Week of June 5th !

WEEKLY REMINDERS

Thursday, June 8, 2023 – Pre-k for all closed for professional development 

Friday, June 9, 2023 - School Closed all grades and all classes.

Thursdays, June 15, 2023 - Pre-k Father’s Day Celebration by Zoom at 9:30AM  

Thursday, June 15th - Last day of After School Program 

Friday, June 23rd - Last Day of school dismissal at 11:45am  

Always make sure to read the OLQM School Blog for additional information, located HERE!!

If you have any questions or concerns, you can email me at mrsgonzalez@olqmnyc.org or text/call (862)248-2941.

 

Unit Topic:

 Plants 

Essential Question for the Unit:

How do plants grow and why are they important?  

Focus Questions for this Week:

Why are plants important?   

 

 Focused Learning Activity for this Week

                          Plant Taste Test 

The teachers will talk with the children about where food comes from and why it is important for their bodies. Highlight plant-based foods and parts of plants that people commonly eat. The teachers will then supply a variety of plants for children to sample and talk about their favorite and their least favorite.

 

Pre-K Common Core Learning Standard Addressed:

PK.SCI.4. [P-LS1-1.] Observes familiar plants and animals (including humans) and describe what they need to survive

Foundational text for the week:

The link for the read-aloud of this week’s foundational text, Rah, Rah, Radishes: A Vegetable Chant by April Pulley Sayre 

Questions that will be asked throughout the week related to the foundational text:

Level 1: Recall

What are some of the vegetables in this book? Who gets a “thank you” in this book?

Level 2: Skill/Concept

There is a page in this book about sweet corn. It says to “shuck an ear.” What does it mean to “shuck an ear” when you are talking about sweet corn? This book suggests many different things we could do while we read. Let’s look and see if we can find and try some. Examples include Carrots are calling, take a bite! Broccoli, cauliflower, shout it out! Pile up peppers Celebrate celery, give a cheer! Root for rutabagas.Bounce for beets! Potatoes. Tomatoes. Yum a yam! Slice ‘em. Mash ‘em. Wham! Wham! Wham!

 Level 3: Strategic Thinking

Have you ever had any of the vegetables in this book? What did you think? If you haven’t had any of these vegetables, which ones do you think you might want to try? Why?

What do you notice about the vegetables in this book? Why is it important to observe, or look carefully at something?

Level 4: Extended Thinking

This book is all about vegetables. Why do you think the author, April Pulley Sayre, might have wanted to write a book about vegetables? Vegetables can be different colors. We saw many of them in this book. Why do you think vegetables are different colors?

 

Lesson and activities for the week:

Blocks- Students will be invited to build a garden using blocks and materials added to the block center.

Pretend Play- The teacher will turn Dramatic Play into a flower shop by adding pretend flowers, containers, pictures of flower arrangements, a cash register, a notepad, writing utensils, etc. Children can pretend to make, buy, and sell floral arrangements. Vocabulary words such as bouquet, floral arrangement, florist, and flower will be highlighted.

Art- The teacher will supply pipe cleaners as well as tissue paper circles. Children can pierce the middle of the tissue paper circles with the pipe cleaner, adding as many as they would like, then fold the circles up to create a flower. After creating these flowers children can use them in the Dramatic Play flower shop.

Science- The teacher will provide individual pictures of the plant life cycle. Students will be asked to sequence the pictures. The teacher will provide pictures/diagrams for children to refer to as they discuss each stage in the life cycle. 

Math- The teacher will cut out several paper watermelons, add a number to each one, and ask the children to put the appropriate number of seeds on each watermelon. Students are encouraged to write the corresponding number.

Library- Students are invited to read books about our theme, plants.

Writing- Students will write letters on a sheet of construction paper.  They can glue seeds onto the letter.  The teacher will talk with students about words that start with the letter.

Sensory- Students will be able to play with their own individual containers of play-doh.