Hello all,

“Letter J is for Jaguar Week” was joyful, jubilant, jovial and just jazzy!  From the puzzle station to the rubber band station, the students clearly had jaguars on the brain!  Throughout the entire week, the students brought in some great letter J shares!  Whether it was a Jake from The Neverland Pirates, Jazzy Jewelry, Jump ropes, a Jack in the box, or Jingle bells, one thing was for sure – everything had to do with J!  Be sure to continue reading to learn about all of the fun that was had and learning that took place!

On Monday and Tuesday morning, the letter J excitement began with the students completing their letter J identification activity sheets. The students had to trace/write the letter J, distinguish the letter J against other letter sounds, and color the letter J pictures. It was hard work but definitely fun! In the afternoon on both Monday and Tuesday, the students created a list of letter J words.

 

 

Do you see any letter J shares?

Answer:  Jungle Book, Juice, Jewelry, Joke book!

On Wednesday, the art exploration of Jaguars began!  In order to get started, the teachers asked the students to describe Jaguars.  After viewing and comparing photographs of jaguars during a technology presentation, the students decided that jaguars have spots.  They were right!  Next, the teachers pulled out photographs of some other spotted animals – specifically spotted cats – such as cheetahs and leopards.  The students noted that ALL THREE big cats had spots!  Which spotted cat was which?!?!  Upon closer examination of the three animals, the students noticed a few things.  First, cheetah spots were like dots!  They looked very different than jaguar and leopard spots – almost like black polka dots.  Second, jaguars and leopards had very similar spots on their bodies at first sight but even they were a little different.  The students noticed that leopards had letter O/U shaped markings (like the jaguars) but the the jaguars had tiny spots (like the cheetahs) inside those markings.  Take a look below to see the chart below to see for yourself!

 

 

It was decided that Jaguars, having both shapes and dots, were by far the Jazziest of the spotted cats!  To help them remember this fun fact, the students created the following marking and spot-stamping art project!  They sure enJoyed making these!

 

 

In the afternoon on Wednesday, the students took a break from Jaguars to Jam with a musical PPA Daddy!  The Daddy featured brought his guitar along to help the students get into the holiday spirit.  Here they are Joining in on a holiday favorites!   A special PPA Thank You to this Daddy and daughter duo for visiting us!

 

 

 

The jaguar fun continued on Thursday as the students once again created some Jaguar-themed art!

 

 

During the afternoon on Thursday and Friday, the students participated in Spanish class where they began a new unit – Los Colores (colors).  Here is the vocabulary they will be learning over the next few weeks and into the new year!

 

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)

 

On Friday, the students worked collaboratively to create their own jaguars in the block area!  Take a look to see some of their creations!

 

 

Well, that is all for “Letter J is for Jaguar Week”.  As always, thank you for reading and have a wonderful and safe weekend!  See you next week!

-PPA

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