12/22 Classroom Update

I am so proud of what a wonderful job our preschoolers did at our winter performance! They have been working so hard all year to learn the songs and motions with Ms. Janet, and all of their hard work really showed! I also want to say a big thank you to all of the parents who helped out with our winter party and made it such a special occasion for our preschoolers!

Here are a few pictures from our "dress rehearsal" before the real concert:

This week, we read the classic story The Mitten, and engaged in lots of fun winter and mitten related centers. On Thursday, we were able to relax by watching clips from The Polar Express in our jammies while sipping on some hot cocoa. Here are some picture highlights from the week:

Building letters with winter erasers!

Coloring and writing about our mittens! We will finish lacing them when we return from break!

Playing Gumdrop Roll & Count!

Watching clips from The Polar Express on Pajama Day!

I wanted to wish everyone a very happy holidays, and I hope everyone has a relaxing and wonderful winter break (as relaxing as this hectic time of year can be!). I am so grateful to have the opportunity to work with our preschoolers each day. They truly bring so much joy to my life, and I love watching them learn and grow! Thank you for sharing your children with me - that is the greatest gift!

Happy holidays from my family to yours!

Important Dates:

Winter Break: School will be closed Monday, December 25 through Friday, January 5 for winter break. Classes will resume on Monday, January 8.

Preschool Enrollment for 2018-19: Open enrollment for 2018-19 preschool programs begins January 15, 2018. Woodcliff will also be hosting an open house for new families interested in our preschool programs for next year on January 10th from 6:00-7:00 pm.

Have a wonderful and relaxing winter break!

12/15 Classroom Update

This week, we had lots of Gingerbread fun in 5's preschool! We learned about ginger by using our senses (looking at and feeling real ginger root, smelling ginger root and gingerbread spice, and tasting gingerbread marshmallows). We read several variations of the classic story The Gingerbread Man with a focus on Jan Brett's version The Gingerbread Baby. We also identified the beginning sounds in many different seasonal words, finished our aerial snowmen projects from last week (now on display in the hallway), and continued to have lots of fun playing outside in the snow! Here are some picture highlights from center time and outside time this week:

Making gingerbread men with gingerbread playdough

Measuring Gingerbread men and more!

Making Gingerbread houses for our Gingerbread babies!

Playing "Gingerbread Roll & Cover"!

Decorating Gingerbread houses with "icing" playdough!

Decorating "cakes" in our classroom bakery!

Reenacting the story of The Gingerbread Baby in the snow table!

Baking lots of goodies in our classroom bakery!

Selling cookies in our classroom bakery!

Making a snow angel outside!

Building baby snowmen outside!

Important Dates/Reminders:

Winter Clothes: Now that the weather is colder, we would like to ensure that all of our students are equipped with proper winter gear to keep them warm while playing outside. Students go outside unless it is raining or below O°F with the wind chill. If you prefer, winter clothes may be kept at school in reusable bags on your child's hook in the hallway. Boots may be kept on the boot trays under your child's hook. Many pieces of winter clothing look alike so please label all your children's winter clothing and boots so that we know who they belong to. 

Holiday Sing Concert: Our Holiday Sing concert is this coming Wednesday, December 20th at 2:30 PM. The concert will be held in the Woodcliff Board of Education Room at the top of the ramp. We can't wait to share with you all the songs we have been working on with Ms. Janet and to celebrate the winter season! We will have a winter party in our classroom following the concert until 3:15.

Winter Party: Our winter party will follow the Holiday Sing concert in our classroom on Wednesday. December 20th until 3:15 pm.  If you would like to help out with the party, please sign up here.

Pajama Day: We will be having a fun pajama day on Thursday, December 21. Students are invited to wear their pajamas and may also bring in a special blankie or stuffed animal from home to share. We will spend part of the afternoon cozying up with some hot chocolate to watch excerpts from The Polar Express with other preschool classes in the Board of Education room.

Winter Break: School will be closed Monday, December 25 through Friday, January 5 for winter break. Classes will resume on Monday, January 8.

Have a great weekend!

12/8 Classroom Update

This week was an exciting week in preschool with our first snow! The snow came just in time to learn about winter, winter weather and to engage in winter learning centers. We read the stories "Sneezy the Snowman" and "Snowmen at Night," then wrote about what caused our snowmen to melt. Our paintings and ideas are now on display in the hallway! We played with cars in the snow table, and conducted an experiment to show how ice and snow melts faster with salt.  Here are some picture highlights from the week:

Completing Snowman patterns!

Playing in the "snow" table!

Playing Roll & Cover to practice matching quantities to a number and fine motor skills!

Painting snowmen using marshmallows! 

Making snow angels in the snow! 

Important Dates/Reminders:

Winter Clothes: Now that the weather is colder, we would like to ensure that all of our students are equipped with proper winter gear to keep them warm while playing outside. Students go outside unless it is raining or below O°F with the wind chill. If you prefer, winter clothes may be kept at school in reusable bags on your child's hook in the hallway. Boots may be kept on the boot trays under your child's hook. Many pieces of winter clothing look alike so please label all your children's winter clothing and boots so that we know who they belong to. 

Save the Date: Save the date for our Holiday Sing concert and winter party following the concert on Wednesday, December 20th at 2:30 PM. The concert will be held in the Woodcliff Board of Education Room at the top of the ramp. We can't wait to share with you all the songs we have been working on with Ms. Janet and to celebrate the winter season! We will have a winter party in our classroom following the concert until 3:15.

Winter Party: Our winter party will follow the Holiday Sing concert in our classroom on Wednesday. December 20th until 3:15 pm.  If you would like to help out with the party, please sign up here.

Second Annual Middle School Blood Drive: EGR Middle School is hosting a blood drive on Friday, December 22 from 10 AM-4 PM in the Learning Commons. The goal is to donate 100 pints of blood, and last year the middle school held the largest blood drive for any middle school in the state! If you would like to donate, you can schedule an appointment to donate here.

Winter Break: School will be closed Monday, December 25 through Friday, January 5 for winter break. Classes will resume on Monday, January 8.

Have a great weekend!

12/1 Classroom Update

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. It's hard to believe it is already December! This week, we had so much fun learning about dinosaurs! We learned about how paleontologists dig for and study dinosaur bones, then acted as paleontologists digging for bones in our classroom. We learned about different types of dinosaurs and compared the sizes of their eggs. We also came up with our own theories about why dinosaurs are extinct and learned some of the reasons scientists believe there are no more dinosaurs. During center time, we practiced writing the letter H, matched dinosaur eggs to the dinosaur with the same beginning sound, created dinosaurs using different shapes, played a dinosaur graphing game, and more! Here some picture highlights from the week:

We built different types of dinosaurs using pattern blocks.

Friend played Dinosaur Roll & Graph with Ms. Megan.

Friends acted as paleontologists and dug for dinosaur bones in the sand table.

We measured a T-Rex's foot using our feet. 27 of our shoes fit inside the T-Rex's foot!

Important Dates/Reminders:

Save the Date: Save the date for our Holiday Sing concert and winter party following the concert on Wednesday, December 20th at 2:30 PM. We can't wait to share with you all the songs we have been working on with Ms. Janet and to celebrate the winter season! I will send out information and link to sign-up to help with our winter party next week!

Second Annual Middle School Blood Drive: EGR Middle School is hosting a blood drive on Friday, December 22 from 10 AM-4 PM in the Learning Commons. The goal is to donate 100 pints of blood, and last year the middle school held the largest blood drive for any middle school in the state! If you would like to donate, you can schedule an appointment to donate here.

Winter Break: School will be closed Monday, December 25 through Friday, January 5 for winter break. Classes will resume on Monday, January 8.

Have a great weekend!