We have we been doing in January! 

Happy Chinese New Year!!! - Year of the Dragon!

Mrs. Bracco read us a story about the fun holiday of Chinese New Year. We learned that everything has to be clean and new even clothes. Starting new! We also learned it is the year of the dragon. Depending on what year you are born determines what animal you represent. We played a memory game on the Smartboard with Mrs. Bracco learning about each animal. We made red dragons and when they were dry, we had a parade in the classroom. Mrs. Bracco showed us a red envelope with money in it. It is a custom of the Chinese to give this to children for good luck. In our kitchen area we have chinese menus and chop-sticks with waiter and waitress pads to take orders. A lot of the children like chinese food. It has been fun learning about this culture.

Being Kind

An ongoing learning experience is that we have been reminded about being kind to each other. In recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday our class has listened to several stories about him. We learned he was a very kind and loving person. Each day we are telling our teachers if one of our friends is kind to us and what they did. It is nice to recognize good things!

COME ON SIX!!!

yes, we have been rolling dice. We all want to roll a six because that is the highest number on the die. Each time we roll the die, we get to count out winter erasers. The first one to fill their boxes is the winner! We have been learning to take turns, roll the die, and practicing counting as well as experience the joy of winning and the agony of defeat. When you are four and five, it is hard to understand that you can't be a winner each time.

The Classic Fairytale - Goldilocks and the Three Bears

We so enjoyed the listening to the differnt versions of this wonderful story. We compared them - how they were the same, and how they were different. We completed a story sequencing activity and we were suppose to bring it home and re-tell the story to you. Did I tell you? Ask me.

As an extention to the story, the concept of small, medium and large came into play. So after tracing 3 circles we had a small, medium and large one. Yes, we turned them into Snowmen! We decorated them and gave them a name. Mrs. Bracco has been reading us several books about snowmen a few of them are, All You Need for a Snowman, Smiley Snowman, Sneezy the Snowman, and Lost in the Snow.

Happy New Year!!

Welcome Back!

It is so great to be back in school! One of the first things you heard in our classroom Tuesday morning was I missed school. We all missed our friends. On this day, we switched small groups. Our first day together we just talked and shared some things we did over the break.

WISHES FOR 2011- Fireworks exploded with glitter in our classroom as we painted them this week. We learned about the new year and how people make "Resolutions." We painted with Q-Tips and added glitter for sparkle. We talked about something we would like to learn or do in school or at home this New Year. Most of us want to learn to read or write our first and last names. Some of us want to help our parents, or to learn to make their beds. Some children want to learn to ride their bikes or to make new friends. These are great wishes!

The Mitten, by Jan Brett

One of our favorite stories this week was, The Mitten, by Jan Brett. We made some mittens using various colors of paint, folded a paper and rubbed the paint. By rubbing the paint we made mittens that were a perfect pair.

Did I tell you that Mrs. Bracco has been using our amazing SmartBoard in our classroom? Every day we check in attendance by popping a balloon. A SmartBoard is an interactive technology board that teachers have in their classrooms. Mrs. Bracco has created several games to help us recall all the characters in the story, The Mitten. After playing the games, we illustrated some the the characters. In this story I learned about some animals I never heard of. A badger, a mole, a hedgehog to name a few. Ask me to tell you about some of the animals, and also to retell the story to you.

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