Slipper DEAR party

Celebrating our last day together in 2012, we decided that our Pre-First girls should have a DEAR slipper party.  After our morning meeting, the girls got into their cozy slippers or socks, grabbed their books, a cup of hot cocoa, and a plate of popcorn, and settled into a nook in our classroom.  We played mellow holiday music and enjoyed quiet reading. 

Thanks to all who contributed to the parent gift.  We greatly appreciate it and have already spent it on our children :-)  Please have a safe and happy holiday and a wonderful new year.  We will see you all in 2013!

Gingerbread decorating

We ended our gingerbread unit today, and what better way to celebrate then with lots and lots of sugar and icing! Over the past few weeks, we have read many different versions of the Gingerbread Man--from the classic to contemporary stories, such as The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers.  The girls have used Venn diagrams to compare the different stories and have also sequenced some of the stories as well.  It was a fun unit and decorating the gingerbread people was a great way to to culminate the unit and head into winter break.

Penguin enemies

Killer whales, skuas and leopard seals...oh my!  The girls learned that these 3 animals are the penguin's biggest--and scariest--predators.  We looked at some pictures from online and also got a lot of information from some stories in our classroom library.  The girls are working on torn paper scenes, depicting the penguin in a perilous situation with a feared predator!

Make noise words

For the past 2 days, the girls have been learning about words that "make noise" (aka words that make a sound).  Today, we read Night Noises by our Author of the Month, Mem Fox.  We brainstormed all of the different "make noise" words she used in her book.

 

After we brainstormed the words she used, we also came up with a few on our own.  The girls put 5 of those words into a step book and illustrated different ways to make the sound.

 

After they completed their book, we put them into pairs so they could share their work.

 

Next week we will start a new book during our Writer's Workshop period where the girls will have to use their new found knowledge of "make noise" words in their writing piece.

Penguin blubber

The girls had a blast in science today as they learned where penguins live in the world and how they stay warm in less than ideal temperatures.  We used the Google Earth app to get a better idea of the penguin's homes and the girls used highlighters to identify the corresponding places on their own personal maps.  They were shocked to hear that penguins do not live in the North Pole!

To make the concept of blubber more appealing to the girls, we brought out the big guns--an ice cold bucket of water.  The girls were challenged to keep their hands in the ice cold water for as long as they could (we set the limit at 30 seconds, we are not THAT mean).  We discussed how their hands felt and if they wanted to go swimming in a pool that temperature--of course we had some bold girls who said they would "definitely" take a dip :-)

 

 

Using a glove, shortening as a "blubber" substitute, and plastic wrap the girls dipped their hands back into the ice cold water.  They were amazed to find that their hands were not nearly as cold as before.  The girls realized that by having blubber, the penguins are able to survive in the harsh climate of Antarctica. 

Penguin parents

Today the girls learned about how penguin parents care for their young in the unforgiving climate of Antarctica.  We read a book and watched 2 short movies about what penguin parents have to go through to ensure their chick's safety.  Afterwards, we pretended to be penguins and had to learn how to waddle with an egg on our feet and transfer the egg to our partner.

After we practiced, the girls did a penguin race, where they had to waddle over to their partner and transfer the egg before it hit the "ice".  The girls loved this activity and realized how difficult it can be for penguins in Antarctica.

Upper School activity

Yesterday, the girls got a big treat.  The Upper School girls came down to have a discussion and complete an activity on philanthropy. Together, they watched a video and which helped our Pre-First girls better understand what philanthropy is and how they can be active in their community.  After the video, the girls used Sharpies to create a scene on a towel that described philanthropy.  The towels will be donated to several different elderly communities around Baltimore.  The girls LOVED working with the older girls and some even took pictures of their partners on their iPads.

It's wintertime....

November is (almost) officially over and winter is right around the corner.  To get into the spirit, we read a fun winter story and decorated our bulletin board with one of our favorite winter things...mugs of hot chocolate!  The girls adorned their mugs with snowy images and sparkly glitter then described, in two sentences, why they like winter.  Their own little cup of hot chocolate topped with marshmallows helped inspire their creative juices.

 

 

We also completed our nutrition unit today with a blindfold taste test.  The girls tasted foods ranging from apples to beans to string cheese and decided which food group they belonged.