December 4-8

 
We started the week with sunshine and mild weather, and ended it with lots and lots of fluffy snow!  How exciting it was to watch the snowflakes fall outside of our window all day.  Watching the seasons change right before our eyes is incredible.  We are so lucky to have big windows to make observations out of!

We had to make sure we could go outside to play in the fresh falling snow! Our Kindergarten friends are doing absolutely incredible at being independent and getting on all of their snow gear.  We can do it so fast now and can't wait to get outside everyday- even if it is just for a little bit of time.  We were able to make so many descriptive comments using our 5 senses as we played outside.  We noticed how the snow felt, smelled, the sound it made when we stepped on the ice, and in the thick piles of snow.  Some students tried catching snowflakes on their tongues and liked "tasting the coldness" and some noticed all of the delicate designs on each of the snowflakes.  One student exclaimed "the snowflakes are unique! They're all different!"

This week we said "Good-bye" to Mr. Arcila as he wrapped up his student- teaching practicum and will be returning to campus to continue his studies.  He taught us how to count to the number 8 in Spanish this week.  Number 8 was our number of the week, and we were so surprised to learn that Mr. Arcila speaks Spanish.  We loved practicing our counting with him and made sure to send him off with lots of good wishes and lots of high fives!

Our word of the week was "Thoughtful".  We learned that being thoughtful means that you think of others and their needs, as well as your own needs.  We know that being thoughtful means we think about ways we can make other people feel loved and cared for!  We brainstormed ways that we can show that we are thoughtful and also discovered how many ways we already show "thoughtfulness" everyday in our classroom.  Lots of friends made cards and art to gift to others, and others found ways to help their classmates with cleaning up, doing up their zippers, holding their hands and including them at the park and inviting new friends to play as we displayed thoughtfulness in our classroom family.  

This week we learned about the letter N and did writing about another one of our senses.  Our "Sense of Smell" made it a very "smelly week!"  We did our own smell test experiment, and recorded our smell predictions like real scientists.  We were able to follow all procedures to smell "smelly jars" and guess what was inside.  It was so interesting to see just how strong our sense of smell is when it is our only sense we can use!  Our noses have very powerful sensors that work with our brains.  You can ask your child what kinds of smells they could identify and which smells were their favorite.

During center times, students had lots of fun playing in our "Candy Cane Cafe" coffee shop making special yummy drinks, paying with "money" for their snacks and taking turns working in the "kitchen", behind the counter or being the customer.  We also had fun doing a Winter Word Scavenger Hunt, creating blow paintings at the art table, building with lego and blocks and learning new math games.

Here are some pictures from this week:

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