Week of 1/28

Dear Blue Room Parents,
 
This week we learned all about a new author Mem Fox and enjoyed her stories. In science we explored liquid density and shadows(in conjunction with the upcoming holiday Groundhogs Day).
 
Reminders-:
**If you have not done so already please send in a change of clothing for your child’s cubby. 
 
Books we have Read

• The Magic Hat, by Mem Fox
• Koala Lou, by Mem Fox
• Hunwick’s Egg, by Mem Fox
• Hattie the Fox, by Mem Fox
• Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge, by Mem Fox

 
Specialists activities:

• Art Studio monochromatic blue paintings. 

 
Classroom Activities:

• We began our second author study of Mem Fox. We learned that she only does the job of an author unlike Jan Brett (our last author study) and that she is from Australia. We also noticed that a lot of her books are about animals from Australia and magic.
• The first story we heard was the Magic Hat. After hearing this story, we each got to try a magic hat on and think about what it might turn us into. We documented this with our iPad.
• We also practiced our one to one correspondence by creating gum trees with at least 20 leaves. These trees were featured in Fox’s story Koala Lou . We had so much fun making these trees and were amazed that although some of us used the same number of leaves they all looked so different. 

• After hearing Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge , a story about a little boy who helps an elderly friend gain her memories. We “weaved” our own memory baskets and illustrated one of our precious memories.  We talked about funny, happy and even sad memories.

•  Whoever You Are allowed us to revisit the discussion of respect.  This sparked an interesting discussion and reminded us of the power of love whoever, wherever you are. 
• In Math we graphed our favorite Mem Fox stories. This chart allowed us to sort and count our favorites in an easy way.
• We also wrote about our favorite Mem Fox stories in our journal. Some of us loved the silly stories, while other friends enjoyed the magical stories and a lot of our friends enjoyed learning about the different animals in Mem Fox’s native country Australia.
• This study allowed us to familiarize ourselves with another author. Some Blue Room friends even expressed that one day they too wanted to be an author just like Mem!
• In Science we continued our study of liquids by combining them to see what happens. We made predictions and were amazed that the liquids did not mix. We discussed the many ways that the liquids were different and together noted that the thicker liquids went to the bottom and the lighter liquids went to the top creating a “rainbow”.
• This week we also began a investigation of shadows to help us learn about the upcoming holiday Groundhog’s Day. Each child traced a shadow of an object of their choosing in the classroom. We then used these shadows to create a guessing game. Be sure to look out for this game in the hallway soon.
• We learned about Groundhog’s Day.  We discovered that on this day two famous groundhogs named Punxsutawney Phil and Staten Island Chuck make predictions about the weather.  He predicts if winter will last for six more weeks or if spring will start early.  We learned that he makes this guess based on whether or not he sees his shadow.  To help us remember the job of this groundhog, we learned a song called, “Happy Groundhog’s Day.” After singing, the children made their  own prediction on our smart board using a stylus. They answered the question, “Will the groundhog see his shadow?” by writing their name either under yes or no.

 
Dates to remember:

• February 18, 19- President’s Day (no school)
• February 20th - Professional Development
• March 18th - Spring Break (until 4/1)

Have a great weekend.

The Blue Room Teachers