Hello all,
“Letter D is for Dr. Seuss Week” was dynamic, dynamite and simply delightful! The students showed up more than ready to discuss Dr. Seuss – and dozens of other D things! Some of the share highlights included: ducks, dragons, dogs, doctor kits, and more! One students even shared a diaper borrowed from a new sibling! Fortunately, the student did not take the Letter D theme too seriously and bring a Dirty Diaper in for share! Thank you to everyone who brought in shares to help reinforce the letter D.
The students spent both Monday and Tuesday morning working one on one with the teachers to complete their Letter D identification/fine motor activity sheets. The teachers were so impressed with how easily the new students recognized the letter D and also how well the older students remembered all things “D” during their morning work! In the afternoon on Monday and Tuesday, the students created the fourth letter list of the year! Naturally, the letter D list was full of Dozens of answers! As a whole group, the students took turns brainstorming and contributing words that begin with the letter D and also hunted around the classroom for letter D items!
How many D shares do you see?
Answer: Dog, Dinosaur, Dolphin, Doughnut, and a Lacing D!
Throughout the week, the students were treated to not one, not two but THREE guest readers! These Delightful Mommy Guest ReaDers featureD below Dazzled the stuDents by Dictating a Dr. Seuss Dinosaur story and a Halloween tale! The big sibling guest reader (and family) treated the students to a Duck story written by Dr. Seuss as well! A special PPA Thank You to these Mommies and Siblings for joining us! If you would like to be a Guest ReaDer one Day, please Don’t hesitate to ask! 🙂
Throughout the week, Dr. Seuss and his kooky characters seemed to be working their way into nearly everything! Check out what the “World Rug” students charted about for their Morning Meeting Math activity on Friday.
The Dr. Seuss exploration began on Wednesday as the teachers read the classic environmental tale, The Lorax. In the story, the lonely Once-ler details what happened to the once beautiful but now dismal land where he lives. The Once-ler tells of a time long ago when the land was beautiful! The Once-ler describes the colorful Truffula Trees that used to cover the fields, the Swomee-Swans who would sing, the Brown Bar-ba- loots who would play, and the Humming-Fish that would hum! He explains that all of these beautiful creatures left long ago because of the things that the he had done.
It all started when the Once-ler noticed that the beautiful Truffula Tree tufts could be turned into an amazing thing called a THNEED! What is a Thneed, you ask? “It’s a shirt. It’s a sock. It’s a glove. It’s a hat.” (Mostly, it is a symbol for anything which can be mass-produced at the expense of nature). With Thneeds being something that everyone wanted, the Once-ler grew his business quite quickly – so quickly in fact, that before long a humungous factory was built on the land! Shortly thereafter, the Once-ler was visited by an old, grouchy creature called the Lorax who warned that the Truffula Trees needed to stay and not be chopped down! Did the Once-ler listen to the wise old Lorax? No, he did not! His business was booming! People needed more Thneeds so they just kept chopping! That is when everything changed in the town.
In no time at all, every last Truffula Tree had been chopped down. Well, without any Truffula Trees left, the hungry Brown Bar-ba-loots had no more fruit to eat – so they left! With such a big Thneed factory in town, the air quickly became full of smog that the Swomee-Swans could barely sing anymore- so they left too! The Thneed factory put so much gunk into the river, the Humming-Fish were so sticky and gummy that they could no longer hum – so they left too! Well, with all those creatures long gone – the Lorax also had little choice but to find a new home as well. The Lorax left with a warning – “Unless”. The Once-ler tells the children who visit that the Lorax was saying, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” Thankfully, the students of PPA certainly care about the environment! In fact, for their morning work, the students “planted and grew” their very own Truffula trees! Here is how they did it!
On Thursday, the students created their second Dr. Seuss-inspired art project of the week! During morning meeting, the students listened to probably the most famous Dr. Seuss book of all – The Cat In The Hat! In the story, a mischievous cat surprises two children who are stuck inside the house on an icky, rainy day. The Cat in the Hat takes the little girl and boy in the story on quite a chaotic, messy, and wild adventure! The students were thrilled to learn that they would be creating a special art project in honor of this Crazy Cat! Here is how they did it!
During afternoon Music Class, the students learned the following songs inspired by the incredible author/illustrator!
The Cat in the Hat
Song to the tune of “The Addams Family”
The Cat in the Hat
(snap, snap)
The Cat in the Hat
(snap, snap)
The Cat in the Hat
The Cat in the Hat
The Cat in the Hat
(snap, snap)
He causes so much fun
But when the fun is done
You will be the one
to send that cat away!
The Cat in the Hat!
Seuss-O
Sung to the tune of “Bingo”
There was a man
who was an author
and Seuss-O was his name-o
S-E-U-S-S
S-E-U-S-S
S-E-U-S-S
and SEUSS-o was his name-o!
During afternoon Spanish Class, the students began a new unit of study – LOS COLORES (Colors). Here is some of the vocabulary they will be exploring over the next few weeks!
New Student Vocab:
Red – Rojo
Blue – Azul
Yellow- Amarillo
Green – Verde
Purple – Morado
Orange – Naranja
Beginner Group:
(above list plus the following)
Pink – Rosado
Gray – Gris
Black- Negro
Brown -Marrón
White- Blanco
Light – Claro i.e. Azul Claro (Light Blue)
Dark – Oscuro i.e. Azul Oscuro (Dark Blue)
The Dr. Seuss fun continued on Friday as the teachers read a posthumously (and recently) released tale written by the author, Which Pet Should I Get?. In the story, we meet a young brother and sister (Jay and Kay) as they are trying to choose a pet to get from the pet store. They consider a vast array of possible pets as their deadline of noon approaches. Finally, they settle on a pet whose identity remains unrevealed. After the story, the teachers asked the students what pet they would get before they headed off to morning activity stations.
A little bit later on in the day, the teachers called the students over to the rugs to tell them of some exciting news! The students, waiting eagerly, were all ears as the teachers informed them that the strangest thing had happened! During morning station time, Miss Justine heard a knock at the school door. When she opened it, there was a little baggie in the doorway. Confused, Miss Justine bent down to pick up the baggie to find that inside the baggie were two tiny fish! It was clear that the two fish needed a new home and everyone agreed that our classroom was just the right place! While the teachers took the fish over to a tank to help them get situated, the students began the important process of giving their new pet fish names! The first fish was given the name Goldie and the second fish was named Bubbles. The day wrapped up with a reading of Dr. Seuss’s classic One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, which seemed like the most appropriate choice! What an amazing surprise to end the week!
Well, that is all for “Letter D is for Dr. Seuss Week” at PPA! Be sure to take a peek at our new class pets on your next visit in! As always, thank you for reading! Have a fun and safe weekend! See you next week!
-PPA
REMINDERS:
Monthly Tuition Plan Users:
Tuition due on Tuesday (2 dayers)
Tuition due by Wednesday MORNING (3 and 5 dayers)
PPA Halloween Party
Wednesday, October 31st
(2:00-3:00 p.m.)
All PPA students (and parents) are welcome to attend this event.
Aftercare is not available.
Due to a near 100% projected attendance, attendance to the party is limited to the PPA student and Mommy and/or Daddy.
Theme for Next Week:
