All Aboard the Polar Express!

What a fun day!!!!!! Students started our holiday event by searching for a boarding pass around the room. Once they found it, they could head over to The Polar Express Train (in Pre-k2) to listen to the story. Afterwards, they exchanged a used book with another student in one of the classes. Next, the kiddos headed back to the tables for some warm hot chocolate, topped with peppermint marshmallows and candy canes. To finish this fun day, students wrote about their favorite part in the story we read. More pictures can be seen in the photos tab under: Holiday Party.

Cold as Ice

Last week we were talking about Holiday All Star Characters such as Rudolph and Santa. One morning we got on the topic of Frosty the Snowman and one student asked how he could have melted since it is supposed to be so cold in the Winter?

 I decided to pull out the book and read it to the class. Afterwards, we played a game in which I showed them two ice cubes. We discussed how ice is made by water that freezes in the cold temperatures of a freezer but will melt when taken out because the air temperature is warmer. We then connected that with how snow is also made by cold air that freezes the rain that falls but will melt when the sun warms the air outside. 

Then to test these ideas we left one ice cube on the plate, and passed the other cube around in a circle for the duration of the song "Frosty the Snowman". The kids had SUCH a fun time squeezing the cold ice-cube then shaking the water off their hands after passing to the next person. It was so cute to see their joy in this simple activity. We examined the size of the cube after we were done to inspect what happens when an ice-cube gets warm (just like Frosty did!)

"Run, Run, as fast as you can..."

Today we read three versions of the classic children's book "The Gingerbread Man". We discussed similarities and differences across the each version, then students chose which of the three was the best and wrote about it in their journal. Angela's Mom read in the newsletter that we were going to be reading these books today and brought Gingerbread cookies to share with the class!

The three variations were: The Gingerbread Man, The Gingerbread Cowboy, and the Gingerbread Kid! They each had a different Tag line and different character who ate the Gingerbread Man in the end.

Risa drew a picture of how the Gingerbread cookies looked different in each story. 

She worked hard for her gingerbread reward!

Question of the Week!

Congratulations to Miss Laura, she is ECSTATIC to announce that she is expecting a baby girl, due this June! Of course, the kiddos were happy to weigh in with baby name suggestions: