonders of Dr. Seuss this past week. The children have also been preparing for Palio, which will take place next Wednesday at 8:45 am in the gym. This Friday, March 10th will be an 11:30 am early dismissal day. EDP will be available so just let us know if your child will be staying all day.
Center Time:
Literacy: The children have written about what they would do if Thing 1, Thing 2 and the Cat in the Hat visited their house. They used the phonetic spelling of words as they sounded them out to make words. Their ability to identify the beginning and ending sound is wonderful at this developmental age/stage. If they are able to identify some of the middle vowel sounds, they are learning the skills many children do not master until Kindergarten and beyond. I am extremely proud of their progress and the stages at which they are currently learning. Seeing their excitement when they name a letter sound and are then able to write it by themselves is rewarding to experience, and a joy to see. Our reading groups continue to advance as we move through our leveled reading books and introduce reading strategies.
Math: We have been playing a measuring game using non-standard units of measure (colored cubes) to measure different insects or items. This allows them to also practice their counting and one-to-one correspondence.
Science: Chef Swaby visited the classroom and led us through a dessert demonstration, creating whipped cream with chocolate ganache to then pipe onto cookies...changing the cream from a liquid to a semi-solid. The children were as silent as mice as they watched with wide eyes and then sampled the delicious filling. It was lovely to share the talents of one of our parents. Please consider yourselves invited if there is anything you would like to share with us! The children love having guests and getting to know their friend's parents!
Fine Motor: We continue to refine our writing skills in our sign in each day, as the letters become more uniform in size, the spacing becomes closer and to scale, and the specific formation becomes more natural and requires less effort. Our play dough time, using tongs and tweezers while at the sensory table, picking up items and sorting them, etc. all assist these fine motor skills to be refined. The "Handwriting Without Tears" program has specific language we use to instruct, by letting then know an "A" is a long line, long line, short line. We also encourage all strokes to begin from the top and move downward. Some letters require "jumpy frog", so begin with the initial stroke (such as the letter "p") and then "jump back up" to the starting point to continue the loop around.
We practiced our scissor skills in a scissor center, carefully cutting zig-zag, curvy and straight lines. We completed our calendars for March by cutting out gold coins for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. This also provided an opportunity to discuss the order of the colors of the rainbow and the reminder of ROYGBIV.
We enjoyed green scrambled eggs and ham, and danced around in PJ's, celebrating the accomplishments of the class along with the birthday of Dr. Seuss.
We have one more week before spring break, and then will be off for the last two weeks of March. EDP will be available for the first week. It hardly seems possible that it will be April when we return. What a fast moving and dynamic year we are having!
Warm thoughts as we head into St. Patrick's Day celebrations this weekend with the downtown parade. The weather is calling for snow, but for now, I am enjoying the 57 degree day and sunshine. My daughter will be one of the dancers with Trinity Irish Dance Company in the parade (noon start time!). I will be following behind with the booster club, so look for us if you make it downtown on Saturday! She will also be dancing at a few places in Evanston next Saturday. I'll pass those along as well if you want to bring the kiddos to watch. It's always fun and inspiring to see all of the talented dancers.
Mrs. Massey
