Hello Sky Room Families!
 
Summer has finally arrived! We have had an absolute blast in the Sky Room this year. Your children have grown to become independent and strong thinkers.

We are so proud of how they continue to be such empathetic and kind friends towards each other. 
 
Wishing you all a fantastic summer!
 
Warmly,

Laura, Desiree and Ashley

Dear Sky Room,

We had a blast at the Central Park Zoo last Friday! Thank you all for coming and making it such a wonderful trip for your children. The teachers also had a lot of fun!
Classroom Activities:

• We looked at pictures of different types of bears – Polar, Koala, Brown, Black, and Panda! The students each practiced identifying each bear, and then spelled out each bear by identifying each letter written underneath the pictures! 
• The students chose to make either a Panda, Koala or Brown bear using paper plates, glue, tissue paper squares, and different sized circles for eyes and noses! 
• We played a Koala Bear memory matching game using cards that contained images of Koala’s doing different activities. There were 12 pictures (6 sets of matches) turned upside down, and the students were told that each turn they had they were allowed to turn over 2 cards to see if they made a match. The students exercised a lot of self control during this game – even though they were very tempted to turn over each card all at once to find the match!
• We sang “We’re going on a bear hunt” and walked all around the school looking for bears in every classroom!

Songs We Sang:

• “We’re Going on A Bear Hunt”
• “Let’s Go To The Zoo"

Books We Read:

• Brave Little Bear, by Rory Tyger
• Bear Says Thanks, by Karma Wilson
• I Was Once an Apple Pie, by Suse MacDonald

 

Reminders:

• MCS will be closed on Monday, May 28th for Memorial Day.
• Our end of year party will be on Wednesday, June 5th from 11:15-11:45am.
• The last day of school is Friday, June 7th.

Have a wonderful long weekend!
Laura Ashley and Desiree

Hello Sky Room Families!

Due to our upcoming trip to the Central Park Zoo, this week in the Sky Room we learned all about Zoo Animals! The students seemed particularly interested in learning all about jungle animals, so we focused a lot of our conversations and activities around animals such as snakes, monkeys, gorillas, tree frogs and tree kangaroos. We discussed how each of these animals live in the jungle, like to eat plants and insects, and enjoy hanging and swinging from trees. 

Classroom Activities:

• The students made their own snakes by taking rolling pins wrapped in bubble wrap and placing them in a paint color of their choosing. Next, they gently rolled or patted a paper plate. The bubble wrap gave an illusion of snake scales. We later added some googly-eyes and a tongue to give the full effect of a slithering snake!
• The Sky Room turned into a jungle! The teachers hung paper vines all throughout the room, and told the students that the animals escaped the classroom, so we had to go searching for them in the hallways. The students went searching throughout the hallways for photos of the different jungle animals that were taped to the wall. After we collected all the animals, we came back to the classroom to hang the animals back on the vines using some tape. The students had SO much fun with this activity! 
• We looked at photos of the animals that live in the Central Park Zoo. The students each stated what animal they were hoping to see, and then we all walked around the classroom pretending to be that animal! It was a very silly activity.

 
Songs We Sang:

•  “The Zoo Crew”
• “The Itsy Bitsy Monkey"

Books We Read:

• Rumble in The Jungle, by Giles Andreae
• Goodnight Gorilla, by Peggy Rathmann
• My School’s A Zoo!, by Stu Smith
• Dear Zoo, by Rod Campbell

Have a great weekend!

Laura Ashley and Desiree

Hello Sky Room Families!

This week in the Sky Room we learned all about Mother’s Day. We each shared what we love most about our mother’s, and how thankful we are to have them in our lives.

Classroom Activities:

• Using watered down acrylic paints, each student decorated a ceramic pot for their mother. Before painting, the students looked at each color and chose what colors they thought their mom would like the most. 


• After our pots dried, the students poured soil and a little bit of water and planted a flower inside of the pot.


• The students were interested in learning about the ocean a bit more, so we made starfish using orange paper, glue, glitter and added on some Cheerio’s for a textural effect!

 
Songs We Sang:

• “I Love My Mommy!”
• “M-O-M-M-Y!” (sung to the tune of “Bingo")

 
Books We Read:

• Me and My Mom!, by Alison Ritchie
• Stay Close to Mama, by Toni Buzzeo
• I Love My Mami, by Judy Katschke

Reminders:

• The Central Park Zoo trip is on Friday, May 17th. Every child must be accompanied by one adult. No siblings, please.

Have a great weekend!

Laura Ashley and Desiree

Dear Sky Room Families,
 
This week we have been learning all about the Farm. We’ve had so much fun learning all about the farmers, types of animals, their different jobs.
 
