Snowflakes!

On Wednesday, we had Nearby Nature.  This month's theme was snow!  It was a perfect day to study snow with a bit on the ground and a few flakes flying through the air.   We learned about the trip a snowflake takes from the sky to where it rests on the ground and we learned that a snowflake starts just as a speck of dust!  We watched a puppet show that taught us about the different kinds of snowflakes and then we sorted pictures of snowflakes by their characteristics.  We learned that every snowflake is unique, but they all have six sides.  Lastly, we got to make our own snowflakes...so much fun! Thanks to Jane and Jess for coming in to explore snow with us!

We read our third Red Clover book this week: The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors.  This was a funny story about the fun game of rock, paper, scissors.  After reading the story, we practiced playing and then we had a class tournament!  It was a lot of fun!  We have found that this game is a good way to decide who goes first to take turns in other games.







During Fundations, we are beginning to build small words and are tapping out the sounds of those words and then blending them together. This week we used a new tool to help us practice building words: a magnetic board and letter tiles.  We used the Fundations boards to find letters when I gave a sound and then I tapped out three sounds and the children built the word.  They did a great job listening for the sounds and identifying what letters are needed to make a word. Way to go!

In math, our focus has been on money this week!  We learned the names and worth of three coins: penny, nickel, and dime. We spent a bit of time making observations about the coins and then used them to play three games:  Which Coin Will Win?, Money March, and Beat You to 15 cents.  In these games, the children practiced recognized coins, adding up coins, and trading pennies in for nickels.  See if your child can identify coins at home and tell you how much they are worth!





This week in our Scholastic Let's Find Out magazine we learned about Martin Luther King, Jr.  We watched a short video and learned about how he worked very hard to get unfair laws changed and to bring more kindness and peace to the world.  We then read several books about kindness and one about peace. After reading The Peace Book, the children each brainstormed what peace means to them and created peace sign sun catchers for our classroom window!  Stop by our windows to check them out!

Just a reminder that we are starting our Sea Creature non-fiction unit next week.  Please try to have your child bring in his or her sea creature poster by Wednesday, January 23rd.  We are planning to start sharing and learning about sea creatures from our "experts" that day! Thank you.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this project.

Enjoy this snowy and cold three-day weekend! We'll see the children on Tuesday!