October 14, 2022

We had a busy week, so let’s just jump right in!

It was time to visit our tree again and see what changes have occurred! Prior to heading out, we had a class discussion about everyone’s predictions and why they think those changes have happened. “I think the wind blowed away all the leaves!” “I think the leaves colors changed!” “I think nothing!” All pretty accurate actually! In some ways the tree didn’t change at all, in other parts the leaves did indeed change, and then there were also the sections of branches and leaves that had been blown away! Afterwards, we came inside to draw our tree interpretation and date it for the monthly visit. Last time we used crayons so this time we used markers!

This week we learned A LOT about the triceratops and the spinosaurus. Did you know their names mean spine lizard and 3 horned face? We looked at a few non-fiction books, made our inferences, watched two youtube clips (attached below) and had some pretty in depth discussions about both. Afterwards, we wrote our charts as a class and every single person was able to come up with at least one thing they learned about each dinosaur to add to our chart. Bravo kiddos! Ask your child what are one or two things they learned about the spinosaurus and triceratops! Finally, they chose a fact or two to copy into their dinosaur journal and draw their pictures. Your children are all getting very excited to share these with you after conferences!

In conjunction with our tree study and dinosaur exploration, we will also be studying various artists and their style of work throughout the year. For our first artist, I introduced Piet Mondrian. He was a Dutch painter known for his abstract paintings using squares and rectangles with primary colors. We had so much fun with these and loved how different everyone’s turned out, yet how beautiful they look as a whole. Take a look down below at ours! If your child was not here this week, they will absolutely be able to make their own Mondrian next week. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-piet-mondrian-artist

Learning about and understanding the seasons and the world around us is happening everyday and everyday can be different than the last! We don’t always remember those changes so in order to help better grasp the current changes happening in nature because of the weather, we each made a nature frame. We went for a mini nature walk around the school with a bag and found lots of different colored leaves, branches and sticks in different sizes, flowers, petals, etc. We then used these to make a nature board. They turned out so beautiful!

Last week you may remember that we made some dinosaurs out of white clay. This week we got to paint them! I love that no two people made the same dinosaur. We had an ankylosaurus, brachiosaurus, tyrannosaurus rex, and more. Ask your child what their dinosaur was:)

And finally, for this week’s 4 C’s activity we were gifted a really cool HUGE box, but couldn’t decide what to do with it! What a perfect opportunity to communicate, collaborate, get creative, and use our critical thinking skills to make something as a class! So far, we have come up with a racecar, a spaceship, a zoo, and a house! I’m happy to say that everyone had a chance to contribute and did really well listening to each other’s ideas and thoughts. Stay tuned on what they will decide next week!

Books we read this week:

Never Touch A T.Rex! by Rosie Greening
How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodbye by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
How Do Dinosaurs Learn To Read by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
Stars, Stars, Stars by Bob Barner

Reminders:

With the weather certainly shifting this past week, keep in mind that if the FEELS LIKE temperature is 25 or above, we will continue to go outside for our full hour of recess. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately with a coat, as well hats, gloves, scarves, etc. It can get pretty windy at the park and sometimes a sweater just isn’t enough!
Art-To-Remember! Order forms were sent home in your child’s folder TODAY! Please do not lose these forms as they are personalized with your child’s online code for easy ordering. Orders must be placed by October 28. They have so many cute gift ideas for everyone:)
In addition to Art-To-Remember order forms, I have also sent home Scholastic book order forms (2). The website to order is club.scholastic.com and our class code is VFQYM. Orders will be due by next Sunday, October 23.
Conference sign-up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4bafa72cabfa7-fall3 If there is a specific time you want, please make sure to sign-up as quickly as possible. Let me know if you have any questions and/or if you need to schedule a different day/time. I will do my best to accommodate your schedules.
Take a look at our Amazon wish list! Some items have already been purchased by secret friends who have yet to reveal themselves, so please just double check that an item has not been donated. Thank you:) https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3TQ4DGBR59ZZ7/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_2

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