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“All things HALLOWEEN” Week is next!

Hello all,

“Letter B is for Bear” Week was By far the Best week yet!  Read on below to discover the learning that took place and fun that was had throughout the week!

The students entered school each day with a bountiful amount of Letter B shares! Everything from Ballet slippers, Bowling pins, Baby Bottles, and Baseballs was sent in and shared!  There were Bulks of Letter BBooks that came in as well!

The students spent both Monday and Tuesday morning completing their Letter B tracing/identification/coloring activity sheets.  The teachers were so impressed with how easily the new students recognized the letter B and also how well the older students remembered all things “B” during their morning work!

In the afternoon on Monday and Tuesday, the students created the second letter list of the year!  Naturally, the letter B list was a Big one!  As a whole group, the students took turns brainstorming and contributing words that begin with the letter B!  Below is the completed Letter B list along with an action shot of the Letter B Hunt around the classroom!

Can you count all the B’s that these students found while hunting?

(The answer:  Bumblebee, Bears, Bread, and Bowl – There are more if you look closely!)

The teachers mixed up the schedule a bit on Wednesday morning by beginning the school day with music!  The teachers asked the students if they knew any songs about bears.  Hands flew up and it was decided that there were a Bunch of bear songs.  The teachers revealed that the song in focus for the day was called, “The Bear went over the Mountain”.

As a group, the students sang the following song.

The bear went over the mountain,
The bear went over the mountain,
The bear went over the mountain,
To see what he could see
To see what he could see,
To see what he could see
The other side of the mountain,
The other side of the mountain,
The other side of the mountain,
Was all that he could see!


After morning meeting, the students came over individually to complete their morning work.  The teachers asked the students to repeat the song but stopped them just before they got to the part about the bear seeing the other side of the mountain.  They then asked the students to imagine that the bear did not see “the other side of the mountain” but rather something SUPER SiLLy!  One by one, the students came up some silly ideas such as: “an upside down plant” or “bunnies playing with a kangaroo”.  These new lyrics were incorporated into the songs as follows.

The bear went over the mountain,
The bear went over the mountain,
The bear went over the mountain,
To see what he could see
To see what he could see,
To see what he could see
A juicebox,
A juicebox,
A juiceboxxxxxxxxxx,
Was all that he could see!

On Wednesday afternoon, the students participated in their first Spanish lesson of the school year!  For the next few weeks, the students will be learning about Greetings and Numbers.  You may hear your child(ren) using some of the following vocabulary at home!

Greetings:

Hola (Hello), Adiós (Goodbye), Gracias (Thank You), De nada (For Nothing/You’re Welcome).

The Park Prep Academy foreign language program takes place for thirty minutes, two afternoons each week.  Please encourage your child(ren) to utilize this vocabulary as often as possible as a way to reinforce what is being taught in the classroom and also increase motivation for Spanish class.

As the weeks progress, the students will be divided into two separate groups – Introduction to Spanish group (comprised of new/younger students) as well as a Beginner Spanish group (comprised of returning/older students).  The learning goals for each group are similar- introduce and utilize Spanish vocabulary- but will be approached in different, more individualized and developmentally appropriate ways.

The Introduction to Spanish group will be led by Miss Jocelyn and Miss Beverly and will be a very interactive approach to help expose and introduce the students to the Spanish language.  The Beginning Spanish group will be led by Miss Saily, Miss Justine, and Miss Caitlin and will utilize a more “immersion” approach to teaching/learning the Spanish language.  Students in this group will hear both the Spanish and English translation of stories, conversations, and more!  Keep checking your child’s daily note and the blog weekly to stay informed as to the vocabulary the students are studying.

Thursday began with another bear themed craft!  This time around the students learned a tongue-twister poem about a particular bear named Fuzzy Wuzzy.  Here is the poem about Fuzzy Wuzzy.

Fuzzy Wuzzy  was a Bear.

Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.

Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t fuzzy,

Was he?

