This month, we will learn about the groundhog and some very interesting facts about him. Did you know he is a vegetarian? Sometimes he is referred to as a whistlepig because of the whistling sound he makes to ward off danger. We will graph our predictions on if he will see his shadow or not. Will we have six more weeks of winter or will spring come sooner? We will see the news about Puksatawney Phil in Pennsylvania and Staten Island Chuck. From this, we will discuss the weather on that day in both states. This also ties nicely into our next STEM study on clouds and weather.
We will conduct an experiment using a shadow box to see how shadows are made. The girls will then make a book about animals who see their shadows. This book will introduce them to the use of "talking marks" to show someone is speaking.
We will learn about things we can do to stay healthy and keep our heart healthy too by exercising and eating healthy foods (I'm smart about my heart). Since February is Dental Health month, we will also discuss, sing songs, and make books about how to properly care for our teeth. We will learn about foods and habits that can keep our teeth healthy and how one can get a cavity. We will make a KWL chart on what we know and what we want to know in preparation for a visit from a Dentist. After his visit, we will fill in what we have learned into the chart.
The girls are very excited to celebrate the 100th day of school this month! We have been counting the days since September and they are anxiously awaiting this big day. Some of the activities the children will be doing include: making a book of 100 stamps in groups of 10; making a snack of 100 small food items by counting them out with 10 food items into 10 different circles; making a collection of 100 items and weighing it to compare/contrast it to the other collections; and playing a stamping game to reach 100. We will also count dimes, pennies, and 10 dollars to 100.
The girls will make and write Valentine's Day cards for their 8th grade big sisters, as well as their parents. We will learn how to address and close a letter as we continue to practice beginning sentences with a capital letter, using proper spaces and punctuation. The girls will have fun using the shape of a heart to make a very cute bunny Valentine for Mom and Dad.
The girls will learn about Chinese New Year; customs, traditions and fun with dragon puppets!
Finally, we will learn about Presidents Lincoln and Washington. We will discuss their life and why we honor them today for their accomplishments to our country. We will find their images on money and begin to count out pennies, dimes, and dollars. We will play "bank" as the children learn how to trade coins: 10 pennies for one dime; 10 dimes for one dollar; 100 pennies=one dollar.
Within our lessons, the girls will work on and review /sh/ (shadows); and /th/ (teeth); initial, medial, and final sounds in words; vowels within words; magic e; bossy r; -ing chunk; compound words: groundhog, toothbrush, toothpaste, mailbox, etc.; rhymes and rhyme families; using picture clues to hep when reading; looking for smaller words within a word; getting mouth ready to make the sound of the word; proper formation of letters; sight words (high frequency words) through repetitive text in books; and stretching words out phonetically to write the sounds that we hear. We will continue to discuss and practice retelling a story with beginning, middle and end; characters, setting, problem/solution; drawing story parts; making predictions.
In such a short month, we will have fun learning so many things!
