Blog Archives

Week of 4/15

4/18/2019

Dear Star Room 3AM Families,

What a great week we had in the classroom! Here are some of the fun activities we enjoyed during classroom.

Theme this week:

This week we continued our unit on Spring with a discussion about clouds and rain. We built upon our knowledge from last week - that flowers need water to grow. But where does the water come from? We displayed photos of nimbus clouds which are the type of clouds that produce rain. We learned that when the cloud is filled up with water and cannot hold any more, the water spills out of the clouds as rain. To illustrate how this works, we conducted a science experiment.
After filling a vase with water, we added a layer of shaving cream on top as the “cloud”. We then poured blue watercolor through the cloud, filling the cloud with color. When the shaving cream can no longer hold the watercolor, the blue starts to “rain down” into the vase. The children were fascinated by the process!

Books we read:

Spring, by Cynthia Klingel and Robert Noyed
It Looked Like Spilt Milk, by Charles Shaw

Songs we sang:

“Plants”
“Spring Song”

Places we went:

At Art with Julia and Janae, we finger-painted with blue and red paint, noting that when we mix the colors together, they make purple. Once the colors were thoroughly mixed, we used a finger as a paint brush to create patterns in the paint. We then pressed a piece of paper on top of the design to make a print! We also sifted pink sand with blue glitter at the light table.
We read Every Day by Dan Yaccarino and took out books from the library with Lindsay.
We sang It’s a Small World After All, Do a Deer, Somewhere Over the Rainbow and My Favorite Things with Noel in music.
We played in 2nd floor indoor gym.

Classroom Activities:

We continued our Spring 3-D bulletin board project. The children added a colored paper circle and a button in the middle to their painted paper plate. The plate was then attached to the popsicle stick they painted green. Make sure to take a peek at our class garden on the bulletin board next time you are at school! In keeping with learning about clouds and rain, the children watercolored large raindrops in blue and turquoise that will be added to our new weather door decorations. Keep your eyes peeled for new decor coming soon!

Reminders:

No School, Good Friday, 4/19
Library Books Due, Monday 4/22
No School, P/T Conferences, Friday 4/26

Enjoy the photos! As always, please feel free to reach out through email with questions or concerns.

Warmly,
Sarah and Jill

Week of 4/8

4/12/2019

Dear Star Room 3AM Families,

What a great week we had in the classroom! Here are some of the fun activities we enjoyed during classroom.

Theme this week:

This week we continued our unit on Spring with a discussion about flowers. We learned the parts of the plant: flower, leaves, stem, roots and that flowers need water to grow. The roots of a flower “drink” the water for the flower and we noted that we drink water with our mouths, not roots. We created picture cards that the children can velcro in sequence to demonstrate the order of the parts of a flower. To demonstrate how flowers drink water, we placed a white carnation in a glass of water with food coloring.
We made predictions about whether or not the flower will change color. Our scientists will monitor the color of the flower in the coming days. Be sure to ask them if the flower turned a different color! We will continue to explore these topics in the coming weeks.

Books we read:

My Garden, by Kevin Henkes
Planting a Rainbow, by Lois Ehlert

Songs we sang:

“Plants”
“Spring Song”

Places we went:

At Art with Julia and Janae, we used our watercolor drawings from last week as a background . We also sifted pink sand with blue glitter at the light table.
We read I Know a Rhino by Charles Fuge and took out books from the library with Lindsay.
We sang It’s a Small World After All, Do a Deer, Wide Mouthed Frog and We’re Going on a Bear Hunt with Noel in Music.
We played in 2nd floor indoor gym and the roof!

Classroom Activities:

We finished our new placemats by gluing on patterned paper eggs. They finished their paper plate flower by adding a ruffled paper circle and a button in the middle. They will be displayed in a garden theme on our bulletin board. Keep your eyes peeled for the display coming soon!

Reminders:

Library Books Due, Monday 4/15
No School, Good Friday, 4/19
No School, P/T Conferences, Friday 4/26

Enjoy the photos! As always, please feel free to reach out through email with questions or concerns.

Warmly,
Sarah and Jill

Week of 4/1

4/5/2019

Dear Star Room 3AM Families,

What a great week we had in the classroom! Here are some of the fun activities we enjoyed during classroom.

Theme this week:

This week we started our unit on Spring. To kick off the unit, we had a discussion at circle time to gather our prior knowledge about Spring. We talked about how the weather gets warmer, we no longer need to wear hats, gloves and scarves, plants begin to grow and baby animals are born. We will continue to explore these topics in the coming weeks!

Books we read:

When Spring Comes, by Kevin Henkes
The Surprise Garden, by Zoe Hall

Songs we sang:

“Plants”
“Spring Song”

Places we went:

At Art with Julia and Janae, we created broad strokes and designs on large, white paper with bold colored watercolors. We also examined shapes and colors at the light table and created drawing masterpieces with dry erase markers & white boards.
We read Inch by Inch: The Garden Song by David Mallett and took out books from the library with Lindsay.
We sang Days of the Week, Take Me Out to the Ballgame and Oh Mr. Sun with Noel in Music.
We played on the roof!

Classroom Activities:

In keeping with our theme, we made created new check in flowers to use at circle time. The children selected different colored flower cut outs and glued a picture of themselves into the center. We will use them for the rest of the year! We created new placemats by water-coloring white paper and gluing on patterned paper eggs. We also began crafting 3-d flowers for new door decor. The children painted a paper plate in bright colors and will later add in a ruffled paper circle and a button in the middle. They will be displayed in a garden theme on our door. Keep your eyes peeled for the display coming soon!

Reminders:

Library Books Due, Monday 4/8

Enjoy the photos! As always, please feel free to reach out through email with questions or concerns.

Warmly,
Sarah and Jill