Hi JK Parents!
We had an amazing Pajama Party! Thank you for the treats/special snacks! The students completed a guided drawing of a pig and then painted it with water colors. They are so cute and are hanging outside our classroom if you get a chance to stop by at pick up. We watched a bit of Charlotte's Web, had a dance party, and played some fun games.
We added farm study to our themes this week, and simulated milking a cow using plastic gloves filled with white paint. We learned all about life on a dairy farm and the work children living on a farm help their families with. The children were amazed at how long it takes to get enough milk for a bowl of cereal!
Math & Science:
The students practiced sorting and making patterns with different colored pom poms and balls. They played a game with pom poms and tweezers sorting by color as they raced against a friend to place them all first. This is an amazing skill to build those fine motor muscles. We used Tens frames to make groups of Ten.
Literacy:
We wrote a story about farm animals. Each student shared a line of the story and the next picked up from where they left off... It was amazing to see them building on their classmate's ideas as the story unfolded. We talked about descriptive words and making sure you have a beginning, middle and end to all stories. The children acted out the story as the different animal characters. They created their own masks earlier in the day by coloring animal faces and loved acting in their self made costume masks.
A couple of our Literacy Centers this week included beginning, middle and ending sounds of words, and completing a secret message page by filling in the missing letter, or using cards to fill in letters.
Fine Motor:
We cut and glued animals on farm scenes along with "hay" for them to eat. We compared and contrasted zoo animals/animals that live in a jungle to animals that live on a farm. We talked about the difference between a farm and a ranch.
The children peeled stickers and placed them on farm scenes to create their own barnyard of animals. Peeling and placing stickers is another fantastic activity for fine motor skills building.
Balance beam and listening skills provide end of the day fun!
Social/Emotional:
We read Trouble in the Barkers Class, and talked about what it's like to be treated poorly by a friend and how to forgive them. We talked about things that would help us forgive the person, such as hearing them apologize while looking you in the eye, and asking what they can do to help you feel better.
We read Goodbye Mouse and talked about pets some students have had that died, including a dog, cat, and fish. The children talked about things that help when you are sad, like making a special book to remember the animal, or looking at pictures of them.
We have two Sheriffs and a Nurse as a part of our classroom jobs. These students help find things in the classroom that need to be put away, and help friends who are hurt. We practice displaying empathy until it becomes natural for them to pause and ask a friend if they are okay. :). It's a difficult thing to do when you are four/five, but they are all incredibly kind children.
Have a lovely weekend!
Ms. Massey & Mrs. DiSalle
