 What happened in December: We continued with our alphabet unit with the letters B and C. For the week of B we continued working on fine motor skills as well as identifying and creating patterns by making bead buddy bumble bee key chains. We learned about symmetry by studying butterflies and their wings. At art we used colorful paint to design one side of a butterfly wing and then folded the paper over to transfer the paint on the other side. To get into the winter spirit, we made puffy paint snowmen at art and turned our sensory table into a winter wonderland with pretend snow and arctic animals. We turned dramatic play into a market complete with a cash register, shopping lists, and pretend groceries. Students took on different roles such as store clerk, shopper, cash register, and baggers! What is to come: To start off the new year, we’ll be beginning with the letter D! One of our big art projects for the first week back is abstract dots. Inspired by a wonderful book called, The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds, it teaches that there are no rules when it comes to art. Our dot drawings will inspire self-expression and expand creativity. For the letter E we will learn about the earth, its rotation, and how day and night works. The letter F will be dedicated to learning all about families! Letter G will be about geometry and shapes. Wacky hat day is on January 27th! Dates to note: Monday January 16th- No School Friday January 27th- Wacky Hat Day Warm Wishes, Angelica, Kelly, Christiane, & Caroline 
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 Looking Back: Letter B was booming with butterflies. We learned about static electricity when we made our own butterflies with tissue paper and balloons. After rubbing their heads with the balloons using friction, students were able to make their butterflies wings flap. We also learned about symmetry through art and butterfly wings! Our class had a challenge for letter C’s week. We split up into groups of three or four and, with only ten blocks, had to create our own freestanding ramps! Not only did we see great team work, we also created very creative ramps to race cars on! Looking Forward: Continuing with our Letter of the Week unit, the first week of January is dedicated to the letter D. We will be discovering facts about dinosaurs, creating art from dots, and even making our own dumplings! We are fortunate enough to have parent volunteers that are coming in to teach our class how to make dumplings. If you have any dishes you would like to teach our class how to make please let us know! E week will be focused on Earth, we will learn about how the Earth rotates and how long it takes - as well as how to take care of our Earth. Families will be the focus for the week after that and the month of January will end with the letters G & H. For letter G, we will be learning about geometry with pattern block challenges and other materials. For Letter H, we will be having a Wacky Hat Day Friday January 27th. Dates to Note: Monday January 16th- No School Friday January 27th- Wack Hat Day Warm Wishes, Angelica, Christiane, & Caroline   Minion Newsletter
January 2017 Wishing everyone a fun, peace, love, luck, and health throughout 2017! Throughout the month of December, the children worked together on a series of winter themed crafts, wrote winter themed poems based on observations they made about winter, and listened to numerous stories about the winter. As a group we also celebrated the Winter solstice on December 21st. We continued to work together on team building activities followed by whole group discussions to help us form and maintain an effective, cooperative team. We finished up the 2016 school year with our very first Wish Day that the children earned by performing acts of kindness since September. We expect that there will be many more to come since it’s only the first week of January and the children already have a handful of kindness clips added onto the kindness chain. As we move into 2017 we are going to focus on achieving the goals that each child has set for themselves this school year. The children will also generate New Years Resolutions that they can work on throughout the year to come. We will continue to welcome our outside readers every Tuesday as they continue stretching our imagination and creative thinking with stories like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl, along with many other fascinating stories related to our units of study. Please make sure that as the weather changes that children are dressing appropriately because we always go outside to enjoy some fresh air. We would like to thank the families that donated items to our classroom. Finally, we greatly appreciated the thoughtful holiday gifts that were presented to us. A couple of reminders this month… Monday, January 16th -Martin Luther King Day (No School) Wish List Clorox Wipes Rainbow looms bands  January 2017 Heath Extended Day 4/7 Newsletter Happy New Year! We want to send a huge THANK YOU to the 4/7 families for the very thoughtful and generous holiday gifts, treats, and happy wishes! We hope you have a wonderful 2017! The 4/7 students worked so hard and enjoyed making holidays gifts for family members. We hope you enjoyed everything they made! Kindly, Malaina, Emily, Brad and Zoe What to look forward to in January January is dedicated to fulfilling more student goals. This month students will have the opportunity to take part in this student based curriculum. Student goals that we will help students work towards will include learning how to... make key lime pie, chocolate chip cookies, eggless donuts, and ice cream cake. They will participate in a Math Bee, to help achieve a goal of, “to get better at math.” Students will also participate in a week of science experiments with and artful theme. This week will include student goals of learning how to erupt a volcano, make silly putty, and more about the Earth’s atmosphere. On Thursdays, we will begin a new set of clubs. Club choices will consist of Creative Handwork, Ball Games, Lovable Lunch, and Art and Technology. During Creative Handwork Club, students will work on a different hands on project each week. Students will bring home handmade creatively created items! During Ball Games Club, students will play a different ball game each week in the multipurpose room. The possibilities are endless! During Lovable Lunch Club, students will learn how to make “kid friendly” lunch items that your child will be able to make at home. Finally, during Art and Technology Club, students will use technology such as Ipads, computers, light tables and more to create one of a kind art projects!  Friday Ice Skating
There are still spots available for Friday Ice Skating at Larz Anderson (Friday 1/6i is full). 4/7 students are so lucky to have this opportunity to join other extended days in Brookline! If your child is interested or you have questions regarding this special opportunity, please come see a 4/7 teacher! No School Monday, January 16th- Martin Luther King Day  Happy 2017! We are looking forward to a great month. The month of December was filled with exciting themes, games, and projects! We started our month with a week dedicated to Penguins. We filled out a KWL chart on what we already knew about penguins (K), what we wanted to learn (W), and as the week went on, we filled in our learned (L) section. We made penguin oreos, competed in penguin relay races, and did a science experiment to learn how penguins stay dry! Our second week was focused on snow and winter. We created our own snow slime and used the slime as a sensory object for the week. In art, we made polar bear masks and snowmen out of puffy paint. In the gym, we practiced and played the pacer game. Outside the kids have had free time or the option of playing in a kickball, baseball, or soccer game. It has been a lot of fun working on motor skills and sportsmanship. Our class also got the opportunity to do partner reading with the 2/3 HEDP yellow group and we hope this is something we will continue moving forward.  The final week before break we read about the different holidays celebrated in December. We celebrated birthdays and the first day of winter by making s’mores and sitting by the classroom “campfire”. The kids enjoyed the s’mores while telling campside jokes. It was a great success. The following day we got to decorate cookies. The cookies were packaged up to go home as a gift for loved ones. On Friday, before break, we went caroling to all the other extended day classrooms. We sang ‘Let it Snow’ and it was a hit! The other groups were a great audience and the first graders really stole the show! As we move into 2017 we are going to focus on reaching the goals that each child has set for themself. We will also learn about Martin Luther King Jr and Chinese New Year. We will continue to learn new games and work on treating one another with kindness. Wishing you all a healthy and happy new year! Krista, Tess, & Kelly    12/1/2016 New and Old
Today in History Highlights
Reminder: Please remember to encourage your children to bring a book they find interesting to read during homework time. We have many books available for our 2 / 3 team but sometimes it can be hard for friends to find something that sparks their interest. Though our 2nd grade students do not yet receive homework we still expect them to be able to read quietly, write or draw during our daily homework time. ALSO PLEASE provide your child with appropriate outdoor clothing. Children need boots, gloves, hats/mittens and warm jackets. We do not allow the children go on the field if they do not have boots or snowpants. In addition, it may be helpful to supply your child with an extra set of clothes (socks, pants...). Thanks! ~ Nick and Josh |
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