Happy November
As we begin a month renowned for giving thanks, we must say how truly fortunate we are to be teaching such wonderful groups of children. They are bright, creative, curious, thoughtful, and open!
As we begin a month renowned for giving thanks, we must say how truly fortunate we are to be teaching such wonderful groups of children. They are bright, creative, curious, thoughtful, and open!
Scholars have been busy developing friendships and the feel in our classroom is a caring learning community. We begin each day with Morning Meeting, a fifteen-twenty minute gathering during which we practice academic skills as well as important social skills such as listening, speaking, problem solving, and group participation. There are several parts to morning meeting: greeting, sharing, group activity, and introduction of the daily project or activity. Morning Meeting is a wonderful part of our day. Please remember to have your scholar to school prior to 7:50.
During the month of October, our outdoor and indoor environments provided us with numerous opportunities to
"DO WHAT SCIENTISTS DO”:
OBSERVE,EXPERIMENT,RECORD, EXPLAIN, PREDICT, and CONCLUDE. Mother Nature provided us with many BRIGHT autumn days filled with treasures such as leaves, pine cones, acorns, apples,cranberries and pumpkins!
This week, scholars will revisit the concept of EVAPORATION and create an applesauce/cinnamon dough bead GARLAND which will hang in our classroom. Preschoolers will also complete a mural of Camel’s Hump using secondary colors! The bright and beautiful replica of one of Vermont’s landscapes will provide the preschoolers with “HARD WORK” (cutting and glueing hundreds of pieces of paper) while practicing/strengthening fine motor skills. Next week, Vincent Van Gogh's famous painting, Starry Night, will also inspire us to experiment with the concepts of ABSORB and RESIST while at the same time discuss things you might see in the sky at night; bats, a full or crescent moon, rocket ships, airplanes, stars, fireflies, ghosts, owls and planets. Masterpieces will be on display in our classroom throughout the month of November.
JACK FROST HAS ARRIVED
The weather outside on our playground has been chilly and damp. Shorter days, longer nights and colder temperatures will force us to wear warmer clothes. Buttoning, snapping, zipping, and tying will provide us with many opportunities to practice self help skills. Please send mittens and hats with your child and remind them to tuck these items into the sleeve of their jacket upon arrival. This will assist us in dressing for outdoor time. ALSO, PLEASE LABEL BOOTS AND WINTER GEAR! Most boots and snow pants look alike and can cause much confusion when identifying personal belongings.
FAMILIES; PEOPLE CARING ABOUT ONE ANOTHER
We will continue to discuss autumn happenings and celebrate the
bounty of the earth throughout the month of November. A few
projects will include experimenting with corn,sorting and counting
nuts, and preparing candied orange peel. As Thanksgiving approaches,
our social studies curriculum will focus on friends and family. We will
read a variety of books that will compare and contrast families and
feature people caring about one another! Our social studies
bounty of the earth throughout the month of November. A few
projects will include experimenting with corn,sorting and counting
nuts, and preparing candied orange peel. As Thanksgiving approaches,
our social studies curriculum will focus on friends and family. We will
read a variety of books that will compare and contrast families and
feature people caring about one another! Our social studies
explorations will also take us to distant lands. The children will
begin to understand that people live in different ways all over the
world as we read stories that take place in the United States,
Alaska and Tanzania.
begin to understand that people live in different ways all over the
world as we read stories that take place in the United States,
Alaska and Tanzania.
Last Weeks Learning
OCTOBER 27th-31st
Last week preschoolers worked hard to create their very own AUTUMN LANTERNS! Our project had many different steps and our final product (glowing LANTERNS) were festive and magical!
STEP 1: First we spread glue all over the SURFACE of our balloon. NEXT we lay our first layer of tissue paper down.
STEP 2: Once our first layer of tissue paper is dry - we apply a second and third layer to make certain our lanterns are STURDY! Preschoolers were sure to ROTATE their balloon, so that every part was covered in colorful tissue paper!
