News from Miss Gloria's Class

Friday, December 17, 2010
LETTER OF THE WEEK:  W

On Monday, we read The Hat by Jan Brett.  When Lisa’s woolen sock flies off of the clothesline, Hedgie finds it, and as he tries to put it on, he gets the hat stuck in his prickles.  The other animals laugh at Hedgie’s new hat until they, too, try on some of the clothing that was hanging on the line.  Hedgie gets the last laugh when he realizes that animals should never wear clothing.  For our letter W art project, each of the children painted a walrus wearing a funny hat.  We learned these letter W words: winter, Wednesday, whistle, weather, wind, waist, white, walk, window, and water.  We also learned a winter poem:

        

         Hats and mittens keep us warm,

         We are ready for the storm,

         Zip your coats up to your chin,

         Do not let the cold weather in.

On Tuesday, we read The Mitten by Jan Brett.  In this book, Nicki drops his white mitten in the snow.  The animals, in the woods, find the mitten and crawl inside.  The mitten stretches bigger and bigger as more animals climb in.  When a bear gives an enormous sneeze, the animals and the mitten scatter in all directions.  Nicki finds his mitten, but he cannot understand why it is now so much bigger than his other mitten.  For our letter W art project, the boys and girls decorated the W for the winter.  We talked about the things that we like to do in the winter such as, making a snowman, drinking hot chocolate, throwing snowballs, walking in the snow, going sledding, and making snow angels. 

On Wednesday, the story group of children read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.  This book tells about the adventures of a young boy on a very snowy day.  The children, in the yoga group, put a picture of the Weather Bear on their journal page.  In yoga, Miss Kim asked the children to tell the group where they would like to go on their winter vacation.  The boys and girls participated in warm-up yoga poses and practiced the meditation pose of “sa, ta, na, ma”.  For their imaginary yoga trip, the children traveled by airplane and went to the top of a mountain.  There, they posed as elephants, dogs, lions, tigers, ducks, and alligators.  On their return trip, they traveled by train.  At the end of the class, each child wished their friends, “Namaste”, I honor the light in you.

On Thursday, we read Snowballs by Lois Ehlert.  In this book, a family of snow people is created after a snowstorm.  Unusual objects, like bottle caps, seeds, and popcorn are an added dimension to the creative snow family.  For our art project, the children will make snowflakes.  They will use tissue paper and glitter for the snowflake’s shimmer and shine.  On Friday, we will read All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle.  In this book, a snowman begins with one small snowflake and it is complete with billions more.  For our art project, the children will make a snowman similar to the one in the book, beginning with three snowballs, a smiling face, and clothing to keep the snowman warm.

On Friday, we read All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle.  In this book, a snowman begins with one small snowflake and it is complete with billions more.  For our art project, the children will make a snowman similar to the one in the book, beginning with three snowballs, a smiling face, and clothing to keep the snowman warm.

Thank you to Gemma, Talia, Jakob, Luke, Jordan, Oren, Rachel, and Nicky for being our super “kids of the day” for the past two weeks.  Also, thank you to all of the parents who attended the Parent Teacher Conferences.

The new Parent of the Day schedule has been given out.  Please note your scheduled days.  If you cannot be the Parent of the Day on your scheduled day, please switch with another parent.

When the Philadelphia Schools are closed because of inclement weather, the Playschool will also be closed.  This information can be found on the TV, radio, or on the School District of Philadelphia’s website.

In looking forward to January, we will be going on our second trip to the Art Museum on Tuesday, January 25.  More information will be forthcoming.

Our Spring Shabbat Dinner has been changed to Friday, May 6, 2011.  Please mark your calendars.

Have a wonderful holiday season and a happy and healthy New Year.  See you on January 3, 2011!

Miss Gloria, Miss Chloe, Miss Julia, Miss Mindy, and Mr. Noah

News from Miss Gloria's Class: 12/3/10

Friday, December 3, 2010
LETTER OF THE WEEK: H


On Monday, we read Sammy Spider’s First Hanukkah by Sylvia A. Rouss. This Sammy Spider adventure tells how Sammy learns about Hanukkah. He learns how to spin a dreidel and how to light the Hanukkah menorah. Mrs. Spider surprises Sammy by spinning him eight very special gifts. For our art project, the boys and girls sponge-painted dreidels for our classroom bulletin board. The boys and girls had fun trying to spin dreidels. They found it to be quite challenging, but we will keep on trying.

On Tuesday, we read Mrs. Greenberg’s Messy Hanukkah by Linda Glaser. In this Hanukkah story, a young girl makes potato latkes with her neighbor, Mrs. Greenberg. This cooking project becomes more work than Mrs. Greenberg could ever imagine. By the time the latkes are ready to be eaten, Mrs. Greenberg’s kitchen has turned into a mess. She doesn’t mind, though, because it is better to eat with friends. For our letter H art project, the boys and girls painted the letter H and added on a dreidel, latkes, and a menorah. We learned a few Hanukkah songs, too. For the letter of the week, the boys and girls learned these letter H words, Hanukkah, head, hair, horse, hippopotamus, hammer, hide, hot dog, hamburger, hug, hat, hands, hot, and house.

On Wednesday, the children in the journal group colored Hanukkah dreidels and the story group read On the First Night of Chanukah by Cecily Kaiser. In this book, on each night of Hanukkah, we learn about the traditions of this holiday. In yoga, Miss Kim asked the children to say their names and tell their favorite colors as they practiced yoga breathing. We played “Yoga Light” and posed as snakes, giraffes, and frogs. During the game, three children took turns being the Yoga Light. The boys and girls learned a new yoga pose called the hawk. It was a little tricky trying to balance as a hawk, but it is a pose that the children can work on. They also posed as trees and it was easier for them to hold onto the wall as they tried to stand on one foot. For Hanukkah, the boys and girls posed as Hanukkah candles, and as Miss Kim pretended to light the candles, the children said the Hanukkah blessing. At the end of the class, we did our cricket rubs to warm up our bodies and we said “Namaste” to our friends. During lunchtime, we lit the Hanukkah candles and said the Hanukkah blessings.

On Thursday, we read The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes by Linda Glaser. In this book, Mrs. Greenberg does not mind helping her neighbors make latkes. She gives them potatoes, eggs, chairs for their guests, and then, she opens up her home, to make one big Hanukkah celebration for everyone. For our Hanukkah project, the boys and girls made candle headbands. We learned some new Hanukkah songs and the children tried spinning the dreidels again. We also lit the Hanukkah candles for the second night of Hanukkah.

On Friday, we read This is the Dreidel by Abby Levine. This book tells how Hanukkah is celebrated in the home. On Hanukkah, the menorah is lit each night, latkes are eaten, dreidel games are played, families get together to celebrate the holiday, and gifts are often exchanged. For our art project, the children made Happy Hanukkah cards for their families.

Thank you to Dalia, Max, Sofia, Theo, and Liam for being our super “kids of the day” this week.

Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on Wednesday, December 8 and Thursday, December 9. Teachers will be available to watch the children during conference time. There will be no Playschool classes on both of these days. Sign-up sheets are now available.

There will be no Afterschool Arts on Tuesday, December 14. All children will be dismissed at 12:30 PM. Friday, December 17 is the last day before the winter break. The Playschool will open on Monday, January 3, 2011.

We hope to see you at the Hanukkah Happening, on Sunday, for music, games, arts and crafts, delicious latkes, and fun for the whole family!

Have a great weekend and Happy Hanukkah!

Miss Gloria, Miss Chloe, Miss Julia, Miss Mindy, and Mr. Noah