Classroom Activities:

• We read books to explore the many types of animals (and learned the words porpoise and mammal!) that live in the ocean. The students learned that whales, sharks, fish, and other types of marine life live and thrive in the ocean. The students seemed to be very interested in whales and their blowholes. They were in hysterics when I explained to them that whales breathe through a blowhole on top of their heads. 
• We made fish bowls and counted out how many bubbles were coming out of the fishes mouths! 
• The students were given a choice as to what marine life animal they wanted to create – a fish or an octopus. Each project had multi-step directions, which required them to turn on their listening ears! Some students made both!
• For the students who wanted to make a fish, we first placed the paper fish inside of a tray. We then placed a couple of marbles and added a few dollops of blue, white and yellow paint inside of the tray. The students were asked to then hold the tray with two hands, and with small motions, move the marbles all around the tray to create different colored strokes on their fish.
• For the students who wanted to create an octopus, we showed them four different colored streamers (for the tentacles), and asked them to choose two colors to create an AB pattern. After creating and stating their pattern, they were able to glue down the streamers onto a round paper octopus body. Then, they were given a Q-Tip to dip into bowls of different colors of paint to create smaller, more precise streaks on the octopus. 

 
Songs We Sang:

• “Take Me Out To The Ocean” 
• “Row Row Row Your Boat"

 
Books We Read:

• Over in The Ocean: In A Coral Reef, by Marianne Berkes
• Hooray For Fish, by Lucy Cousins
• Clumsy Crab, by Ruth Galloway
• Dolphins, Sharks, Whales, and Sea Stars, by Carol K. Lindeen

 
 
Reminders:

• The end of year trip to the Central Park Zoo is on Friday, May 17th 

 
Have a great weekend!

Laura, Ashley and Desiree

Hello Sky Room Families!

This week we have been learning all about the Farm. We’ve had so much fun learning all about the farmers, types of animals, their different jobs.
​
Classroom Activities:

• We first explained to the students that their job at school was to learn and that their teachers job was to teach. We then showed the students pictures of animals on the farm (cows, horses, sheep, chickens), and talked about their “duties” on a farm. We learned that cows provide us with milk that we drink, sheep get ‘haircuts’ and give us their wool for clothing, chickens lay the eggs that we eat, and horses help the farmers complete their many jobs on the farm.


• We made our own “On The Farm” book, and read and colored each page. The students were very excited to take these books home to read!


• We used paper, yarn, glue and goggly eyes to create a baby bird in a nest! The students had a lot of fun with this cute little craft.


• We used paper towels, water, plastic baggies, to “plant” our contender seeds! We are so exited to watch our seeds grow into a plant. They are currently hanging inside on the Rainbow Room windows where they will get tons of sunshine. We plan on visiting our beans frequently so we can water them, and track their growth! 

Songs We Sang:

• “Old MacDonald Had A Farm”
• “The Farmer in the Dell"

Books We Read:

• Woolbur, by Leslie Helakoski
• Dwadle Duck, by Toni Buzzeo
• Ping Pong Pig, by Caroline Church

Reminders:

• Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on Thursday 4/25, Friday 4/26.
• MCS will be closed on Friday, 4/19 for Good Friday.

Looking forward to seeing you all next week for Parent Teacher Conferences! 

Have a great weekend,

Laura Desiree and Ashley

Hello Sky Room Families,

This week in the Sky Room we have been continuing to learn all about Spring, with a focus on plants and flowers. We have learned that plants grow from the ground, and in order for a plant to grow, it needs water, soil and sunlight.

Classroom Activities:

• Using different colored paper, the students counted out pre-cut flower petals from 1-10. They used paint mixed with glue to adhere to a paper plate create their very own flower. They used green paper for the stem and leaves, and then added some glitter to really jazz it up!
• We worked on our cutting skills with our school safe scissors and paper. We then gave the students pieces of tape as well to use to create a spiderweb inside of the classroom!
• We practiced our listening and looking skills by using our “Let’s Get Moving!” mats. In this silent activity, we asked that the students be alert and look at an image on a mat that was being held up, and follow the directions to recreate that movement. Some of the students' favorites were “jump”, “crab walk”, “gallop”, and “balance on one foot”.
• We practiced our sorting skills by sorting objects that are smooth, soft, hard, heavy, light, large or small. 

 
Songs We Sang:

• “April Showers Bring May Flowers"
• “Singing In The Rain"

 
Books We Read:

• The Tiny Seed, by Eric Carle
• My Garden” by Kevin Henkes
• Planting a Rainbow, by Lois Ehlert

 
Reminders:

• Montclare will be closed for Good Friday on Friday, April 19th.
• Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on Thursday 4/25, and Friday, 4/26.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Laura, Desiree, and Ashley

Hello Sky Room Families!
 