The students all laughed as they heard the teachers flub the lines towards the end.  Things only got “hairier” when the teachers introduced the students to Fuzzy Buzzy, Fuzzy Wuzzy’s cousin!

Fuzzy Buzzy was a Bear.

Fuzzy Buzzy had lots of hair.

Fuzzy Buzzy was so fuzzy,

Wasn’t he?

One by one, the students took turns coming up to the morning work tables and beginning their Fuzzy Wuzzy and Fuzzy Buzzy craft!  Using  brown paint, the students painted paper plates to make the Belly of their Bear!

Seeing that Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t fuzzy, the students only painted his belly brown before setting him aside to dry.  Now, since Fuzzy Buzzy was so fuzzy, the students painted his belly brown and then added some fuzzy brown yarn to create his fuzzy hair!

Once the bear bellies were all dry, the teachers used a stapler and some Velcro to assemble the bear craft.  Here is the completed craft.  First is Fuzzy Buzzy whose Belly reads, “Fuzzy Buzzy was so fuzzy, Wasn’t he?”

Pop the Velcro piece off to find his cousin, Fuzzy Wuzzy!  Fuzzy Wuzzy’s belly reads, “Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t fuzzy, was he?”

After the bears had been assembled and the students began playing with them, the smart (and very literal) PPA students informed the teachers that hairless Fuzzy Wuzzy was actually “kind of fuzzy” because of the Velcro piece on his belly! They were right!

During Thursday’s (and Wednesday’s) Spanish class, the students spent some time learning the Hola and Adios Songs which will be sung at the beginning and end of each Spanish class throughout the year.

The Hola Song
(to the tune of London Bridge)

Hola means hello-o-o.

Hello-o-o, hello-o-o.

Hola means hello-o-o,

!Hola, amigos!


The Adiós Song

Adiós means goo-ood-bye,

goo-ood-bye, goo-ood-bye.

Adiós means goo-ood-bye.

!Adiós,  amigos!

They also practiced their new vocabulary by greeting each other in Spanish.

Here are two friends practicing saying “Hola!”

The students spent Friday morning learning and discussing various bear facts.  By far, the most interesting bear fact had to do with bears hibernating during the winter months.  The teachers explained that bears do not like the cold weather and in order to stay warm all winter, bears go into “sleepy mode” where they stay nice and lazy for a looooooooong time.  The teachers asked the students why bears might do this.  Here are some of the answers they came up with.

Fortunately, the teachers had prepared a technology presentation which helped clarify why bears hibernate.  The students began their morning work where they created a bear hibernating craft using pebbles collected from outside to decorate the bear’s den and cotton balls for the snow.

In the afternoon, the students participated in a technology presentation all about Bears!  During the presentation, they learned about several different types of bears including polar bears, black bears, brown bears, and giant pandas.  They also observed a video clip from the BBC with bears searching for food and shaking in the cold winter weather, which helped answer the question from the morning – Why do bears hibernate?  The students realized that they were right; Bears hibernate to stay warm when it gets cold and there is little food to eat!  After that, the students learned some “fun facts” about each type of bear and then voted on which bear was the class favorite.  Polar bear was the class favorite!  Watch a recording of the presentation below!


Photo SharingVideo SharingPhoto Printing

While the entire presentation was very interesting, the most exciting part was definitely the musical rendition of the story, Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  Be sure to take a peek at it by clicking here.

Well, that is all for “Letter B is for Bear” Week.  It surely was Brilliant!  As always, thank you for reading and have a fun and safe weekend!

-PPA

Reminders:

ATTN: Monthly Tuition Installment Users

November Tuition is due

by Thursday (for 2/4 day students)

by Friday (for 3/5 day students)

Next Upcoming School Closing:

Tuesday, November 2nd – Observation of Election Day

Next Upcoming PPA Event:

Park Prep Annual Halloween Celebration!

Friday, October 29th (2:00-3:00 p.m.)

All students and parents invited to attend IN COSTUME!

Friday students are welcome to attend school that day IN COSTUME!

No aftercare available.


Theme for Next Week: