News From Miss Gloria's Class 3/11/2011

Friday, March 11, 2011
LETTER OF THE WEEK: X

On Monday, we read the book that was sent from the Art Museum called The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins. This book tells how the wind blew so hard that it took everything with it: an umbrella, a balloon, scarves, a wig, and more. Just as the wind was about to carry everything out to sea, it changed its mind. The theme of the lesson is the Art of Sculpture and the children will learn about the ways in which artists represent movement or the use of movement in the works that they create. For our art project, the boys and girls made pinwheels to show how the wind can make objects move.

On Tuesday, at the museum, the boys and girls learned about sculptures in art. During the visit, they learned what a sculpture is and how sculptures are made to look like they are moving. The children viewed these sculptures: Horse (made for a tomb), a sculpture that was made in China and gives a sense of motion, Ghost, a moving sculpture, by Alexander Calder, and Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen, a bronze sculpture, by Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas. The boys and girls created their own paper sculptures for their art project.

On Wednesday, the children, in the journal group, put a Purim picture of King Ahasuerus, Queen Esther, Haman, or a grogger on their page. The children, in the story group, read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. Everything that can go wrong, does go wrong with Alexander’s day. In yoga, Miss Kim asked the children to name their favorite numbers as they practiced yoga breathing. The children thanked the warm, golden sun and stretched their bodies. They played “Red Light, Yoga Light” and posed as giraffes, frogs, and crabs. The children went on an imaginary yoga trip to Miss Kim’s garden.

On Thursday, we read A Purim Album by Raymond A. Zwerin and Audrey Friedman Marcus. This book is an album of drawings that depict the story of Purim. For our art project, the boys and girls painted a ceramic gift for Passover. The ceramic projects make great keepsakes of your child’s preschool days.

On Friday, we read Purim Activity Book by Torah Aura Productions. This book tells the story of Purim using photographs of children dressed in costumes of King Ahashueras, Queen Esther, Mordechai, and Haman. At Purim, we celebrate with parties, hamantashen, costumes, carnivals, and groggers and we read the Book of Esther from a scroll called the megillah. For our project, some of the children painted their ceramic gift and some of the children made Purim puppets.

*Thank you to Dalia, Nicky, Luke, Isa, and Charlotte for being our super “kids of the day” this week.

*Thank you to all of the parents who accompanied us on the trip to the Art Museum. Our last trip will be on Tuesday, May 10. Parents, who did not come on the January and March trips, are welcome to join us in May.

*The Purim Carnival will take place on Sunday, March 13 from 11 AM until 1 PM. We will have games, food, prizes, craft projects, and fun for the whole family. Children and parents can dress in costume, too! We hope to see everyone there!

*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. Please pack a costume in a labeled bag for your child to wear during the parade. There is a sign-up sheet on the classroom door for food items needed for our luncheon. Please bring in the food on the morning of March 17 so that the food can be set up before the parade. All children should come to the Playschool at the usual time. The children will sing songs about King Ahasuerus, the ruler of the Persian Empire, Queen Esther, who helped to save the Jewish people, Mordechai, who warned the King of Haman’s plot against his life, and Haman, an evil man who wanted to hurt the Jewish people.

*Next week, we will continue to learn about Purim and the letter Y.

Have a great weekend! Hope to see you at the Purim Carnival!
Miss Gloria, Miss Chloe, Miss Julia, Miss Mindy, and Mr. Noah