28 Feb Newsletter | February 22-25, 2016

Everyone was so excited to be back at school after the winter break! It was a perfect week to talk about penguins and the letter P!

On Monday we talked about where penguins live (south of the equator) and what they eat (fish.) We compared everyone’s height to the life size penguin drawing that was 37 inches high. As it turned out, all but one in the class were taller than it. One was the same height! During center based time we played a numbers memory game and did a craft/science project where the children colored the “feathers” onto a penguin and dripped water on it to see how the feathers repel water to keep the penguins drier and warm. Monday was perfectly sunny and we enjoyed being able to spend time outside.

Tuesday was our letter-of-the-week day. We made a list of 38 words that start with P – our longest list yet! We also learned a new penguin song with signs (I’m a Little Penguin) and a counting rhyme (5 Little Penguins.) We were pleased to have another day to play outside!

We started Wednesday with fun ice activities at the tables. There was colored ice for painting on white paper. There was also a science activity with items that had been frozen in a block of ice and needed to be freed using salt water. Wednesday was our cooking day and we used bananas and melted chocolate to make penguins. Miss Rebecca came with Stanley to read stories and the teachers were able to work with small groups to make a penguin craft. The weather kept us in but we had a great time pretending that the parachute was an ice flow and trying to keep the penguin stuffed animal from flying off of it. Wednesday’s after care friends requested and helped design an obstacle course that took up the entire room!

On Thursday we continued the task of trying to free the items from the block of ice (so far, we have managed to free a single sequin.) We will keep working on it! We walked to the Lenox Library with our helpers from Miss Hall’s School. The library had a STEAM program (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.) The children separated into three groups and rotated through the activities. One group built with magnet blocks, one went “fishing” for things that were magnetic, and one group explored the room for things that their magnets would stick to. Miss Jenny read them a story with a surprise ending, “The Shivers in the Fridge” by Fran Manushkin. We enjoyed some soggy outside time and one more story before lunch.

Thursday was also our first day of Kindergarten Readiness. The children talked about what they thought would happen at kindergarten and how they felt about it. They explored the letters of the alphabet by using their bodies to make all the letters.

Next week we will be doing a calendar craft with Miss Courtney as well as celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday and Read Across America week.

Our stories this week included:

“Tacky the Penguin” by Lynn Munsinger
“One Cool Friend” by Toni Busseo
“Nanu, Penguin Chic” by Theresa Radcliffe
“Little Penguin’s Tale” by Audrey Wood
“Penguins 1,2,3” by Kevin Schafer
“National Geographic Readers: Penguins” by Anne Schreiber

Here’s what the children had to say about penguins:

William – “They waddle.”
Hadley – “When they want to get food they have to slide on their bellies.”
Noah – “Penguins go under water.”
Asher –“Penguins are very good swimmers.”
Cassidy – “Penguins can’t fly.”
Elise – “Penguins eat fish.”
Eliza – “Baby penguins come from eggs.”
Nila – “Penguins slide on their bellies.”
Kane – “The daddy penguins eat snow when they are watching the babies.”
Luci – “The dads keep their babies safe.”
Ainsley – “The daddies eat snow while the mommies are gone.”
Cooper –“Penguins live at the South Pole.”
Juliana – “Penguins waddle

Quotes of the Week:

Audrey – “Ooh! This ice is cold!”
Asher – “I watched ‘Mr. Popper’s Penguins’ recently.”
Race – “I love the honey that’s in a box and the box is a bear.”
Eliza – “I have five coughs, I think.”
Audrey – “You can’t have a cuddle without a snuggle.”
Hadley – “I’m growing way to you.”
“Two penguins are better than one.”
“I grow up quick, wowee gazowee!”
Noah – “Asher is my friend.”
Kane – “Me and William are not just the best. Everyone is the best.”
Hadley – “This is not working for the Hadley!”
Kane – “Cooper scared me and I liked it.”
Vera – “Luci, that is beautiful.”
Juliana – “Mittens is my best friend.”