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Lead Teacher :: Romana Fareed :: rfareed@mdpsc.org
Co-Teacher :: Renee Montes :: rmontes@mdpsc.org
Assistant :: Tomasa Ramirez

WEEKLY UPDATE 2/17/2012

President's Day 2/20- No School/No Extended Care

Child as Teacher Night on Tuesday, February 14th was a success!  The children had a wonderful time teaching you how to do their work. We hope you enjoyed being the student and getting to see what your child enjoys working with.

Open House is scheduled for Friday, February 24th from 4-7pm. Come learn about the advantages of self-paced learning, peer teaching, multi-age classes and individualized instruction. Meet our caring, qualified teachers.

All students who arrive at school after 8:30am must report to the Office for a late pass.

Music

This past week we have been listening to the following:

Composer: Gioacchino Rossini

Composition: Sonata No. 5
3. Allegretto

Sign In/Out Books- Please be sure to sign your child in and out DAILY!!! They must be signed in when they arrive on campus.  State Licensing requires that children be signed in at the time of arrival. The school will be fined if this rule is not followed.

Pizza orders are due on Wednesday, February 23rd. (If you did not receive an order form in your child’s Friday Folder, extras are located in the classroom on top of the cubby area.)

Scholastic Book orders are due on Friday, March 23rd in class and online. All orders earn points for our classroom to purchase books and other items from Scholastics.

CURRICULUM NOTES

Last week, the children worked on the following items;

  • In Zoology the children have started learning about birds. They have had a lesson on the parts of the bird and have made a booklet.
  • In Language the children have started learning about prepositions.
  • In Geography the children made the flag of Arizona to celebrate it’s 100th year as a state. They have also been learning about the bordering states.
  • In Math the children who were ready to go to the next level received a lesson on multiplication using the bead bar materials.
  • In Science the children learned about the internal organs of the human body. Many of the children also made a nomenclature booklet.
  • In Practical Life the children practiced their eye-hand coordination by sewing a big heart-shaped bag to hold their Valentine’s Day cards/goodies.
  • In Language the children learned about conjunctions. We focused on the conjunction “and.”
  • In Language the children got an introduction to Grammar Symbols and played the Adjective Game.
  • In Geography the children have been learning all about the Arctic region, such as the continents that are in that region and the animals that live there. The children worked on their Arctic region animal project.
  • In Math, the children have been learning how to work with word problems.
  • They have been working on strengthening their pincer grip by working with  the hole punch work.
  • The children were given a lesson on subtraction using the  subtraction strip board.
  • The children created sight word booklets.
  • The class was given a lesson on the land forms; strait, isthmus, lake, and island.
  • The children have started learning about polygons!
  • The children have started their research adventure! Over the next few months they will be researching facts about each of the 50 States.
  • They have been learning to recognize and  spell the following puzzle words (sight words); this, be, have, and two.
  • They have been given a lesson on the phonogram sounds for “ar” as in star.
  • In Zoology we learned about reptiles. They discovered the parts of a turtle and crocodile group. They got to make a booklet for the parts of a turtle and labeled a picture of a crocodile. As an art project they made a paper crocodile.
  • They have been given a lesson on the phonogram sounds for “oi” as in boil and “oa” as in boat.
  • Some of our Kindergartners have started using the Stamp Game to do 4-digit static addition. The term “static” means that there will be no exchanging or carrying when adding the two quantities.
  • We have also been introducing the children to the nomenclature for addition and subtraction. During our afternoon circle the children work together to solve simple word problems.
  • In geography, we have begun to learn what a state is and the names of the 50 states.
  • They have started working in the Botany area and are learning about the parts of a leaf and their functions.
  • The children have been introduced to the Botany cabinet. We talked about how the different leaf shapes have their own special name. We talked about the orbiculate, ovate, linear, and triangular/deltoid leaf shapes.
  • They have been given a lesson on the phonogram sounds for “oy” as in boy and “th” as in thunder.
  • They have enjoyed learning about farm animals.
  • The children have been having so much fun learning the names of the various bones in our bodies (humerus, radius, ulna, phalanges, femur, patella, fibula, and tibia). Some of them have already finished putting their skeleton together.
  • They have been given a lesson on the phonogram sounds for “sh” as in shop and “ow” as in now.
  • They have been learning to recognize and  spell the following puzzle words (sight words); are, was, to, the, my, I, and love.
  • They have started working in the Botany area and are learning about the parts of plants and their functions.
  • In Geography the children have started learning about the continent of North America in detail (countries, animals, and flags ).
  • They having been learning about mammals this week. We have talked about what characteristics classify an animal as a mammal. The children then were given a lesson on the parts of a horse and made a booklet.
  • We talked about the life cycle of an ant. The children colored and labeled the pictures for the eggs, larva, pupae, and ant to make a booklet to take home.
  • They were given a lesson on  the Geometric Solids. We talked about the type of bases they have and introduced the names of the solids; cube, triangular-based pyramid, cone, cylinder, ovoid, ellipsoid, and sphere. The children then made a geometric solid to take home.
  • We have been learning all about insects this past week. We discussed the characteristics, names, colors, and the parts of an ant. They created their very own ant using the metal insets and labeled the head, thorax, and abdomen. The children also created a booklet of the parts of an ant. They have been working on matching the insect’s name to the insect.
  • This week we introduced some Yoga poses to relax and stretch our bodies.
  • They have been given a lesson on the phonogram sounds for  “oo” as in food and  “ee” as in need.
  • The Water Cycle lesson was a big hit!! The children enjoyed learning about precipitation, evaporation, and condensation. They also made their own water cycle diagram.
  • In Sensorial this week we learned about different shapes using the Geometric Cabinet. They learned how to identify a chevron, rhombus, trapezoid, rectangle, square, and parallelogram.
  • For the children that are still learning the sounds our letters make, we have been playing Sandpaper Letter Games. In this activity the children are shown 3 letters that they do not recognize. They are shown the proper way to trace it with their fingers (letter formation) and told what sound it makes. They are then asked to trace and say the sound 3 times. Once that is done, it is time for some FUN!! They are asked to put a specific sound on their head (nose, tummy, ear, etc.). Once we have played with all 3 sounds they are asked to recall the sound each one makes.
  • It was time to learn about Time this week!! The children are learning how to tell time to the hour.
  • Learning about vertebrates and invertebrates. We talked about what characteristics determined whether something was a vertebrate or invertebrate. A related project was available for them as a follow-up activity.
  • Each morning they count the number of days they have been in school and complete the calendar for the day. We discuss today, tomorrow, and yesterday to help with their growing understanding of time. While working the calendar, the children are recognizing the days of the week and the months of the year.
  • They have been push pinning numbers and apples for our calendar. Push pinning is a great activity to strengthen their fine motor skills (especially those needed for writing) and hand-eye coordination – and they really enjoy it.
  • They have been working on learning the names and recognizing (by shape) the continents. A related art project was available for them as a follow-up activity. They also began learning about the oceans that surround the continents.
  • The children have been working on their comprehension skills this week during our Shared Reading time. We have been reading Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. They are read a chapter and then asked to draw a picture that tells about the chapter. Once they have finished their picture they tell the teacher what happened in the story and who the characters are in it.
  • In math they also learned about the short chains. We talked about skip counting (counting by 2′s, 3′s, etc.)
  • They have been working on proper letter placement, letter formation and writing words using the movable alphabet. This week we also added 4 letter word building such as crib, milk, and ring.
  • They also worked with the sandpaper letters. They traced the sandpaper letters with their fingers and then practiced writing the letter on a chalkboard. This is a great activity to help them learn and practice proper letter formation, not to mention they enjoy using the chalk and eraser.
  • The children had a fun time learning about the layers of the Earth!  They discovered where to find the mantle, outer core, and inner core. We also talked about the Earth’s crust!

