Good Morning JK Parents!
Hooray for Apples and Johnny Appleseed! We began our week by reading stories about Johnny Appleseed and making hats like the pot he used to carry on his head!
Math and Science:
We conducted a Sink or Float experiment, and made predictions before hand. Ask your children if an orange sinks or floats and what it looks like each time. It was so fun to hear all of the reasons they provided for each item sinking or floating. We talked about what it means to be a scientist. We are all scientists, because we observe, we wonder, we ask questions, and we test our ideas to see if they are correct.
We are studying the life cycle of an apple, and acted each stage out as we began from seeds and sprouted, then turned into saplings, then blossoms, pollination, fruit, and seeds again!
We counted, measured and cooked applesauce! We talked about the parts of the apple we use-the flesh, and all of the different things we make from apples! They also learned, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away!"
We all tasted red, yellow and green apples and recorded descriptive words while tasting each, using each of our five senses to enjoy each bite of each color. "Super Super Yummy, crunchy, sour (maybe the lemon juice we added to keep them from browning!), sweet, smooth, delicious, sooo good!".
We also had apple cider! Someone said, "it tastes like orange juice!". :).
Literacy:
We are practicing writing our letters starting from the top, and are stamping each, tracing, and then writing free hand.
If your child is still at the development stage and it's difficult for them to apply pressure when writing or even tricky holding a writing utensil, get them a hole punch and have them makes tons of holes in paper! It's amazing for building those hand -fine muscles.
We are reading many fiction and non-fiction books about apples. We also read the story of the little red house with no doors or windows and a star inside. We cut an apple (horizontally) to reveal the star inside and the children loved it!
Mr. Bailey read Ten Apples Up On Top and we colored our favorite apples on top of heads to make posters with our ten apples! The children practiced writing their numbers on each apple, and adding details to make their person look just like them. They worked on their scissor skills again as they cut out a picture of Ten Apples Up On Top and added it to their posters. We practiced walking while balancing apples on our heads. It's so difficult but we had many children who took at least 5 steps with an apple "up on top"!
Fine Motor:
We put together puzzles of the Apple Life Cycle and used glue sticks to place them on paper. Art class was using pastels on photos of themselves to make colorful and interesting additions to their "self portraits"! These will all be part of an art portfolio we are keeping safe.
We painted with apples, on apple cut outs, using water colors, dot markers, and tempera paint!
Social/Emotional:
Each day we practice our Thankful Poem, waiting until each person has named something they are thankful for before we have snack and lunch. It's a great way to teach patience and awareness of others as they wait their turn and even though their food is in front of them, they listen to their friends and think about the things for which they are thankful. There are many things we're thankful for, we can find them near and far, there are many things we're thankful for, here are some of what they are... In case they want to practice this at home too! I love hearing about all of the things they are thankful for, including their moms and dads, sisters, brothers, water bottles, cotton candy, their teachers, etc.!
