Ms. Mary’s Update 1-22-2020

Dear Families,

 Pajama Day is tomorrow! Please send back the dental screening form **even if you don’t want to participate**thank you 🙂 Please send in your conference preference forms.  I am happy to accommodate families.  If you are unable to meet on the schedules date/time, please let me know and we can meet before or after school.  I look forward to our time together. If you have any boxes for recycling, could you send them in?  Cereal boxes or even smaller snack cardboard boxes.  ****Please do not send any boxes that had food with nuts due to allergies.***  Thank you for your attention to this. I would also like shoe boxes any bottle caps you might collect at home.  Water bottle, soda bottles, any type of cap.  (Please wash with soap and water prior to donating them.) Last week, a veterinarian came to both classes to discuss her role in the community and how she cares for pets.  It was a great time as students learned all about this field of work. We are making habitats with the cardboard boxes.  It is awesome!  This week we focused on making “models” of fish aquariums.  We read facts about fish from non-fiction texts.  We learned that fish can be found in lakes, oceans, ponds and streams.  Some students shared his/her own experience about fishing, other students shared about his/her own pet fish.  We investigated the live pet fish in the office here at Spark!.  We discovered what fish need in order to survive in an aquarium, we committed facts about fish to memory and wrote them down whole group, and then we created with paint, paper, scissors, glue, tape….so much discovering! This week we moved onto geckos.  I have a book with a picture of a gecko eating a cricket so we have been discussing words like “prey” and “camouflage.”  Students are asking questions and looking for the answers within the pictures and text like scientists. Could you look through your home library and have students bring in *any* favorite non-fiction text to show and share?  We have been comparing fiction versus non-fiction.  For our independent reading time we are only choosing non-fiction books to look at and discuss.  Anytime in the next week or two.  I’d rather the books trickle in, as our day is so packed!  Remind your students to get it out of his/her backpack. It is our honor to work with your student daily!  We look forward to seeing you all next week.   With our best,Mary Stivison and Ms. Sherry

Spark! Discovery Preschool