Friday, February 23, 2018

Pre-K is 100 Days Smarter!


What an amazing day we had celebrating the 

100th day of school!


We started off our day with some great stories about the 100th day and different ways to make 100. Then, we filled in our chart where we count the days each morning. We knew that you could "exchange" 10 Units for 1 Ten Bar; but today we learned that you can also "exchange" 10 Ten Bars for 1 Hundred Square! We counted to 100 by units, tens, and hundreds.


We hid 100 Hershey's Kisses all over the classroom. The boys and girls were challenged to find them, and then put them on the Hundred Board in the order corresponding to the number on the bottom of the Kiss. They had so much fun searching for them in the room and it was great to hear them saying things like "I found 23 - that has 2 tens and 3 units!"



Then it was time for some gross motor activity - we needed to wake up our bodies and minds and exercise! We completed a 100th Day Workout!


After that workout, we sure were hungry! We told the students they were going to have 100 snacks. They counted out 10 pieces of 10 different snacks to make 100! But don't worry - they saved some for home!






We had to take some pictures to commemorate our big day!



Then, we had some fun turning ourselves into 100 year olds!


It was time for our STEAM challenge next! The boys and girls were given 100 cups and asked to build a structure from them. Everyone had to be patient, slow, and calm when placing the cups to ensure that they would not knock it over. They worked together and built a good, sturdy structure.




We had so much fun on the 100th day of school that we had to continue the fun on the 101st day!


For a math activity, the students had to find and color various shapes a certain color. Then, they had to graph the results.


We finished up with a science experiment. We talked about what scientists do and some of the steps involved in an experiment - predicting what would happen, conducting the experiment, and discussing the results. After examining the dropper, the students were asked to predict how far up 100 drops would fill a cup and record the predictions.


They eagerly watched and counted as we filled the cup with 100 drops of water.


We then discussed the results and compared and contrasted the results to our original predictions. The boys and girls were amazed at how little 100 drops filled the cup. Two of the Pre-K scientists got their predictions exactly right!


We had so much fun celebrating this milestone in our school year! The Pre-K students are already asking when we can do it again 😉


Next week will be Spirit Week at HCA! The schedule is as follows:

  • Monday, February 26: Music Day
  • Tuesday, February, 27: Super Hero Day (Students may wear free dress of a super hero - please no wands, guns, masks, etc., and please wear sneakers!)
  • Wednesday, February 28: Olympic Game Day (The Pre-K will represent Portugal and the students are asked to wear red and/or green to represent the colors in the country's flag. Please wear sneakers!)
  • Thursday, March 1: 1920s Day (In honor of HCA's 90th anniversary!)
  • Friday, March 2: Dragon Pride Day (Wear your HCA gear!)

Some Reminders:

  • Next Friday, March 2, the HCA Student Council is organizing a pancake lunch for all students. Forms were due today, but they will be accepted first thing Monday morning. Please return the form that was sent home, along with payment, if you are interested.
  • There will be no Show and Tell next week because of the special Spirit Week schedule.
  • This just in - I received an email that the "Teach Your Monster to Read" app will be free to download from Monday, February 26, through Sunday, March 4. This would be a great time to get the app for your child if you have not already done so.

Have a great weekend! Hope to see you at the auction!

Friday, February 16, 2018

February 16, 2018

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day! Thank you for sending in all the Valentine's cards and treats for the children! They were so excited to receive them! Thank you so much for remembering the teachers as well! We also talked about the importance of giving to others and how good that can make both the giver and the receiver feel. Since it is Random Acts of Kindness Week, we also discussed being kind to one another in all we say and do.


We are all in the Olympic spirit here at HCA! Last Friday, we had our own torch lighting ceremony. The Pre-K students started off with the torch and passed it to our 4th grade buddy class.


The torch was then passed from class to class around the school and we all gathered together in the gym for the torch's arrival.




It was a great event for all the students and teachers. The boys and girls love learning about the Olympics in school. Go U.S.A.!


In the STEAM lab, we watched some Olympic videos about luge and skiing. We were challenged to build a sled or skis to send a Lego person down a long tube. The children worked in pairs to build their creations. They developed their problem solving skills when they had to plan and re-engineer what they built to fit inside the tube.




In music class, we are continuing to learn about jazz music. We listened to a story called Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat. We watched some videos showing Louis Armstrong singing and playing his trumpet, then we even got a turn to scat!


We are working on our gross motor skills in gym class!




In the Pre-K classroom, the boys and girls are hard at work on their lessons! We are filling in missing sounds in words, spelling words, and reading. We are counting and showing number quantities for numbers up to 100 and beyond. We are learning the continents of the world. We are comparing and contrasting shapes and colors. Pre-K is an amazing place to learn and grow!


