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~♥~Jingling January!!~♥~
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Student of the Month:
Jackson Lane
Important dates:
Jan 1 & 2 – NO SCHOOL! Last two days of Christmas Vacation!!
Jan 9-13 – Testing
Jan 16 – NO SCHOOL! Observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Jan 29 – Kansas Day
Themes:
Jan 2-6 – Community Helpers
Jan 9-13 – Testing
Jan 16-20 – Community Helpers
Jan 23-27 – Kansas
Ooey Gooey Messy Days:
In order to help our parents plan for our messier days, listed below is our schedule of messy projects, which include using a variety of paints, playing with shaving cream, and doing messy experiments/cooking projects. F.Y.I: I do keep oversized shirts here in my room for children to slip over their clothes, but occasionally the children may still get paint or other materials on their outfits. Please plan to send them in appropriate attire on these days. Thanks a bunch!
Jan 5 – Playing in soap suds
Jan 20 – Using wet glue
Jan 26 – Playing with colored shaving cream baggies
Jan 27 – Using wet glue
Special Projects:
Here in P2, we do a variety of special projects outside the normal school curriculum…
-Soldiers’ Angels
Thank you to all the families who donated items for December’s care package! We were able to send our Soldier, Steven, a nice little taste of the Holidays, including a camouflage-print stocking, a sweats/T-shirt pajama set, and lots of Christmas goodies! We haven’t heard anything from him in a while – he’s very busy, I’m sure! – but I will let you know when I do.
I’m very excited about next month’s Care Package theme: “Are you READY for some FOOTBALL!” (Superbowl Party theme)
We could have so very much fun with this theme! Just think of anything and everything you would use for a Superbowl party! Below are just a few suggestions:
- Football
- Party/Game Snacks
- Sports Illustrated Magazines
- Football shaped cookies
- ANYTHING FOOTBALL!!
For details on the Soldier’s Angels Project, go to www.soldiersangels.org.
-The Flat Stanley Project:
From now until the end of the school year, our class will be participating in the “Flat Stanley” Project. If you’ve never heard of it, the project is an international literacy activity that allows children to experience new and interesting places and share them with their friends…without ever leaving their classroom!
In preparation for this project, we’ve been reading the Flat Stanley series by Jeff Brown for well over a month now. The story goes like this: Stanley Lambchop is a normal little boy. That is, until one night the bulletin board above his bed falls from the wall, flattening Stanley in his sleep. He isn’t hurt, and in the days to follow, makes the best of his altered state. Soon he is entering locked rooms by sliding under doors and playing with his younger brother by being used as a kite. One special advantage to Stanley being flat is that he can now visit friends by being mailed in an envelope. This is where you come in!
Please discuss with your child where you would like to “send” their Flat Stanley. We want Stanley to explore so if possible, please send him someplace far away – out of state is encouraged! This is the 3rd year I have done the Project with my students, and we’ve had Flat Stanley’s go as far as Jerusalem, Israel, to an army base in Germany, and visit an orphanage in Kenya, Africa! And for a bit of fun closer to home, each weekend for the rest of the school year, I will be awarding one lucky student the honor of taking home the “class” Flat Stanley and documenting his or her adventures together with a journal entry and photographs.
For more information on the Flat Stanley Project, go to http://www.flatstanleybooks.com/
Language Arts:
For our Language Arts curriculum, we use the Animated-Literacy program, created by Jim Stone, to help our children learn reading, letter recognition, and writing with the use of Alphabet Stories, Songs, Gestures and Coloring pages.
In January, with a little help from our friends Sadie Seal, Timmy Tiger/Terrible Tommy T-Rex, and Uncle Upton, we will be going over the letters “Ss”, “Tt”, and “Uu”, learning their songs, practicing their sounds, and how to identify and trace their letters.
Working at home: Remember, parents play a vital role in their child’s education! Working with your child at home is an excellent way to help them succeed and it’s not too early to start! Every Monday your child will be sent home with a coloring page of the Letter of the Week’s Animated Alphabet friend and the words to their song. Please sing these songs at home with your children!
Math:
We will continue to count to 50 and will also be learning how to identify the numbers 11 and 12. And don’t forget recognizing and drawing the following shapes: Diamond, Oval, and Rectangle!
Working at home: Here are this month’s number rhymes:
#11 – 1 and a 1 make 11 fun
#12 – 1 and a 2 tell 12 what to do
Science/Social Studies:
Community Helpers are very important people, with very special jobs, and that is what we will be talking about this month. To aid in the understanding of what Community Helpers do for us, we will be reading the People Who Help Us series by Amanda Askew and Andrew Crowson. We will read about Doctors, Teachers, Police Officers, Fire Fighters, and much more! We’ll also discuss what we want to be when we grow up, and maybe throw a little Dramatic play in there just for fun!
Then, seeing as how January 29th is Kansas day, we will be discussing our wonderful state and how we have special symbols that belong only to us! Whether it’s the box turtle, the buffalo, or the bumblebee, all these things are unique to our state.
Show and Tell:
Our Show & Tell will be every Friday and it will relate to the week’s theme. Please keep in mind that if your child brings an item that does not correlate with that week’s theme, they will not be allowed to show it (excluding Free Choice). Themes are as follows:
Jan 6 – Something to do with WHAT I WANT TO BE WHEN I GROW UP!
Jan 13 – Free Choice
Jan 20 – Something to do with COMMUNITY HELPERS
Jan 27 – Something JAYHAWK or something WILDCAT
