Week 16: Polar animals, Letter Y, Number 6, and White Day!

Such a fun and busy polar animal week!

Our star student of the week was David.  David is a great listener and works well with all his friends.  Good job, David!

All of the children loved learning about polar animals.  We spent Monday working on our "Mitten" project.  Wednesday was devoted to all things penguins.  On Friday, we learned all about polar bears.

Wednesday was white day.  We had a great white day snack of frosting on graham crackers.  The kids loved it!

One of my favorite science experiments of the year is our blubber experiment.  The children started by touching and holding a big chunk of ice.  They are always shocked at just how cold it is in their hands.  Then they put on "blubber" mittens.  They are made with Crisco inside of Ziploc bags.  This time when they touched the ice, it didn't feel nearly as cold.  This is how animals like polar bears can survive in the arctic.  Their blubber keeps them nice and warm.  I love seeing little light bulbs of understanding!

We also put salt on one of the ice blocks and didn't put any on the other one.  After discussing that the big snow plows and sometimes our moms and dads put salt on the road and driveway, we discovered why!  The salt melts the snow, putting holes into it.  Another great discovery!  Here we are feeling the difference between the smooth no-salt ice and the bumpy salt ice.

It has been too cold to play outside.  But, that doesn't mean we don't have a lot of fun in the gym!  On Friday, we brought hula hoops with us.  Ms. Donna threw the hula hoops and the kids would run and chase after them.  Check out the video!

Here is our class newsletter of the week.  Very excited about our teddy bear picnic next week!  See you all soon!

Week 15: Snow and the Letter W

A week about snow with no snow anywhere in sight!  Pretty silly!

Our star student this week was Angelica.  Angelica has been working hard on writing her name and she is doing great! Good work, Angelica!

All in a day at preschool!  Here are many pictures from our snow week.

After finishing their journals, they each get to choose a book to read while waiting for their friends. 

Playing with the farm animals.  This is a favorite for our class!

Rescuing the polar animals from the "snow" using tweezers.  Great fine motor practice!

Making a 5 senses snowman. They are on the bulletin board outside our classroom.
Can you find all five senses?

Decorating snowflakes for the bulletin board inside our classroom.
 

Practicing our letter of the week: W!

Here is our class newsletter for the week.  Once/If we have snow, we will do some additional snow experiments.  Gotta love Chicago weather!

Week Fourteen: The Nativity and Number 5

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Our star student this week was Hannah.  Hannah is kind to her friends and uses nice words like please and thank you.  Good job, Hannah!

What a lovely Christmas party!  The kids had a great time singing for all of you, eating snack together, and making a beautiful ornament.  Spending even a few minutes with your little one is so special for them.  Thank you all for coming.

Here are some highlights from our party, including a video of Jingle Bells.

Here is our class newsletter from the week and our January snack calendar.  See you on Wednesday January 4th!

Week Thirteen: Gifts and Letter U

Christmas time is here!

Our star student this week was Claudia.  Claudia does a great job walking quietly in the halls.  Good work, Claudia!

We had a very special visitor on Wednesday...St. Nicholas!  We got to hear the true story of St. Nicholas, and we even got some candy in our shoes.  Thank you for visiting us, St. Nick!

We learned this week about the most important gift of all, baby Jesus being born.  Pastor Brian came and talked with us about the story of Christmas and how the 3 wisemen brought Jesus gifts.  Our class wrote a list of all the gifts we would like for Christmas (which, as you can imagine was filled with Barbie this and Batman that) and then remembered again the most important gift of all.  We will continue learning about the story of Christmas next week.  Here is our new favorite toy in the classroom, our nativity.

We also got the chance to play in sugar and cinnamon candies with cooking utensils.  These tactile experiences are great for our students!  Start thinking now about what kind of fun kitchen science experiments you could try over winter break.

On Friday, we were blessed with the opportunity to sing Christmas songs for Lord of Glory's Seasoned Seniors group.  They meet at church one Friday a month for games and fellowship.  Before they started their bingo game (which one of our students did ask to join), we sang three of our favorite Christmas songs.  Don't worry...you will have a chance to hear them on Friday!  What a great moment seeing these generations interact!  I foresee a fun senior/student game time in our future.  The Seasoned Seniors group was so glad to have us, as you can see by the smiles on their faces.

Here is our classroom newsletter for the week!  Looking forward to our Christmas party on Friday at 2:15!  The students are ready to share songs, snack time, and a craft with you!  See you then!

Week Twelve: Solar System, Letter I, Number 4

Our week was out of this world!

The star student this week was Gabby.  Gabby is a good listener, during circle time and at stations.  Great work, Gabby!

Solar system week is always so much fun!  The students figure out that living too close to the sun would be very hot and too far away from the sun would be very cold.  They also learn about the planets, and especially our home, Earth.  We talk about astronauts and what it would be like to visit space.  And the fun song of the week is "Rocketship Run" by Laurie Berkner.  We love the countdown.  5, 4, 3, 2, 1  BLAST OFF!

Here is a glimpse at our stations from Wednesday.

Making planets with Ms. Donna 

A little pretend shopping with the cash register and shopping cart.

Making name rockets at Ms. Gwen's table.

Playing in the sand table.

Using a scale to weigh rocks.

On Friday, we had our first snow of the season.  The students were excited to go outside and play.

Winter time is here!  Our class is going to be very busy getting ready for Christmas in the next few weeks.  In fact, we have already started singing Christmas songs.  Here is a list of songs we have learned so far...
*Away in a Manger
*Joy to the World
*The Virgin Mary had a Baby Boy
*Baby Jesus, We Love You
*Jingle Bells
*Ten Little Angels

Here is our class newsletter for the week.  Next week, we will be learning about gifts and the letter U.