Week of 10/1

Dear Yellow Room Families,
 

 
Once again, thank you everyone for coming to our classroom presentation on curriculum night, for your kind words and the support you have shown us.
 
Busy week in the Yellow Room. First..

Reminders:
 

• Oct. 8 & 9:         School Closed (Columbus Day and Staff Development
• Oct. 12:             Trip to the local Firehouse (Children and teachers only.)
• Oct. 23:             Trip to the Botanical Gardens
• Oct 31:               Halloween Party (Children and teachers only.)
• Nov. 12 & 13:     Parent Teacher Conferences
• Nov. 14 & 15:     Picture Day in School (Children and teachers only)

 
 
Themes this week:

• Fire Safety
• Firefighters

 
Classroom Activities:

• In preparation for our trip to the firehouse, the Yellow Room children spent the week learning about fire safety and prevention. We read books about firefighters and learned in more detail what their job entails. We used the SMART board to dress a firefighter in her special clothing and equipment that firefighters use to keep themselves safe.  
• For our writing activity this week, each child wrote one fire safety tip they learned and wanted to share with others. The children were so inspired by one particular fire safety tip that they practiced “Stop, drop, and roll” on the rooftop playground. We also learned if there is a fire it will create smoke and to get out safely from the smoke we practiced “Get low and go!”.
• For Math, the Yellow Room children practiced their number recognition and counting skills by choosing a numbered card, naming the digit and adding that number of spots to their own Dalmatian fire dogs using a Q-tip and black paint.
• We also used pictures of firefighter tools to create patterns. 
• In Science, we used a candle to learn about what a fire needs to live. Using the candle with a wick as the fuel, we observed what happens when you take away the heat from a flame by pouring water on it. Then we predicted what would happen if we covered the flame with a glass jar. We observed how the flame went out and concluded that by covering the candle with the jar, we took the air away and the flame could no longer live. We learned that fire needs three things to live: heat, fuel, and air.
• As a whole group, we sorted pictures of household items that are safe and not safe for us. 
• The letter of the week was “F”. We followed up with a story, a jingle, and a poem. The yellow room children generated a list of words starting with the letter ‘F’. We also completed the second page in our letter journal for the letter "F". Recognizing beginning letter sounds is an important pre-reading skill. As the week progressed, we continued to detect words with that beginning ‘F’ letter sound.

 
Highlight of the Week:

• As a group, we practicing dialing 911 ONLY in an emergency using an interactive pretend phone. The kids enjoyed taking turns in front of the class and finding the 911 buttons to press and saying "Help! There is a fire and come quick." 

 
Books we read:

• Busy People: Firefighter, by Ando Twin and Lucy M. George
• Stop Drop and Roll, by Margery Cuyler
• A Very Busy Firehouse, by Alyse Sweeney
• Let's Meet a Firefighter, by GIna Bellisario
• Firefighters, by Jacqueline Laks Gorman
• The Fire Station, by Robert Munch and Michael Martchenko

 
Songs we sang:

• Jolly ‘F’ Jingle
• The Fire Safety Song
• Feeling Groovy
• Simple Gifts

Places we visited:

• In Library, Lindsay read The Little Engine that Could, by Watty Piper. 
• In Yoga, we stretched and worked on our tree poses.
• In Art, the children created collages using various black, white and grey materials.

 
Have a great weekend,

The Yellow Room Teachers