McCullough's Pre-K Blog

Well we’re back in the good ole USA. Our travels have taken us far and wide and we’ve learned many things. The food in France sounds delicious, we love that the children in Spain go home for lunch and a break … although we don’t like the idea of having to go back and stay until 5:00! And the United Kingdom has some beautiful castles and places to visit. It’s nice to be getting settled back in our class routine; although our routine is sprinkled with Olympic practices. We think we’re getting pretty good and that all of us will win a gold medal. We’re sure hoping. We have some catch up reports presented by Olivia who told us all about inventions from the United Kingdom. We had no idea that so many items that we use every day came from England. The vacuum cleaner, the sandwich, the double decker buses and even many of our favorite nursery rhymes. Amelia told us about Queen Elizabeth. She was called Princess Elizabeth before she became Queen. Her son, Charles, will be the next King, and his son, William is next in line. We learned all about the Chunnel from Sullivan. The chunnel goes under water from England to France. Wouldn’t that be fun? We look forward to you seeing all our beautiful art work from each country and the informative reports we have given. Be sure to take note of it all when you come to the Pre-K Olympic Party in our classroom. Miss Anne is continuing to read The Secret Garden and we love it. Mary is the main character and she hasn’t been very polite and cooperative; at least not so far. She has just found a key and we think it might open the gate to the secret garden. It’s fun to read a chapter book and find out a little bit each day.

Next week is the Grand Finale to the Pre-K Olympics. Be sure to join us in the AWAC for our 8:30 performance. All parents are invited back to the classroom for a celebration and to congratulate the athletes for the performance and hard work. Don’t forget we have to wear white shirt and white shorts both Tuesday and Wednesday.

We have had a wonderful time in Spain this week! Miss Shann said the flight would take about 8 hours. We were very tired, but we were ready to tour Spain and enjoy the food and festivities. We learned about one of the most famous artists in the world. His name is Pablo Picasso and he did many beautiful masterpieces. One style of painting that Picasso is known for is called Cubism. Cubism is done using different shapes and colors. Picasso used colors depending on his mood. If he was sad he would use blue. If he was happy or in love he used reds and pinks. We painted our own version of Cubism and we think they look quite nice, even if they won’t fetch millions of dollars.

We’re learning a lot about Spain and how they live, eat, and play. Reid told us that soccer, better known as futbol in Spain, is the favorite sport. . Thomson told us all about Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, and some of the famous landmarks in Spain. Maddie shared her information about some good foods from Spain and one in particular is Paella, which is a rice dish usually with a lot of seafood in it. We couldn’t believe what Anna told us about the boys and girls in school. They go home from 12:30- 3:00 for lunch and a siesta, which is a nap. Festivals are big events in Spain. Reid told us about the Running Of The Bulls. His mom was at this festival in Spain when she was sixteen. We learned from Anish that people in Spain travel around like us using airplanes, boats, trams, trains, and bikes. However their trains are super-fast.

In between learning all about Spain we have been training hard for the Olympics. We have been practicing our relay races, gymnastics, and pentathlon. We can’t wait for the big day when we can show how hard we have been working.

We ended the week with a Spanish Fiesta. We got to taste a variety of foods. Yellow rice with saffron, chicken croquettes, sangria (made with fruit punch and sprite), and the best part was for dessert we got to have churros. We’ve had a wonderful time in Spain. We’ve learned many interesting things from Team Spain and we’ll always remember our week in Pre-K Olympic Spain.

Adios

This is an exciting time for Pre-K students participating in the Olympics. The children are learning about the countries they will represent in the Olympics. The notion of sightseeing is a term that now has meaning for the children. We asked the children where they might take a friend from their Olympic country, if they came to Atlanta. If you take your child to Paris they will definitely want to see the Eiffel Tower and go to The Louvre to see masterpieces by famous artist they have learned about. In the U.K they will want to see Buckingham Palace, Stonehenge, Loch Ness, and ride through the Chunnel. The children are developing an appetite for the specialty foods in these countries. Next week they will become familiar with Spain.

