Friday, September 26, 2014

Last Weeks Learning - September 22-26



Last Week’s Learning Discoveries

September 22-26

HAPPY AUTUMN
 

Last week RES Preschool Scholars were involved in a wide variety of PATTERNING activities aimed at developing number recognition, sequencing, and one to one correspondence.  Preschoolers are beginning to recognize, describe, reproduce, extend, create and compare repeating patterns. Young MATHEMATICIANS benefit from being involved with concrete materials (things they can touch and see) to develop  pre-math skills. Please encourage your child to be on the lookout for everyday household objects to reinforce patterning skills in the home setting! PATTERNS are EVERYWHERE!

 
     


We wrote a letter to Mr. Berry asking him if he could identify a SIMPLE  PATTERN we had created and he replied via a video clip!  The scholars giggled with delight  as they watched  the video and realized they had TRICKED him! Mr. Berry got half of the pattern right; he identified the PATTERN as WIDE… SKINNY… WIDE… SKINNY,
however the PATTERN was... WIDE...NARROW…WIDE...NARROW…!
NARROW IS THE OPPOSITE OF WIDE!
Another word for NARROW is SLENDER!
Click below to access Mr. Berry’s Response:
Click the link below to access our Response:
 
 
Preschoolers continually add new vocabulary to their everyday conversations… so when challenged by a Preschool Scholar, THINK BIG... (BIG IDEAS, BIG WORDS and BIG THINKING)! :)
BUTTERFLIES EMERGE!
Over the past three weeks, current Preschoolers and Kindergarten, First and Second grade Preschool Alumni have participated in a morning routine of observing our butterfly HABITAT! Scholars have patiently awaited the birth of new monarch butterflies. When the first monarch made her way out the chrysalis, student’s instantly wanted to the name the GIRL butterfly! The birth name was quickly decided upon…


                                 FLUTTER BUTTERCUP BUTTERFLY
                                                         



                                         THE “ALL JAR” FOR PRESCHOOL ALL STARS!

THIS WEEK PRESCHOOL SCHOLARS RECEIVED JEWELS FOR THE FOLLOWING RES EXPECTATIONS;
  • RESPECT YOURSELF
  • RESPECT OTHERS
  • RESPECT YOUR ENVIRONMENT.
EACH TIME OUR GROUP OF RESPECTFUL PRESCHOOLERS, (NOT ONE,
 NOT SOME, BUT ALL) SHOW EXPECTED BEHAVIOR; A JEWEL  IS
COLLECTED IN THE “ALL JAR”. WHEN THE “ALL JAR” IS FULL, JEWELS  
WILL BE SORTED, COUNTED AND EQUALLY DIVIDED INTO INDIVIDUAL  
STUDENT BAGS! JEWELS WILL THEN GO HOME WITH STUDENTS!
PRESCHOOL SCHOLARS WILL ALSO LIGHT ONE RES LIGHT BULB FOUND
IN THE SCHOOL LOBBY! THIS WILL ASSIST OUR FELLOW  STUDENTS
WITH THEIR SCHOOL WIDE MISSION TO LIGHT “RES LIGHT BULBS”!
 
Round and Round We GO!
Cause and Effect
Our scholars are naturally curious. They are continually intrigued by cause-and-effect experiences and delight in being surprised.

With the start of autumn this week, round shapes (Spheres) can be found on every corner of our town! Pumpkins, apples, acorns and wild grapes line the roadsides and provide endless learning possibilities.
After sorting a variety of round objects into two groups;
                         1. round globe shapes (Spheres) and
                         2.flattened round shapes (Disks)




Mathematicians transformed into Scientists and made violet paint with wild grapes! Using Mortars (cups) and Pestles (wooden dowels) scholars pressed round, grapes into flat grapes and later spread their homemade, vibrant paint onto paper plates. Magically first name initial letters appeared on the paper plates as the paper plate absorbed the purple paint! SADIE and KAYDEN  closely examine their magic potion!  
 
  
    
SAMANTHA and NATANA celebrated the positive results of their experiment  by  saying,
“LOOK WE MADE MAGIC, WE SEE OUR NAMES!”



The ORANGE SPHERE GAME


Scholars passed and received an orange as the sang the chant;
The Orange Sphere goes round and round,
You pass it quickly, or you’ll be bound, to be the one, to hold it last, the game has ended and you are O...  U...  T...  OUT!
(Being OUT is a desirable thing...Scholars get to sit in the CENTER of the CIRCLE! until everyone is OUT!
  


Later… NASH, JULIAUNA and BEN play the ORANGE SPHERE GAME OUTSIDE!
 



TYRELLE and BRAYDEN work together to create
a CIRCLE gully with sand!





