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“Letter N is for Numbers Week” is next!

Hello all,

“Letter M is for Mo Willems Week” was certainly the Most Marvelous week of the 2014-2015 school year yet!  The students entered school each day with what seemed like Millions of Letter M shares! Everything from Magnets to Mickey Mouse, Monkeys to Megaphones, and of course, all things Mo Willems were sent in and shared!  Speaking of the author, Mo Willems, there were tons of Magnificent books that came in as well!   Well, “Letter M is for Mo Willems 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 spent Monday morning working one on one with the teachers to complete their Letter M identification/fine motor activity sheets. The teachers were so impressed with how easily the new students recognized the letter M and also how well the older students remembered all things “M” during their morning work!  In the afternoon on Monday, the students created the thirteenth letter list of the year! As a whole group, the students took turns brainstorming and contributing words that begin with the letter M and also hunted around the classroom for letter M items!  With what seemed like millions of letter M items to be found inside PPA, the letter M list was full of Many More answers than other less common letter-weeks prior!   Take a look at the list that Monday’s group came up with!

 

Letter M MW List and Shares

How many letter M shares do you see?

Answer: Magnets, Monkey, Maraca, Markers and M!

Tuesday was a Miraculous day as the predicted Mega-blizzard Juno turned out to essentially (and thankfully) “Miss” the predicted two feet of snow “Mark”.  Even still, Juno managed to shut down nearly the entire Northeast, dropping nearly half a foot of snow throughout Hudson County area.  The students returned to school on Wednesday ready to share how they spent their snowy Tuesday and of course, get to work exploring the theme of the week – Mo Willems!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mo Willems, he is an American children’s book author and PPA Favorite!  In fact, Mr. Willems is such a great writer that The New York Times referred to him as “the biggest new talent to emerge thus far in the 00’s”.  On any given day, students of PPA can be found flipping through the pages of one of his books!  From the Elephant and Piggie books, to the Pigeon or Knufflebunny series, the students of PPA sure are big fans of Mo Willems!

 

mo willems

Now, living in an urban area like Hudson County, you may not think a pigeon would be a great character for a book.  If you have had the pleasure of meeting THE Pigeon, you may think otherwise!  Take a look below to meet Mo Willem’s Pigeon and see for yourself why he is such a unique and special character.  You won’t believe what the Pigeon wants to do!

 So, did YOU let the Pigeon drive the bus?

For their morning work on Wednesday, the students created the following  Mo Willems/Pigeon-inspired art project and even added their own extra silly spin on things!

 

Pigeon

 

The Mo Willems fun continued on Thursday as the students enjoyed reading books from Mo Willems’s Knuffle Bunny series.  Knuffle Bunny, photographed below, is a stuffed rabbit belonging to a young girl named Trixie.  A toddler, Trixie cannot yet talk but she sure does love to babble and go exploring around her neighborhood with her Daddy!  Knuffle Bunny:  A Cautionary Tale reveals what happens when Trixie misplaces her lovie along her travels!  After retracing their steps, Trixie and her Daddy find her Knuffle Bunny going for a “spin” at the Laundromat!  Fortunately, Trixie is reunited with Knuffle Bunny and she learns an important lesson to keep better track of her toys.  Thankfully, the PPA Knuffle Bunny is always safe at school right atop of the Mo Willems’ book shelf!

 

knuff and friends

 

After completing the second day of Letter M writing/tracing identification activities on Thursday, the students had Spanish class where they infused some Mo Willems into their Los Animales (Animals) vocabulary.   Take a look below to see some of the new vocabulary they learned.

 

Mo Willems Vocab

 

The Letter M fun continued on Friday morning as the students started their day with a read aloud by a PPA Mommy!  The student featured below brought her Mommy into school as her letter M share!  After reading a Mommy-riffic Peppa Pig story, the Mommy headed on her way and the students started their day!  A special PPA Thank You to this Mommy for Making our Morning!

 

mommy

 

Friday continued with a reading of Mo Willems’s, The Ducking Gets A Cookie!?.  In the story, we once again meet the wild and wacky Pigeon along with a new character – the Duckling!  The Duckling is quite precocious like the Pigeon but unlike the Pigeon, the Duckling is quite polite.  In fact, the Duckling is so polite that when she asks for a cookie, she gets one.  Seeing this, the Pigeon, in disbelief, simply cannot comprehend how easy it was for the duckling to get a cookie – just by asking for one!  Immediately, the Pigeon begins squawking about how unfair it is that the he does not get the things he wants – like to drive the bus or have a hot dog party or get a French Fry Robot (to name a few).  Well, the Pigeon spends so much time fussing about NEVER getting anything he asks for that he forgets to actually ask for a cookie!  Thankfully, the duckling is such a pal that he graciously offers to give the Pigeon a cookie and the Pigeon learns that being polite is the best way to be.

To help remember the importance of being polite, the students worked together to mix and measure the ingredients to bake cookies of their own!  With a little help from a duck-shaped cookie cutter, the students molded their treat to resemble their new pal, Duckling!  What a great morning (and snack time) it was!

 

cookies

 

During the afternoon on Friday, the students participated in a technology presentation all about the Letter M and Mo Willems!  The students LOVED watching these magnificent storybook characters come to life in animations like the one above!  Of course, those wacky storybots made an appearance!

 

 

Well, that is all for “Letter M is for Mo Willems Week”.  We hope you enjoyed this week’s  blog entry.  As always, thanks for reading and we will see you next week!

-PPA

THANK YOU FROM PPA!

We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincerest gratitude for your contribution to Park Prep Academy’s Donation/Collection effort to benefit the families affected by the recent fire at the Avalon Apartment Building in nearby Edgewater, New Jersey.  In total, the families and staff of PPA donated nearly TEN SHOPPING CARTS FULL of various and much needed items including:  clothing, furniture, toiletries, and more!  Your efforts will surely go a long way in helping our neighbors as they rebuild during this difficult time.  Way to go PPA!  🙂 

 

Donation

 

REMINDERS:

2015-2016 School Year Re-Enrollment Paperwork  & 2015 Summer Camp Paperwork is due by Wednesday, February 11th 

Parents – please select any enrollment schedule you would like as you are not

required to keep your child’s current schedule for the 2015-2016 school year term. 

THEME FOR NEXT WEEK:

numbers