Week of Feb 9th

Valentine’s Week was filled with love and meaningful learning! We joined Ms. Yvonne’s class to explore the concept of Respect through the FNMI teachings. In these teachings, Respect is represented by the Buffalo (Bison). For a very long time, people relied on the buffalo for food, clothing, shelter, and art. They showed respect by using every part carefully and wasting nothing.

We discussed what respect looks like in our classroom. Respect means:

• Being kind to yourself and others

• Sharing

• Avoiding waste (for example, not scribbling on paper or taking only one bite of an apple)

• Caring for our classroom and the natural environment

  
  

Students worked in pairs to create a buffalo artwork. This gave us an opportunity to practice respecting one another’s ideas and efforts, and to use kind words when talking about a partner’s work. We also focused on using our materials thoughtfully by coloring the entire buffalo and not wasting paper. The finished pieces are beautiful and proudly displayed in our hallway!

In literacy, we continued practicing CVC words and reviewing our sight words: the, and, I, a. We reinforced the letter sounds we have mastered: s, a, t, p, i, n, m, f. We will continue strengthening these skills while gradually introducing new sounds and sight words throughout March. Please continue practicing sounding out simple words and identifying sight words whenever possible at home.

In math, we learned a new game called “Tug of War” (also known as “Back and Forth”). This game helps us understand number composition and decomposition. For example, 1 red block and 1 blue block make 2 (1 + 1 = 2), and 2 blue blocks and 0 red blocks also make 2 (2 + 0 = 2). We will continue developing this strategy through the end of March.

Ms. Mascha returned from her holidays and shared wonderful pictures of life in the Dominican Republic. During our discussion about fruits and vegetables, coconuts became a topic of great interest! This week, we will explore several forms of coconut — including a whole coconut, a shaved coconut, shredded coconut, coconut milk, and coconut water.

Our Valentine’s celebration was a wonderful success. Students decorated their bags, exchanged valentines, and enjoyed spending time with friends from Ms. Yvonne’s class.

This is the final week of the Art Studio in our dramatic play area. Several beautiful paintings will soon be coming home to be proudly displayed!

Thank you for everything you do! Your little people fill my heart with love and joy every day!