Write The ROom

The children had so much fun walking around the room with clipboards looking for letters. When they found a letter they had to find it on their paper and trace it with a marker. The benefits of writing the room are: 1) it's not just another worksheet, 2) handwriting practice, and 3) letter recognition.

Roman Carnival

The children had a wonderful time at middle school's Roman Carnival. They played games, had their face painted, and had a frozen treat!

3D shapes

Children learn about shapes, beginning with 2 dimensional (flat) shapes (circles, squares, triangles, etc.). Then, once kids have a good grasp of 2 dimensional (2D) shapes, they can move on to learn about 3 dimensional (solid) shapes. Learning about 3 dimensional (3D) shapes opens up a new world to kids. They become aware that not all shapes are created equal. The boys and girls had fun exploring 3D shapes using magnatiles.

SPECIAL VISITOR

How does trash affect our community?

A special thank you to Jarod Miller and Larry Collins with Waste Management for giving us a WOW moment. Mr. Miller told us about the trash truck and we learned that our trash is taken to a landfill in Texarkana. He told us that it is important to recycle and help save the earth. Waste Management has a special section of the truck for items that can be recycled. We were thrilled to receive a trash truck and recycled pencils. What a wonderful day!

OCEAN SENSORY PLAY

As part of the recycling unit, we read The Adventures of Gary and Harry. It's about two sea turtles that are best friends and run into a problem with litter in the ocean. After reading the book, we decided to make our own ocean and talked about how we can do our part in keeping it clean.

Y IS FOR YARN

Working on our cutting skills, we cut pieces of yarn and glued them to our letter Y.

MIDDLE SCHOOL COLONIAL VILLAGE

We had a great time going back in time! The middle school kids did a fantastic job on their presentations. We learned what a general store was and got to buy candy there. We then saw some blacksmiths at work and sang Old MacDonald with farmers. After that, the children got to dye a candle and tried homemade bread.

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

We started our new study about reduce, reuse, and recycle. The boys and girls are excited! This study offers opportunities for children to explore a topic that not only interests them but allows them to become more aware of the world around them. Our class is exploring our community, learning new information, and proposing solutions to problems. We decided to make a recycling center of our own and they have enjoyed sorting and reusing the trash collected.

The Paper Bag Princess

One of the books that is part of the recycling unit is The Paper Bag Princess and we had so much fun acting it out. The story is about an unconventional princess named Elizabeth that happily prepares to marry Prince Ronald. Before they are able to marry, a dragon swoops down, burns down the castle and everything with it, and kidnaps Prince Ronald. Elizabeth puts on a paper bag and sets off to save Ronald. Elizabeth outwits the dragon by asking him to perform feats of strength until he passes out. When Ronald sees Elizabeth in a paper bag rather than beautiful princess clothes, he is disgusted. Ronald tells her to come back when she looks like a “real princess.” Elizabeth responds by telling the prince he’s a bum.

V is for Vinegar and Volcano

The kids had a blast making a volcano. We used a cup, play-doh, baking soda, and vinegar. This hands-on activity helps develop the children's concept knowledge, builds vocabulary, encourages them to make predictions, and they learn that the ingredients can be combined to make a chemical reaction.

The Butterfly Life Cycle

Our butterflies are in their chrysalis phase and the children can't wait to have butterflies next week! We read the book A Very Hungry Caterpillar and made a painting of the one from the book.

What are balls made of?

To answer our focus question this week, the children got to make their own ball. They got to pour the material into a mold and then submerged it in water for a few minutes. After it was set and dry, they got to open it and see if it could bounce.

Wall Ball

We played wall ball this week to practice letter sounds. I gave each child a letter sound and they had to throw the ball to the correct letter. This was also a fun way to practice eye-hand coordination.

RESURRECTION Eggs

Resurrection eggs enable children to see, touch, and hear the Easter story. I read along as each child opened an egg and discovered what's inside - the praying hands, the Passover cup, silver coins, and more - each representing an important element of the Easter story.

Easter party

Ball Activities

We had a ball of a time with math skills this week! We did activities such as measuring, sorting, classifying, and had a contest to see how many times the children could bounce and catch a ball in a row. By using a ramp, the children also learned about gravity and how it affects balls. They found out the higher the ramp, the faster a ball will roll.

P.E.

St. Patrick’s Day Treat

This yummy treat was a fun way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and was a great way to practice fine motor skills!