Weekly Notes for October 19- 23, 2015
Monday: AM: We started with our new letter of the week –f- and found many objects beginning with that sound. The animal is fish, and sadly, we didn’t find any friends at school with a name starting with –f-. Riley was happy to offer his dad’s name, Felix as a friend with an –f- name.
I next asked the children to review all they have learned about insects and was impressed with the details they know about this animal group.
I then introduced them to the live caterpillars, which have just arrived. We have the opportunity to watch their process of growth and metamorphosis, as they become Painted Lady Butterflies.
We learned the 4 major phases in their development and I read a book, which highlights the stages in their transformation.
We also learned about the ladybug larvae, which have also just arrived. They have a similar process of metamorphosis, and I read a book about their major stages of development. The children are naturally very excited to witness this process. Please stop in and see our newest classmates!
PM: I shared a work to color and assemble the pages showing the process of development in the life cycle of a butterfly.
I also shared an art project to make a butterfly, using cone shaped coffee filters. We looked at some drawings of a wide variety of butterflies and noticed that the color patterns of their wings are mirror images of each other.
In this project, the children can color their “wings” with felt pens and then dip the filter in water and watch the water spread and blend the colors. After letting them dry, they can attach a small “body and add antennae.
Tuesday: AM: I showed the nomenclature cards for the parts of a butterfly and we reviewed the names for each part. We are amazed at the scope of parts for such a small creature! We also found it interesting that butterflies have a proboscis used for sucking and feeding, which is similar to an elephant’s trunk!
Natalee then reviewed the Spanish words for color we learned last week and then taught us several more new colors. She then asked the children to help her form a rainbow, arco iris in Spanish, using the Spanish word for each color.
PM: Parent-Teacher Conferences
We are all so grateful for the time to meet with each of you and both get to know you better and support one another in working with and caring for your extraordinary children!
Wednesday: AM: I am so happy to be back exploring music with the children. We jumped right into some seasonal Halloween songs, including a percussion experience re-telling the story of “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything”.
Since we have caterpillars and ladybug larvae in the classroom we also enjoyed singing about these interesting insects.
At circle I shared the Halloween mystery bag, which contains pairs of “spooky” objects to find and match using only their stereognostic sense, otherwise known as touch. It provides an interesting challenge to not look in the bag, but only find the matches by feel.
I also read the book “Halloween Day” by Anne Rockwell and shared a set of cards to match the costumes, their hat or headpiece, and the way each of the children in the story decided on their costume.
PM: Parent-Teacher Conferences
Thursday: AM: Since dressing up and costumes are currently a favorite activity, I told the beloved story of Max and his wolf suit, “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak. I love watching the children’s expressions as the wild things make their wild rumpus and roar their terrible roars!
I also told a Halloween favorite, “The Dark, Dark Night”.
I warned them that the story had a little bit of a scary ending, and asked if they wanted to still hear the tale. There was an enthusiastic YES, and some even wanted to hear it again, such brave children!
PM: Parent-Teacher Conferences
Friday: Each week, Csilla will include the notes for Friday at the beginning of her notes the following week.