Groundhogs. Students were asked if they had ever seen a groundhog. None of them had, so I asked them to imagine what it looked like and draw it. Once they finished, they showed it to everybody and described what they had drawn. Some had wings and looked like birds and butterflies; others had four legs and feathers, fur and big teeth and horns. “They look like Pumba!” one student said. Then we watched a short video of what a Groundhog looks like. We thought they look a little like our guinea pig Pumpkin with fur, short legs, the teeth, and nails, but they are way bigger. We then learned about a Tradition that is celebrated every year on February 2nd in the USA and Canada, Groundhog day. We heard fun facts about this day and learned that people joined together to see if Phil, the famous Groundhog from Pennsylvania, sees his shadow or not. Although this tradition is not accurate, it is still an entertaining tradition. We also told each other if we wanted Phil to see his shadow. (Ask your child what it means if Phil sees his shadow on this day). We read the funny story “Wake up Groundhog” by Susan Korman, and we learned how to draw a Groundhog by directed drawing.  

We learned that just like Picasso, Groundhogs have many other names, one of them is Woodchuck, and we practiced a tongue twister that you must have already heard: “How much wood would a Woodchuck chuck”. Tongue Twisters are fun, and they’re also an excellent brain and physical exercise. They help us expand our vocabulary and improve our pronunciation when they challenge our capacity to enunciate each word’s individual sounds; they force us to pay attention and improve our memory. So much learning in such a fun activity. Try it at home and you will have a good laugh https://youtu.be/b8nR9iROHDk 

 Hanging Hearts. This week we’ve been busy preparing for our Valentine’s celebration with lots of fine motor activities. Fine Motor skills are how young children develop cognitive abilities in early childhood. It is why we call it “hands-on” learning. “The development of fine motor skills is far more important than just the ability to use pencils. The hand is the first tool young children have to express their thoughts and ideas”. We made hanging hearts using the same technique that we used when we made our dream catchers. Students got excited, and they surprised themselves when they finished their project very fast, “That was too easy!” they said. 

Penguin patterns. Our room is full of “new” toys and one of them is our Penguins on Ice. Students have been fascinated with our little penguins while reinforcing their counting skills by ones and by tens. They were also asked to make patterns; first, they worked independently and made AB AAB ABB patterns. Other students showed they could make other different patterns like AAABBB ABC ABCD, and more. Once they finished their pattern, they were asked to show it to others and described it. At first, some students struggled to explain, but once they heard others, they tried it. Then each student partner up with a classmate and worked to design a pattern together. This was not an easy task since they had to explain to their partner what they had in mind. Some started their pattern on each side of the lines and then discovered that their pattern didn’t make sense by the time they joined at the center. Then they would start all over again. After working on something that finally made sense, they were asked to merge with another student. This time there were two groups, one of 3 and one of 4, and they were so excited because this time they had many more penguins and many more ways to create new patterns. Working together in a design when each student wants to do their own is very hard, and we are working on explaining what we’re trying to do. Finally, the whole class joined forces putting together all of the color penguins and created a very long pattern. Leaders took charge, and others listened to suggestions. It was a lot of fun, and I was surprised that we spent almost two hours on this activity!

Snow Volcanoes. We geared up to go outside and built our volcanoes. We had previously talked about volcanoes, and we all had an idea of what volcanoes look like. Some of us started right away, while others sat back to think about how to start building the volcano with snow. Once we finished our volcano, each student got a cup filled with baking soda and a cup of vinegar. We had previously mixed those two, and we knew what to expect. Watching our volcanoes explode was exciting, and watching them explode in a different color was such a surprise that we wanted to do it again and again. We had to go inside, but we tried the next day again. 

School choice dance. We are so happy to belong to a school of our choice, and this is why we celebrate National school choice week. We had a lot of fun practicing our dance. (You can also dance with us with this tutorial: https://youtu.be/wsBVO6Y9ZDo ). You can see the video of our dance in Mrs. Lindsay’s class on Plato’s website or Plato’s page on Facebook.  

Inauguration Day. Our class was involved, in a way, in this very important American government ritual that only happens every four years. We realized that some of us had just been born the last time this happened, and some were just one year old. We figured out how old we will be when another Inauguration Day occurs again. We watched a little video explaining the event,https://youtu.be/7M2fgiYstL4 and we watched bits and pieces of the actual event https://youtu.be/eiojaVjtSs8. It amazes me how attentive every one of them was when witnessing this vital part of our country’s history. We talked about the parade, the band music, the National Anthem, and the Pledge of Allegiance, which they all recognized. We noticed that all of the people who attended the event showed respect and were standing quietly, the same way we do at school. We also pointed out the importance of having a female vice president in charge. Although we cannot fully comprehend this event’s magnitude, we can understand that ANY of us (them) can aspire to be president of the USA, even us girls! They promised that if they ever become a president or vice president, they will make sure to invite their teacher (lol). We listened to the president and vice president taking an oath to serve our country, and we understood that this means that they were making a promise to do their best job while including everyone regardless of color, race and gender. We remembered that it is exactly our goal as a class: to do our best and include everyone in our everyday play in our classroom. We concluded our week by reading “Strictly No Elephants!” by Lisa Mantchev  https://youtu.be/ZAKu6vzyMoY, (ask your child what the book was about).

Picasso. As we continue with our exploration of Pablo Picasso, we discussed Picasso’s Rose Period. We talked about how Picasso must have felt that he wanted to paint in pink and red colors. We started working on our own Rose Period Picasso and will align perfectly with our Valentine’s day celebration. Stay tuned. 

One Hundred. As we approach our 100 days of school, we are exploring how much is one hundred. As students become more fluent in rote counting by ones, I introduced counting by tens (10, 20, 30). Using a hundred chart, I asked them to identify any visual patterns they see in the numerals, such as they all end in 0 or the first digit goes in order. We talked about how we could demonstrate the 82 days we have been in school so far using different mediums, like counters or an abacus. We will continue working on more activities for the next two weeks. We are also counting down to our big celebration, we can’t wait. (Ask your child how many days until our Pajama Day)

20 questions. Jack the Elf surprised us with a gift for our classroom all the way from the north pole. Jack left special instructions, and he asked the students to guess what the box has inside by asking 20 questions. We were having trouble at first finding the difference between a question and a guess. And we started eliminating more than just one thing with each question. We are still working on it, and we have formulated 6 questions so far. Playing the 20 questions game improves our problem-solving skills and helps develop language skills simultaneously. It will also help build our memory and recall skills, challenging us to think beyond what they can see in our immediate surroundings. I gave them five clues, and we will continue asking questions until we guess what’s inside. 

Kitchen. As we conclude our Bones exploration, our Doctor’s office officially closed. We are very excited to get our Kitchen back in the dramatic play area, where we can all prepare delicious meals. I am astonished at how very organized they have become, and they sort every item every time they clean up. They understand that every item has a place, and that is where it belongs. Bowls, pans, silverware, fruit, veggies, bread, meats, cups, etc., all have a particular spot, and they work hard to maintain it clean and organized after a day of play. So proud of them!