Frogs

Today is the first day or our new theme unit: Frogs!

We will be discussing the life-cycle of frogs and the science behind the amazing changes they go through. We will be having a special classroom visitor to teach us first hand about frogs, a live frog!

As for the rest of the time during the week we will be focusing on:

Language Arts:

Letter: D d

Sight words: Dog, Dad

Math:

Writing the number 3

Shape recognition

Sequencing with frogs: What comes first, second, last?

Big, Bigger, Biggest and Small, Smaller, Smallest

Science:

Life-Cycle of a Frog

Growing Water Blob

Vocabulary: Amphibian, Life-Cycle, Egg, Tadpole, Frog

Technology:

Letter "D" book

Raz Kids

Ipad frog game

P.E:

Frog Pond

Art:

Ms. Talen will have an amazing frog activity for us to help expand on our theme.

This week will be very busy and fun for the kiddos. It's always exciting to learn about something as interesting as frogs!

All About Japan

Last week we kicked off our new theme unit Japan. 

We have been learning all about a new and exiting culture by practicing counting in Japanese, learning about Japanese holidays and creating traditional Japanese art. This week we will continue to explore the country and culture of Japan.

Our classroom is starting to look really festive:

Cat in the Hat dressed up as a Geisha with our handmade fans.

Japanese flags and maps

Cherry blossom paintings and fish kites.

For the academic portions of the day we are working on the following:

Language Arts:

Letter C

Sight words:

go 

up

I

my

cat

Math:

Number recognition

Writing numbers 0-2

Patterns

Technology:

Letter C book from Raz Kids

Science:

Does it sink or float?

Focusing on vocabulary words: Hypothesis, experiment, result

P.E.

Team work

Playing together to win!

Art:

Traditional Japanese crafts

We have been trying hard to get homework packets sent home every Wednesday, but unfortunately that is not always the case. Last week I sent home a big packet for review of what we talked about in September. Please review the sight words with your kiddos as we are continuing to add more from the list I sent home every week. They are doing amazing with them, and I have been surprised at how fast they have taken to reading!

Family!

This week was the kickoff to our second unit of the school year: Family! During the first two weeks we were able to learn all about your kiddos and get them back into the school routine. This week we are building on the relationships we have built with the kids and discussing their families. We will be talking about our extensive family tree's, our pets, our homes, and our siblings. 

Playing Family in the Home Center

The letter of the week is: B

Please check your folders for some extra weekend writing practice. Have your child point out "B's" in their daily lives, you will be surprised at how well they truly recognize their letters! I know I was!

Learning how to write B's. Always start at the Top!

Practicing our handwriting.

 This week is also the first week we have introduced "sight words." 

The word of the week is go.

Each morning we practice a little chant at carpet that goes, "G-O spells go." Each child says the chant, then reads the word off of the card we hold up. As the weeks progress we will add more words per week, but to introduce the concept we decided to start with just one. They have done great so far and I am excited to see how many they can master throughout the year!

Snack time: What letter can you make with your pretzels?

We are also reviewing our color, shape and number recognition. Using these first two weeks to assess our classrooms' strengths has provided a great opportunity to expand our mathematics curriculum to include more complex patterns and basic addition/subtraction concepts.

Keep your eyes pealed for more math "homework" coming your way in your Thursday/Wednesday Folders!

Using watercolors to mix and create new colors.

Working Hard!