Mackintosh Pre-Kindergarten Newsletter
MRS. LISA CONNOR AND MS. MINDY LAMBERT
SEPTEMBER 2013
Upcoming Events:
September 19-NAMLO presentation for students
September21-International Peace Day; celebrated on September 20 at school
September 26- student photos
October 2-Field Trip to Denver Zoo
October 4- 5/6 performance of Peter Pan for students October 4- Littleton Campus Fall Auction. “Lights, Camera, Auction” at Cherry Creek Country Club. 7:00pm-10:00pm
October 18- Fall Break: no school
October 31- Halloween celebration and parade(time to be announced
Theme: Who We Are An exploration of the nature of the self; of our beliefs and values; of personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; of our families, friends, communities and cultures; of our rights and responsibilities; of what it means to be human. Central Idea: Growth is a remarkable process filled with important choices Lines of Inquiry: Personal growth and change Keeping our bodies healthy Understanding personal preferences Concepts: Change, Responsibility, Reflection Learner Profiles: Inquirer, Principled, Reflective Attitude: Respect
With appreciation … Sincere thanks to
each of our families for the school supplies in our classroom – our children are sharing and using them often all of our families during Back to School night – your questions and comments are always desired all who contributed so generously in supporting our sister school during our ‘markers’ drive our laundry families each of you for your support and trust our Classroom Parent Rep, Brandi for your abilities in organization, communication, and maintaining an excellent sense of humor
Curriculum Snapshot Unit of Inquiry We are learning about our five senses, how we grow and the changes we experience. There has been great discussion about our individual preferences and interests as we create our ‘all about me’ booklets and develop new friendships. We will delve more into feelings and emotions as we continue this unit. IB Attitudes ~ In our classroom community, we are working on the attitude of respect. Our three simple ground rules – respect (care for) yourself and others, respect (care for) the environment, and learn all you can – are setting a positive and meaningful foundation for creating our Five Essential Agreements. The children’s natural sensitivity to and empathy towards each other is a natural stepping stone to our discussions regarding our peaceful environment. After reading Todd Parr’s The Peace Book, we have begun
creating our own classroom ‘peace is …’ book in preparation for a celebration at our Peace Pole on campus next Monday to honor International Peace Day on the 21st. Your children will certainly be active and peaceful citizens of our world. IB Learner Profile~ As we explore what it means to be an Inquirer, we are reading books such as, “Seven Blind Mice” by Ed Young, “Stella, Queen of the Snow” by Marie-Louise Gay and “How Big is the World?” by Britta Teckentrup which have spurred great interest and many questions. Our class definition for an Inquirer is “someone who wonders and tries to find out” ---what more could you ask?
Mathematics: Our initial lessons have included building number sense, one to one correspondence, seeing patterns within our world, following/creating our own patterns, sorting, classifying and seriating objects and numbers. We will begin exploring measurement this week. Literacy: We are working with our children, building on their current abilities in both reading and writing, as steady confidence develops and grows daily; observable in each individual smile and proud exclamation. We are very grateful for the multi-age classroom community of motivated students. We are each learning within ourselves and benefitting from each other daily.
Burning Questions How big is your world? … as big as this classroom … to the sea … as big as the trees!
In the wintertime, is the grass still under the snow?
Pearls from PreK “Mrs. Conner, I love your school!” To which a nearby student replied, “And she loves you right back!” “You better close your eyes … I’m gonna surprise you” through squinting eyes with a whisper, “Are you surprised yet?” And from a knowledgeable Kindergartener passing through, “Wow, you have a lot of great things! This room still looks awesome!” “The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind.” Maria Montessori
High Frequency Words
I a and at the to my said