http://www.ajaappel.net/site/blog/ en aja.appel@pacificu.edu Copyright 2010 2010-03-10T05:30:35-08:00 http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/music_makers1/ http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/music_makers1/#When:04:30:35Z Today we got to have a music makers session with Ms. Shelley! We sang Ladybug, This Train, Lil’ Eliza Jane, and This Little Light. We also got to play together as a rock and roll band. Each of us played a different instrument as we rocked out! John Michael lost his first tooth this weekend! View more photos from today in our March 8-11 Photo Gallery 2010-03-10T04:30:35-08:00 http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/star_wars_art/ http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/star_wars_art/#When:04:17:33Z Jack, Joaquin, Ronin, and Leo worked together yesterday and today to create an intricate Star Wars scene complete with pictures and words. We started learning about bugs this week! In the atelier we examined and held walking stick bugs. We began discussing what camoflauge means. We also started examining both insects and bugs and we are in the processes of figuring out what characterizes an insect. 2010-03-10T04:17:33-08:00 http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/john_michaels_story/ http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/john_michaels_story/#When:04:12:17Z Enjoy this story written by John Michael A little squirrel was trying to get some food. So I wanted to help. So I got him some food. Then when Ms. Aja said it was snack time, there was no animal crackers. So we went to get some more animal crackers. 2010-03-10T04:12:17-08:00 http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/last_week_highlights/ http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/last_week_highlights/#When:03:55:04Z Last week flew by! We have been working on using kind words with our friends.  We have developed a close-knit community and we love the time we get to spend with our friends each day. We have also been discussing calendar concepts. We have been talking about the months of the year and seasons. Last week we worked on creating our own March calendars. We are working on writing our numbers all the way up to 31 and beyond. We love to label important days on our own calendars, such as buddies, spring break, soccer practice, birthday parties, etc. During morning sign-in we are working on writing our first, last, and sometimes middle names. During small groups and circle time we have been working on addition concepts. One of our favorite ways to practice addition and subtraction facts is by playing the Sum Swamp math game with our friends. View more photos from our March 1-5 Photo Gallery 2010-03-10T03:55:04-08:00 http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/happy_birthday_petey/ http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/happy_birthday_petey/#When:23:54:18Z In addition to our Dr. Seuss celebration today (see previous post), we also got to celebrate Petey’s birthday today! We gave Petey a beautiful card that we made and we sang to him. We ate yummy Cheez-Its and drank orange juice and chocolate milk. Happy Birthday, Petey! We are so glad that you are a part of our classroom community. View more photos from today in our March 1-5 Photo Gallery 2010-03-01T23:54:18-08:00 http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/dr_seuss_day/ http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/dr_seuss_day/#When:22:40:27Z It was such an exciting day at school today! Most of the whales wore their pajamas to school to celebrate Dr. Seuss Day.  Buddies from the Community School came to join in our school-wide celebration. There were five different activity centers set-up around the school.  Kinders and Preschoolers stayed in small groups with their buddies to rotate to the different activity centers every 20 minutes. In the Creative Play room our buddies read beloved Dr. Seuss books to us. We got to hear a lot of old favorites and even some Dr. Seuss stories that were new to us. In the atelier Ms. Rachelle read Bartholomew and the Oobleck to us. Then we got to make our own oobleck by mixing corn starch, water, and green food coloring. It was fascinating to explore the properties of oobleck. Sometimes oobleck behaved like a solid and sometimes it behaved like a liquid. In the Dolphins’ room we made green eggs and ham for snack and we decorated Dr. Seuss hats. One of our activity centers was playing outside with our big buddies. Our last center was in the Sharks classroom. We got to play Dr. Seuss word games and a Cat in the Hat board game. In the afternoon we got to snuggle down with blankets and pillows and watch Horton Hears a Who.  View more photos from our celebration in our March 1-5 Photo Gallery 2010-03-01T22:40:27-08:00 http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/book_sharing1/ http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/book_sharing1/#When:22:35:48Z Each week every student takes home a bag full of books from our classroom library. Throughout the week we spend time enjoying these fiction and nonfiction books with family members. On Thursdays we return our book bags to school and have our book sharing circle.  