Dear Koala Bear Families,

We had a great week learning all about Valentine’s Day! Here are some of the lovely activities we did this week in the Koala Bear PM Room:

Classroom Activities:
 

• Using watercolor paints and painters tape, each student made “love letters” to give to their parents. The students were amazed to see how easily the tape came off of the watercolor paper once the paint had totally dried.
• Each student was given a wooden heart. After a group discussion of asking how they wanted to decorate their hearts, the students came to the conclusion that they wanted to use water color paint to paint their hearts. We then took pictures of each student inside of a heart filled frame, in which they pasted onto the heart. Lastly, we attached a string to the heart so you can hang this heart anywhere you’d like! They were very proud of the final product.
• Made three part patterns using different size and color hearts
• We put on our chef hats and whipped up some red pancakes for a very special Valentine’s Day snack. The students loved helping pour the ingredients, and watching the powder mix turn into a liquid as we added water and oil. As an added surprise bonus, we dropped in a few drops of red food coloring to make the pancakes look extra festive!

 
Books we read:
 

• Love You More Than Rainbows, by Susan E. Crites
• If You Give a Pig a Pancake, by Laura Numeroff 
• The Day It Rained Hearts, by Felicia Bond

 
Letter of the Week:

• “P”! A Perfectly Polite letter!

 
Important Dates:

• MCS will be closed Monday 2/19 and will reopen on Thursday, 2/21.

 
We hope you have a great long weekend and looking forward to seeing everyone again on Thursday!
 
Laura and Desiree

Hello Koala PM Families!
 
It was another busy week in the Koala Bear Room! We had a chance to visit China, checked back in with Punxsutawney Phil, and began learning all about Valentine’s Day. Here are some of the fun activities we did:
 
Activities:

• On Friday of last week, Naya’s parents came in to visit and teach us all about India. They brought in a globe to show us where India was, showed us photos of Naya in a beautiful Indian dress that she wore to a family wedding when she was a flower girl, talked about the different types of food, dance, and music that can be found in India, and even gave us a delicious snack (Spiced Puri), and a yummy drink (Mango Lassi). The students loved tasting these new treats!
• We circled back to our Groundhog Day discussion from last week and learned that Punxsutawney Phil did NOT see his shadow over the weekend. We were all excited at the idea of an early Spring!
• On Tuesday, February 5th, we introduced Lunar New Year. The students learned that this year is the Year of the Pig, and that in the Chinese culture, red and gold are two colors that represent good luck and fortune, and wish away all the bad luck. While watching a Traditional Chinese Fan Dance on the Interactive White Board, the students used red, yellow, and orange watercolor to paint a beautiful Chinese fan for themselves.
• We learned what the words “estimate” and “actual” means. We examined a small cup and a plastic quart to estimate how many candy hearts would fit into each object. After each student had a turn to observe and then make their estimation, we counted out the actual number of candy hearts it took to fill to the top. The students were mesmerized and excited by this counting activity, and were very tempted to sneak a piece of candy as we counted! Our results are currently hanging outside of our classroom!
• I gave the students cardboard hearts and asked them to estimate how many candy hearts it would take to cover the surface of the heart. The students pointed out that the heart was a flat surface, and maybe it would take less hearts to cover as compared to the cup and container. They did such a great job with their estimates, and then successfully counted out 65 candy hearts (with a little assistance!) to glue on top of the cardboard heart.
• We did a writing activity by using the prompt, “Love is…”. We asked the students to finish the sentence with whatever love means to them. After they wrote out their answer, they then drew a picture to describe their answer.

Some Books We Read:

• “Lanterns and Firecrackers”, by Jonny Zucker
• “Bringing in the New Year”, by Grace Lin
• “My First Chinese New Year”, by Karen Katz
• “Happy Valentine’s Day, Mouse!” by Laura Numeroff

 
Letter of the Week:

• D! A “D”ynamite letter!

​Dates to Remember:

• Montclare will be closed Monday, 2/18 and will re-open on Thursday, 2/21.
• If you’d like to participate in a Valentine’s Day card exchange, please send in your children's Valentine’s Day cards. We will be having the students hand out their cards on Thursday, February 14th in class.

 
Have a great weekend!
 
Laura and Desiree

Dear Koala PM Families,

We had such a fun and VERY busy week in the Koala Bear Room! We have been traveling all over the world for the past 2 weeks in our Cultures unit. Here are some of the amazing activities we did:

Classroom Activities:

• Cultures Around the World! The Koala Bears have had many visitors come in and speak to them about different cultures. Here are a few highlights of our visits thus far…

• Maitê’s mom, Julia, came in to talk about Brazilian culture. She brought in some delicious traditional Brazilian treats, such as pāo de queijo (cheesy bread), biscoito de polvilho (cheesy puffs), dolce de leite, and banahinha (a banana sweet). The students devoured these wonderful treats!

• Maddie’s parents, Min and Basil, came in and presented on South Korea. They explained to the students that while there are many similarities between South Korean and American cultures, there are many differences as well. The students learned about traditional drum dances, K-Pop, made Korean fans, among many other fascinating facts!

• Desiree presented on the Dominican Republic culture, and showed the students videos of Merengue dancing, taught the students how to say animals, foods, and colors in Spanish, served a delicious traditional Dominican cake, and made homemade Flan! Desiree’s family is from the Dominican Republic and had many wonderful stories to share with the class about her family and time spent visiting the island. 
• Laura presented on Ireland and explained that her father’s family is from and still lives in Ireland. The students were amazed to hear that her grandfather came over to America on a boat many years ago! We had avery special visitor, Jill (the Star Room teacher and parent in the Honey Bear Room) who is from Ireland. She showed the students pictures of the Irish flag, cathedrals and castles, the Cliffs of Mohr, rainbows, and a photo of a leprechaun!
• The Koala Bears had a chance to see some Irish step dancing in Riverdance on the Interactive White Board, and were amazed by how quickly the dancers feet moved! 
• Ariel’s Grandmother came in for a visit to speak about Australia. She showed us many of the different types of animals that live in Australia and shared some stories about the Australian culture.
• We made a silly groundhog for Groundhog Day! Using paper plates, googley eyes paint and dot markers, we created groundhogs that popped out of their holes to see their shadows! 
• We voted on whether or not we thought Punxsutawney Phil would see his shadow.
• Made Irish flags using popsicle sticks, green, white, and orange paint.

 
Books We Read

• Same, Same but Different by, Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

• S is for Shamrock, by Eve Bunting

 
Science:

• After learning about how the groundhog sees his shadow to predict the weather, the children experiment with prisms, colored lenses, and flashlights to see how light can create different types of shadows.

 
Letter of the Week:

• A "J"iffy letter!

 
We hope everyone has a great weekend!
 
Laura and Desiree