Quarter Note Newsletter

Dear Parents,

It is hard to believe that we have been in school for four weeks already.  The children have adjusted well to our classroom routines.  They are all so busy and engaged in activities from the second they walk into the classroom; whether it’s building with blocks, exploring the science area, wheeling a doll carriage around the room or just socializing. It is such a pleasure to see how well they interact with each other.

This week we continued our apple theme by making apple shakers and apple picture frames. We also enjoyed listening to some apple stories.  Some of our favorites were:  Up, Up, Up!: It’s Apple Picking by Jody Shapiro, Apples by Gail Gibbons and The  Apple Story by Ken Robbins.

The children had such a good time singing and dancing with Miss Michelle, while Yina played the piano. They sang “It Takes Eight to make a Circle,” Way up High in the Apple Tree and “Clap, Clap, Clap your Hands.” The children also enjoyed discovering the violin and piano this week.

The highlight of the week was when Corey from Curious Creatures visited the school. The children had a chance to touch, pat,  and even hold the creatures.  Some of their favorite animals and reptiles were snakes, chinchillas, baby snapping turtles, alligators and a bearded dragon lizard.  What a fun learning experience it was for the children.

We  concluded the week by making delicious apple muffins.

Reminder:  Scholastic Weekly Reader orders are due next week.

Love,   

Ms. Bonne

Quarter Note Newsletter

Dear Parents,

We had a short week but, we accomplished so much.  We introduced the unit on apples by reading the "Apple Story."  The story is about a little red house with no doors or windows and a star inside.  Ask your child about it.  (I have placed a copy of it in your child's cubby).  Some of the other stories the children enjoyed listening to were: How Do Apples Grow, by Betsy Maestro, Discovering the Orchard by, I. Sanchez, and Apples Here!, by Will Hubbell. 

We learned new apple songs such "Apple Up High," "Two Red Apples," "Have You Ever Seen an Apple?" We also explored the violin this week with Miss Michelle.  The kids were excited to dance to fiddle tunes. The children also learned "Apples Dipped in Honey for Rosh Hashanah" (the Jewish New Year). Rosh Hashanah meals usual include apples and honey, to symbolize a sweet new year.

The children enjoyed participating in an apple taste test. The three types of apples they tasted were:  Pink Lady, Red Delicious, and Granny Smith.  Most of the children chose the Pink Lady as their favorite. 

They also practiced writing the letter "A" and came up with a list of the words that begin with the letter "A", such as apple, apple sauce, airplane, alligator, and arm, etc. We made "stained glass apples" which are displayed on our classroom windows.

The finality came when we made the most delicious apple sauce.  They children had so much fun making it, and enjoyed using the apple peeler.  They could hardly wait for their turn. 

We look forward to continuing our apple theme next week. I would also like to thank all the parents for contributing the most delicous food for our picnic.  I think everyone would  agree that it was quite a success.  The children and parents had a wonderful time socializing with each other.

Love,

Ms. Bonne

Quarter Note Newsletter September 14, 2012

Dear Parents,

The Quarter Notes have had another exciting week learning about every one's family.  We had a discussion about  how many people were in each one of our families.  The children had a great time gluing on the cut-outs (which represented each family member) to the "How Many People in My Family?"  graph.  It was kind of funny watching many of them use a glue stick for the first time. They finally learned that the glue goes on back of the picture, not the front. 

We finally finished our life-sized portraits.  The children had so much fun painting  "themselves."  They just couldn't wait until it was their turn.  Many of the children just discovered what color hair and eyes they have.  It was so cute watching them admire their work.  They pointed to their painting and said, "That's me!"  We also finished our "All About Me Book."  I am not sure who got more excited, the children or the teachers, just watching the children's face light up as we turned to their page.

Each child collaged the first letter of their name.  They are working on recognizing the letters in their name.  They have also been practicing writing their name.

Music was another enjoyable part of the week.  The children in this class really seem to love dancing and singing with Michelle.  Some of the songs they sang were "Thumbs Go up," "The  Eensy, Weensy Spider," and "Ha,Ha, This A Way."  The also danced to the Animal Action CD.

Please take a look around the classroom to admire your children's work and to let them know how proud you are of them.

Please remember to bring in your family picture so we can display them next to the "Family Graph."  Also, please leave an extra sweater or sweatshirt in your child's cubby since fall weather can be unpredictable.  We usually go outside every day.

A special thank you to Rachel's mother, Kathryn, for donating all the coffee boxes.  We will be using them to make pet houses.  Also, I would like to thank everyone for bringing in the fruit.  The children have really enjoyed eating it during snack-time.

 

Love,

          Bonne

            

Quarter Note Newsletter September 7, 2012

Dear Parents,

The Quarter Notes have done an amazing job settling into our classroom.   The children are beginning to learn our classroom routines.  It is so exciting watching the children  make new friendships and how they are beginning to negotiate the use of the toys.  It is funny how no one is interested in a particular toy until one person picks it up, and before you know it, everyone seems to want it.

They all participated in making  "Mat Man" a figure representing a person, constructed out of wooden shapes.  They then, each drew their own self portraits, which we adorned our classroom bulletin board with.  They were all so proud of their accomplishments.  They also created and decorated mirrors.  They used them to  look at themselves and then to describe what they saw. 

The children enjoyed listening to stories which were "All About me."  We had some great discussions about ourselves such as,  what color hair and eyes we have and our favorite activities.  Some of the stories we listened to were:Eyes, Nose, Fingers, and Toes, by Judith Hindley, Here Are My Hands, by Bill Martin, and Thank You For Me!, by Marion Dane Bauer. They also seemed to love singing songs, playing instruments and dancing.  We are working on creating a classroom song book which include every one's favorite part of their body. The book is called "This Song is All About Me."  We also sang  "Make New Friends but, Keep the Old"and "I am Special."

Finally, the children have enjoyed participating in music class with Michelle.  Some the highlights were:  Dancing with the tambourines, pretending to be animals, and marching to music.

Next week we look forward to another fun-filled week.  We will continue to work on our "All About Me" unit and to extend it to our families.