|
We have acquired numerous skills and have benefitted from many new and exciting experiences. We spent several days learning some basic skills such as taping, gluing and cutting. We have also had the opportunity to attend many field trips and have brought that newfound knowledge back into the classroom for some exploration and extension activities.
We visited Lee High School and learned about music and instruments from Mr. Gabrielse and the Lee Rebel Band.
With the winter came a very exciting activity for our preschoolers - a visit from Santa Claus!
With the winter came discussion about sports that can be played during the winter. After several days of practice skating on paper plates, we were fortunate to have our own award-winning kindergarten teacher, Mrs. VanArk come into the classrooms and teach us all about ice skating. She explained that there are three (3) types of ice skating - figure skating, speed skating and ice hockey. We had the opportunity to see some of her special costumes, the medals that she has won and to practice some techniques.
In the block area we have been spending time creating structures such as a car wash. We also discovered that we could create ramps out of blocks. We experimented with the ramps and cars, learning that when we make the ramp steeper, the cars travel faster.
In the discovery area, we are exploring our world with our five (5) senses. We have used our sense of smell to distinguish different scents and our eyes to watch plant growth.
In the art area, we have been learning about color and mixing paint. We discovered that when some colors are mixed together, they form a new color! We learned that red mixed with yellow creates orange, yellow mixed with blue creates green and that red mixed with blue creates purple!
In the Red Room, we have had the opportunity to use playdough and small manipulatives in order to strengthen our fine motor muscles. We have also used the the manipulatives to learn math concepts. In the housekeeping area we have had the opportunity to assume roles such as a mom, dad, sister, brother, etc. We have been really excited to turn our housekeeping area into a doctor's office where we have been able to pretend to be doctors, nurses, receptionists and patients!
In January, we visited the Grand Rapids Children's Museum. We had the opportunity to explore all of the areas in the museum; bubbles, the barn, the Wee Market, the veterinary clinic and arts & crafts. We were lucky to be able to see some real animals brought to the museum from the John Ball Zoo. Some of us were brave enough to touch the opposum!
Mrs. Alspaugh, an ECC para-educator, brought a suprise in for us to see! After studying living and non-living in the discovery area, we had the opportunity to see some living roosters. They crowed and strutted around our rooms giving us the opportunity to see, and pet, a rooster.
We have been fortunate to be able to continue our wonderful partnership with Ms. Ally and the downtown YMCA. In the fall, she came to visit us to talk about healthy eating. During the winter, she came and taught us how to keep our bodies healthy by doing yoga.
In the red room we have been learning about restaurants. In order to further our learning, we took a field trip to Palermo's Pizza. While we were there we had the opportunity to learn how to make a pizza. After the pizza baked, we brought it back to school and shared it with our classmates. What a treat!
To celebrate March is Reading Month, Mr. Robert, PTC President, distributed books to each of the preschool children compliments of RIF and the Godfrey-Lee PTC. Thank you PTC for helping to continue to grow a love of reading in our preschoolers!
St. Patrick's Day came and with it came a variety of Irish folktales and a cooking activity. All 96 preschoolers visited the Green Room and helped to make Irish soda bread. We measured, mixed, kneaded and baked it. When it was finished, we enjoyed eating it with butter made in the Blue Room, honey and jam!
Calling all shoppers! To finish out the year, the Red Room has transformed it's doctor's office into a supermarket. It's fantastic success is completely due to the high level of parent participation we received. We asked parents to donate empty food boxes, containers and bottles and they responded in droves. We are excited about the number and variety of items that our shoppers get to "purchase!"
We were lucky to have our superintendent, Mr. Britten, read us a story via SKYPE. Mr. Britten was in his office in the Administration Building on Burton while we sat in front of the Polyvision Board in Ms. Char's classroom. The students loved being able to see and hear Mr. Britten as he read to us about Froggy's experience with school. Thanks!!
On April 29, we had the opportunity to travel to the Frederik Meijer Gardens to experience the butterfly exhibit. We saw a large variety of butterflies flying through the conservatory. We were also fortunate to be able to see a sneak peek of the Dale Chihuly blown glass exhibit. Chihuly's glass sculptures were all over the gardens - inside and out. Exploring the tree house and the Lena Meijer Children's Garden rounded out the day.
May 2010
We were fortunate to host "The Tomato Collection" poet and musician, Kevin Kammeraad. Kevin brought an energetic presentation to us filled with music, poetry and movement. We had a great time!
Mother's Day Tea We celebrated our mothers with a presentation of songs and gifts. Together we made Mother's Day hats and had a snack of punch and cookies.
|
We read many stories and use materials in the classroom to retell those stories!
