Week seventeen 2009
Week 17
Theme: It’s Winter!
Focus: Winter snow and weather, winter clothing, three states of water and temperature
Number: 20 (10 + 10 = 20)
Classical composer: George Frideric Handel (1685 –1759) was a German-born Baroque composer who is famous for his operas, oratorios, and concerti grossi. His works include Messiah, Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks. Handel's music became well-known and studied by many composers, including Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.
Spanish: la nieve (snow), el frio (the cold), la agua (the water). We are going to use a more structured approach to Spanish by having a “word of the day” that fits with our theme. There will be about three new words each week!
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Table Activities: Letter peg boards and pegs, fishing pond, continents floor puzzle, fun with magnets including driving paper clips on plastic plates with the magnet underneath, magnetic balls, bar magnets and a magnet board.
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Music: We had lots of fun singing and dancing to fun winter favorites, such as “Once There was a Snowman”, “Snow is Falling”, “Suzy Snowflake”, and “Ker-Plink, Ker-Plop”. We listened to excerpts of Handel’s music, including music from the Messiah, Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks.
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Art: We created beautiful “ice” crystal sculptures using a special Borax and water mixture that we soaked pipe cleaner shapes in overnight.
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Handwriting and Reading: Our sound train sound for the week was the /c/ sound as in “Caleb”. We are reviewing the sound train to make sure the kids remember after the big break.
For handwriting one group worked hard to imitate the teacher in drawing big lines from the starting corner down the side of the gray block. Then they drew rectangles and circles. The other group focused on writing the uppercase letters “M, N, and F”, with particular attention paid to use of the helper-hand, proper grip, and proper stroke formation. Miss Cameron was very impressed with each student’s excellent work and drew lots of smiley faces for great following directions!
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Theme: We thought winter would be a fitting theme, given our last few weeks in the northwest. Some of the highlights of the week include creating tortilla snowflakes
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making pretend snow angels on the green carpet, 
imagining we were ice skaters and skiers on the slopes, pretending we were snowflakes falling from the sky. We acted out the storybook, “Elmer in the Snow” and worked together to build an imaginary giant snowman in the green carpet room. It is so fun to pretend together as a class! These kids have great imaginations and really keep track of the details as we pretend specific things. What a hoot! We also had fun talking about winter clothing as the class helped Miss Cameron pack her bag for a trip to a cold, snowy place. We pondered and got silly together over the difference between hats and hoods, mittens and gloves, and appropriate procedure for wearing the items. 
We all worked together to make Mat Man the gear he would need to stay warm in 
cold weather (the colors we used were, at times, quite the topic of debate!). 
We performed several experiments to explore water as a liquid, vapor, and solid (ice and snow). Many of you parents commented that your children were asking very complex questions and our experience in the classroom wasn’t any different! These students are thinkers, and it gives us as teachers lots of opportunities to look things up and learn new and interesting things! We love it! We watched hot water turn into water vapor and then condense again on a cold plate. We melted snow and watched dial and alcohol thermometers move as they were immersed in alternating cold and hot liquids, or brought inside from outside. We learned how it has to be cold for snow because if it’s warm, it rains. Following our experiments, each student got a tray with multiple shapes of ice such as spheres (way cool!), rods, cubes, semicircles and end-of-test-tube shaped. They were also given sponges and brushes to play with the ice. These activities were highly engaging and very enjoyable. Learning cool things is so fun!
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Storybooks: Cat and Mouse in the Snow, The Little Snowflake, Elmer in the Snow, The Mitten, Under My Hood I Have a Hat, I Am Snow
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Math: You may have seen worksheets come home this week practicing our equation 10 + 10 = 20. The kids practiced covering the TENS spot with the two to make 10 into 20. We also discussed sets, such as 4 sets of 5 apples equal 20. This is a big concept, but not surprising, some of the kids got it right away. Just being exposed to the mathematical language at this age is very worthwhile.
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Free-Play Fun: The children used the large magnifying glasses spontaneously to explore the classroom environment after using them to better observe the thermometers. They also spent time in the reading loft, free drawing with markers, and building with blocks. They love to use the cars and airplanes to create airports, garages, and other creations.
,
making pretend snow angels on the green carpet, 
imagining we were ice skaters and skiers on the slopes, pretending we were snowflakes falling from the sky. We acted out the storybook, “Elmer in the Snow” and worked together to build an imaginary giant snowman in the green carpet room. It is so fun to pretend together as a class! These kids have great imaginations and really keep track of the details as we pretend specific things. What a hoot! We also had fun talking about winter clothing as the class helped Miss Cameron pack her bag for a trip to a cold, snowy place. We pondered and got silly together over the difference between hats and hoods, mittens and gloves, and appropriate procedure for wearing the items. 
We all worked together to make Mat Man the gear he would need to stay warm in 
cold weather (the colors we used were, at times, quite the topic of debate!). 
We performed several experiments to explore water as a liquid, vapor, and solid (ice and snow). Many of you parents commented that your children were asking very complex questions and our experience in the classroom wasn’t any different! These students are thinkers, and it gives us as teachers lots of opportunities to look things up and learn new and interesting things! We love it! We watched hot water turn into water vapor and then condense again on a cold plate. We melted snow and watched dial and alcohol thermometers move as they were immersed in alternating cold and hot liquids, or brought inside from outside. We learned how it has to be cold for snow because if it’s warm, it rains. Following our experiments, each student got a tray with multiple shapes of ice such as spheres (way cool!), rods, cubes, semicircles and end-of-test-tube shaped. They were also given sponges and brushes to play with the ice. These activities were highly engaging and very enjoyable. Learning cool things is so fun!
.
Storybooks: Cat and Mouse in the Snow, The Little Snowflake, Elmer in the Snow, The Mitten, Under My Hood I Have a Hat, I Am Snow
.
Math: You may have seen worksheets come home this week practicing our equation 10 + 10 = 20. The kids practiced covering the TENS spot with the two to make 10 into 20. We also discussed sets, such as 4 sets of 5 apples equal 20. This is a big concept, but not surprising, some of the kids got it right away. Just being exposed to the mathematical language at this age is very worthwhile.
.
Free-Play Fun: The children used the large magnifying glasses spontaneously to explore the classroom environment after using them to better observe the thermometers. They also spent time in the reading loft, free drawing with markers, and building with blocks. They love to use the cars and airplanes to create airports, garages, and other creations.
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