Happy Valentine's Day

Feb Class Pics are uploaded here.  Pictures from our Valentine's Party are in the album....take a peek to see your sweeties!

ANIMAL TRACKS RESCHEDULED

NEW DATE AND NEW TIME!!!

FAMILY FUN FRIDAY #3

ANIMAL TRACKS AT THE LAND LAB

                                                Friday, February 22nd, 2013                                                                        

Noon-2:00

The Land Lab is located right here in Independence.  It is a temperate deciduous forest with a running stream that the High School Biology Club maintains and uses for educational studies. There is a large classroom behind the Board of Education that is filled with lots of CRITTERS. Some High School students and Mr. Maretka (Biology teacher) will be putting on a special program for our preschoolers.  Students will learn how to investigate the lives of animals through the tracks and other signs they leave behind. Making animal track prints, created a book, and a nature hike to hunt for animal tracks are included in this fun winter event!

IMPORTANT INFO:

*   Arrive no later than 11:50. 

*   The activity will last approx. 2 hours.  We will have a snack at the end 

Dress for the weather.  The majority of activity is inside but we will go for a hike through the Land Lab to look for animal tracks.

Directions:

Independence Land Lab

located behind the Board of Education
7733 Stone Road

Independence, Ohio 44131

Teddy Bear & Animal Tracks Event

Thank you to all of the parents who donated snacks and volunteered for our BEARY SPECIAL DAY!
Pictures have been uploaded in the January Classroom Picture Album (look at the end of the album).  

Reminder:  Family Fun Friday is this Friday (11:00-1:00) at the Land Lab (located in the Board of Education office).   Most activities are inside but we will take a hike outside so bundle up!  It may snow and be freezing but we are still going to have the event.  If school is cancelled, the event is cancelled...otherwise we will see you there!

Polar Bears, Penguins, & Pancakes!

Pp is our letter of the week and out theme is Arctic Animals (penguins/polar bears) but we can't do Pp week without making pancakes. We will be making pancakes for our cooking lesson to go with our story on Monday. 

Other stories we will be reading include Pancakes Pancakes!, Bear Snores On, Lil Pip Where is Home, and Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear?

Miss Pam is a naturalist at the Brecksville Nature Center.  She visited our preschool on Tuesday and brought animal fur for us to see and feel.  She taught us about what animals we might see in the winter and what they need to survive.  Check out the pics in the Jan Photo Album.

Below are the songs/finger plays that we will be doing this week.

Peter Penguin
Peter, Peter Penguin, marching by (March)
Toes turned out and head held high (Stand Tall)
A long black coat (Point Like Coat)
And a clean white vest (Rub Chest)
Peter, Peter Penguin, you're the best (Do Tony Tiger Their Great Gesture)

Six Little Penguins
Six little penguins off an iceberg did dive,
One bumped his beak, then there were five.
Five little penguins swam the ocean floor,
One saw a whale, then there were four.
Four little penguins spun around, whee-ee!
One spun off, then there were three!
Three little penguins, with nothing to do,
One went fishing, then there were two.
Two little penguins, having lots of fun,
One fell of, then there was one.
One little penguin, when the day was done,
Went home to sleep, then there were none.

Looking for some ideas at home? Check out these fun activities:

Ice Cube Painting
Wou will need: Penguin pattern, powdered paint, ice cube with Popsicle stick.
Directions: Freeze Popsicle sticks into ice cubes. Have the children sprinkle powder paint on white paper and paint with an ice cube on a stick.

Penguin Puzzle (Online Game)

ONLINE STORIES:
Penguin, Penguin (Non fiction)
Rumble, Grumble, Gurgle (fiction)


Did You Know........
• What kind of animals are penguins? (birds )
• Do penguins fly? (no)
• Are penguins found south or north of the equator? (south)
• How long can a penguin hold its breath under water? (about 3 minutes)
• What do penguins eat? (fish )

Penguin Ice Experiment : Freeze a long pan of water and have several objects, some that will slide on the ice and some that will not (cotton balls, dry beans, piece of felt, plastic penguin figurine, etc.). Predict and then test .... “Will It Slide?”

Movie Night! Cuddle up with a blanket and watch these great penguin movies: Happy Feet and Madagascar.

Meet Mrs. Kieser

Welcome back to school everyone!  We have a new month, a new year, and a new teacher (well sort of).  Miss G is now Mrs. Kieser (pronounced Key-zer).

Many of you have been asking for pictures, etc.  So I thought I would share our wedding website.
Enjoy!  www.fredandtaratietheknot.blogspot.com

Happy Holidays!

.

Check out our holiday cards that we made on the iPads.  You can download and print them. They are at the end of the December Picture Album.

December Picture Album is Up

Click on the album title below to view pictures.  

I will continue loading pictures next week.  

Be sure to check back after the last day of school. 

December Class Pictures

        

  

Happy Christmas Week!

WEEK OF DECEMBER 17th:

Monday- wear all of you Christmas apparrel...deck out in red and green!

Tuesday- Wacky Christmas Day.  Wear all of the crazy hats, bells, and whatever else you can find.

Wednesday- Pajama Day...we will be "BELIEVING" as we watch Polar Express and enjoy some popcorn!

Thursday- Last Day of School until Jan 7th!  Holiday Parties in the classroom at 10:00 & 2:00

May you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas is Coming!

Hopefully every is on the NICE list...Santa is checking!

 This week if Gg week so we had lots of fun making gifts for our loved ones and with the Gingerbread Baby! We read the story by Jan Brett (check out wesbite here), made gingerbread cookies, and even made a scratch and sniff gingerbread baby craft. It was so much fun and our classroom smells great!

Cupcake flew to our classroom all the way from the North Pole.  She is our Elf on the Shelf.   I can't want to see where the elf is tomorrow...can you find him? But remember, you cannot touch him or he will lose his magic!

Star Students:  Lorice and Patrick

Happy Birthday to Patrick!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS WEEK is next week:

Monday- wear all of you Christmas apparrel...deck out in red and green!

Tuesday- Wacky Christmas Day.  Wear all of the crazy hats, bells, and whatever else you can find.

Wednesday- Pajama Day...we will be "BELIEVING" as we watch Polar Express and enjoy some popcorn!
Thursday- Last Day of School until Jan 7th!  Holiday Parties in the classroom at 10:00 & 2:00

Winter Holiday Season

We will spend the entire month of December on Winter Holidays. This is such an exciting time of year for our little ones and they have much joy and cheer!

Our letter this week is Qq for queen.  We have been busy little elves making lots of crafts...stocking, christmas trees, and other fun foamies! We started learning some holiday songs so if you hear us singing some silly Santa songs you know where we learned them.

Our preschoolers will be going to the Santa Shop on Tuesday (AM) and Wednesday (PM).  

Star Students this week are Kylie and Ryan.

Happy 1/2 birthday to Ryan!