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“Letter R is for Recycling Week” Blog Recap!

Hello all,

“Letter R is for Recycling” Week was Radiant, Robust, Resounding, and Really, Really Radical!  Read on below to learn about the fun that was had and learning that took place!

The students returned from the weekend and immediately began filling the share box with what seemed like every letter R share under the sun!  Race cars, Rocket ships, Rabbits, Robots, Rescue Vehicles, Rats, Radishes and of course, a lot of Recyclable materials were brought in and shared during morning meeting.  After morning meeting wrapped up on Monday and Tuesday, the students worked one on one with their teachers to complete their letter R tracing/writing activities in between working in their morning activity stations.  Later in the afternoon, the students created their Letter R word list and also hunted around the room for the Letter R.  Take a look below to see the list they came up on Tuesday.

 

Letter R MW List and Shares

Do you see any letter R shares?

Answer:  Rocket, Robot, Robin, Rapunzel, Rhinoceros

Also on Monday, the students welcomed a PPA Mommy into the classroom.  The Mommy featured below is from a far away country over in Europe named Bulgaria.  The Mommy and daughter duo below explained that they came to PPA to teach the students all about a special holiday in Bulgaria called Baba Marta Day which is celebrated on March 1st.  Baba Marta, which translates to “Granny March”, is a mythical Granny who helps bring an end to winter and helps welcome the spring.  The Mommy explained that on Baba Marta Day, Bulgarians exchange red and white martenitsi (dolls or bracelets made of yarn) to wear until the coming of spring.  After reading a story all about the new season that is rapidly approaching, the Mommy and daughter duo passed out some martentisi bracelets they had made for the class!  What an amazing day it was!  We hope the PPA martentisi work and we start seeing signs of spring soon!  A special PPA Thank You to the PPA Mommy and daughter for an amazing visit!

 

baba marta

 

Things switched pace on Wednesday as the students took a break from investigating the letter R to show their Respect to one of the most amazing childhood authors ever – Dr. Seuss!  Wednesday, March 2nd, is Dr. Seuss’s birthday and the PPA students and teachers felt that a celebration was in order!  In honor of the great Dr. Seuss, the students created a WaCkY WeDnEsDaY fill-in inspired by his hit book – Wacky Wednesday!  The fill-in story was all about a WaCkY day at PPA! The students worked with the teachers to finish their story. Be sure to click on the pictures to enlarge them and read a few stories about WaCkY WeDnEsDaY!

 

wacky wed

 

Speaking of silly things, the students continued their exploration of Los Animales (Animals) in Spanish class on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon.  The students could not help but giggle while reviewing the vocabulary at the beginning of the lesson.  Miss Justine’s illustration of un perro (a dog) – shown below, resulted in a funny conversation.  When asked, “?Como se dice el nombre de este animal?” (How do we say this animal’s name?), the students all seemed a bit confused as they insisted that it was un cerdo (a pig).  What do you think?

 

perro or cerdo

 

On Thursday, the students got Right back into the letter and theme of the week as they created an art project about keeping the Earth clean!  Three major ways to help the Earth just happen to all be letter R words – Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!  After discussing ways that the students could reduce, reuse, and recycle, they created the following art project to help them remember how important it is to take care of our planet!

 

tissue earth

 

As the students gathered on the rugs for a story read aloud a bit later on Thursday, the teachers prepared them for what they would be doing for “mid-day work”.  After a brief discussion about Recycling, the students were in agreement that Recycling means to take something, make it a little different and then use it again in a different way.  Also discussed was the idea of Reusing something.  The students determined that Reusing something does not change the thing itself, just the way it is used!  One particularly Earth-conscious student reminded the group that sometimes you can reuse something in the same way you used it the first time too.  He proved this idea by saying that he reuses his drink cup again and again, always in the same way!

The student’s addition to the discussion was a perfect segue to the activity that the teachers had planned for lunch time that day!  While sitting during lunch time, the students would be asked to identify exactly what from their lunch bag could be recycled or reused!  The teachers held up Miss Jocelyn’s lunch bag to see what Recyclable snack/lunch items she had inside!  In her lunch bag, Miss Jocelyn had a plastic yogurt cup, a metal spoon and fork, and a tupperwear container of salad for lunch with a reusable water bottle.  After seeing this, the students could hardly wait to get called to wash their hands for snack!

Once at the snack/lunch tables, the students excitedly began identifying all of their recyclable items in their lunch bags!  Whether it was a yogurt cup or an applesauce container, the students recognized that it was plastic and could definitely be recycled.  Other students held up their juice boxes and napkins* to show that they could also be recycled because they are made from paper.  *The rule the students established about napkins is as follows:  If it is a mess, perhaps tossing would be best!

Here are a few of the students who had entirely (or almost entirely) reusable or recyclable lunches!  Way to go!  They sure are helping REDUCE waste!

 

lunches

 

On Friday, the students welcomed another PPA Mommy Guest Reader!  The Mommy photographed below came in to read a special story to the class.  A special PPA Thank You to this Mommy and daughter for helping us start our day in such a great way!

 

mommy2

 

After morning meeting on Friday, the students learned they would spend the day recycling an essential classroom material – crayons!  Rather than throwing away all of the crayons that were broken, the teachers have been collecting them in a baggie.  Since it has been a long school year already, this baggie began to get a bit too full.  The students were so excited (and a bit confused) about how the broken crayons could be recycled and used again when they were all so small.

First, the students were asked to select the colors they wanted and peel the paper wrapping off of those crayons.  Next, the students added the crayons to the tin-foil lined baking tin.  With the help of the teachers, the tins were placed into an oven (preheated to 275 degrees) and baked for about ten to fifteen minutes until they had melted entirely.  Into the freezer the crayons went to cool and before you can say, “Ricky the Robot Recycles Raggedy Rubber Race car tires” the crayons were ready!    The crayons turned out really radical and of course, rainbow!  We hope that all of our students enjoy making beautiful rainbow pictures with their newly recycled Earth-friendly crayons!

 

crayons

 

Friday afternoon wrapped up with a Radical technology presentation all about – you guessed it – RECYCLING! Watch the two part video clips below to learn how the things we throw into our recycling bins actually get recycled!

 

 

After seeing how the recycling process actually happens, the students enjoyed singing along to the recycling song!

 

 

Well, that is all for “Letter R is for Recycling” Week. As always, we thank you for reading. Have a fun and safe weekend!

-PPA

Reminders:

Parent Teacher Conferences will be taking place Monday, March 14th- Thursday, March 24th. Be sure to check the calendar board or your email for your schedule conference time.

Next School Closing:

Spring Recess – Friday, March 25th– Friday, April 1st

Theme and Letter for Next Week:

SPRING 2