12-15-11

Check out the question on our morning message........

We changed Friendly Frog's outfit today to get him ready for Winter.

 We had a special visitor today.....Mr. Vorenberg.  He read us our sound of the week story the "silly way".

 Adrianna and Anna work together putting in the number tiles from 1 to 100.

 We decorated our "V" with vikings!

12-14-11

STAR OF THE WEEK~

 Today we learned more about our friend, Alek!  Alek's favorite colors are pink and purple; favorite restaurant is Chipotle; and favorite place to visit is the beach.  Alek shared photos with us and also a special doll (Sidney) that belongs to her.  Thank you for helping us get to know you better, Alek!

VOLCANOES~

Today we read a story about volcanoes and learned that the opening at the top of a volcano is called a crater or a vent.  Volcanoes erupt when there is too much pressure in the inside of the volcano (the crust of the Earth).  The hot liquid that erupts from the volcano is lava.  The lava hardens (changes from a liquid to a solid) when it cools.

 Following the story, we took the volcano we made to simulate what happens when a volcano erupts.

 First, we put baking soda in the bowl.

 Next, we added some red food coloring to the baking soda to make it look like the color of lava.

 Finally, we added white vinegar to the bowl which reacted with the baking soda creating an "eruption".

 When we added some liquid dishwashing detergent, there were even more bubbles and they lasted longer.

12-13-11

SPANISH CLASS~

In today's Spanish class, Senora read the holiday story in the photo below.  Then, each child made his/her own pinata--including filling it with some candy.  

 FREE CHOICE~

During today's Free Choice, we made a volcano out of clay.  Tomorrow, we will do an experiment with our volcano to simulate an eruption.  Stay tuned!

 Sophie and Cooper work together to make one of the magnet mosaic pictures.

 Christina and Lauren join Sophie to do another magnet mosaic picture.

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SOPHIE!~

We helped Sophie celebrate her December birthday.  Sophie's mom read the story, Angelina's Birthday, and then we enjoyed eating Timbits for Sophie's birthday treat!

 HANUKKAH~

Today we learned more about another holiday that uses lights in its celebration--Hanukkah.  We learned the story of how Hanukkah began; the menorah and how it is lit; the Dreidel game; and we got to eat yummy latkes.  Thank you to Sophie's mom and Jake's mom for teaching us about Hanukkah today!

12-12-11

Today we read a story about Kwanzaa and learned how they use candles in their celebration. 

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Check out what we used to decorate our letter "Z"~zebra stripes!

To review our knowledge of primary and secondary colors, we completed the page in the photo below.  Children even used their inventive spelling to write the words orange, purple, and green. Your child is bringing home this page in his/her blue folder today.

 Today we read the story, Zomo The Rabbit.  Ask your child the following questions about the story...

~What did Zomo ask Sky God for?

~What 3 things did Zomo have to get for Sky God?

~How did Zomo get the scales of Big Fish?

~How did Zomo get the milk from Wild Cow?

~How did Zomo get the tooth of Leopard?

12-8-11

Z is FOR ZOO!~

Today we read a great zoo story that also discussed animal's habitats.  Children were then asked to spell the word Zoo and draw 3 zoo animals.  Children were assisted in spelling the names of their animal drawings using inventive (phonetic spelling).

ZERO THE HERO DAY!~

Today we celebrated our 70th day of school.  Jack and his parents brought in peace signs for us to decorate.  The peace sign is in the shape of a zero and went along with our recent lessons and discussions on peace.  Thank you for a great activity!

12-7-11

WINTER WEATHER~

It's official!  We saw our first snow when looking outside our classroom window today.  Of course, we had to mark our weather with a snowflake sticker.  It was a sad day for Mrs. Spolter!

 HOLIDAYS WITH LIGHTS~

Today we brainstormed and discussed different holidays and celebrations that use lights and candles.  The children came up with....Halloween, Fourth of July, Christmas, Hanukkah, Birthdays, and New Year's Eve.  We then read a story called, Many Ways and our Weekly Reader to reinforce that people celebrate different holidays in different ways.

PICTURES OF PEACE

As a follow-up to our story about Peace from yesterday, each Pre-K child drew a "practice" picture of what he/she thinks Peace is.  We then met with our second grade buddies and put our ideas onto a white cloth square.  These squares will be put together into a quilt.  The quilts will be on display for our holiday gathering next Thursday, December 15th at 2:00.  Below is a slide show of your child's practice picture of "Peace".  Be sure to ask your child to explain his/her picture of Peace to you!

PICTURES OF PEACE

PEACE PICTURES - slideshow with music

12-6-11

STAR OF THE WEEK~CHRISTINA

Today we learned more about our friend, Christina.  Here are some of her favorite things....favorite colors:  pink and purple;  favorite dessert:  ice cream;  and favorite restaurant:  Skyline Chili!  Thank you for sharing your photos and telling us some of your favorite things, Christina!

 FREE CHOICE~

Anna fills up the triangle tray with pattern block shapes.  And then.......

 ...Cooper fills the tray a different way.

The "Peace Rose" in action!