PreK/K June 2013 News Upcoming Interest and Curriculum Content
Art Element: Clay exploration. The children will be using clay and a few tools to learn how to pinch a simple pot.
Courage will be the core value discussed in small group. We will talk about being brave to do difficult things.
Topic of conversation will focus on families and vacations. If you plan to go on any vacations and take photos please bring in and share with the class.
The group will continue and review all sounds of letters along with reading. We will focus on R-controlled vowels during group time. Some examples would include –ar, -or, -er, -ir, -ur car, far, tar.
Students will continue to read the chapter book Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. Groups will be exploring the role of the author and illustrator. Children will also be defining what it means to be a character in a story, and identify the setting of the story.
Weekly sheet explorations will be observing spacing when writing two to three word phrases. Book knowledge terms such as letter, number, and words will be identified during this time. Children will be working on an understanding that letters create words and words create sentences. Staff has been posing the questions “How many letters do you see?” and “How many words do you see?” And finally “How do you know how many words are on the paper?”
Mathematic emphasis will focus on finishing assessments
New Discoveries and Learning
Woodworking/Bird house exploration has come to an end:Children have been experimenting with using a wood glue to begin their work in building a bird house. Students were encouraged to use their knowledge of 3-D (height, width, and thickness) while creating their structures. Small groups of children were often heard counting to ten or twenty waiting for the wood glue to semi-dry so that they could apply their next piece of popsicle stick. Popsicle stick structures were created in preparation for gluing a variety of cut lumber pieces to create a structure that could be placed in the WECC outdoor classroom spaces. Many enjoyed drawing their blueprint of what their birdhouse would look like and what type of bird they envision living in that house.
Planting grass, herbs, and other vegetables:Potting grass and observing the grass growth has been an enjoyable tactile experience for the children.Small groups have planted grasses, flowers, rosemary and oregano. They have observed and graphed growth weekly on their own charts. We also planted corn, onions and gourds at the berm in the box garden. We’ll be looking for pumpkins and gourds this fall as well!
Thank you all for coming out and supporting Teddy Bear Picnic. We enjoyed creating our bird house documentation for all of you. We hope to make this a yearly Teddy Bear tradition.
Playground Clean-up was a big success. Thank you to all parents who took the time to come and help. We could not do this without the help of all of you.
Health and Safety
As the weather continues to get warmer, a reminder to families that the first application of sunscreen is the parent’s responsibility. We suggest before arriving to school or at drop off time. Teachers will be supervising/helping with the application of sunscreen for the afternoon outside times. Sunscreen that is placed in the classroom basket located next to the sign in sheet needs to be labeled with FIRST and LAST names for licensing purposes!
Water Bottles: each child can bring a water bottle to school daily. Please take home EVERY night and wash. Also, each water bottle must have a first and last name. Thank you!!
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