Did someone call 911?

The visit from the fire truck was a blast! We learned to call 911 if we have a emergency and to stop, drop and roll if our clothes catch on fire. Each child had a turn behind the wheel of the firetruck. We discussed the color of the truck and the number on the truck. We noticed that the firemen wear special clothes to protect them as they fight fires. Our fire truck visit fit right in with the start of our clothing unit.

The first week of our clothing unit we discussed the features of our clothes. The children were glad to show the clothes they brought from home. We talked about small, medium and large sizes. The class looked for the letters S, M , and L in the items they brought to school. During circle time the class enjoyed sorting items by size. As children sort items they begin to understand that things can be alike or different. When your child sorted items by size they learned that items can belong and be organized into certain groups. Getting practice with sorting at a early age is important for numerical concepts and grouping numbers into sets when they get older.

How can we take care of our clothes? One thing we all agreed on is that our clothes need to be washed. I filled the sensory bin with water and detergent. I added different sizes of clothes and we had a blast washing our items! Everyone loved hanging the clothes out to dry! Using the clothespins was a great way to get in a little fine motor practice.

I brought out the large mixing bowl and we made our own play-doh. We discussed ingredients and used measuring cups and spoons. Each child loved pouring and stirring the flour and water mixture. Don’t forget the salt! We only needed a teaspoon and a half for our wonderful mixture. After we made play doh we practiced making balls that were small , medium and large. Play doh is a wonderful way to strengthen the muscles in our hands.

Music class with Mrs. Tipton is one of the highlights of our week! We love hearing the piano and we can’t wait for our turn to hold a instrument. This week after we played our instruments we listened to Mrs. Tipton play the piano. We learned about the words major and minor in music class. The main difference between major and minor chords is how they sound. Major chords have a happier sound , while minor chords sound sad.

Our community service project was a huge success and we were thrilled to give twenty-one boxes of food to Harvest Texarkana. All of our St. James students worked together to complete our goal. We were thrilled to welcome a new student to our class. James started this week and he is making friends fast!

The next few weeks we will be discussing how people make clothes and how cloth is made.