Amy Norton's Newsletter and Plans
March 22, 2015
The kids had a great time with the leprechaun activities we did! Thank you so much for sending the kids to school in green on Tuesday. They thought it was great that everyone, including the teachers, were wearing green!
The kids loved drawing their own buildings on the Smartboard and making doors, windows, and roofs out of different shapes. They also had fun using paper shapes that they glued on a backdrop to create different buildings and houses. We used numerals to determine how many windows to draw. We also counted windows in our classroom and talked about glass being clear so that we can see things through it. We look outside each day to see what the weather is. We continue to build amazing things using a variety of materials. The kids have been working together really well as partners and in small groups.
A huge deal this past week was getting to go on the playground again after a long time being inside in the gym! Please remember to send your child in comfortable, safe gym shoes, as we have wood chips on the playground. Because we still have such varying temperatures, please make sure to have your child wear an appropriate coat/jacket and make sure their legs are covered up!
This week, we will be reading The Three Little Pigs each day. The two versions that we will be using are a Golden Book version of “The Three Little Pigs” retold by Sally Bell and “The Three Little Pigs” retold by Bonnie Dobkin. We have props that we will use to act out the story. We will also examine different materials that buildings can be made out of, including rock, wood, bricks, and glass. We will discuss what materials would not be good to build a house with, including paper, straw, etc. and why those would not be good things to use. We will be doing a fun science activity about what things will blow and what will not using a hair dryer, because the wolf huffs and puffs. The concepts of light and heavy will be explored as well as the kids making hypotheses about what will happen with each item we use. We will use items related to the story, including sticks, straw, and a brick. We will also try some classroom items including a crayon, scissors, a piece of paper, a block, a glue stick, etc. It is nice to tie it into things that are actually in the children’s environment! We know they will be really excited about this!
Upcoming Events:
Monday, March 30-Friday, April 3- Spring Break
Friday, April 10- Spirit Day!
Saturday, April 11- Day of Play at Hubble Middle School from 9:00-12:00
Thursday, April 16- PTA meeting
Saturday, April 18- Jet Fest 9:00-1:00
The Three Little Pigs
Dates: March 24-27, 2015
Circle Time:
Tuesday, March 24- Read The Three Little Pigs
Wednesday, March 25- The Three Little Pigs with props
Thursday, March 26-“What will move and how far?”
Friday, March 27- Retell the story using sequence cards
Centers:
Feeling Table: Rocks with trucks, bulldozers, scoops
Blocks and People: Blocks, tools, buildings
Table Toys: Shapes and materials for building
I Pad: “Grandpa's Workshop”
Small Group (Art/Math/Literacy Activities):
Tuesday, March 24- Painting paper pigs with sticks
Wednesday, March 25- Activities with Miss Rita
Thursday, March 26- “Three Pigs” Tactile Houses
Friday, March 27- “# 3” game