We are on an imaginary journey to The United Kingdom this week. The first big decision they had to make was deciding to fly or go by ship. They remembered it took the Pilgrims 60+ days to reach America on the Mayflower. Carson explained that ships have motors now and go much faster, but it would still take 6 or 7 days. However they decided to fly since we could arrive in 7 hours. They have learned which countries make up The United Kingdom and that the word united appears in The United Kingdom and The United states of America. We have talked about what that means. After touring London they decided to go north to Loch Ness Scotland and look for the monster. They have debated over and over is there really a Loch Ness Monster. The class is about to conclude those pictures of the monster might be fake. Another mystery is Stonehenge. We saw a wonderful video showing how these people at the end of the Stone Age could have moved those heavy stones and set them in place. John has been telling us they used big ropes to move these huge stones and I think he is right. I found a fascinating video on You Tube called Stonehenge part 1 through part 7. The children saw parts of 1 and 2 but you might enjoy seeing it all, I did. We have introduced Queen Elizabeth II, the royal wedding last spring, and Queen Victoria and her love of water colors. We enjoyed copying the water color that Queen Victoria painted when she was a young girl on a holiday to Paris. Their water colors are so good. Queen Victoria was a strong patron for water coloring during that time.

The children are trying their hand at building castles in the block center. We have some really good books showing how castles were built long ago. Many castles are a perfect example of symmetry. They remembered making their wonderful mittens. The strategy they used was to design one mitten and then copy the design on the other mitten. We are encouraging the children to use this same strategy in constructing their castles, design one side and copy it for the other side and see if this strategy works here.

Team U.K. made a traditional English trifle to share with the athletes from France and Spain. We have discovered they are outstanding athletes, inquisitive scholars, and remarkable chefs. To make the celebration more festive, Jonathan’s cousins Noah and his family sent plates, cups, and flags decorated with the Union Jack flag for the celebration. They also sent each student a pencil set as a special gift. We are writing a class thank you note. We are so thrilled to have these special friends.

Yesterday I emailed The Hall School in London where Noah is a student. Our children discussed questions they would like to ask the Hall School students. They wondered what sports they play, what subjects they study in school, what were some of their favorite toys, how long is their school day, and what are some of their favorite holiday/vacation spots. The questions they ask showed their interest in making connections with these children and seeing how their lives are alike and different. They did want to ask the Hall School students if they thought there really was a Loch Ness Monster! I also emailed Jonathan’s parents asking if they would send an email to Noah asking him the same questions we ask our Friend of the Week. The questions are what do you like to do and where do you like to go. We also ask what are your favorite colors, book, and food. Finally we ask what they are going to be when they grow up. Our children are excited to hear Noah’s answers and we are planning to make Noah a Friend of the Week chart.

We have been learning the songs they will sing, the relays they will run, and the special events they will perform during the Olympics. The excitement is mounting!!!

As part of our Unit on France, we learned about Georges Seurat and his wonderful method of Pointillism. Well we had a surprise visit from our Buddy Class who joined us in our art and science Specials on Friday. In art Miss Paige had us using q-tips to paint the Olympic rings in the pointillism method. They look beautiful. Our Buddies helped us with this project. We think they enjoyed it as much as we did.

Do you remember the suet cakes we made a few weeks ago? It was time to take them down to Discovery Woods and hang them on branches so the birds would have some food to eat. The buddies helped us tie them on tree branches so they wouldn’t fall off. We’ll go back one day and see if the birds ate all their food. It was really special to do these projects with our 5th grade buddies.

We kicked off our week in France with none other than Henri Matisse. He was a famous French artist who used very bold colors and shapes. We then made a Matisse piece of artwork ourselves, using wallpaper samples. We think they are quite lovely. We learned about Claude Monet and his style of painting is called Impressionism, which uses very soft, pastel colors. We got to mix our paint colors by combining white paint with bold reds, blues, and purples. We then painted lovely rainbows, lakes, and other pictures using the Monet style. Our next artist was Georges Sauret who created Pointillism, which uses bright and soft colors by mixes them together with small dots. We call it dot to dot, but the real name is Pointillism. We were amazed to learn about so many famous French artists.

