Happy Valentine's Day my little martians!

I am so sorry that I haven't posted for two weeks. Life is just too busy!! :)

It has been a good two weeks though. As you know we started our unit on "Blast Off" it has included, moon, stars, telescopes, and such. As I mentioned in the email...this topic is a little more abstract (at BYU they were big on this....WE were NEVER supposed to teach about dinosaurs, etc. because they couldn't truly be able to experience them...at least space is still visible and they can see the moon, sun, and stars, etc.) than I would prefer to do...however it's a really fun theme and I think they are enjoying it. I have been meaning to get to the library to check out some books on space...but have yet to find a chance...hoping to go today, but I forgot about the holiday! So until that happens...keep checking out the moon, stars, sun, constellations, etc. with them! Thanks!

We had such a fun Valentine's party...thanks for all your help and contributions. Thank you for helping your children with their Valentine's...I LOVED seeing all their names on them!! We made these cute Martian hats...

We played a couple games (however...ran out of time, and didn't get to do all that I had hoped). We went on a heart hunt (which happens to be the shape of the month) then had to gather all the pieces together to find the other "puzzle piece half"...they did a great job.

And of course had LOTS of yummy treats...thanks again!!

Good friends working hard! My morning friends are excited to have Natalie in their class...although my afternoon friends are missing her!

Forever ago...or so it seems...we made our "moon rocks" The process was a little messy...but I think they really enjoyed making them...and I'm sure they all tricked you that we went to the moon! :)

Aside from moon rocks we have made our telescopes, our night picture with a crescent moon (the one that looks like a banana); we made our astronaut puppets; our martian hats, and much much more.

We have learned that the sun is the brightest star, and the Earth moves around the sun. and the Moon moves around the earth. It takes one month for the moon to orbit around the Earth, and that's why there are different phases of the moon. When you can't see the moon at all it is called a New Moon. They also learned about a full moon and a crescent moon.

We are going to continue talking about space stuff, but we are going to add "moon Pie" and Coal mining to the conversation/projects this week.

We learned the letter "N" last week and the letter "G" this week. Please have them practice these letters at home and watch the way they form their letters. "G's" should be starting at 2 o clock and going counter clockwise...this is SO IMPORTANT and I have been trying hard to stress that...but some were still having a hard time with it.

That's a very condensed version of the last two weeks, but I hope it gives you a little insight into what we have been working on. Please feel free to contact me through this blog, email, or call me if you ever have ANY questions or comments! Thank you so much!!

Have a great week!

Texture detectives/Coconuts...

It was another GREAT week at school. We finished up our texture detective/coconut unit and are now ready to start "ready...set...blast off" unit. It looks like a lot of fun! We will be starting with the letter "N" this week.

Here is a look into our week last week:

We played a lot of "brain games!"

In this game they had to finish the pattern and then create a pattern all by themselves. Your children really have all different types of patterns down (ababa, aabbaabb, aabaabaab, etc.)

We graphed our favorite textures..."Soft" pulled through at the end and was the winner.

We put together special puzzles...my afternoon class had the right amount of friends to do boys vs. girls (we had 2 puzzles)...they actually tied...it's fun to watch the team work!

We also played "Dominoes" and practiced our matching, etc.

We FINALLY got to crack open the coconut...the kids were so excited about this...however none of them liked the raw coconut...I need to buy some of the other kids to have them try that. Maybe this week!

I had to take these pictures because it's always fun to see the differences in boys and girls...and these pictures told the story perfectly. The girls were playing so contently with each each other (back to that whole "learning in their play"...they were playing mom/dad/sister with their Polly pockets...fun to hear them mimic us as their parents) ANYWAY...the boys had to come over with their dinosaurs and do their "boy thing" with all the ROARS and STOMPING and disturb the peace of these poor girls...but it was pretty funny.

Besides our little projects (crabs, our "soft book", and mystery bag) we worked on the letter "O"

I taught them that O has 3 sounds

O- "ah" octopus

O- "O" open

O-"oooh" do

For the mystery bags: in case they didn't explain it to you...it was another game we played and they were supposed to go home and play it with you... they were to hide and item, or you hide one for them, inside the bag and only use your sense of TOUCH to guess what it is.

We continued to practice octagon and diamond, as well as the colors gold, silver, and purple. We practiced the number 1.

We learned the sign language for coconut (pretend you're holding a coconut and shake it by your ear), and the word "soft" (hands out in front of you palms up and gently pull your fingers towards each other and extend them back out) and learned the Spanish for "soft" (suave) and "hard (Duro)

We continue to learn LOTS everyday..try not to miss!! Review these things with your children at home to help them get more out of school.

Also, we will be having out Valentine party on Thursday the 12th...please make sure your child brings a Valentine for every friend in the class...and make sure they write at LEAST THEIR OWN NAME on each one...and I would love if they tried to write their friends' names as well (you can get them off of the king and queen list under January posts) . It is GREAT practice for them...and they are usually excited to do make them (a different feeling from homework). Thank you so much. I will have sign ups out that Tuesday to sign up for treats/snacks for that day!! Thank you so much!!

Have a great week!