Week of 1/28

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