News From Miss Gloria's Class: 2/18/11

Friday, February 18, 2011
LETTER OF THE WEEK: V

On Monday, we read The Very Clumsy Click Beetle by Eric Carle. In this book, a clumsy click beetle learns to land on its feet with the encouragement from an earthworm, a turtle, a snail, a mouse, a boy, and a wise old click beetle. For our letter V art project, the boys and girls painted volcanoes. We learned these letter V words: vanilla, velcro, vase, violet, violin, voice, veterinarian, vacation, vacuum, and vegetables. Today the boys and girls were very excited to go outside to ride bikes and play. Please dress your child appropriately for the outdoor weather.

On Tuesday, we read Vera’s First Day of School by Vera Rosenberry. In this book, Vera is looking forward to her first day of school until she arrives late and the school door is closed. Vera sadly goes home and has her mother take her back to school where she has a fabulous day meeting new children and painting pictures. Vera said that school was fun and that she knows that the second day of school will be even better. For our letter V art project, the boys and girls decorated their letter V with violet paint and violet flowers.

On Wednesday, the story group read The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle. This book tells how a spider works very hard to build its web. No matter how the animals of the nearby farm try to distract the busy spider, she keeps on working. She builds a web that is not only beautiful, but one that is useful, too. The children in the journal group made a vase holding violet flowers. In yoga, Miss Kim asked the children to name their favorite movie as they practiced yoga breathing. They repeated, “sa, ta, na, ma” for yoga relaxation. They played the dog and snake yoga game, too. The children are now able to hold up their bodies in dog pose so that other children can crawl underneath them as they do the snake pose. The imaginary yoga trip was to ride bikes to a cave. In the cave, the children posed as bats and snakes.

On Thursday, we read Sammy Spider’s First Purim by Sylvia A. Rouss. Sammy Spider books are always a great way to begin teaching a holiday celebration. In this Purim book, Sammy Spider learns about dressing in costume, eating hamantashen, and shaking a grogger to celebrate this happy time. The children took turns trying out different types of groggers. Groggers are noisemakers that are sounded when the name of the villain, Haman, is read. The boys and girls also learned a song about hamantashen, a three-cornered pastry with filling that is eaten at Purim. For our letter V art project, the boys and girls made violins.
 
On Friday, we read Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert. This book tells how vegetables are grown in the garden. Once all of the vegetables have grown, they are picked or dug up from the soil. After they have been washed and cut, they are ready to be added to the soup. For our project, the children made a vegetable garden. We sang “Put a Chicken in the Pot” and named vegetables that we could add to our soup.

*Thank you to Brendan, Brody, Maddie, Dalia, and Lucie for being our super “kids of the day” this week.

*The Playschool will be closed on Monday, February 21, 2011 for President’s Day.

*Our third trip to the Art Museum will be on Tuesday, March 8. We will need 10 parents, who did not go on the last trip, to accompany us on this trip to the museum. The sign-up sheet is posted on the Social Hall door. Our last trip will take place on Tuesday, May 10.

*Please mark your calendars for the Purim Carnival on Sunday, March 13 from 11 AM until 1 PM. We will have games, food, prizes, craft projects, and fun for the whole family. Our class Purim celebration, with a parade and luncheon, will take place on Thursday, March 17 at 11:30 AM. All children and parents are encouraged to attend even if it is not your child’s regular day to come to school. More information about our classroom celebration will be coming soon.

*Reminder: Please donate non-perishable food items to Philabundance. The collection box is located in the Lawrence Courtyard foyer.

*Next week, we will learn about Purim and letter Q.

Have a great weekend! See you on Tuesday!
Miss Gloria, Miss Chloe, Miss Julia, Miss Mindy, and Mr. Noah