Hello all,
“Letter G is for Grocery Store Week” was by far the greatest week of the 2014-2015 school year yet! The students entered school each day with what seemed like a Gazillion Letter G shares! Everything from Games, Gadgets, Goats, Gooey things, and Groceries were sent in and shared! There were tons of Letter G books that came in as well! To help explore the letter G, the students also learned all about the Grocery store! Well, “Letter G is for Grocery Store 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 both Monday and Tuesday morning working one on one with the teachers to complete their Letter G identification/fine motor activity sheets. The teachers were so impressed with how easily the new students recognized the letter G and also how well the older students remembered all things “G” during their morning work! In the afternoon on Monday and Tuesday, the students created the seventh letter list of the year! As a whole group, the students took turns brainstorming and contributing words that begin with the letter G and also hunted around the classroom for letter G items! Naturally, the letter G list was full of great answers! As you will see, the list included such words as Giraffe, Gingerbread, and Gems. Some of the younger students were very confused by these words – none of them make the “Guh” sound like the letter G makes. This led to a discussion about how some letters are a little tricky and they have different sounds sometimes! For instance, “Giraffe” sounds like it should begin with the letter “J” but it really is a “G”. Even in spite of this tricky rule, the students were able to come up with a gargantuan list!
How many G shares do you see?
Answer: Gerald (from Mo Willem’s Piggie and Elephant Series), Graham Crackers, Globe, Grapes, Letter G!
The letter G week learning and fun continued as the students entered school on Wednesday and Thursday to find the Park Prep Academy Grocery Store was open for business! For their morning work, the students, shopping cart in hand, headed to the grocery store to being their grocery shopping. Now, in order to shop at the PPA Grocery Store, the students first had to select a numbered card to figure out how many items they would be shopping for. Next, the students took their carts and began filling them up with assorted items from the produce section, the canned goods aisle, and even the freezer section! Once they reached the correct number, the students headed to the checkout aisle to count and bag their items. The final step was to “pay” for the groceries. Depending on the price the “cashier” said, the students counted out and used their PPA dollars to make their purchase. What an amazing and mathematical activity it was! Who knew there was so much math involved in going to the grocery store! Be sure to watch the students in action below.
Also on Wednesday, the students of PPA were visited by a special guest – a PPA Mommy! The Mommy photographed below came in to read a special letter G-themed story titled Giraffes Can’t Dance! What a wonderful story it was! A great big PPA “Thank You” to this Mommy and daughter duo for adding some extra excitement to the middle of our week!
In the afternoons on Wednesday and Thursday, the students completed their Los Colores unit of study in Spanish class by going on a “Color Hunt”. Similar to the Letter Hunts they do, the students searched and gathered items of all colors around the classroom! Would you like to try Color Hunting at home? If so, see below!
Do you see any items around you right now that are the color,
ROJO?
Do you see any items around you right now that are the color,
AMARILLO?
Do you see any items around you right now that are the color,
VERDE?
What about the other colors – AZUL (blue), NARANJA (orange), MORADO (purple)?
Way to Go!
Friday marked the final and definitely most exciting day of the week! Miss Jenna from our local grocery store, ShopRite, was once again visiting the students of PPA! Miss Jenna or Jenna Stock, RD, is a Registered Dietitian from Shoprite of Hoboken! Miss Jenna had heard that the PPA students were hard at work learning all about the Letter G and Grocery Stores throughout the week and she wanted to lend them a hand! Miss Jenna greeted the students of PPA and then led a very exciting discussion about what Dietitians do. She explained that Dietitians are people who go to school to learn all about food and the way food works inside our bodies! Miss Jenna explained that she works at the grocery store since that is where people come to get food to eat. She helps teach people about what types of foods are best to eat and also makes suggestions of ways to make good choices. The PPA students surely impressed Miss Jenna with their knowledge of good eating and nutrition!
Speaking of eating, Miss Jenna informed that students that she knew of a healthy and delicious snack that she loved to make with children – a nutritious trail mix! Miss Jenna asked the students what they knew about the big Thanksgiving holiday that is coming up next week and if they would like to make something inspired by the holiday. Naturally, the students were more than eager to lend a hand!
Working in small groups, the students followed Miss Jenna’s instructions and assembled their snack mix to their liking. Take a look at the photographs below, judging from the smiles on their faces it is clear that the PPA students LOVED Miss Jenna’s delicious and healthy snack!
A special PPA Thank You to Miss Jenna for spending the day with us and teaching us the benefits of feeding and fueling our body with healthy food and snacks! We hope you had as much fun with us as we did with you! 
Parents- be sure to stop by and visit Miss Jenna at Shop Rite to learn more about the kid’s cooking class offerings and nutrition planning services!
During the afternoon on Friday, the students discussed all of what they had learned about grocery stores throughout the past week. You may be impressed how many different subject areas they covered!
English/Language Arts: Grocery Store Vocabulary – i.e. Produce, Cashier, Deli, Bakery, Dairy, etc.
Mathematics: Cost and quantity of grocery items.
Social Studies: Various jobs at the grocery store – i.e. Cashier, Grocer, Butcher, Shelf Stocker, Price Marker, Bagger, etc.
Science: Differences between the different sections of the grocery store and why certain foods belong in each section.
Foreign Language/Cultures: Vocabulary including Supermercado: Supermarket, Cashier: La Cajera as well as discussion of different types of items around the world.
Collaborative Open-Ended Exploration: Construction of the Park Prep Academy Grocery Store.
The afternoon also wrapped up with a technology presentation all about the letter G and Grocery Stores! Now, you may have heard your child talking about the letter “U” this week. Click below to find out why the students discussed the letter U even though it was “Letter G Week”.
Well, that may be the end of “Letter G is for Grocery Store Week” but you can keep the grocery learning and fun going at home all year long! Not only is grocery shopping with Mommy and Daddy a fun activity, it is also a great way to reinforce educational concepts such as counting and measurement and more! Parents, click below to get some ideas as to how to maximize the educational opportunities for your child on your next trip to the grocery store! Happy Grocery shopping everyone!
As always, thank you for reading and see you next week!
-PPA
Reminders:
December Tuition is due next week
Tuesday, November 25th (2 dayers)
and Wednesday, November 26th (3 and 5 dayers)
Next School Closing:
Wednesday, November 26th– 12:00 p.m. School-wide Dismissal – No Lunch
Thursday and Friday, November 27th and 28th – Thanksgiving Recess
THEME FOR NEXT WEEK:
