Hello all,

Letter K week was short but definitely sweet!  On Monday, the school was closed in observation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.   The students returned to school and kicked off the week by bringing in some great K shares.  The share box was the heaviest it has ever been.   From kazoos to key chains, Kermit to kaleidoscopes, the kids did not hold back.   One student even brought a stuffed koala that he purchased on a trip to Australia!  Speaking of koalas, the students had a blast learning about and creating Koala artwork!  Be sure to keep reading to learn more about the fun that was had and learning that took place!

On Tuesday and Wednesday morning, the students completed their letter K tracing and identification activity sheets.  Some of the K words included: keys, kangaroos, koalas, kids, kitchen and more!  The kitchen picture proved to be quite puzzling as some students identified the picture as “cooking” or “baking”.  Since both words contain the letter K the teachers deemed these guesses close enough.  Things only got more interesting when it came time to create the Letter K list.  As was the case with Letter C week, there was some confusion as to exactly which words begin with letter K.  The students rattled off one letter C word after another – “Kuh Kuh Cookie starts with K!”  Since the students have encountered the issue of tricky letters in the past (J week – “Giraffe starts with J because it says juh”), they were a little more accepting of this idea and kept building the list.  All things considered, they still came up with a pretty extensive list.  Take a peek for yourself!

 

 

A funny thing happened on Wednesday morning as the students were singing songs while walking to the park.  While singing the song, “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”, the students took turns suggesting animals that the famer had.  The students suggested many common animals such as pigs, cows, sheep, ducks, whose sounds are easily recognized.  The interesting part came when one student suggested that the old farmer had a Koala on his farm.  The song came to a screeching halt at “With a… here”.  What sound does a Koala make?  It was clear that the students (and teachers alike) did not know!  The students made up sounds that they thought a koala might make and the song continued.  Upon re-entry into the classroom, the teachers got right to work on solving the mystery!  Miss Caitlin read a Koala book which described the Koala sound as a heavy grunting sound.  Miss Jocelyn headed to the classroom computers.  With the help of the following YouTube clip, the students were able to learn about, see, and hear Koalas making their grunting sounds!  They made sure to re-sing that “Old MacDonald Had a Koala” verse before heading off to the sinks to wash up before snack!

 

 

The 2011-2012 school year has featured some amazing parent visits including storybook reading, foreign language and culture lessons, and musical performances (to name a few).  The PPA parent fun continued on Wednesday afternoon when another PPA Mommy decided to give it a shot!  After participating in French and Greek lessons led by PPA Mommies, the daughter of the Mommy pictured below went home from school and asked if her Mommy would come in to school and teach her friends about their native language – Korean – during Letter K Week!  

 

 

As you can see, the Mommy went above and beyond to teach the students about the Korean language and Korean culture.  Dressed in a hanbok, the Mommy above explained that hanboks are traditional dresses worn by Korean women during formal events or celebrations such as weddings or parties.  In fact, the hanbok this Mommy wore to PPA was the one she wore at her wedding and her daughter’s first birthday!  As you can see in the picture below, a hanbok is not only worn by Mommies – the birthday girl (a PPA student) also wore one at her first birthday, a major holiday in Korean household (known as Doljanchi).

 

 

After learning a bit about Korean culture, the students had the opportunity to hear a bit about Korean language.  During a storybook reading, the students noted that the Korean language sounds quite different than English!  Shockingly, the PPA Mommy pulled up a website to disprove this theory.  Watch below as the students listen to Korean letters and try to guess what they might be!  You will definitely be surprised by the similiarities!

 

Photo Sharing – Video Sharing – Photo Printing 

To conclude their Korean lesson, the students were treated to a special delicious Korean snack – Gim (pronounced like kim).  Do you know what it is? 

 

 

If you said, “Seaweed” then you are correct!  Would you believe it if we told you that almost every single one of the preschoolers DEVOURED this salty (and healthy) Korean snack – some even asked for seconds and thirds! 

 

 

What an amazing experience, what an amazing day!  A special thank you to the PPA Mommy and her daughter for teaching us all about the Korean language and culture!  We certainly had a great time!

On Thursday morning, the students learned that they would be creating some Koala art!  Unlike the usual grayish-brown color that Koalas are, the students painted their Koala in an extra colorful way to look super KooKy! 

 

The excitement really kicked up at the end of the day as the students noses were painted black like a real Koala! 

 

 

On Friday, the students created the final Koala craft of the week.  Seeing that Koalas spend a lot of time hanging around treetops, the students assembled their Koalas in a Eucalyptus tree!  The excitement only grew as Miss Elizabeth entered the classroom with beautiful smelling Eucalyptus leaves for all to smell!  The students surely liked smelling those branches during their morning work that they decided to add some real ones to their work!

  

 

 

 

 

Here is how the final project turned out! 

 

 

During the afternoon on both Thursday and Friday, the students participated in Spanish where they began their new unit – La Partes De Cuerpo (the parts of the body).  See below for a list of their vocabulary.

Cabeza – Head

Brazos – Arms

Manos – Hands

Peirnas – Legs

Pies – Feet

Ojos – Eyes

Boca – Mouth

Nariz – Nose

Orejas – Ears

To help learn this vocabulary, the students played some fun games, one of which was Simon Dice (Simon Says).  Would you like to play now?  If so, look below!

Simon Dice – Touch your Nariz.

(nose)

Simon Dice – Touch your Boca.

(mouth)

Simon Dice – Touch your Cabeza.

(head)

Clap your Manos (hands). 

Ahh!  !Simon no dice! (Simon did  not say!)  Well, how did you do?  🙂

Well, that is all for Letter K is for Koala Week – short but definitely action-packed!  We hope you enjoyed this week’s blog entry.  As always, thanks for reading and we’ll see you next week!

-PPA

REMINDERS:

**Any student whose file does not have documentation of the annual Influenza vaccination will not be permitted to enter school on Wednesday, February 1st**

If your child has received the vaccine please have your pediatrician’s office fax the record to PPA at (201) 217-0209 before Tuesday**

 

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