The Fredericksburg City Sheriff’s Office came to visit for our unit on Community Helpers. They taught us so much about what they do. They explained every detail about their uniform and accessory belt. We even got to see a bullet-proof vest! The Deputies put some of us in handcuffs! Some of us didn’t want to. Officer McGruff was fun to pose with and the police car with the lights on was so exciting! Oh! And the siren!! We even got to go inside the police car!
Our Lunar New Year celebration was a huge success. In honor of the holiday, we made some Asian inspired crafts. We created paper lanterns, Chinese dragons, and Asian fans. We got to use lots of glitter and that makes everything beautiful and festive!
We had a special snack of chocolate fortune cookies! We were all very excited to hear what our fortunes were. Most of us took them home in special places in our backpacks.
We read stories about traditions in Asia. We learned that China, Korea, and Vietnam all celebrate Lunar New Year and that they have many traditions that are the same! We learned that in China some people say “Gung Hay Fat Choy” which means “wishing you great happiness and prosperity.” We learned how to say hello in Vietnamese “Sin Chow” (xin chao.) We learned that bowing is common in many countries.
We are also learning that many cultural celebrations involve cleaning house, getting together with family, cooking and eating special foods, getting dressed up, lights, candles, fireworks, and the joy of traditions.
We went on an awesome dragon parade. We took some of our beautiful dragons and lanterns along with some of Mrs. Kolotos’s real Vietnamese lanterns and her Cambodian gong and we processed through the whole lower school, the middle school and the administration offices. It was fun to show off all we had created.
We learned that it is customary in many countries for children to be given red envelopes with money in them. In Korea the children have to bow in front of the elders before they get the envelope. Mrs. Kolotos had red envelopes for us, but in keeping with tradition, we bowed as we exchanged them with her and Mrs. Hawkins. We thought it was great, if we got envelopes of money! At the end of the day Mrs. Kolotos gave us all little doll magnets that she brought back from Vietnam.
What an awesome way to learn about another culture! Happy New Year!
What a Wacky Wednesday! We enjoyed discovering all the wacky things in our classroom and seeing each other dressed in wacky ways. We started our day with the Goodbye Circle and ended it with Morning Meeting! We walked around backwards and read wacky stories. We took some wacky pictures and drew with our feet to make some wacky art. We made wacky masks and wacky necklaces. Even our special snack was wacky — pink eggs and pickles! A few of us had wacky snacks and lunches from home too! We got a super short quiet time and we really enjoyed that! What a wonderful Wacky Wednesday. Can we do it again?
We did it! We managed a few virtual days and we did it without much ado. Now we can get back to our classroom, our teachers, and our friends. We couldn’t have done it without our dedicated parents, thank you!
Dear Children,
Are you ready for our last virtual learning day? Don’t forget to start with your packets. Try to do all of your daily activities. (Handwriting, Alphabet, Math, Stories and Independence!) Write each word five times, then try to sound them out. Your two words for today are:
I think you can do a few letterbook pages all on your own at home! Can you? Begin with page 3 of letterbook T. See how many T’s you can write. Do as many as you can; at least two rows.
If you need them, here are the instructions for upper case T: Big line down, frog jump up beside the top, and little line across. The tricky part is figuring out where to frog jump to. It’s not the top of the big line it’s a little to the side of it. Practice. You’ll get the hang of it!
Now go to page 9 of letterbook T. This is a listening page. Get your dark crayon ready and listen carefully:
Here’s a fun game:
Let’s compare answers:
Look at our bulletin boards! Your teachers have been busy putting all of your beautiful work on the walls. It’s looking pretty awesome around JK.
Turtle begins with the letter t, and the sound “t.” Here is a video about baby turtles. They are so cute!
You’ve done great work today! Here’s a story for us to finish the day.
I miss you! But we’ll be together very soon. Have fun in the snow if it snows! We’ll have fun together again on Monday!
Love,
Mrs. Kolotos
Dear Children,
Are you ready for another fun day? Don’t forget to start with your packets. Try to do all of your daily activities. (Handwriting, Alphabet, Math, Stories and Independence!) Write each word five times. Try to sound them out. Your two words for today are:
Oops! I missed a page in letterbook “I.” Go to page 9 of letterbook “I.” This is a listening page. Here are the directions:
Now we’re done with Letterbook “I.” Yay!!