Big news from the land of Pre-K! Congratulations to Addie - she is the first student in our class to finish her world map and name all seven continents! Stay tuned next week to see all the steps involved in making a world map.


Can you believe we have been in school for 97 days? Next Thursday will be our 100th Day of school and we have so many fun activities planned to celebrate!


Reminders:

  • NO SCHOOL on Monday, February 19, because of Presidents' Day.
  • Show and Tell on Wednesday, February 21, will be something that begins with "A."
  • Hope to see you at the auction next Saturday, February 24! It will be a wonderful night celebrating the HCA Community!
Enjoy the long weekend!

Friday, February 9, 2018

February 9, 2018

Congratulations to our Super Bowl Champion Eagles!  The Pre-K students were so excited to talk about the big game this week and share their pride for our team. Check out the link here for a video of our youngest HCA students singing the Eagles fight song.

We got ready for the big game last week by having a
picnic with football shaped pretzels for snack

Last Friday, students in Nursery 2 through Kindergarten gathered together to complete a service project. The students filled snacks bags for Nutritional Development Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. They were able to fill 60 snack bags to be given to students in need. We are so proud of them for showing that even the youngest children can make a difference in the lives of others!









On Monday, we gathered with our fourth grade buddies to make Valentine cards for patients in local hospitals. We told our buddies what we wanted to say and they wrote a message for us. Then, we got to decorate the cards.



We love going to music class with Mrs. Clay!


She taught us a fun song called "There was a Little Snowman" and we have so much fun acting it out.


We have also been learning about jazz in music class.  Mrs. Clay read us a story about Trombone Shorty, a young boy who learned to play the trombone. We love dancing to jazz music!


We even reenacted a jazz parade like Trombone Shorty would have in New Orleans!


Reminders:

  • We will be celebrating Valentine's Day on Wednesday, February 14. Please remember to send in your valentines on or before then.
  • Because of Valentine's Day, we will have Show and Tell on Tuesday, February 13. This week's topic will be something that begins with "N."
  • There will be NO SCHOOL on Friday, February 16 (faculty inservice) and Monday, February 19 (Presidents' Day).

Hope to see you tonight at Family Fun Night!

Friday, February 2, 2018

February 2, 2018


We introduced the children to a wonderful new game - Teach Your Monster to Read! The game allows the students to practice letter sounds, letter recognition, blending sounds, segmenting sounds, sight words, "tricky" words, reading skills, and comprehension skills. It can be played both online and through an app on iPhone, iPad, and Android tablet. It is designed to review with or advance your child as needed.

I have created a class account to track the students' progress. This will be another way for us to see what their abilities and needs are and adjust our lessons accordingly. The children will have opportunities to play during school on both the iPads and the SMART Board and we invite you to encourage them to play at home as well. If playing online, you can log onto  https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/u/389084. The username will be your child's first name (no password). If going through the app, the username is your child's first name and star code is 389084 (no password). I have used this game with my students for many years and it is a great way to develop and enhance reading skills. The boys and girls are very excited to teach their monsters to read!


The Pre-K students are working hard each and every day. One of their favorite questions to ask is: "Am I working like a Kindergartner?"





We went to the library for the first time on Wednesday and checked out books! The children learned how to choose a book from the shelf, take some quiet time to look at it, and then check it out. The books will remain in our classroom for the week and then we can go check out new books.


Some exciting things happened this week:

We have been practicing our tumbling skills in 
gym class. Way to go, Tatum!

We are even doing yoga! We learned how to calm our bodies
and take deep breaths.

Tristan read a page from the book
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf.

We love when friends work together! Addie
and Blaine did a great job filling in the
initial sound cards!

EAGLES Fever has hit HCA! This week, we practiced our lacing skills and made Eagles' footballs.


Mrs. Mossor hid Eagles pictures all over school and we love to look for them in the hallways.


If you find one, you get a prize! Three of our friends found one and won an Eagles cup - congratulations to Priya, Addison, and Madison!

Reminders:
  • The deadline for Scholastic Reading Club orders has been extended to Tuesday, February 6. If you would like to order, please send in the order form with your child or place your order online at https://clubs.scholastic.com with code H7WXZ. 
  • Show and Tell on Wednesday, February 7, will be something that begins with "D."
  • Family Fun Night will be on Friday, February 9, from 6:00-9:00 pm. Please see the email from Ms. Hough for details. Hope to see you there!
  • Please remember to send in your valentines on or before Wednesday, February 14.
  • There will be NO SCHOOL on Friday, February 16 (faculty in-service) and Monday, February 19 (Presidents' Day).