The French people love their sports, just like we do. Their favorites being soccer and biking. The most famous bike race in the world is run in France and it’s called the Tour de France. Our very own Coach Brian came in and told us all about it. It is a very long race, lasting 20 some days. Coach Brian showed us some videos of previous races. They ride through very high mountains and the scenery is beautiful. Much of our tour of France was presented to us by our own athletes on the French Team. Hartt told us all about the food and housing in France. France is known for their foods, particularly cheeses, breads, and fruits. He also told us that one of their favorite things to eat is snails. Well we weren’t too enthused about that one, but all the others sounded good. He showed us the different kind of houses in France. Just like us they live in various types of houses, except they have castles. We learned from Haddon that the majority of people in France are Catholics. The French people also enjoy many festivals, including Mardi Gras and Bastille Day. They love any opportunity to dress up in fancy clothes. Luke’s report was all about the children in France and their schools. They go to school on Saturday, but not on Wednesday. They also go to school until 4:00 and they play soccer every day. Maybe that’s why they have such good soccer players. Carson shared with us about transportation and we were amazed to see a picture of the Bullet. This is a train that goes very very fast. He also told us about the Concorde and about a bus that is really 2 buses connected. We think that looks pretty neat. Grace gave us an update on the Tour de France.

We ended our visit to France with some really good food. As a reminder of all the fine French foods, we enjoyed grapes, cheese, and croissants with delicious jams. We’ve had a wonderful and informative time in France. Now we head off to the United Kingdom.

We started off the week voting on snow or no snow for winter this year. The votes are in and 15 of us voted for snow and 3 for no snow. We had a great time with our dad’s at Dad’s Day! First we got to have some donuts with dad and then they helped us build snow machines. We had to make sure our machines had on and off buttons or a power switch. Some even had buttons to change the speed, safety kits, fans, and much more. We think if we all turn them on at the same time maybe we will get some snow.

In Science this week we talked about animal tracks. Miss Anna read us a book on how to identify different animal tracks. Good clues to look for are if the tracks have claws, the size, and the shape. After science we went to art. Two weeks ago in art we painted with ice on white paper to look like mud. This week in art we got to paint animal tracks on the mud.

We have started our Olympic unit. We got to pick our teams! The countries we are representing are France, United Kingdom, and Spain. Next week we will be learning all about France.

Winter is a wonderful time for children to experience our changing climate. As we brainstormed about winter the class thought of activities they enjoy in winter, and often these activities were inside. To adapt is a new word that has been added to their vocabulary. They realize we have to adapt to climate changes just like animals. We don’t hibernate like bears or migrate like geese but one way we can adapt to the colder weather is by wearing warmer clothes.
We all hold out hope that we will wake up to a beautiful snowy day. They all remember and recount interesting tales from the big snow last year. We have made a bar graph and 15 children predict we will have snow this winter! We may even resort to making show machines!!!!
In Science the children mixed oats, flour, raisins, and hot oil to make suet. They will hang the suet on the trees in Trinity’s Discovery Woods for the animals. What a nice treat for the animals. The children delighted in painting with frozen paint and the next Art class they will put animal tracks on their winter picture.
We are finishing our animal study of the Georgia native animals and our understanding of how they survive during the winter. As the children presented their winter animal reports it was evident they are learning and making connections to previous information. Reid noted that the short tailed meadow mouse lived in North Georgia because he thought South Georgia would be too hot. The animal videos added a special touch to their reports.
We heard from our friends at the Hall School in London. Jonathan’s cousin Noah and family visited Atlanta over the Christmas holidays. They brought pictures of Jonathan’s cousin and his classmates showing the autumn hedgehogs and the wonderful dinosaurs they had constructed. We will introduce our children to the Hedgehog during out Olympic study of The United Kingdom. The Hall School children had interesting questions for us. They wondered if we speak English, played Rugby, read Biff and Chip books, and how are our lunches? We will answer these questions and send our questions about England to them. This will be a special opportunity as we start preparations for the Olympic unit.

