Hello all,

Mother Nature must have known it was letter N week at Park Prep when she stirred up a Nor’easter which yielded some Not Nice weather!  “Letter N is for Nocturnal Week” was short but certainly sweet! Despite having a few days off, the students still managed to fill the sharebox with nifty letter N shares!  Take a look below!

At the beginning of the week, the students worked on their letter N tracing and identification activity sheets. Some of the N words included: numbers, noodles, nests, nurses, noses, and more!  Much to the surprise of the teachers, the students had quite an extensive vocabulary for noodles!  Spaghetti, pasta, macaroni, and ziti were just a few of the words students used to describe the pictures of noodles.  After a little reminder as to what the letter of the week was, the students quickly shifted their answer to the umbrella term, noodle!  In the afternoons, the students used their noggins to create the following Letter N Word List.

By Thursday, the art exploration of the theme of the week – Nocturnal – began!  The teachers introduced the word NOCTURNAL and explained that this word describes any animal that is active (awake) at night and sleeping during the daytime.  The day started with a read aloud of the Marcus Pfister story, The Sleepy Owl, to explain more about this interesting sleep pattern.  After the story ended, the teachers asked the students if they were nocturnal like the owl.  They all agreed that they were NOT nocturnal although sometimes (at nap time) they do sleep during the day.  The room quickly filled with laughter. Also during the morning, the students listened to a classic tale of a father and daughter going owling (i.e. looking at owls) in Jane Yolen’s, Owl Moon.   The students were so excited to learn that they would have a chance to go “owling” in the PPA classroom as they would be making their very own owl puppets.  Take a look to see the students in action!

In the afternoon on Thursday and Friday, the students began a new unit in Spanish – Mi Cuerpo (my body).  Here is some of the vocabulary they will be learning and expanding upon in the upcoming weeks.

Mi Cuerpo (My Body)

Head – Cabeza

Arms – Brazos

Hands – Manos

Legs – Piernas

Feet – Pies

Friday marked a very special day at PPA.  Once again, the students of Park Prep Academy would team up with Miss Jane from Operation Goodybag to create special handmade Valentine’s Day cards for United States Soldiers stationed all around the world.  What an amazing activity!  Thanks to the efforts of one PPA Mommy, a reporter and a photographer from the Jersey Journal even came in to capture the students in action!  A select few will be featured in an article real soon (possibly this weekend).  As you can see from the photographs below, the students (and reporters) had a blast making the valentines for the soldiers.  We hope these Valentine’s help spread some Valentine’s Day cheer to the brave servicemen and women who help keep us safe!

Well, that is all for “Letter N is for Nocturnal Week”. We hope you enjoyed the blog entry this week. As always, thanks for reading and we will see you next week!

-PPA

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