News from Ms. Gloria, Friday, February 27, 2009

Friday, February 27, 2009 Letter of the Week: L

On Monday, we read The Mystery Bear A Purim Story by Leone Adelson. Purim is a day for feasting and rejoicing. In this story, a bear goes to a Purim party and the other guests believe that he is a person dressed in a bear's costume, not a real bear. For our art project, the boys and girls made groggers. Groggers are noisemakers that are shaken whenever Haman's name is mentioned. The boys and girls have been practicing songs that they will sing for you during our class Purim Parade.

On Tuesday, we read Goldie's Purim by Jane Breskin Zalben. In this book, Goldie celebrates Purim by playing the role of Queen Esther in a Purim play. For our letter of the week, the boys and girls decorated the letter L with lemon hamantashen and they painted the letter L using lime-colored paint. Hamantashen, named after the wicked Haman, are triangle-shaped pastries eaten on Purim. They can be filled with poppy seeds, honey, apricots, cherries, apples, or prunes.

On Wednesday, the journal group chose to color King Ahasuerus, Queen Esther, Queen Vashti, Mordechai, Haman, or a grogger for their journal entry. The other group of children read llama llama red pajama, a bedtime story, by Anna Dewdney. In yoga, as the children practiced yoga breathing, Miss Kim asked if each child liked dinosaurs. If they said that they liked dinosaurs, then they named their favorite dinosaur. If they did not like dinosaurs, they named something else that they liked instead. Miss Kim brought in yoga cards that had illustrations of yoga poses on each card. All of the children had the opportunity to be the teacher and to teach the other children the pose that was shown on the card they selected. Phoebe taught us to thank the warm, golden sun, Ava gave everyone the spaghetti test, Jack L. taught us the downward dog, and Annalise taught us the airplane pose, just to name a few.

On Thursday, we read A Purim Album by Raymond A. Zwerin and Audrey Friedman Marcus. In this book, children, dressed in costumes, put on a play about the story of Purim. For our art project, the boys and girls made puppets of King Ahasuerus, Queen Esther, Mordechai, and Haman for our Purim bulletin board.

On Friday, we read Lazy Lion by Mwenye Hadithi and Adrienne Kennaway. When Lazy Lion orders that a fine house be built for him, the other animals in the land are not able to make a home that is fit for the King of the Beasts. For our letter L art project, the boys and girls made lemon and lime prints.

*Thank you to Kethan, Laura, Brooke, Hayden, and Sebastian for being our super "kids of the day" this week.

* Sunday is our Purim Carnival from 11AM until 1 PM. Don't miss one of the most exciting family events of the year! Games, prizes, face-painting, food, including delicious hamantashen, music, and more! Children may come dressed in costumes, too.

*On Monday, March 9, at 11:30 AM, our class will be singing Purim songs at our Purim Parade. Parents should plan to attend. All children are invited to participate even if Monday is not their day to attend the Playschool. Please pack a costume for your child to wear and let us know what you will be bringing for the luncheon. Sign-up sheets are on our classroom door.

*There will be NO Afterschool Arts on Monday, March 9 following our Purim Parade
and Luncheon because we will be using the Social Hall for the luncheon.

*Please let us know if your child will be going to the Art Museum on Tuesday, March 17. The cost is $10.00 per child and $10.00 per adult.

*Hope to see everyone at the Purim Carnival. Next week, we will learn letter Q. Have a great weekend!

Miss Gloria, Miss Allison, Miss Lily, Miss Sophie and Miss Mindy