Samara & Keena's Preschool Class
Welcome to Samara & Keena's Preschool Class!
Teacher:
Samara West Thinking About Wolves
It’s hard to believe how quickly the year seems to have passed, but we are heading towards our final months in the 2012 school year. The students are rapidly beginning to look and behave like Pre-Kindergarten students. They are engaging in complex games and seeking out new challenges with familiar materials.
Springtime Poetry and Math
Spending Time with Poetry
April is Poetry Month and it is a fantastic time for young students to engage in this style of creative writing. There are so many interesting changes occurring in the environment that students can connect with, such as nature and weather. These last two weeks we have been noticing the change of seasons and using our observations as inspiration for poetic pieces.
Read Across America
Last week our class celebrated two exciting school wide events: Read Across America Day and the 100th Day of School. Read Across America Day is also Dr. Seuss’ birthday. As you may remember, our class recently completed an author study of Dr. Suess, and we took this opportunity to honor Dr. Seuss’ work with a book birthday. During our birthday celebration we made Seuss hats, shared stories with our buddies, made silly words, ate wonderful treats, and read lots of classical Seuss tales, including “Green Eggs and Ham.” This month we are studying the author Chris Rashka.
Concepts of Print in Preschool
March begins the second half of our school year! It is a very promising time for our students who are now beginning to show increased awareness of print concepts and numbers. To support their growing curiosity this month, we have begun an inquiry of letters, shapes, and sounds. So far this year we have engaged in literacy through language development, story writing, and vocabulary building activities. As a result the children now understand that words carry meaning, can be written down, and are used to record stories and events. With the foundation laid, they are easily transitioning to activities that are focused on the individual qualities of letters. Last week we began a study of our names.
Exploring Kindness
After having a restful holiday break and a couple unexpected snow days, we are finally back into our school routine. Over the past few weeks the students have had remarkable growth. They are working cooperatively, gaining independence, and beginning to seek new cognitive challenges.
Field Trip to the Zoo
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, full of celebration and rest. These past few weeks have gone by so quickly; it’s hard to believe, but winter is right around the corner. The students have been working hard on developing their independence and becoming a cohesive community. All of their hard work is evident through daily successes in social and academic development. Each day they are becoming more focused and seeking out larger challenges.
Early Math Concepts
The past two weeks have also brought big developments in our math explorations. The students have been working diligently on counting and number recognition. During our morning circle time, we have been playing bean bag counting games, singing counting songs, and working with rubric beads. Through all of these activities the students are gaining practice in consecutive counting and they are beginning to explore one-to-one correspondence.
We have also been working in small groups with math materials, such as counting cards and number peg boards. In these activities, the children are counting objects and connecting the sum with the correct numeral. Everyone has really enjoyed the new materials and they are very proud of their growing ability to count.
Shared Reading Time with Buddies
Relationships are blossoming with our big buddies from Christy’s 4th and 5th grade class. It has been heartwarming to watch the preschoolers develop friendships and bonds with the older students. In addition to their weekly meetings with Christy’s class, which occur every Friday, buddies have also been joining us twice a month, on Wednesday mornings, for buddy reading time. This program is a wonderful extra literacy support within our class. During buddy reading time, the preschool students choose a few books and read along side their older buddy. Together, with their buddies, they are discussing the pictures, story events, and making predictions. All of these activities increase their comprehension and serve to strengthen their connection with their buddies.
Second Step and Empathy
We have had an amazing start to the holiday season, beginning with our fantastic Harvest Festival the first Friday of November! It was great to spend time with each of you and the food was delicious.
Exploring Bears
We have been continuing with our exploration of bears. This week we learned about the difference between real and fictional bears. After our discussion, we had a shared reading of “Goldilocks and The Three Bears.”
Today we continued our lessons by learning about sorting and grouping. I taught the students how to create groups according to size. Together, we made three groups: one big, one medium, and one small. The students worked together to sort the objects from the story into groups. Later we retold the story through a picture walk and sequenced the fictional events.
Upcoming Events:
November 30th : Woodland Park Zoo field trip
Social Emotional Work
October was a very busy month and it’s hard to believe that we accomplished so many things! I am very excited to share with you the amazing work that the students have been doing this past week.
Emergent Study of Bears
Over the past six weeks, the students have expressed an interest in bears. They have been talking about bears, reading about bears, and mostly pretending to be bears throughout the day. It is always inspiring when the students show enthusiasm for a particular subject matter because it is an excellent opportunity to engage in emergent curriculum. As many of you know, emergent curriculum is a central part of our early childhood philosophy. Emergent curriculum begins when the students show interest in a particular subject. Teachers then observe and listen to the students as they plan a curriculum based around their findings. It is a unique way of developing a curriculum which usually results in a higher level of engagement and a deeper level of understanding for the students.
Explorations of Color
We have been exploring our school theme through an exploration of amazing art. The students have been working to cut paper and paste the colorful pieces into creative collage masterpieces! They also created some very colorful plaster skulls with Karina in celebration of Day of the Dead. Keep an eye out for your student’s work which will be on display in our classroom all month.
Literacy and Independence
I am so excited to tell you that our students have been working very hard these past two weeks. Each day, they are becoming more independent; they are putting on their own shoes, opening their food packages during lunch, pouring their own milk, cleaning up unassisted, and moving throughout the day with ease. I am just bursting with pride! I love watching our young scholars learn and grow. Keep an eye out for any blossoming signs of independence at home. The students appreciate encouragement and friendly reminders that they are strong and capable.
Critical Thinking and Learning Through Play
We had our first critical thinking circle this week. Our topic emerged earlier in the week during free choice time in the block area. A few students were building a forest for the woodland animals. As they worked, they were joined by a group of students who decided to build a road. As the two groups worked on their individual building projects it became clear that a conflict would arise - the road was being built right through the forest.
Starting the School Year
Dear Preschool Families,
We had a wonderful start to our 2011-2012 school year! This week, our class focused on learning school routines and developing independence at school. The students spent a lot of time working in the block area and playing dramatic games in the loft. Each day, as the students work and play together, they are learning how to manage their bodies, negotiate space, and share materials.
Throughout the week, we had several circle discussions that focused on taking care of ourselves and others in the classroom. We talked about how we can keep each other safe and also how we can care for our classroom. As a group, we came up with two classroom rules which we have been successfully practicing all week.
