The second week we focused on Families. The students learned that our families are made up of unique individuals.  These individuals make our families special!  We spoke about different people that might make up a family such as moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandfathers, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.  The children made apple trees in Art with each apple representing some one special in their family!  The children were also made aware of diversity the types of families that may exist.  We explained that families come in all different shapes, colors, and sizes!  No matter what it looks like it is still a family. In Math, we read the story the Three Little Bears. We focused on the different shapes and sizes in the story. Then on the Math shelf, we placed a picture of the three bears and a basket of various sized objects. The children were asked to sort through the objects and match which bear it belonged to.  Next, we moved on to our Guess Who activity.  The students viewed baby pictures of each other and tried to guess which classmate was in the picture.  The students were asked such questions as: Which features have changed and which ones are still the same? How could you tell which classmate was in the picture? The children loved looking at each other and talking about themselves as babies!  Next, we talked about what a day in the life of our family might be like.  We asked the students to think about their routines as a family.  We also asked them to think about the order in which they accomplish daily tasks.  Then we introduced sequence of events. In Language, we displayed cards with pictures of different families following their daily routines.  The students were asked to put the pictures in order.  For our last day, students shared photos of their families in class. Each child was asked to elaborate on the phrase: I love my family because... We got answers from because they take care of me to because they buy me donuts!  For a class project, the students painted a paper plate frame and inserted their photo to create a "family portrait". 
 
Safety was our topic in the third week.  First, we talked about Safety in general.  We stressed the importance of being aware of our surroundings.  We touched on street crossing, safety belts, and ways to practice safety inside and outside.  We introduced the stop sign as an octagon and asked students how it keeps both drivers and pedestrians safe on the road.  The students made a stop sign out of paper and Popsicle sticks. They also learned how to write and recognize the word STOP!  Next, we focused on street and safety signs. Various pictures of signs were set in the Language area and students were asked to identify them and explain their purpose in promoting safety.  Then onto fire safety! We touched on fire escape plans, smoke detectors, fire hazards, and prevention.  The children were given the opportunity to practice staying low to the floor by crawling under a sheet.  They also practiced stop, drop, and roll.  Next, we introduced 911. The children were made aware of what constitutes emergencies and non emergencies.  In Science, we placed pictures of emergency and non emergency situations. The children were asked to decide in which situations 911 would be needed.  In Math, we placed a phone were the children could practice dialing the numbers (911).  The last day, we spoke of "stranger danger."  We read a story called "Say No and Go."  We made the children aware that strangers come in all different shapes and sizes and do not have to be scary at all.  We mentioned that some strangers are actually people that we may see and that our parents may talk to.  These people are still considered strangers and should only be spoken to with permission of a parent.  They might be mail carrier, cashier, librarian, bus driver, restaurant server, etc.  We used people puppets to act out different situations that may arise when approached by a stranger.  The children took turns role playing. We were very impressed at how the children dealt with these situations.  We practiced shouting no and the children were given permission to make a scene (scream, hit, bite, slap, push, pinch etc.) in order to defend themselves or get the attention needed for someone to get help.  
 
In the last week of January, we focused on each of the five senses. For hearing we had students shake jars of various objects and have them guess what is making the sounds. We played instruments and the students decided which instrument they heard. They listened to sounds in nature and tried to figure out what the sound was.  For touching, we had various textures for them to feel and compare.  They tried to guess which objects were in our mystery bags by describing what they felt.  For seeing and touching, they constructed glue and paint designs.  For touching, smelling, and seeing they worked with shaving cream.  For smelling, they painted with a Jello solution.  They also matched up scents in our smelling jars and tried to guess what they were.  With tasting, we conducted a taste test including sweet, salty, bitter, and sour foods.  The children loved to learn about the senses and we are excited about how much our students enjoyed the experiments and activities we planned this last week as we prepared for our Sensory Fair. 
 
~Mrs. Cooper

 

Although the children missed their first class of the month due to our unexpected Snow Day, they made up for it during the remainder of January.  Senora Lisa began her first class with an appropriate winter song "Hace Much Frio" (It's very cold).  The song is sung to the tune of The Farmer and the Dell and it taught the children about what to wear in the cold weather to keep them warm.  Once the students were dressed in their sueter (sweater), chaqueta (jacket), mitones (mittens) and botas (boots) they pretended to head outside to play in the nieve (snow).  Once they became exhausted from all the playing they went back inside because Senora Lisa became hace calor (too hot).

After their outside adventure, they all sat down to listen to a story about Mottita the Little Cat.  The story introduced the students to the concepts of encima (on top), debajo (under), dentro (inside) and fuera (outside).  Senora Lisa reinforced these concepts by tossing each student a stuffed cat and then was asked to throw it toward a sombrero (hat) in the middle of a circle and decide if the cat landed dentro or fuera of the sombrero.

The next week, Senora Lisa started to talk more in depth about the different types of clothing to her class.  She emphasized the difference between largo (long) and cortos (short). She brought to class her Barbie, and some of her friends to illustrate the point.  They came dressed for the occasion.  The children had to look at each doll and decide whether their attire was either largo or cortos.  Along with clothing items, Senora Lisa also taught the class about some accessories.  For instance she told the kids the difference between a sombrero (hat) and a gorro (cap).
 
Next, the class learned about cerca (close) and lejos (far). To illustrate this concept Senora Lisa asked the entire class to vengan cerca (come close) and the vian lejos (go far).  The children loved getting close with a group hug then scattering across the room to see who could get the furthest from the teacher!
 
Senora Lisa ended her last class with a book, "De Cerce" (Close Up).  The book showed up close pictures of objects such as la alla de luna mariposa (butterfly wing) and es una oja (leaf).  The students had to guess what object was in the picture.  Senora Lisa made the point that, "When you look up close, you learn A LOT!"