Hello all,

“Five Senses Week” was SENSE-ational!  Each day of the week, the students practiced using a different sense in some really creative and very fun ways!

On Monday, the teachers introduced each of the five senses – Sight, Hearing, Taste, Touch, and Smell!  The teachers explained that by using these senses, we learn and understand everything around us.  For their morning work on Monday, the students investigated the body’s sense of sight by creating a pair of colorful binoculars!  During the afternoon on Monday, the students continued their sense of Sight exploration as they played a school-wide game of ISpy (using their binoculars, of course).

 

 

The sense of study on Tuesday was TOUCH!  For their morning work, the students worked in teams at the Mystery Box Station!   To help build the students’ descriptive word vocabulary, the teachers placed different textured objects in the Mystery Box.  The students had to reach a hand in – without peeking – and describe what the item felt like – i.e. smooth, bumpy, hard, soft, etc.  After describing the item, the students were then able to venture a guess as to what the item was.  Most of the guesses were on the right track while others were a bit far fetched.  For instance, pom-pom balls were mistaken for a cloud and another student kept saying, “It feels like a hand!” 🙂  In the afternoon, the students worked together to classify certain items into the appropriate texture category.  The categories included: soft, hard, bumpy, and smooth.

 

 

Also on Tuesday, the PPA students welcomed the first PPA parent visit of the 2017-2018 school year.   The Mommy photographed below visited the students of PPA to teach them all about the two holidays that their family celebrated (and will celebrate) this month – Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).  After reading a story to the class, the Mommy served the students apple slices with honey which is an age-old tradition that represents the wish for a sweet and fruitful new year!   How exciting and delicious!  A special PPA Thank You to this Mommy for being such a great first parent volunteer this school year!   🙂

 

On Wednesday, the teachers created a “Guess that Smell” Game for morning work!  With assorted items in little cups with lids, the teachers called the students over in small groups.  For the most part, the students enjoyed smelling all of the items- except for coffee!  They were all in agreement that coffee grinds smelled quite “yicky” (a combination of yucky and icky).    Below is the picture of some students attempting to “Guess that Smell”.

 

 

Later in the day, they thoroughly enjoyed making lists of things that smelled Nice and …. Not So Nice.  🙂

 

Things really got “shaking” on Thursday as the students made their very own sound shakers to explore the sense of sound!  The tiny percussion instruments were created using plastic egg shells, tiny spoons, tiny beads, and some tape!  In order to give their maracas a more personal touch, the students used assorted nail paint to decorate and design their shaker to their liking!  The shakers were set aside to dry.  Once they had dried, the fun (and music) began!

 

 

Speaking of music,  later in the afternoon the students participated in a musical technology presentation all about their sense of hearing!  The presentation was called, “Guess that Sound” and the objective was for the students to correctly identify which instrument and sound effect they heard.  With the computer turned around and the volume cranked up, the teachers played several short audio clips for the students – including violin, harmonica, flute, drums, saxophone, trumpet, piano, and guitar.  The sound effects featured were a car horn, ambulance siren, a bee buzzing, laughter, loud chewing, and whistling.  The students had a blast trying to pinpoint the sound and dancing to the tunes!

Also on Thursday afternoon, the students welcomed the second PPA parent visitor of the 2017-2018 school year!  The Mommy featured below is the Mommy of not one – but TWO – well, actually THREE PPA students (a two year old and a four year old currently enrolled and a second grade PPA graduate as well).  The students enjoyed ending the day with this Mommy’s reading of a book called, Good Night Owl by Greg Pizzoli.   In the story, an owl is ready for bed. But as soon as he settles in, he hears a strange noise. He’ll never get to sleep unless he can figure out what’s going on!  The book proved to be a perfect pick for Hearing Day! 🙂  Be sure to click below for a reading of the story.  A special PPA Thank You to this Mommy for spending the afternoon with us!

 

 

 

Friday was all about a very exciting sense – TASTE!  The students could hardly wait to get started on their morning work when they heard that they would be taste-testing a variety of foods including:  blueberries, limes, goldfish crackers and dark chocolate.  After each taste, the students practiced identifying the various classifications of taste, i.e.  sweet (blueberries), sour (limes), salty (goldfish) and bitter (dark chocolate).  Some of the words the students used as taste descriptors were actually more like texture descriptors, i.e. “Goldfish taste crunchy”.  The teachers explained the difference between salty taste and squishy texture but it actually proved an important point that all of our senses are meant to work together!  Needless to say, the tasting proved to be very enjoyable for the students… well, all except “sour” that is 🙂  In the afternoon, the students brainstormed a list of foods that fell into each taste classification category.

 

 

Wow!  The students had such a great time learning about the five senses and how they all work together to help us learn about the world around us!  As always, thank you for  reading and have a wonderful and safe weekend!

-PPA

 

Reminders:

Tuition Reminder:

Multiple Installment Plan Users – 2nd Installment due by Thursday, September 28th (2 dayers) and Friday, September 29th (3 and 5 dayers)

Upcoming School Events:

Back to School Night

Wednesday, September 27th  (7:00-8:00 p.m.)

This is a parent only event where the school-wide curricular goals, policies and procedures will be discussed. Please try to make arrangements to have at least one parent attend.

PPA Pumpkin Picking and Decorating Party

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

All PPA students and parents are welcome to attend this event.  Two Day students and families should arrive at 2:00 p.m.

Aftercare is not available.

 

 Theme for Next Week: