Flight #1208 to China

你好來自中國

That says "Hello from China" in Traditional Chinese!

To learn more words, click on the link and it will take you to Google Translator.

A few of the facts we discussed about China:

Capital: Beijing

Continent: Asia

Celebration: Chinese New Year. We learned that they cleanse their house of ill fortune and "make room" for good luck. 2015 is the year of the Sheep.

Yummy Foods: Chicken, Peking duck, sticky rice, noodles... all consumed using chopsticks.

Time: 13 hours ahead of us

Landforms: Himalayan Mountains, deserts, plains, deltas               

Clothing: Love dark colors and beading. Women wear long tunic tops. They also wear clothes just like us!

Here is a link to the slideshow I made in pdf form.

Today the kids started out a little silly, so rather than get them sillier... we decided not to fly and just have a day learning about China. :) We watched our powerpoint, discussed the Chinese Zodiacs, and made a Chinese lantern while watching a video of a Chinese singing group that visits Hollywood. 
(I wanted to have a little mini "singing" lesson and learn how to sing Happy New Year... but we ran out of time. I promised the class I would put the video on here and they could watch it at home.)

 

 

During recess we ate our treat. :) We had chow mein noodles with duck sauce and lo mein noodles. Most really liked all the noodles and some LOVED the duck sauce, but a few however called all the food "strange." haha  
(We wanted to say thank you to Mr. Nelson, Mrs. Dumas and Mrs. Miller for sending all the items in. You all helped make the trip to China great!)

Tomorrow we are riding a Greyhound bus across the USA! 

Flight #1205 to Israel

שלום מישראל

That says "Hello from Israel" in Hebrew!
We weren't able to use Google Translator, so we taught the kids how to say hello (shalom) and good luck (mazel tov). I believe we were told shalom about 40 times today. :)

Here are a few facts we discussed about Israel:

Capital: Jerusalem 
Continent: Asia 
Celebration: Hanukkah. We discussed how the festival of lights lasts eight days. We learned about the Menorah and the Dreidel game.
Yummy Foods: Latkes, falafel, pita bread and shakshooka.
Time: 7 hours ahead of us.
Landforms: Valleys, deserts, small mountains in the South, the Jordan River and the Dead Sea!
and here is a link to the slideshow I made in pdf form.

We had a very quick "flight" today, so we weren't able to watch all the videos I planned. So if you have time, log on to Shalom Sesame. It is a very informative site with lots of short cute videos. :)  Here is the link. I really enjoyed the 'Word of the Day' videos, but my favorite is Ernie sitting in his tub singing 'Rubber Ducky' in Hebrew. haha

 When we we "landed" in Jerusalem at the Primary School, we made a souvenir. The souvenir was totally teacher led, so while we worked with the students 1-on-1 everyone else was in their Reading Center. 

During recess we ate our Israel treat of applesauce and everyone was given a gold coin to take home and eat.  :) (We wanted to say thank you to Ms. Porter, Mrs. Swyers and Mrs. Steele for sending all the items in. You all helped make the trip to Israel great!)

After everyone made their hand print Menorah (this was a never ending task with 37 students haha), we watched a cute little video. :)

  

 During Math we reviewed the rules for playing the dreidel game and then broke into groups and played. The class LOVED the game! (We didn't see all that many groups playing correctly... :) but every group was getting along great, laughing and talking.)

We were so BUSY sharing information, cleaning up the room, visiting our centers and reviewing the rules for talking, that once again we didn't take any pictures of the students or the souvenir. :(  But we were sure every one was going to go home and tell their parents that we painted their hands with blue and white paint! :)

Have a great weekend and check our blog out again next week. 

On Monday we are heading to China!  

Wonderland Gift Shoppe

This was formerly known as Santa Shoppe.

The Wonderland Gift Shoppe will be open for purchases December 8-15 from 9:00a.m. - 2:00. 

 We don't want the students to miss out on any Academic Instruction, so the students with money will shop after our lunch time, while we are visiting the "big kid" bathrooms.

Tomorrow your child will be bringing home a letter with an attached envelope. If you would like your child to participate and do some shopping, :) you will need to fill out the information being asked on the envelope. After you write the names down of who you want your child to shop for, PLEASE write the amount you want your child to spend for the people on each budget line. (This helps the volunteers make sure your child doesn't spend too much money on any particular person.)

Here is a picture of the paper.

We aren't sure what they are selling in the Wonderland Shoppe. If we get a chance to get a sneak peak, we'll take some pictures and post them. :)

Flight #1204 to Egypt

مرحبا من مصر!

That says, “Hello from Egypt!” in Arabic... or at least Google Translator told me it does. :) I’m crossing my fingers it’s correct! If you would like to hear this phrase or any other words or phrases, click on this link and it will take you there.  (The students didn't care too much for the Arabic language, but maybe at home with you they'll like it a little bit more. :) 

 

Here are a few facts we discussed about Egypt:

Capital: Cairo

Continent: Africa

Celebration: Ramadan! We discussed the discipline people show during fasting and the different Animal Gods.            

