Newsletter January 17-20
Irvington Pre-K Newsletter, January 17-20, 2012
Hello Pre-K families! We had a fun week talking about pets, both real and imagined! We talked about pets we have at home and imaginary pets we keep or wish we had, as well as discussing how to care for a pet and the responsibility that comes with it. Also, in honor of Martin Luther King Day, we talked a bit about him, noting that he was a great man who is not alive anymore, who helped make our country fairer; however, he was not a king who lived in a castle. Important clarifications! Next week we will be talking about arctic animals- polar bears, penguins, narwhals, walruses and others. This is a fun week with a lot of cool artwork! Our letter of the week will be N.
We talked to the students this week about the new Penny Program we are starting. The basic idea is to have your child at home work on a few specific areas that you will set; for example, getting ready for bed quickly or sharing with siblings. Anytime your student earns a penny, you may give him or her one to bring into school for the penny jar. When we reach a certain point, we will do some kind of special activity. Please help make sure your student does not take their money from their own piggy bank. We have explained that they must earn it from their parents instead. If you would rather do a token, or a button, or any other small item, that is fine as well. The penny or other item is a symbol to make the reward for having done well concrete to the children. Of course, participation in this activity is optional, and all the students will benefit from the special activity we earn. We would like to make sure this does not become a competitive activity. We hope children will enjoy contributing to the group reward, but they should not be concerned about whether they are contributing more or less than other children. We are trying out this activity in response to parents who have asked us about ways the program could reinforce good behavior at home.
Thanks to all the families that signed up for our potluck dinner- we cannot make these fun, social events happen without all of your support! Thanks also to everyone who signed up for a second week of snack, and a big thanks to Odessa’s family for bringing in all the healthy and delicious fruits and vegetables!
Our person of the week was Zachary! He is five years old, guesses to weigh 100 pounds, and is four foot two inches tall. His eyes are brown and his hair is black, and his favorite foods are candy, pizza, and pirate booty. He wants to be “a police” when he grows up, and his favorite color is blue. If Zachary had three wishes, he would wish for “a battle-station, for a golden crown, and to fly into space with getting hurt and that I could lift meteors.” Zachary likes going to OMSI, monster trucks, and zombie lab candy. He does not like “the zombie lab juice- it tastes disgusting, and when Emmett wins a boxing match and hits me.” It was nice to get to know Zachary a little better this week!
Tuesday we started our pet week off by talking about various pets we have. We made a chart to see what kinds of pets this class had, and found that we have lots of dogs and cats, some frogs, fish, chickens, hamsters, gerbils, and guinea pigs, and lots of imaginary pets! We made person of the week pages for Zachary and also celebrated his fifth birthday, coloring birthday pages for him, singing to him, and admiring his beautifully decorated crown. We read Children Make Terrible Pets, and My Big and Small Pets. For share, Leo brought in the book Micawber about an art-loving squirrel, and Phoebe showed us her favorite pages from a mystery book from Richard Scary. Netta shared a photo of her pet cats, Mary and Molly (perfect!). Lily shared materials from her music class- photos of animals that her class uses as prompts to sing, and a music book. Helen Colletti shared mushrooms from the store, and passed them around the circle. Zachary shared some magnets that show he can make into super good at making into a pyramid shape. Finally, Tessa told us about a picture she drew of her mommy as a princess, telling us that “mommy has 3 m’s!”
Wednesday we had a late start due to the snowy weather! We got a lot out of our day despite it, and we read lots of fun books: Chewy Louie, Prudence Wants a Pet, and Micawber (Leo’s share). We colored in activity books, called Coloring and Activity Book for Future Veterinarians, and many students worked hard on the word search and matching games in the book. For share, Brady did a talking share he was going to do on Monday, his normal share day: Monday! Brady told us he heard the M in it and wanted to share that. Willem brought in photos of a meteor that they saw around Mars from a place in Morocco! Ben shared a stuffed monkey that his pet dog had chewed up, and Dane showed us a photo of a stuffed mouse dressed as R2D2; he was also wearing a monkey shirt. Mary brought “me, Mary, cause I start with the letter of the week, and I was named after my dad’s mom.” Isa gave us the words mom and mommy, and Darwin brought in a bag of nickels- his mom’s money!
We had fun on Thursday making neat fish aquariums that are now hanging on the walls. Students used painted paper and construction paper to make a nice place for a fish to live. We read Dino Pets Go to School, Gilbert Goldfish, A Pet for Petunia, Dog Breath, and Wanted: A Perfect Pet. There are so many awesome books about pets! At share time, Liam showed us Martian mud, that apparently aliens threw down from Mars onto his roof. His dad got a ladder and retrieved the mud! Paxton brought in a silver dollar: “really big money!” Kate told us the word magnet, and shared that she has a cat and a dog. Olivia showed us a marble from her marble set, and a miniature unicorn. Quinn told us about a racecar he has at home, called a Mach 5, and gave us the words mouse, magnet, monkey, and monkey bars. Lucia also gave us lots of M words: my, mommy, map, Maya, May and Mary, and she told us that she has a big imaginary dog and that her brother Tony has a small one. We did some of our M bag today as well.
Friday we played a fun guessing game where we put animals in a jar and had the kids guess the amount. Some students came pretty close! We talked about the penny program, and answered questions about that (see above for more details). We made cat or dog faces as a project, and they are now hanging in the classroom- check them out! We read Big Dog and Little Dog Go For A Walk, Cookie’s Week, I Don’t Want a Posh Dog, Cat Dreams, and Me and My Dragon. For sharing, Aidan brought in a photo of him and one of his chickens- we learned his family has almost 30 and that the one in the photo is a “people chicken!” Jaden brought in the book Maybe the Bear Ate It, and showed us his favorite page. We enjoyed reading it after share. Helen Cruz-Uribe told us about her car, a Mazda, and Odessa brought in a bowl and a spoon- to show mixing! Julian taught us all about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. We listened to a CD of his music while Julian showed us a bust of him and large photos from the movie Amadeus. We learned he started composing when he was four years old!
Thanks for a great week pre-K! See you Monday.
The Pre-K Team
