Dear Parents,

The children had so much fun at our Valentine's Day party.  We started the day off by baking cupcakes.  The children baked the most delicious red velvet mini cupcakes.  After frosting the cupcakes, the children decorated them with edible glitter, sprinkles and chocolate chips. Some of them were so excited, that they started eating  the cupcakes before they even decorated them. I am not sure if they had more fun baking the cupcakes or eating them.  Mmm......were they good!

 

The children also decorated their own mailboxes with stickers and glittery hearts.  They then filled their classmate's boxes with an assortment of candy, lollipops, and valentines.  They became so excited as they watched their mailboxes being filled up.

The children also created heart shaped door knob hangers.  They traced and cut out heart shapes, which they decorated with stickers,  colored paper squares, glitter, and attached a pipe cleaner to them.  They were so proud of their accomplishments.  They kept holding them up and admiring them.

In music this week, the children learned a new good morning song and a new name song.  They also learned how to use a box violin.  Michelle  taught them the rest and playing position and then had a Twinkle Parade with them. They children have been learning voice inflection, as well. 

On Friday, we conducted a science experiment.  We made "penny washers."  The children filled four bowls with either salt, salt and water, vinegar, and vinegar and water and then added an old dirty penny to each bowl. They  made predictions as to which solution would clean their penny the best.  Lajos said, ''The penny will get shiny''.  Eli said,  ''The penny will stay the same.''  Caleb said, "The penny will magically become clean." Rachel said, "I think my penny will be the cleanest." We observed the pennies after 5, 10, and 15 minutes.  We Finally discovered that the vinegar and salt did the best job cleaning the pennies.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe vacation!!!

Love, 

Ms.  Bonne

P.S.  We look forward to learning about recycling after vacation.
         

 December 8, 2013

Dear Parents,

We continued our Chinese New Year celebration this week.  We listened to great stories such as Lon Po Po, by Ed Young and Lanterns and Firecrackers, by Johny Zucker.   We learned a new Chinese New
Year song called "Sin Nian How Ya."

The children had so much fun making snakes out of clay and then decorating them with markers.  They also cut  spiral snakes out of  plates and then painted them with water color paints. That certainly was a great fine-motor activity.  It is amazing how well the children have mastered the use of the scissors.










This week in music the children have been learning about Dr. Suzuki.  They practiced singing a few of his songs from his violin method book.  The children have also started learning about the music staff and the G clef. Yina taught the children some Chinese New Year songs.

We look forward to celebrating Valentine's day next week in class.
Please send your children to school with valentines for each of their classmates.  They will each be decorating their own mailboxes.


Love,

Ms.  Bonne

Dear Parents,

This week we celebrated Chinese New Years.  We started the new year by listening to stories about how New Years is celebrated in China. We also learned about their customs and traditions. Some of the stories we read were: Bringing in the New Year, by Grace Lin, The 

Dancing Dragon, by Marcia Vaughan, and My First Chinese New Year, by Karen Katz.                          

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2013 is the Year of the Snake, which begins on February 10, 2013 and ends on January 30, 2014.  The Snake, also called the Junior Dragon,  is the sixth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 Animal Signs.

Chinese New Year is a time when families get together to celebrate. In the days coming up to the New Year every family buys presents, decorations, food, new clothes and people have their hair cut. Houses are cleaned from top to bottom. The aim is to sweep out any bad luck from the old year and clear the way for good luck. People greet each other by saying 'Gung Hay Fat Choy!', which means Happy New Year.

Do you like my new jacket?

We prepared for our New Year's celebration by making red and yellow Chinese bracelets,  lanterns (thought of as lucky), and colorful egg carton dragons, with pompoms and googly eyes.  Dragons are considered a symbol of good fortune.  We also learned two new songs " Dragon Dance and "Chinese New Year Dragon."  

                       






We finally celebrated the Chinese New Year with Irene (William's mother).  She taught the children how to make dumplings, which were absolutely delicious!  She also demonstrated how to write the Chinese letters with black ink and a paint brush. They were a work of art.  Please stop by the classroom and see them displayed on our door. 





















Happy New Year!

Love, 

Ms. Bonne