As part of Grace and Courtesy, the children will be receiving lessons that will help them become aware of their feelings and the feelings of others. This week we will be talking with the children about the virtue of  Love.  We ask your support in talking with them, too – perhaps in discussions at the dinner table or the car rides to and from school.  For example, asking,  “What does it mean to show love?”   “What does  love look like?”  “Are you showing love if you…?”  “What would you do to show your love….?”

HOMEWORK

The children capable of reading are advised to read at least 15-20 minutes daily at home; parents, please read to your child who is not yet reading independently.

CALENDAR


Monday, February 20th – President’s Day – NO SCHOOL/NO EXTENDED CARE

Friday, February 24th – Open House 4pm-7pm

CLASSROOM NEEDS

  • ziti/rigatoni pasta
  • yarn (white, red, green, pastels)
  • seasonal pasta

After School Programs

Mondays – SPANISH $100 per semester Primary & Kindergarten 2:45-3:30pm

Tuesdays – DANCE $41 monthly or $117 quarterly (12 classes) pre-k/kindergarten @ 2:45-3:30pm

Thursdays - SPORTS  3-4 yr olds/Kindergarten @2:30-3:30pm starting 1/19/12 & DRAMA Primary and Kindergartners @ 2:30-3:15pm $100 per semester

Fridays- ART $100 per semester 4-kindergarten @ 2:30-3:20pm

Use your Tax Credits to pay for activities…See the office for more details on how

THANK YOU

….for all that you do!!

HELPFUL LINKS

Pre-reading/reading fun – www.starfall.com

Guide to help you pack a nutritious lunch

www.choosemyplate.gov

http://awakeupstory.healthychild.org/share.html