Dear Parents,

Last week we learned all about magnets.  We introduced the unit by reading My Magnet, Experimenting with Magnets, and What is a Magnet?  We then used our Magnet Testing Chart to see what attracted to magnets and what repelled from magnets.  We also learned that for something to be attracted to a magnet it must contain iron or steel. Aluminum, plastic, and cardboard are not attracted by magnets.  

The children each created wooden boats by drilling a hole into a block of wood and then hammering a dowel into the hole.  Then they cut and decorated a sail, which we attached to the boat.  Finally, I hammered nails and washers to the back of the boat.  The children not only enjoyed constructing the boats but propelling them into the water using  magnetic wands.   

The children then walked around the room with their magnetic wands and tested various items, to see which attracted and which repelled the magnet. This is what they found:
~ Nidhi's magnet attracted to the screw on the loft.
~ Lexi's magnet repelled the wooden table.
~ Jonah discovered that his magnet attracted to the     a screw on the train table.
~ Trystan found that the magnet attracted to the   
    metal on the top of the chair.
~ Bingyi found that her magnet attracted to a 
   a magnet on the train.
~ Hattie found that her magnet repelled the plastic
   fish.
~Ozi found that magnets attract to other magnets.
~Sidharth discovered that his magnet attracted to      the leg of the leg of the chair .
~ Nina discovered that magnets do not attract to 
    plastic ponies.
~ Felix found that his magnet attracted to the 
   bottom of the chair leg.

This week our  focus was on dinosaurs. 
The children each made a "dinorama," by painting shoe boxes and 3-D dinosaurs.  They also added a volcano with "fire" and a tree to their dinorama, .  
Ask you children about the egg that we hatched. They children were so funny when they guessed what would come out of the egg.  One child said a chicken and another said a real dinosaur.  

We end our week by baking delicious dinosaur cookies.  The children rolled out the dough and used various shaped dinosaur cookie cutters.  They then they decorated them with frosting and sprinkles. They even practiced using a pastry bag! What a fun learning experience it was.

We look forward to completing our dinosaur unit and celebrating Valentine's Day next week.

Note:

We will be having a Valentine's Day Celebration next week.  Please send your child to school with Valentine's Day cards as soon as possible.

We have twelve children in the class. It is not necessary to write the children's name on 
the cards. 

Love,

Ms. Bonne and Ms. Barbara