Let’s start our new letterbook “T !” Find page 2 in your letterbook and then listen to my directions here:
Way to go! You’ve done some great letterbook work, Why don’t we get your homework done? Let’s do it together:
Walruses are cool! Want to know a little more about them? Watch this:
You’ve been a good listener and learner. Now I have a story for you:
I hope you had a great day! I miss you, but I’ll see you soon!
Dear Children,
I hope you are ready to do some fun school activities today! Start with your packets. Try to do your daily activities! (Handwriting, Alphabet, Math, Stories and Independence!) Write each word five times. Try to sound them out. Your two words for today are:
Go to page 13 of letterbook “I.” We will do pages 13 and 14. Listen here for directions:
You are finished with letterbook I! Congratulations!
Now you probably need to move! Try this yoga workout. Maybe some of your family members will try with you.
I hope you had a great day! I miss you, but we’ll be together soon!
Love,
Mrs. Kolotos
Dear Parents,
As we go into quarantine, I have prepared some materials for suggested use with your child. Please do what works for your family and don’t stress over it.
Your child has a Home Journal to record daily activities. The daily journal has five components: letter writing, alphabet, math, reading, and independence. The packet contains recording space for six days.
Word Writing: Students are encouraged to practice writing two words “the school way.” Children may need guidance to ensure they are using correct formation. We are also working on pencil grip. Pinch the pencil between thumb and pointer and rest it on the middle finger.
Words of the Day:
Wednesday, January 26: cast, lost
Thursday, January 27: last, test
Friday, January 28: still, toss
Monday, January 31: got, cat
Tuesday, February 1: cost, toss
Wednesday, February 2: dot, last
Alphabet: Your packet includes alphabet cards for several activities. The first level is to practice reciting the alphabet in order. Ordering upper case involves giving the student just the upper case letters and letting them place them in alphabetical order. Matching upper to lower case and then ordering is the next level. Ordering just the lower case letters follows. If your child is successful at all of these and would prefer to practice letter writing, or word writing there is a place for you to record the substituted activity.
Math: I recommend completing at least two math activities each day. I have provided a list of options. If you have an activity you would like to substitute, feel free!
Reading: Please keep up with reading! Read to your child, let a sibling read to your child, an occasional story from Alexa or even an online story:
www.youtube.com/c/
Independence: I have provided a list of activities your child can do at home to foster and strengthen their burgeoning sense of confidence and independence. Each day your child can document their independent skill by drawing pictures of the two they completed. I can’t wait to see them!
Boredom Busters: Lastly, I have included some boredom busters. They are totally voluntary and just for fun! Unlike holiday breaks where we are hustling about, you will likely be homebound for this quarantine. I hope these suggestions will keep you all free from cabin fever!
I will be available by phone, text, or email. I will stay in touch. I will appreciate photos! And if you share photos, let me know if it is okay to put them on the blog, that way the children can see each other too! This will be a little challenging for the adults, but if we breathe, and emulate the children, we can just roll with it!
Good Health to You and Yours!
Happy New Year! As we get ready to start the new year, here’s a peek at our last two weeks of 2021. What a joyful season. We were very proud of our efforts making ornaments. We honed our fine motor skills while practicing patience and persistence and we created many beautiful treasures. We socialized as we worked and we took pride in our accomplishments. It was a meaningful and happy time together! When it was finally time to bring our treasures home we were filled with excitement.
We had lots of giggles while making our gifts for you. Some of us had never had our feet painted before! Mrs. Kolotos and Mrs. Hawkins enjoyed tickling us with the paint brush and as they washed our feet. It was a joyous process and we were very happy with how cute our little toes were on canvas! We hope you love our Mistletoes!
The culmination of our winter holiday celebration was our program. We got to perform on the stage! We were eager to wear our outfits, and our masks! And we were super excited to get on the stage and show off a little. Our teachers told us the grown ups would love us, and they were right! Every single one of us went on to the stage with confidence and did our best, and we nailed it!
We earned our holiday break! Now, get out of the way COVID, we’re ready to get back to work!
Need pure joy? Got one minute? Here you go!