STEP 3: When our work is dry, we DEFLATE each balloon! And what do you think happens? Our paper-mache lanterns are molded to the shape of the balloons- they are ROUND (a SPHERE)! The last thing we must do is add a HANDLE and so that we are able to carry it, and place a CANDLE inside (HANDLE and CANDLE RHYME)! Our finished product - Beautiful glowing lanterns!
Preschool scholars celebrated their hard work by putting on a parade throughout the hallways of RES! We made a short stop at our front office to perform a quick concert to Mr. Berry and a few other RES Staff members!
Be sure to check out a clip of our afternoon preschool class marching in their parade!
A VERY SPECIAL GUEST!
We had a special visitor stop by our classrooms this week - THE HUNGRY THING (a character based from the book The Hungry Thing written by Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler)! This ‘creature’ came into our classrooms with a gigantic APPETITE - and a sign that read “FEED ME” hanging around his neck! Upon asking The Hungry Thing what he might like to eat, he shared with preschool scholars that he loved to eat FRUITS and VEGETABLES the most! Throughout the week, preschoolers brainstormed what HEALTHY foods we might be able to feed our special guest. Strawberries, grapes, cucumbers, apples, tomatoes, and pineapples were just a few of the many wonderful ideas preschoolers thought might help The Hungry Thing grow a strong healthy body of his own.
You would like to eat what?!..
Scholars had to put their thinking caps on this week, and practice their rhyming skills! Not long after our guest arrived, did we figure out that he spoke in RHYME! Each and every thing The Hungry Thing asked for, our preschoolers had to work together to decipher.
“I would like some MAPES please!” Some mapes? Preschoolers had never heard of mapes - but GRAPES - that was a delicious fruit they knew! Our guest continued to ask for: Fettuce (Lettuce), Tucchini (Zucchini), Zoranges (Oranges), and much, much more!
By the end of the week, our visitor no longer had an appetite. He was so full from eating so many healthy fruits and vegetables! He was sure to thank his newest friends for everything they had done for him before he set off on his next RHYMING adventure!
Next Week’s Learning
November 3-7
NEW VOCABULARY
circumference/jack-o-lantern
PUMPKIN INVESTIGATIONS
How many creases (lines) does a pumpkin have?
Do smaller pumpkins have fewer creases than bigger pumpkins?
Will a pumpkin float or sink?
What is inside a pumpkin?
VERMONT AUTUMN BANNER
VERMONT’S PURPLE MOUNTAIN MAJESTY
Creating Camel’s Hump using secondary colors
PINECONE OWLS
Creating Silent Fliers
FEATURED BOOK: OWL BABIES by Martin Waddell
Highlighted Vocabulary: OWLET, NOCTURNAL
BROWN OWL
BROWN OWL, BROWN OWL, WHO, WHO, WHO
BROWN OWL, BROWN OWL, WHO, WHO, WHO
FIRST I SEE YOU SITTING IN A TREE
THEN YOU FLY AND GO WHO, WHO AT ME.
BROWN OWL, BROWN OWL, WHO, WHO, WHO
GLOWING PUMPKINS
Pumpkins with Golf Tees and Wooden Hammers
PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN ROUND AND FAT,
TURN INTO A JACK-O-LANTERN JUST LIKE THAT!
“TAP, TAP, TAP, TURN, TWIST AND PULL!”
Cinnamon Playdough Garland
Creating Beads using Cinnamon Playdough
Cinnamon Playdough Recipe
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups ground cinnamon
1 cup applesauce (store bought works best)
1/3 cup white school glue
MIX AND KNEAD the above ingredients and use dough to shape countless shapes!
REMINDERS
Preschool classes will be cancelled November 24th - 28th for
Thanksgiving recess.
Thanksgiving recess.
Please send two books to school for the month of November!
If you have access to small,chunky pinecones, we are looking for donations for
upcoming projects!
upcoming projects!
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