Half Note Class Newsletter

Dear Parents,


Even though this was such a short week, we accomplished so much. We introduced the children to some famous artists.  We started the unit by having the children look through various art books.  Some of the artists they discovered were: Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky,  Henry Rousseau, and Andy Warhol. We then discussed which artist's work that we wanted to replicate.

The children chose  Pablo Picasso.  He was an artist from Spain who was famous for being the co-founder of cubism, which is a style of painting where objects of the painting are broken up and repainted in an abstract form.

We took pictures of the children's faces and then cut them in half.  We then took one half of the picture and cut it up into small pieces.  The children then glued them altogether to complete their faces.
 

Another artist we learned about this week was Vincent Van Gogh, a Dutch artist who loved sunflowers.  He painted them over and over again, working in thick bumpy layers of paint. The children enjoyed creating their own sunflowers.  They first did a sketch of a sunflower and then painted it, using acrylic paint. The children did an incredible job!

In music this week the children practiced marching to the beat. One child played on the drum  while the other children marched to the beat.  They practiced singing "Humpty Dumpty," and "Six Little Ducks," The children also practiced rest position with the violin and "bow bunnies." 

We  worked on our writing books.  The children have shown so much progress in their writing in such a short time. So far the children have learned how to write the letter L, E, F, and H.

We ended our week by eating apples dipped in honey in honor of Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year and like most Jewish holidays there are food customs associated with it. One of the most popular and well-known food customs on Rosh HaShanah has to do with dipping apple slices into honey. This sweet combination stems from an age-old Jewish tradition of eating sweet foods to express our hope for a sweet new year. We also learned a new song, "Apples Dipped in Honey."

gardener

sorting rocks

class  photographer

We wish all the families that celebrate Rosh Hashanah,  A Happy and Healthy New Year! 

Have a great long weekend! 



Love,
Ms. Bonne and Ms. Barbara

All About Apples

Dear Parents,

This was the third week of school and the children have done a great job settling into the classroom routines.  We introduced our apple unit by learning the life cycle of an apple. The children have been practicing putting the life cycle pictures into the correct order on the flannel board. They now know the stages, which are:  seed, seedling, tree, bud, flower, and finally the apple.

Some of the stories the children enjoyed listening to were: Apples Grow on a Tree, From Shoot to Apple, Eating Apples, and How do Apples Grow?  We all took part in an apple taste test.  The children each tasted a Macintosh apple, a Granny Smith apple, and a Golden Delicious apple.  The results of the taste test were: Four people liked the Golden Delicious apples, four people liked the Granny Smith apples, and one person liked the Macintosh apple.

                                               

The children created their own apple trees.  They first  painted the tree tops with green paint, using a loofah sponge.  They then made the tree trunk by gluing on branches, leaves and twigs, which they collected outside. The children then added various colored apples to the tree. The results were spectacular. 

We added the trees to our Science, Math, and Social Studies board along with the apple pattern sheets the children have been making. They also learned about creating patterns by putting yellow, green, and red apples in an order such as red, green, yellow, red, green yellow.  The children now know that a pattern is a design that repeats itself. 

One of our highlights of the week was the visit from "Lucky Bob" the magician.  I am not sure who enjoyed him more, the teachers or the children.  He was phenomenal!  The room was filled with awes and laughter for the entire time.  The children could not stop talking about him for the entire day. He turned a black and white coloring book into one covered with colors.  He turned one ball into many balls and from a tiny ball into a huge one.

We concluded our week by making delicious apple muffins , which included a stem (pretzel) and a leaf (spearmint ) .  I am not sure what they enjoyed more, eating them or baking them.  They were delicious!

Love,

Ms. Bonne and Ms. Barbara

Second Week of School

Dear Parents,

We had another great week in the Half Note Class.  The  children finished painting their life-sized pictures of themselves,  They were all so proud of their accomplishments. The children walked around the room admiring their paintings.  It was so funny watching one child hold a mirror up to her painting just like she did when she was drawing her self-portrait..

We continued our "All About Me" theme by making "All About Me" books by first drawing their self portraits, a picture of their families, their favorite foods, and their favorite color.

 In music this week we rolled the ball back and forth and then we introduced ourselves. Some of the new songs we learned this week were "Hickety, Dickety, Dock," "Peas Porridge Hot," "Little White Duck," and "Pussy Cat."

The highlight of the week was when we made people shaped cookies.  The children became so excited when they walked into class and saw all the baking supplies on the table.  They sat down on the table before we even had our morning meeting, all ready to get started.  I am not sure who got more excited, me or the children.  It was so exciting watching the big smiles on all their faces  as they cracked open an egg, added ingredients, and stirred the batter.  They just couldn't stop talking about the baking project all day.  

Some other areas of the room that the children enjoyed exploring:

Notes:  Please bring in a couple of changes of clothes to keep in your children's cubbies.  Sometimes children have accidents, spill things, and find the one puddle in the playground to play in.

Love,

Ms. Bonne and Ms. Barbara

                    

Half Note Class Newsletter

Dear Parents,

The Half Notes have done an amazing job settling into our classroom.  The children are beginning to learn our classroom routines.  It is so exciting watching the children make new friendships and how they are beginning to negotiate the use of toys.

We introduced our unit "All About Me" by participating in making a "Mat Man" figure. The "Mat Man" figure is a figure representing a person constructed out of wooden lines and curves. The children then looked at themselves in a mirror and finally drew their own self portraits.

Some of the stories the children enjoyed listening to were My Family, by Sheila Kinkade and "Who's in my Family, by Robie Harris.  We also learned several new songs such as, "I am Special, "The More we Get Together,"  "One, Two Three Good Friends" (in English and Spanish), and "Make New Friends."

We also took pictures of all the children's eyes, hands, and teeth.  We displayed the pictures on our classroom bulletin board and had the children guess which ones were their's. 

The children were so excited about our classroom job chart.  They could hardly wait to see which job they were assigned.  Some of the jobs are:  calendar helper, weather person, line leader, gardener, floor sweeper, table washer, and snack helper.  We also introduced the  "Mystery Can."   One child will take home the can and put something special to him/her inside it.  They will then write down three clues about it on a piece of paper and put it inside the can.  They will then bring it back to school the next day and during morning meeting the children will try to guess what is in it.  The child that guesses correctly will be the next one to take home the can.

We continued our theme by tracing around each child's body and next week the children will cut them out, add facial features, and then paint them.

Finally, the children enjoyed participating in our music class with Lisa (music teacher).  Some of the highlights of the class were marching to music, singing new songs, and dancing.

Love,
Ms. Bonne and Ms. Barbara