It felt like a big four day week in the Honeybee class. We welcomed new friends to the hive this week, so we took a lot of time talking about the way we work and play together in our classroom. Our two school rules are “We are safe, and we are kind.” We are getting really good at those two ideas. We are all getting older and more able to use our manners, and Lauren and I are gently emphasizing using please and thank you as well as “asking versus telling.” With gentle support we are giving them the tools and skills they need to communicate peacefully. We are saying things like, “It doesn’t feel good when you TELL me to put your coat on. I would love to help you if you ask. How can we set this up so we can do it together?” We are loving their newfound independence and communication skills
We are on a Birthday roll in our class. We celebrated two friends turning four last week, and we have another birthday on Monday. They love the “birthday fire,” singing, and walking around the sun while holding the earth. Did you see the picture of all of them wanting to touch the hot, hot sun on Friday?
On Monday we set up our new garden system, a gift from my sister. We put the growing system together, talked about what plants need, inserted the seed pods, and filled the garden with water. By midweek we could see the seeds sprouting, and by Friday we had plants with two little leaves. We are growing basil, tomatoes, and lettuce. We’ll definitely be eating this salad! On Monday we are having our special guest scientist come and talk about photosynthesis, and I hear that this involves playing with a marble run.
This week we re-read the Jan Brett story of The Mitten, and we had all of the animals that crawled into Nikki’s very stretched out mitten. We talked about all the names we have for our grandmothers, touched on hibernation, and learned that we don’t have badgers in Virginia. I have been emphasizing the parts of the book as well as parts of the story. We looked closely at Jan Brett’s beautiful illustrations and looked for clues about what was going to happen next. We also read Happy Birthday on Mars, and I’m starting to think about our upcoming space unit.
We really enjoyed music with Marci on Wednesday, and she was even our substitute teacher on Friday morning for a little while. What a treat. On Friday we had a special visit from the Blacksburg Police Department and the Blacksburg Fire Department. They let us ask questions, touch their vehicles, and check out all of their tools. Did you know that Anna’s dad is a Detective with the Blacksburg Police Department? He is not usually on duty when he is at school, but you may see him in regular clothes but wearing his gun and his badge on his belt sometimes. The kids enjoyed talking to Firefighter Wayne about all of his tools and all of those hoses. They talked about how to be safe and where the water comes from for fighting fires. Thanks so much to these community helpers for coming to visit us.
On Monday we are going to read Jack and the Beanstalk, a classic fairy tale. I was inspired by all of these sprouting seeds. We may do a few Jack and the Beanstalk activities and then move on to talk about our pets. Could you send in a picture of your pet by Wednesday. We’ll make a bulletin board of all of our pets, talk about all of the different kinds of pets, and do some pet related art projects.
This week we’ll also start making our own alphabet for our classroom. I’ll also be putting up a reference alphabet for our developing interest in writing letters. We’ll start talking more about writing our own name.
The new year is feeling really good here at school. It also feels really good to have Kiyah back in Blacksburg. You might see her more here in the classroom as we begin even more tours for the next school year. Thanks for everything you do as parents for our classroom this year.
