Hello all,
PPA’s alphabet curriculum is off to an Amazing, Astonishing, and Awesome start! Can you guess which letter the students learned about first? If you said, “the letter A”, then you are correct! To help explore the letter A, the students also studied all about Animals in their Area! Well, “Letter A is for Animals in our Area Week” has come and gone. Read on below to discover the learning that took place and fun that was had throughout the week!
The students returned to school on Monday with an Assortment of Letter A shares! Everything from Animals, Aliens, Astronauts, Anna (from Frozen), and Alligators was sent in and shared! As you will see in the photograph below, there was certainly an Abundance of Awesome letter A shares!
Monday and Tuesday morning marked the introduction of alphabet “morning work” – letter and sound recognition activity coloring pages. Working one on one with the teachers, each student took a break from their morning activity stations to come over, sit down and get to work! The teachers were so impressed with how easily the new students recognized the letter A and also how well the older students remembered all things “A” during this time! Whether it involved tracing, writing, or sounding out letters, the activity pages were completed beautifully! The 2017-2018 students of PPA are surely shining stars already.
In the afternoon on both Monday and Tuesday, the students worked together to create the first letter list of the school year! The students took turns brainstorming and contributing words that begin with the letter A! The list below features all of the words the students came up with! After the list had been created, it was time to go hunting – Letter A hunting, that is! In partners, the students took off around the room to find all of the A’s inside the classroom! There were A’s on the bookshelves, A’s on the walls, A’s in the cubbies, even A’s on the students (well, on their clothing). Who knew there were some many A’s at PPA?
Can you identify all of the A Shares?
The A shares are Animal Antics, Airplane, Apple, Alligator and the letter A!
Since Wednesday was School Picture Day at PPA, the art exploration of the letter A/Animals in our Area began on Thursday! The students crafted an Animal in their Area for morning work. Can you guess what this Animal is from the following clues?
This Animal is a very fast runner and great tree climber!
This Animal is gray but can sometimes be brown or even white.
This Animal LOVES to eat acorns and nuts!
Do you know what this Animal is?
If you said, “Squirrel” then you are correct! Take a look below to see the students’ squirrels!
Speaking of Animals in our Area, the teachers took the opportunity on Friday morning to introduce the students to a PPA class favorite – The Pigeon – from Mo Willem’s Pigeon book series! The returning students are very familiar with the Pigeon and his silly ways while the new students of PPA have just begun to get to know (and love) him. The Pigeon is by far the silliest character in PPA’s entire library! One day he wants to drive the bus, the next day he wants to stay up late and the next he wants to have a hot dog party! Doesn’t he know he is just a pigeon!?!? Be sure to take a peek at one of the Pigeon’s silly stories on your next visit to PPA! 🙂
Here is a peek at the students crafting their own pigeons to take home!
On Thursday and Friday afternoon, the students participated in their first and second Spanish lessons 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 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 Justine, Miss Christine, and Miss Sabrina 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 Jocelyn, Miss Angelica, and Miss Destiny 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.
As if “Letter A is for Animals in our Area Week” was not exciting enough, the students also welcomed not one, but TWO, Awesome Adult guest readers! Take a look below to see the visitors in Action. A special PPA “Thank You” to this Grammy and Mommy for spending some time with us!
Hooray for A! Well, that is all for “Letter A is for Animals in our Area Week” at PPA. It sure was Amazing! As always, thank you for reading and have a fun and safe weekend!
-PPA
Reminders:
SCHOOL CLOSED: Monday, October 9th
Observation of Columbus Day
Upcoming School Events:
PPA Halloween Celebration
Tuesday, October 31st
(2:00-3:00 p.m.)
All PPA students and parents are welcome to attend this event – IN COSTUME!
Three Day Students and families should arrive at 2:00 p.m.
Aftercare is not available.
Theme for Next Week:
