Snowy Fun in the Sun

This is my first week back after a number of years. Let me say it is a pleasure to work with Tammy and Brigette. They are so caring and helpful. I am so enjoying your children.

This week we spent some time going over the basic rules of the class; how to carry a rug, how to walk, how to talk softly and how to say excuse me without bumping another person.

Tammy did a great unit on the solar system. We have been worked on singing, movement and differentiating between a minor and a major scale. We are working on matching pitches with the bells and identifying, at the moment, two composers, namely Bach and Beethoven.

We worked with many of the basic materials from the sensory area. We had a couple of beautiful sunny afternoons and the children really enjoyed the sun and snow. It was a great week. Please enjoy your vacation week and if you are traveling in different areas it would be great if your child could keep a little journal with drawings.

One request; if you know anyone who plays an instrument and has time to visit school we would truly appreciate it.

Thank you,

Gerry

This week we enjoyed learning about birds. We read bird stories and learned that the Purple Finch is the state bird of NH. We also looked at pictures of other birds that may visit our bird feeders. The children enjoyed making their bird feeders and hopefully everyone is able to find a spot to hang them in your yard. Help your child identify any birds that come to your feeder and make sure you send in your bird sightings! Each child has a bird journal that they will be recording their bird sightings in by tracing the name of the bird or drawing a picture of it.

We continued exploring percussion instruments during music. We played different drums that we have in the classroom, listened to a drumming CD and identified/colored instruments on our percussion worksheet. On Thursday, February 17th, our afternoon students will be walking to the Congregational Church to see and learn about percussion instruments. Please see me if you have any concerns/questions.

This week we read stories about Chinese New Year. We learned that the holiday celebrates the coming of spring and and is celebrated with family gatherings, gift giving and eating symbolic foods and plenty of festive decorations including Chinese lanterns.

We also learned that dragons are a popular symbol for Chinese New Year. The children were interested to learn that people dress up in dragon costumes and dance down the streets in parades and some of the dragons are 100 feet long! We then made our own Chinese New Year dragons:

Gung hay fat choy!

During music we discussed and read about percussion instruments. We learned that a percussion instrument vibrates and produces a sound when it is hit, shaken, rubbed, etc. We experimented with drums, triangles, maracas, rhythm sticks, tambourines, tone blocks and cymbals. Most children said the cymbals were their favorite although they were, "very loud!"

Last week we read, "Snowflake Bentley" and learned that no two snowflakes are exactly alike and saw some close up pictures of snowflakes. On Tuesday, our afternoon students examined some snowflakes with a magnifying glass and tried a snow melting experiment. We put snow in plastic bags and the children worked with a partner to try and melt it using their body. The children reported they were most successful when they squeezed the bag with their hands or stepped on it.

Our Friday students have been enjoying playing Sight Word Bingo and learning all about money! We are learning how to make change to one dollar.

Construction on bird feeders will begin this week. If you are able to hang your feeder at home make sure to send in your bird sightings!

Reminder: Valentine's Day card swap will take place on Tuesday, February 15th.