Last week we learned about the rainforest! We talked about the different types of plants and animals that grow in tropical areas, and were also able to taste-test some different foods that grow in tropical areas!
During our rainforest taste test, we tried banana, pineapple, papaya, mango, macadamia nuts, coconut, and chocolate. Lots of us found new things we liked, especially the mango! Some friends decided that they wanted an up-close view of the new foods and used magnifying glasses to help.
We learned that sloths live in the rainforest and are very, very slow. They hang upside down on tree branches! We used sloths to play an alphabet game. We matched a mommy sloth with an uppercase letter to a baby sloth with a lowercase letter, and pinned them together on a vine.
We've really been digging into our letter writing and recognition work. Last week we practice writing the letters "T" and "E". We learned the corresponding sounds for each letter and thought of words that begin with those letters. We've been using the iPad to practice writing letters using the Handwriting Without Tears app and have been using Starfall to practice letter recognition.
Our coloring skills are really coming along! We're still working on coloring slowing and staying in the lines.
We worked all week making a parrot! We used dot paints to make the body, and then used markers to color a tail, beak, feathers, and feet. There was a lot of cutting and gluing to be done as well, and boy, our cutting skills are WONDERFUL! We've really been practicing and you can tell!
On Friday, we made rainforest pizzas! To make a rainforest pizza, toast half of an english muffin and top it with peanut butter, shredded coconut, banana chunks and sprinkles (just for fun). Everyone loved them!
We also welcome a new friend to our class this week! Najah just moved to Janesville from Beloit and we are happy to have him! We've been talking about being a good friend and setting a good example :)
More exciting news this week - we have a box! We decided that we wanted to make a house out of our box, so we cut windows in different shapes, and have been busy decorating it with crayons and markers. If you ever get the chance to have a box to play in at home, I highly recommend it! The kids really use their imaginations!
We had to stand on chairs to reach the tippy top!
So much fun!
Whew, we've been busy! This week we will turn our focus to Valentine's Day and dental health. The dentist will be coming to visit on Friday and we will talk about ways to keep our teeth healthy. We'll also talk about foods that are good for your teeth and foods that are not good for our teeth.
We will be having our classroom Valentine's Day party next Thursday. A sign-up sheet will be posted on our cubbies tomorrow if you'd like to sign up to bring something. Students are also welcome to bring Valentine cards for their friends, but please make sure they bring one for each friend in the class. A class list students will be sent home tomorrow for your convenience when addressing cards. Finally, please send an empty cereal box to school with your child by next Monday. We will be using these to make our Valentine's mailboxes. Thank you!
