Good evening everyone!
Here's an update on what we did in class today :)
Using Apples to Teach Kindness
I had 2 apples in front of me: Apple #1 and Apple #2. I told students that we were going to use nice words to the first apple. We took turns passing the apple around in a circle, saying nice things to it like, "I love your color!", "I like you", and "You're a nice apple". We handled that apple very carefully. For the second apple, we took turns being mean to it, saying mean things like "You taste funny!", "I don't like you", and "You're ugly!". Every time we said something mean to the apple, we hit it on the carpet.
Once we were done passing around both apples, we talked about what the apples looked like. They both looked the same on the outside- no noticeable changes yet. Then I took a knife and cut the apples in half. Apple #1, the one we were nice to, looked perfectly normal on the inside. When we cut Apple #2 in half, it was all brown, bruised, and squishy. This lead us to discuss that using mean words can make someone feel really bad on the inside, even if they don't show it on the outside. The idea behind this lesson is a bit abstract, in terms of relating it to how we feel, but I think students really understood what using mean words can do someone... or, some apple ;) We always have to think about what we're going to say before we say it, or we can make our friends really sad.
Later this week, we will be doing another lesson on Using Kind Words, but how to deal with it if someone says mean words to us.
Popcorn Words: Round 3!
We've been taking our time introducing the popcorn words and adding them to our word wall. Although we've learned the song, I teach them in isolation as well. I deliver popcorn words in 4 different rounds (beginning with the least difficult to the most difficult).
Round 1: Words you can sound out: a, in, is, it, big, yes, went
Round 2: Words you can sound out using the vowel names: I, he, no, me, go, my, we
Round 3: Words that start with /th/: that, the
Round 4: Words that can't* be sounded out: like, and, of, to, can, was, said, am, see
*like, and, can, and see can be if you use more advanced decoding skills.
What it comes down to is that these words need to be memorized. Simple as that. If your child is in JK, they should know all the words up to Round 3. If your child is in SK, they should know all of them, and should be memorizing their balloon words. There are some cute videos on YouTube available to help with these. They tried their best to make them fun :D heh :) Click below for the link. Their YouTube channel has awesome songs!!
Testing out our Lava
This week, we will be experimenting with 3 different types of "lava". We tried out the first one today, which was made with dish soap, water, baking soda, and vinegar. We predicted what would happen once we added the vinegar, and of course everyone said it would explode! We will do the other 2 experiments this week, and then as a class, vote on which one we should use for our actual volcano! Check out the video below to see the experiment take place. What kid doesn't love science!?
An Unexpected Goodbye!
We are sad to say goodbye to Alma, who has moved to a different school. We've really enjoyed having her in our classroom- her smile and sense of humour will be missed!! We will write her a goodbye note this week :)
Reminders/Updates
- Wednesday December 10th is the day our class visits the Holiday Gift Shop. If you would like your child to purchase something for themselves or for a family member, please see the note that was sent home :) We will be going at 9 am!
- Thursday is Holiday Craft Day! Parents who are participating, please come in at 9 am- you can come in with your child in the morning. Thank you for your support :)
- On Friday, we will be having hot chocolate and making our own gingerbread house! :)
- Next Wednesday, December 17th is our Winter Assembly. The assembly will begin at 11:20 am and go to around 1pm. We will be the first or second up.
Have a great night!
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