This week we measured ourselves and compared how big we were with an emperor penguin. (Adult emperor penguins are 4 feet tall.)

 

 We learned about polar bears and were finally able to answer our question, "Do penguins and polar bears live in the same place?"  We can now say that they live at opposite ends of the world and would never meet! We learned that sometimes we have to change our thinking when we get new information.We made polar bear paws, which are about 12 inches long, and compared them to our feet.

We had a lot of fun doing our blubber experiment. We made a "blubber glove" (lard inside plastic bags) and wore it when we put our hands in ice water. The blubber glove kept that hand warm, just like blubber keeps polar animals warm.

Next week we will make our valentines mailboxes. Children usually love to bring valentines to pass out - all your child needs to do is sign his/her name on each card. It is not necessary to write the names of each classmate on the outside/or the envelope - your child will just drop a valentine into each mailbox. We have 9 children in our classroom and 3 adults.

All about penguins...and a new coping skill!

I apologize that it has taken us awhile, but we do have another Parent Support Group meeting scheduled for Tuesday, March 10. Our topic will be the zones of regulation and I hope many of you will try to join us!
We began our study of polar animals with a little geography. We learned about the North and South Poles and the equator. We learned that penguins live south of the equator. Although many do live at the Antarctic, some species also live where it is quite warm. We learned that penguins are great swimmers, but cannot fly. They live in groups called colonies. Penguins in very cold regions huddle together, rotating in and out of the center of the huddle to keep warm. We tried huddling too!

We watched some video clips and read some books to learn how penguins hatch their eggs and care for their young chicks in such cold environments. We practiced holding an "egg" on our feet just like penguins!

We worked very hard to create some great penguin artwork.

We learned and practiced a new coping skill. It is a calming sequence that is repeated 5 times when feeling upset. The sequence goes like this: Squeeze your hands together; close your eyes and rub your head; then rub your legs. Repeat 5 times.  Here is a photo of the coping skill:

This calming technique incorporates both a physiological component that helps to calm the sensory and nervous system as well as a cognitive component to calm the mind. It can help students regulate their emotions - to help get them out of the "fight or flight" state that the body goes into when reacting to intense situations. It takes a few minutes to complete the sequence, and that often is just enough time for a student to feel calmer and back in control.

This week we have challenged ourselves with some partner reading...we practice reading the books in our book bags to a friend. We all felt proud to read to someone else!

Our new classroom technology!!!

Friday evening our interactive smart board and document camera was installed! There will be so many ways that our class will be able to use this new technology to increase our learning opportunities. We started out on Monday morning with some wonderful brain breaks to get us moving and ready to learn.

I was able to use the new document camera to do our read aloud books so that we could really zoom in and see the pages! 

We were able to use the interactive white board to do so many of our learning activities this week - I don't know who was more excited, the kids or the adults! I overheard one of our students say that this was, "the best day ever!" It certainly opens up many new avenues for learning for all of us!

We read more books about winter and snow, and created some beautiful art work about winter birds. We also mixed up a birdseed recipe so that we could make bird feeders to hang outside for the birds.

On Wednesday we attended a music assembly. It had  Miss Marlowe (our music therapist) and her band, The Swingset Mamas. Miss Marlowe always gets us moving and participating, and all of the kids did a wonderful job. She invited us up to help her with two of her songs and some of the children went on up! Afterwards, they were able to talk a little with the band.

No school on Friday or Monday....up next, a little polar study about penguins, walruses, and polar bears. To get ready for this unit I asked the students if they thought penguins and polar bears lived in the same place...here is what they think now. We'll ask this question again after we do some research about these animals. Most children said that they thought penguins and polar bears do live in the same place.

Happy New Year!

It was wonderful to have the children back at school -we missed all of them! We got busy right away with some winter stories, activities and art! We read two Jan Brett books - "The Mitten" and "The Hat" along with an Ezra Jack Keats favorite titled "The Snowy Day" to really get us in the winter mood! We enjoyed a book called "Cold Snap" but didn't expect our area to be hit with a real cold snap! Here are some of our creations...

We are continuing to work on the zones of regulation and really zeroing in on noticing when we may be in the yellow zone. You may notice that this is the zone where your child begins to get teary, argumentative or irritable. All of those things are normal feelings/behaviors for kids -we want to help our kids name those feelings and then use a coping skill to solve the problem and get back to the green zone. Don't rush in to solve the problem for your child - the yellow zone can be uncomfortable to watch, and it should feel uncomfortable for your child. This is his/her signal that he/she needs to do something, even if it is just to ask for help. There is so much new research out there about children and self-regulation, and your children are actually learning and using these skills every day!
The WL technology upgrade has continued, and we have a new phone. The phone number is the same -  248 956-4033, but I have a new voice mail extension number. That extension is 64070 if you need to leave a message. Please bear with me as I get used to this new phone!
We were very lucky to have a college student volunteer in our classroom in December while she was home on break. Emily Crawford is a student at Michigan State University who hopes to become a special education teacher. She enjoyed your children so much, that she returned to help us again this week!

This week the wind chill/temperature made it too cold for outside recess, so we had centers during our recess times. Here are a few of our centers: 

Next week we will continue with winter/snowmen activities. There is no school on Friday January 16 or Monday January 19.

Our Holiday Breakfast

We looked really cute and felt really cozy in our pajamas today!

Breakfast was yummy and we all ate a lot!

After breakfast, the children opened their gifts. The "Bear" books were a big hit!

Happy Holidays to all of you! Enjoy the next two weeks with your families. I look forward to seeing everyone back in 2015!

Our Play was Fun!

Thank you all for coming to see the children in their play. All of the children felt excited and proud to have you here! I am proud of all of their progress and growth this year, and I feel I owe a big thanks to all of you - you have been supportive and open minded when we have had to discuss problems, you have all attended parent teacher conferences this year, and you are all wonderful about signing the daily notes. These things really make a difference - I appreciate each of you!

The Narrator told the story....

The Mouse, the Hare and the Badger shared snacks around the fire...

The Bear woke up and felt mad - he was in the red zone!

The Wren and the Raven suggested that he count and breathe...

The Mole and the Gopher suggested he try yoga to calm down...

Finally, the Hare asked the Bear to use his words and tell what he was upset about!

Bear was able to tell us that he was sad about missing the party. Gopher told him this problem was small, and they shared their snacks with him. Bear felt better and read a story to his friends. 

The Bear was awake, but his friends fell asleep!

Thank you all again! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and Winter Break. Remember, our Holiday Breakfast is Friday morning and the children may wear their pajamas!