October 31-November 4th
Irvington Pre-K Newsletter, October 31- November 4th, 2011
Hello Pre-K Families! We had a lovely fall week learning about our Five Senses and how they work together so that we can experience the world. Students did lots of fun, hands on activities and got a good grasp of how the senses work. Next week is a short week about health and nutrition, and our letter of the week will be F! Because there is no school Thursday and Friday, if your child’s share is on those days, feel free to bring it in any day and we will squeeze them in.
Thanks to Helen Cruz-Uribe’s family for the tasty snacks! A quick reminder as the weather gets colder: please help your child come to school in weather-appropriate clothing, as we do spend time outside even when it is quite cold!
The Pre-K Family Brunch will be on Tuesday, November 8th from 8:45 to 9:30am in the cafeteria. The whole family is welcome, and teachers and students will be there (for part of the brunch) as well. Thank-you to all who signed up for your help– this will be a lot of fun!!
Also next week, parent-teacher conferences begin. Coming up first on Monday, November 7th are the parents of Phoebe, Tessa, Willem, Aidan, Brady, Jaden, and Olivia. On Wednesday, November 9, we have the parents of Leo, Julian, Ben, Helen Cruz-Uribe, Isa, and Helen Colletti. If you need your exact time, please see the parent board in the left rear of the classroom. They are to be ‘kid-free’ and last twenty minutes. The conferences will be held in the Teachers’ Launge.
Our person of the week this week was Lucia. Lucia is 5 years old (we celebrated her birthday on Monday!) and likes pizza, pasta, and cookies. She says that she has blue eyes and brown hair. She has not yet decided what she wants to be when she grows up, but she does know that she wishes she could fly! She likes costumes and playing dominoes with her mom, and does not like brussel sprouts. Great job Lucia!
On Monday we talked about what the Five Senses are, and learned a fun song to go with that. We talked about sight in particular, and played “I Spy” on the carpet at the end of the day. We also read Seeing, It Looked Like Spilt Milk, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?, and Sight. We charted our eye (iris) colors at the circle to encourage self-recognition and math. We have the most brown-eyed students! We also made person of the week pages for Lucia, and celebrated her birthday! She turned 5 over the weekend, so we made her a birthday crown she decorated and wore, and we admired her adorable baby/growing up photos. We sang happy birthday to her and made her a birthday book to take home. Happy Birthday Lucia! For sharing, Lily brought in a live earthworm that is really long! Lucia shared Easter eggs that were filled with toys and candy and hidden around her house. Ben showed us an engineer costume that he wore when he was a baby, and Helen C. shared a pretty striped rock. Brady showed us a cute pair of elephant scissors belonging to his brother.
Tuesday we focused our senses on hearing. We read Hearing, Sense Suspense, and Senses in the City, as well as listened to Green Eggs and Ham on CD. We made a neat “Five Senses” book, which involved lots of cutting and coloring and gave students an opportunity to write if they wanted as well. We listened to a CD full of sounds that students had to guess what they were (for example- a door, a fly, dogs barking etc). We also opened up the E-bag for some fun guessing time! For sharing, Netta brought in an egg with an elephant inside, and Phoebe shared about her friend Emily, who lives in San Francisco and gave her a friendship bracelet. Zachary showed us a stuffed elephant that his Nana gave to him, and Tessa brought her little brother Tate’s Elmo stuffie, noting that it “smells like Tate!” Julian told us about some books he has at home: a book about ‘everything’, and one about earthquakes!
Wednesday we touched on touch! We read Touch, Soft and Smooth, Rough and Bumpy, and What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? We played with flubber in the sensory table. Students really enjoyed this, and if you would like a recipe, just ask! We talked about how the skin is your largest organ and does all the feeling and touching. We played a body pretzel game where we tried to touch various body parts to each other (for example, touch your nose to your knee); and we made ‘feelie bags,’ each one with a different texture. Students closed their eyes and felt in the bag, and described to us what they felt. We then gave them pieces of what they had felt to glue next to their words. It was a fun kind of mystery project. Darwin shared that “my ear starts with the letter E! I can never take them off,” and that they help him to hear. Dane showed us a little figurine of the Eiffel Tower, which he knew to be in Paris. Mary shared her special rest-time blanket with an elephant embroidered on it. Isa talked about the senses with her outfit: the texture and feel of her skirt, telling us that it is soft and bumpy, the colors of it, and that her shoes squeak when she walks, which she demonstrated. Willem brought in a calculator, of which he said “I brought in an equal-er and if you push some of the buttons the numbers show up.”
Thursday we talked about smell! We read the books Smell, See Hear Smell Taste Touch, and Hello Ocean. We made cinnamon dough shapes from flour, salt, water, and lots of cinnamon. Students had a hard time not wanting to eat the tasty-smelling dough, but they resisted! They will be taking their creations home after they are dry. We also played a guessing game called “The Smell Box Game.” The box has different partially-obscured jars in them, each with a different scent. Some scents are vanilla, vinegar, mint, and lavender. Students had to match pictures with what they thought each smell was. It was fun! For share Liam brought in an engine of a train toy set, and Olivia shared a cute drawing of an elephant she did at home. Paxton showed us electricity- a black light that we plugged in. (Teachers tried to explain exactly how electricity works…it was interesting!) Quinn shared an ‘eccentric’ crystal bulb and explained how glass is made by getting really hot. Kate showed us a pink glitter seashell because seashell has “two E’s in it!”
Friday we wrapped up the five senses by talking about taste. We read Taste, See Hear Smell Taste Touch, and talked about how animals have taste buds in different places. Fun fact: Catfish have the more taste buds than any other animal, including humans. Most people have 10,000; catfish have 175,000, located all over their outside. We talked about how the tongue detects bitter, salty, sweet, and sour tastes in different locations. For our project we did a taste test, sampling bitter dark chocolate, sweet marshmallows, salty pretzels, and sour lemons to see what we like and do not like. Look for your student’s taste test paper drawing to see what they like! For share, Helen Cruz-Uribe brought in a small piece of edamame, as well as enough of it for us to have an E snack! Jaden shared a stuffed eagle familiarly named Luke Skywalker, and Aidan shared an egg from his chickens that he got “three days ago.”
Thanks for a “sense-ational” week!
Pre-K Team