Yummy Foods: bread, fish, stuffed grape leaves and soup  

Time: 7 hours ahead of us  (We left school at 9:15 our time and it was already 4:15 over there!)

Landforms: pyramids, deserts, mountains, plains and the Nile River!                   

Clothing: Some wear long flowing robes called Jellabiya (pronounced Gellabiya) (similar to dresses). Others wear clothes similar to ours.

Here is a link to the slideshow I made in pdf form. 

(Unfortunately Powerpoint and blogger don't mix that well :( ... all Blogger did was stretch my photos in the slideshow and they looked awful! So I will be making every slideshow a pdf.)

 Then when we we "landed" in Cairo at the Primary School, we made a souvenir and ate fig newtons. **We don't see many of you buying fig newtons in the future... only a few students enjoyed the cookies.** During out "return flight," we also watched a music video. The video had the students excited, so we allowed them to stand up and dance. (You will find the video at the bottom of this post.)
 I don't want to take pictures of all the souvenirs, but I'll give you a little peak at one. :)

We hope everyone's day was as much FUN as ours!! Make sure to ask your child all about their travels and check our blog again tomorrow.

(Before you watch this video, I'd like to make a quick disclaimer for all the music videos I choose. I do not speak any of these languages and unfortunately I do not have a clue as to what the words say. However every video has a catchy tune and helps show the students scenes from the other countries. As for this video... I watched lots and lots and lots of arabic songs, this one was catchy and didn't push the dress code limits.)

 

 (Also just in case you are singing 'Walk Like an Egyptian' in your head, (I mention this because I have been... the whole time I type this post and well, I want you all to suffer a little with me. haha) Here is a link to the song. :)

Tomorrow we are heading to Israel!  

Suitcases are packed!!

We packed our suitcases for a whole hour today!! The students wanted to bring everything under the sun on our trip! haha One student said "chicken" and we had to discuss how we were only packing the necessities.  For us that would be: clothes, shoes, toiletries and... a stuffed animal. :) haha

Enjoy watching the slideshow and seeing some of the items that were packed. :) 

Slideshow made with Smilebox

Mooseltoes!!

~updated on 12/8/14~
The students were very excited to show off their Moose today!! Unfortunately everyone that brought them in today weren't able to share, so we will be sharing them tomorrow.

If you didn't send the moose in today DO NOT worry. We will be sharing them all week long! :)

The students all did an amazing job during the share time today!! :) They loved listening to what their friends would be doing over break. Some of the things that really excited the students today were... fishing, ice skating, eating pizza and seeing Santa Claus. :) 

**Check back all week. We will be updating the post as Moose come in. :)

Week of December 2

If you have any questions about Holidays Around the World, please write us a note/ email.

Our Resources for the week are: Monday- #1-18 will be in the classroom and #19-37 P.E., Wednesday- Music and Friday- #1-18 Art and #19-37 Music. We will be "packing" for Holidays Around the World - we "fly" out on Thursday. :) Make sure to check out the blog for pictures of our activities. Alexander will be bringing in Fun Friday snacks for the class. ooh and make sure to wish Hayden a Happy Birthday on Friday. He will be joining the 6 year old club!
Progress Reports are going home this week. Please make sure to sign and return the slip. 

Also, don't forget to bring in your Mooseltoe Family Project. We can't wait to see how everyone decorated their moose and mustache. :)

MATH 

We will spend December mastering measurement. Our time will be spent comparing attributes of weight and length. This is a super fun unit for students as there are many hands-on opportunities for them to practice comparing lengths and learning how to compare objects by weight. We will also use non-standard units to measure such as cubes, paper clips and craft sticks. Here is a fun measurement song from PBS Kids.

ELA

(English Language Arts~ Reading and Writing)

The sight words we are focusing on are that, but, they and long. We are going to be working hard at writing the letter that matches the sound made by the teacher. (It's a tricky concept because you have to register the sound and then write the letter, but we have high hopes that everyone will do great!!) We are reading the book Mooseltoe by Margie Palatini. We will be discussing the events and working towards retelling the book with picture cards. ~ when practicing retelling stories at home, make sure to help your child tell their events in the order that they occur. 
      
Thursday we "fly" to Egypt and learn about Ramadan. Friday we "fly" to Israel and learn about Hanukkah. During the "flights" we will discus the landforms, foods and dress of each country, along with a holiday they celebrate. When the "flight" ends we will make a craft, try some of the food that goes along with the country and make a journal entry about the country (color their flag and write an interesting fact that we learned).
*The souvenirs will not go home until the day the "suitcases" are brought home, but you will be able to catch pictures of the souvenirs on the blog. :)

SCIENCE

Gravity is an interesting concept to introduce to Kindergarten students because it is not something we can see or grab onto with our hands. We will be involved I many investigations exploring how gravity affects our everyday lives. Check out this preview on gravity!