In the sharing circle everyone has an opportunity to share a favorite book from the week.  Students give book recommendations to their friends and show specific parts of the story that they like.  Sometimes students share interesting facts that they learned from nonfiction books they read. Then students get to choose new books for their book bags for the upcoming week. Of course students frequently choose books that were recommended by their peers.  The book sharing circle encourages students to discuss favorite books and characters.  This is just one more way to help students share their excitement about reading.  We have a whole classroom full of readers! View more photos from this week in our Feb 22-26 Photo Gallery 2010-02-25T22:35:48-08:00 http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/counting_pennies/ http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/counting_pennies/#When:02:22:45Z We have been collecting pennies for our Pennies for Peace drive. We are partnering with the Community School to raise money for schools in Pakistan. Collecting pennies has proved to be an authentic math activity. Each morning we count the pennies as we add them to the jar. Today we decided that it would save time to count the pennies by 10s instead of by 1s. Several students worked together to put the pennies in stacks of tens. Then we were able to count by tens to figure out that we brought in 357 pennies today. That’s $3.57! Today we also spent time reading, drawing, writing, painting, building, playing, and collaborating. Ask your child what he/she worked on during classroom centers and creative play time today. View more photos from today in our Feb 22-26 Photo Gallery 2010-02-25T02:22:45-08:00 http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/music_makers/ http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/music_makers/#When:02:26:36Z Ms. Shelley came to make music with us today. We learned a new song and got to sing old favorites. We also got to use the rhythm sticks today. Our buddies came to visit us today. We spent time enjoying good literature with our buddies.  Our buddies have been learning about the states of matter. They sang us a song about the three states of matter.  We discussed the differences between solids, liquids, and gases.  Then we watched as water changed from solid into liquid. We also did an experiment about condensation.  We put cold, green water in a cold cup.  We watched as condensation formed on the outside of the glass. To our surprise, the condensation was clear instead of green like the water inside the glass.  The water droplets did not seep through the glass as some of us hypothesized. Instead, the water vapor from the air condensed and became liquid after making contact with the cold glass. The scientific concepts of states of matter and condensation are rather abstract concepts. Our buddies did a great job giving us an introduction to these difficult scientific concepts. Brendan recently went on a beach trip to Lincoln City. Today he showed us some neat treasures he found on the beach. His family found a beautiful blown glass ball and several different types of rocks and shells. We enjoyed examining these objects and asking Brendan questions about his beach trip.  Joaquin brought in plastic cups last week for our 100th day celebration. We are still enjoying finding creative uses for these cups.  Several students worked together to create this pyramid structure with the cups. We had to use teamwork, balance, and precision to create our pyramid. View more photos from today in our Feb 22-26 Photo Gallery 2010-02-24T02:26:36-08:00 http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/sleeping_plants/ http://www.ajaappel.net/site/site/sleeping_plants/#When:22:45:18Z Today Mr. Mark visited our classroom.  He went with us on a tour of our secret garden and showed us all the work he’s been doing to get our gardens ready for spring. ELC students worked together last year to create the secret garden and plant a variety of fragrant plants. We discussed how the plants in the garden are still alive, but they are “sleeping” during the winter; similar to how some animals hibernate. The plants will be ready to wake up in the spring time, but in the meantime we need to keep them safe.  We posted sleeping plant signs in our gardens to remind friends to use care around our sleeping plants. Thank you for all your help, Mr. Mark! Today the Sharks’ buddy class from the community school visited our classroom. They did a short skit about the Pennies for Peace drive we are starting this week. We read Listen to the Wind (the children’s version of Three Cups of Tea) last week and discussed how some children in Pakistan do not have school buildings or supplies. We are working together to collect pennies for schools in Pakistan. Please remember to send in your pennies this week if you would like to be a part of the penny drive! View more photos from today in our Feb 22-26 Photo Gallery 2010-02-22T22:45:18-08:00