Jonathan’s dad kicked off the New Year as our Mystery Reader. He entertained us with a great story about the boy who changed the world. We learned how to use our knowledge to help the world be a better place and that little actions can make a big difference.

We finished our mittens just in time for some cold weather. They look great and we really want to wear them, but right now they’re decorating our room bulletin board. We discovered that symmetry takes a lot of patience and focus. The mittens had to match exactly. So whatever shape and color we put on one mitten, we had to make sure to use the same combination on the other mitten.

The animal reports are coming along nicely. The boys and girls have done such a great job on the presentation of their report. They are so excited to come up front and tell us all about their animal. Thank you so much for your help. We know they couldn’t have done it without you. This has been an excellent exercise in focusing on one particular subject, pulling the information together, recalling what they’ve learned and then sharing that information with the class.
We’ve been working hard on our fine motor skills this week. We love to trace and have been busy tracing animals. Tracing is good for our little muscles because we have to be precise to follow the outline. Play Dough is another fun fine motor activity. We use our hands to press down and make objects, in addition to cutting shapes with the Play Dough. Of course handwriting is an excellent fine motor activity and we have been very busy with our Handwriting Without Tears. We started on the Magic “C” letter this week. Ask your child to tell why the “C” is magic and what other letters you can make from the “C”.

It’s been a great week. But what week wouldn’t be great that starts off with cards, flowers, and cupcakes. Thanks so much for the birthday celebrations for Miss Shann and Miss Keith. What a fun day. Remember, we don’t have school on Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Day. Enjoy the long week-end. We’re hoping for some snow, but it’s not looking too good. We might have to do a “snow dance”.

We were all very excited to return to school after the holiday break. Many wonderful stories have been shared about Christmas happenings. We enjoy hearing the detailed descriptions of everyone’s favorite gifts.

We are off to a busy start in 2012. This week we have been talking a lot about winter. In art we are sketch painting pictures of bare trees. Check out our bulletin board to see our fabulous paintings. During open classroom we are also making our very own mittens. Miss Keith taught us about the word symmetry. We learned that mittens are symmetrical.

Continuing with our theme we have started to talk about animals in winter. We have each been assigned a different animal to research. We are very excited to do our very first reports and can’t wait to learn all about the animals!

It has been a short week but we are all excited to be back in the swing of things. Happy New Year!

We read Christmas in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder which is a wonderful story about a family from long ago and how they celebrated Christmas. Their cousins came to spend Christmas with this family. The children talked about spending time with their families during Christmas. The children began to compare their Christmas with a long ago Christmas. The only Christmas presents the children got were pairs of red mittens and a stick of red and white striped peppermint candy. Jonathan noted, “We get a whole lot more than that.” Only one child in the family got a doll and they wondered how the other children in the family felt. After a lively discussion, they decided a now-a-day Christmas was better but they would love to have their daddy’s home all the time.
Inspired by this book, our theme for our hall bulletin board is Silver Bells, Silver Bells, It’s Christmas Time in the City. The boys and girls drew tall buildings like they see in Atlanta. Each building is decorated for the holidays. The beautiful silver bells they made add to the bulletin board. Olivia said, “Look we made a city.” The children are also enjoying building cities with the blocks. They enjoy building, tearing it down, and building again. Through building with the blocks they are developing wonderful spatial awareness skills.
We have introduced standard configuration. They saw that standard configuration is used on dice and dominoes. They learned to make standard configuration to six. Make a Match is a favorite math activity and standard configuration represents the numbers they are matching. We continue to collect rain in our rain gauge and record the data on our big rain gauge bar graph. The children will start making their own bar graph. They will record the rain for September, October, and November and continue through May.
The excitement of Christmas is evident. Our children were thrilled with Trinity’s production of the Nutcracker. This is an annual event that starts our Christmas season. The excitement and joy of doing for others permeates the classroom. The boys and girls are busy making your very special, secret Christmas gift. They also enjoy making cards and books for you using old Christmas cards.