Symmetrical Butterflies
MATCHING HALVES… The Same On Both Sides
1-2-3
                 FIRST, add paint to one half of the Butterfly

 THEN, fold the Butterfly in half and rub on top of the paper

FINALLY… SYMMETRICAL BUTTERFLIES!
 
 
                 Next Week’s Learning
September 29 - October 3
APPLE DISCOVERIES
Featured BOOK, TEN APPLES UP ON TOP  


BALANCING APPLE BEAN BAGS
Can you walk with an Apple Bean Bag Balanced on your head?
Can you jump with an Apple Bean Bag Balanced on your head?


MANY RED APPLES
Many red apples high in a tree,
Safely hiding where no one can see.
I shook that tree as hard as I could,
Down came the apples and MMM they were good!


Discussing the color,(yellow, red and green),
and taste of apples


Graphing APPLES
OUR APPLE TASTE TEST...
WHICH APPLE DO LIKE THE BEST,
RED, YELLOW or GREEN?
THE APPLE HOUSE STORY
DISSECTING APPLES
Identifying the Pulp, Peel, Seeds, Star and Core



REMINDERS and WISH LIST


We will be scheduling Parent Teacher Conferences in the next few weeks. A sign up form will be sent home in your child’s Home School Folder. We look forward to meeting with you to discuss your child’s transition from home to school and his/her social emotional development.


Over the next few weeks, we are planning a variety of APPLE activities and are looking for APPLE donations. Please let us know if you can assist us!
We are also looking for the following items to be used for upcoming projects;


FLOUR
SALT
TWO JARS OF SUNBUTTER
A BAG OF DRIED CRANBERRIES
A BAG OF FRESH CRANBERRIES
A BOX OF SANDWICH BAGGIES (Gallon and Quart)
HONEY
package of paper plates
2 packages of 9 oz clear disposable cups

                  THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUAL SUPPORT!

Friday, September 19, 2014

Last Weeks Learning - September 15th-19th


Last Week’s Learning
September 15-19
“Look deep, deep into nature and then you will understand
everything better.” Albert Einstein
Einstein’s quote best describes last week’s learning in the RES preschool classrooms! With autumn quickly approaching, treasures from our outside world are plentiful! Our young scientists connected with various raw materials from mother nature as they learned new vocabulary, completed experiments, and made observations/predictions and PATTERNS!
  • Mathematicians also noticed and created PATTERNS by creating BOY, GIRL PATTERNS, and WIDE/NARROW Rectangle PATTERNS! PATTERNS are everywhere, on our clothes, in our classroom and can be found outside on the playground!

  • The Alphabet Train is also in full operation! Passengers boarded the train and chugged off to Florida! Upon arriving in the warm climate, state SAM announced,”Hey we can’t stay here our passengers have hats and scarves,they will be too hot! Let’s get out of town and go somewhere cold!” All 26 passengers quickly departed to the North Pole!



  • BEN uses his strong fingers and pretends his fingers are a bird’s beak as he DISSECTS SEEDS FROM A SUNFLOWER BLOSSOM.
  

  • Scholars used scissors to snip the HORSETAILS into beads.  Can you find the PATTERN on the HORSETAILS?



  • HORSETAILS are HOLLOW and can be used to make many things…
     
                   

  • Scholars KNEADED and rolled CLAY into a ROUND ball.  Next preschoolers rolled the clay balls flat. The clay worked as “glue” and held nature treasures in place.  

 

  • DIFFUSION; TO FLOW, MOVE or SPREAD OUT

EXPERIMENT DIRECTIONS:
1. Add lines and curves to a coffee filter
2. Mist water onto the line design and coffee filter
3. Observe colors spreading and moving…DIFFUSION!
                                                   

Before Water            After Water


  • Sculpting Green Jelly Bean CHRYSALISES.
First make an OVAL shape and then poke a hole in it!
   

THANK YOU For attending our Open House and Supporting your Child’s Learning!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES TO TYRELLE!  Thank you for bringing in fruit skewers to share with your friends!



NEXT WEEK’S LEARNING
September 22nd - 26th

AUTUMN ARRIVES!

CIRCLE and SQUARE
Close my eyes shut them tight.
Make a circle with my right.
Keep them shut; make it fair.
With my other hand draw a square.

EXPLORING CIRCLES!
Comparing, Sorting, and Matching buttons, Pasta Beads, and Straws
CIRCLE CHART
What has a ROUND shape?

SYMMETRICAL Butterflies
Butterflies will EMERGE from CHRYSALISES and we are predicting TWO boys and TWO girls.


FEATURED BOOKS:
WHEEL AWAY By Dayle Ann Dodds

New Vocabulary: SPHERE and DISK