Welcome back! We hope you all had a wonderful spring break. The students were so thrilled to come back to school, and had many stories to share from their spring break adventures. This past week in the Sky Room we have been learning all about Spring and insects! 
 
Classroom Activities:

• Each student was given different colored circles with the letters of their name. They were asked to spell out their name, and paste the letters in the correct order onto a sentence strip. They then added on a caterpillar face and legs to create their own “caterpillar names”, which are currently featured on our outside bulletin board!
•  Using watercolor and coffee filters, the students painted dragonflies and butterflies.
• We made a new batch of play dough! The students were thrilled to help make the play dough, and pick out the color of their choice.
• We practiced our lacing skills using different types of lace-able bugs!

 
Songs We Sang:

• “In April Raindrops Flow, In April Flowers Grow”
• “The Ants Go Marching"

 
Books We Read:

• My, Oh My—A Butterfly!: All About Butterflies, by Tish Rabe
• 100 Bugs!: A Counting Book, by Kate Narita and Suzanne Kaufman
• Leo The Lightening Bug, by Eric Drachman

  
Reminders:

• Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on Thursday 4/25, and Friday, 4/26.

Have a wonderful weekend!
 
Laura, Desiree, and Ashley

Hello Sky Room Families!

This week in the Sky Room we have been continuing to learn all about Fruits and Vegetables! Learning about fruits and vegetables, paired with Daylight Savings Time AND our growing 2 and 3 year old bodies has made us all VERY hungry this week. :) We have also been talking about Spring Break, and how we won’t be in school for 2 whole weeks! 

Classroom Activities:

• We talked a bit about St. Patrick’s Day, and explained that this is a holiday celebrated in the United States AND Ireland that happens every year on March 17th.
• We continued to practice our cutting skills using our kid-friendly scissors. Some students cut up paper and used tape to create a little book!
• We made our very own leprechaun masks using paper plates with the middle cut out, orange paint, and added on some green hats as well!
• We painted some watermelons! We painted our watermelons green, and then the students had the choice to either cut snips of pink paper, or, use their hands to tear small pieces up and paste inside the middle of the watermelon. We then asked the students to pick a number 1-10 and count out tiny black “seeds” (black pieces of paper), and paste them onto the watermelon. 
• We cooked Pizza Bagels with our Rainbow Room friends! The students loved assembling their individual pizzas and then had to practice patiently waiting for them to cook.

 
Songs We Sang:

• “Victor Vito"
• “If You’re Happy and You Know It”
• “Down By The Bay"

 
Books We Read:

• If You Give A Dog A Donut, by Laura Numeroff
• I Can Eat a Rainbow”, by Annabel Karmel 
• The Spiffiest Giant in Town, by Julia Donaldson

Reminders:

• MCS will be closed for Spring Break the weeks of March 18 and March 25 and will reopen on Monday, April 1st. 

Have a wonderful Spring Break everyone!

Laura, Desiree, and Ashley

Hello Sky Room Families!

We hope you enjoyed your snow day! This week in the Sky Room we have been learning all about Fruits and Vegetables. We learned the difference between a fruit and a vegetable, and had the chance to even taste a few different types of each! The students seem to really love activities that revolve around eating. :) 
 
Classroom Activities:

• We conducted a fruit and vegetable taste test! The students each tasted a banana, strawberry, carrot, and yellow pepper. After they tried each food, they were asked to find and identify their name (which was printed on name tags). They were then shown a large graph that contained columns which had a picture of a banana, strawberry, carrot, and a yellow pepper at the bottom. After they voted on which food they liked best, we tallied up the votes to see which fruit/vegetable had the most likes, and which had the least amount of likes. This graph is hanging outside of our classroom, so be sure to check it out to see our results!
  
  
• The students went on a “Fruit and Vegetable Hunt” all throughout the Sky Room. The teachers hid different fruits and vegetables we found in our play kitchen, and the students raced around the room to find as many hidden items as they could! After we collected all of the fruits and vegetables, we gathered on the rug to count out how many we had found in total. We also deciphered which foods were fruits and which were vegetables. At the end of our discussion, we counted to see which we had more of – fruits or vegetables.

• Each student chose to assemble an eggplant, yellow pepper, tomato, radish, and carrot using glue, cellophane, and glitter. As the students made each piece of food, we discussed whether it was a fruit or vegetable, if it had seeds, and where/how it grew on our Earth!

Songs We Sang:

• “The Fruit Rhyme"
• “Vegetable Song!”

 
Books We Read:

• Duck Soup, by Jackie Urbanovic
• Growing Vegetable Soup, by Lois Ehlert
• To Market, To Market, by Anne Miranda

  
Reminders:

• MCS will be closed for Spring Break the weeks of March 18 and March 25 and will reopen on Monday, April 1st. 

​Have a great weekend everyone!
Laura, Desiree, and Ashley