opps! - July and August have disappeared!

Sadly my image hosting site had a malfunction and the July and August updates and entries have disappeared. I'm currently working on getting things back up. Please stay tuned! In the meantime, enjoy the rest of this site!

Sincerest apologies and warm regards,
Ricki
:)

June - Transportation, Sea Life, Jungle/Forest Animals, and Summer!

In June we learned about different kinds of transportation methods and vehicles like buses, trains, airplanes, and boats. We even went for a ride on our local bus and train a few stops together just for fun. The kids all pretended to swipe metrocards and the drivers and token booth clerks were kind enough to let us in.

Here we are waiting for the bus.

After learning about ocean animals we visited the NYC Aquarium and checked out the sea life. We also visited the Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn after studying jungle and forest animals like snakes and apes. Sadly, my camera died this same week.

Luckily my wonderful co-teacher Ms. Kelly was kind enough to acquire another camera and we were able to visit the newly opened Brooklyn Piers Waterpark for some much needed aquatic relief. Even a very pregnant parent and myself joined in on the splashing around.

May - Community Helpers/May Flowers

In May we studied the people that help us the most in our communities. Since we regularly take walks around the neighborhood, the children were aware of whose who and know the role each person plays. We studied the ones we see regularly such as doctors, dentist, firefighters, police, nurses, optometrist, chefs, librarian, shopkeepers, postal workers, and office workers.

Here the children started off visiting the firehouse during cleanup day so the firemen let us stand next to their newly cleaned giant firetruck.

And while still wearing our firemen/firewomen paper bag uniforms, we visited our local police precinct just 2 blocks away. These police officers always love seeing "their neighborhood babies" and embrace them with big hugs and the kids love to say "Hi policelady!"

We also made alot of flowers to follow up on spring planting and that old saying "April showers bring May flowers"

April - Spring animals, weather, and planting!

We learned about spring celebration animals like ducks and bunnies. Here we water colored painted bunnies using leftover egg dye water.

We learned about April weather and the amount of rain it brings. Here the children made umbrellas using pipe cleaners and folded coffee filters, blue glitter for rain, and cotton balls for clouds.

To teach the children about plants, I saved some leftover grass seeds from my own backyard for the children to use. Can you believe that they grew this tall after only 4 days?! The children were so excited to come back to school after an extended weekend to find that their plants were all grown!

March - Happy Birthday Dr Seuss/St Patrick's Day

In March we celebrated Dr Seuss’ birthday by spending an entire week reading some of his books. We made and wore our own red and white striped hats (just like The Cat in the Hat) and even made and ate green eggs and ham (turkey ham-we’re a pork free school)

We also celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by learning about leprechauns, rainbows, and four leaf clovers. We topped it off by hiding paper clovers overnight for the children to hunt. At the end of the hunt, everyone received a bag of gold coins (chocolate coins)

February - Love, Friendship and The Presidents

February was spent learning about love, friendship and the presidents.

Here the children used heart shaped sponges to create large heart shaped paintings in traditional colors of love- red and pink.

The children also made coin rubbings of quarters for President George Washington and pennies for President Abraham Lincoln.

For Barack Obama, the children created collage USA flags and later colored and glued a drawing of President Obama. The parents were very excited to see that their children were able to recognize these 3 presidents when they viewed coins and posters around the school and at home.

January - New Year Celebrations From Around the World/Cold Weather/Arctic Animals

In January we learned about different ways the new year is celebrated around the world, what snow and ice are made of and what we can do with them, how to dress for winter weather and what kinds of animals live in cold weather.

Here is our bulletin board proudly being featured next to our principal's office.
We made Chinese New Year fortune cookies, Jewish Rosh Hashanah apples and honey collages, and American firework rockets. A giant countdown ball is in the center with the year and our class's name.

Here is a close up of a Chinese New Year lantern we made. I especially love celebrating this holiday in class as I'm of Colombian/Chinese heritage. I get to share personal experiences and stories as a child with my students. This holiday celebration last two weeks long and varies every year, occurring late January into early February. Gung Hay Fat Choy!

We also learned about the Jewish new year called Rosh Hashanah. Its usually celebrated in September. Jews snack on apples dipped in honey and say a prayer asking for a sweet year.

Americans often celebrate New Year's Eve by staying up late to watch the countdown on tv. A ball drops and confetti and fireworks fill the air! Living in NYC, the spirit can be felt everywhere with everyone cheering, honking car horns, and having fun!

For our winter study we traced our hands to make mittens and learned about different cold weather animals like seals.

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January Book Recommendations