Hi JK parents!

This week we have been finishing our Dr. Seuss theme and reviewing many of our skills we have been working on all year.  Thank you for building an outstanding Cat in the Hat's Hat!  I love to see the books they are reading with you at night!

Literacy:
We wrote stories about leprechauns, and labeled them using inventive spelling.  I loved their amazing adventures they shared, about the sneaky leprechauns they caught at their house and the gold and chocolate coins they were given.  We have been reading with the children individually and in pairs this week, working on letter hunts, locating words that begin with certain blends, and stretching out words to hear each letter sound or digraph/blend.  We are working on last names and some of the children are adding their middle names along with other things like their street name.  We have been working in our Word Books.  It's fun to make lists of words that all begin with the same letter and/or sound.  It's still difficult to decipher each sound as they write their words, along with learning some of the short and long vowel rules.

Math & Science:
We are adding more borax to our crystals to help them grow a bit bigger.  We are locating shapes around the classroom and school and adding the sphere to our 3D shapes we have learned.  We are using stories to create word problems as a class to work on our simple subtraction and addition.

We played "Find the Chip" behind the numbers, as well Numbers Bingo.   The children practiced writing each number from 1-30 as we played Bingo.

Fine Arts:
The children completed their March self portraits, paying special attention to their facial features.  We also discussed the placement of the eyes and how they are not in the middle of the forehead but actually halfway down on your face.  We measured faces to show the children how their own eyes are in the middle of their heads.  We are watercoloring on different surfaces/kinds of paper.

The children completed April calendars, as it will be April 8th when we come back from Spring Break!

They had Palio practice in the gym Monday for the big performance they presented Wednesday.  I am so proud of their bravery to try new things and how they have all grown in their gross motor abilities.

They all loved Palio and were excited to share this fun day with their family, friends, babysitter, or/and the big kids!  They loved watching the banner being passed to the K-kids!  It's such a sweet tradition.  I was tearing up!  Many of the exercises encourage literacy!  Crossing the midline, using left/right brain!  When children skip they read.  It's amazing.  The Greeks had it figured out...regarding how related and important the body and mind connection is.

We are learning weather words in French!  The children have been working on learning the French words for rain, snow, sun, cloud, wind, and speaking phrases to answer questions about our current weather.

We talked more about being a good friend, and learned how to properly shake hands making the webs meet.  I also demonstrated the "dead fish" handshake, so they could feel how creepy it is compared to the proper way to shake hands.

Have a lovely break, and feel free to email stories or pics of all of the fun you are having!

Ms. Massey

Hi JK parents!

We are still going strong with Dr. Seuss leading the way!  We will transition over to St. Patrick's Day this week, and then get ready for our last week before spring break.

Literacy:
Our third grade reading buddies came to read with us.  The children loved spending time with their older friends, making pictures and just hanging out.  We are working on more of our blends and popcorn words in reading groups, along with letter sounds from the vowels as we practice both the long and short vowels.

 We all practiced cracking eggs!

We made green eggs and ham and watched the video Green Eggs and Ham with the Kindergarten class.  We also read the story in our classroom.  We love to cook in JK!

 We had an amazing parent photograph all of the children!  

 Julia is doing her P3 project in JK, and she helped the children engineer and complete our leprechaun trap!

Fine Motor:
We began our week by decorating Gertrude McFuzz with feathers and labeling words from the story.  We also discussed "How much is too much?".  Gertrude eats so many berries to grow beautiful feathers that she can no longer fly!  They each talked about how many berries they would eat, and how beautiful we are all with different beautiful "things" (some inside and some outside). 

We decorated shamrocks and made rainbow water color paintings with coffee filters.  We talked about the color wheel and which primary colors combine to make other colors.

The Lorax puppet show!  

Math & Science & Engineering):
We are working on white boards and lined writing paper to practice writing our numbers using all sorts of different supplies!  We are combining sets of objects to create a larger set.  We are ordering things from smallest to largest.

K-class visit to celebrate Green Eggs and Ham!

Julia, our older friend, helped the children engineer our leprechaun trap.  The pulley used a cup which when raised lowered a shade to trap the little guy.  The children decorated the trap to look like a house!

We recounted as a class and around our circle to 100, along with grouping and counting our 100 day items by 10's.  Each child presented again their project (if they haven't already taken home) and we all loved hearing about who helped them put it together and helped them count out 100!

We are in the process of making crystals on shamrocks, and have talked about the way the crystals form much like a snowflake.

We also tested a chemical reaction using vinegar (our acid) and a base of baking soda.  We exploded a magical pot of Leprechaun soup, full of green and gold glitter.  We talked about chemicals and the reactions by combining two different substances.

The children danced to Irish music and loved it!  They learned about St. Patrick's Day and some of the traditions.

Have a lovely St. Patrick's Day weekend!  If you are at the downtown (Chicago) or North Side parades, look for me (and Lila) with the Trinity Irish Dancers!

Ms. Massey