Green Room

This week in the green room

🌕🌵The Desert & Nocturnal Animals🏜️🌸

This week in the Green Room, we were so excited to launch a fun and fabulous new theme! As we wrapped up our Winter Wonderland and Gingerbread explorations, we jumped into discovering what life is like in the hot desert, especially after the sun goes down. We are so excited to announce that this will be our Night School theme for this year!

Throughout the week, we explored several books that helped the children learn who lives in the desert and what grows there. We also used charts to identify desert plants and animals, sparking lots of curiosity and great conversations. Some of the animals we learned about included snakes, leopard geckos, tortoises, owls, along with insects like moths and spiders such as tarantulas!

The children have been fascinated by desert life, and we can’t wait to continue exploring this exciting theme and uncover even more amazing things that happen in the desert.

Warmly,
Karla & Nancy

Saguaro Cactus

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the children learned all about the Sonoran Saguaro cactus! They discovered that it can take up to 40 years for a saguaro cactus to reach its full adult height. We also explored how many different types of cacti grow in deserts around the world, including our own California Mojave Desert.

Through the book The Night Flower by Lara Hawthorne, the children learned that the saguaro cactus grows in Sonora, Mexico and produces a very special bloom called the saguaro blossom. This flower blooms at night and attracts nighttime pollinators such as bats and hawkmoths. The children were fascinated to learn that the blossom blooms for only one night each year, which sparked lots of curiosity and discussion.

After our lesson, we learned about the parts of a cactus and finished the activity by using movement and imagination to become cacti ourselves. It was a fun and engaging way to bring our desert learning to life!

SNakes in the desert

This week with teacher Nancy the children explored two very entertaininig books about snakes. The Snake Scientist by Sy Montgomery and The Greedy Python by Eric Carle. In the book The Snake Scientist we learned so many sweet fun facts about snakes. The children were a little curious about snakes at first. They commented by saying that snakes were dangerous and that some were a little frightened by them. In this book the children learned that not all snakes are dangerous. How ever they did learn that snakes are omnivores and that they eat almost everything! The children were amazed at the fact that snakes are cold blooded and can see in the dark!

The day after, the children made a snake craft with Teacher Nancy inspired by the book The Greedy Python by Eric Carle. Using glow in the dark tempera paint and paper plates the children painted their snakes for our desert night school exhibit.

Saguaro planters

After continuing our Saguaro exploration, the children used their creativity to paint colorful acrylic designs on strips for aluminum cans, which will serve as the base where their saguaro cacti will rest. These pieces will come together as a beautiful art exhibit, showcasing both their creativity and our desert study.

Centers

This week during centers, the children worked on imaginative dialogue as well as name recognition. Additional centers were thoughtfully themed to support our desert learning week, allowing the children to continue exploring and connecting with our classroom studies through hands-on activities.

Outdoor Play

This week during outdoor play, the children had so much fun taking turns on the tandem bike while also engaging in community building through imaginative play, including a classroom “car wash.” We are so proud of the children for demonstrating strong collaboration, gross motor skills, and creative thinking throughout these activities.

☺️Share DAy

The children brought so many fun new toys to share and talk about with their friends this week!

Unicorn Ball - Zenni
Shell Purse - Romy
Microphone/Karaoke Julien & Jaxon
Teapot - Noa
Seahorse Neck Pillow - Siena
Subway Train - Zachary
Emily Princess Doll - Emily

Music with Teacher Bryan

This week in Music, we explored some exciting new themes, songs, and rhythms! We began each class with our cheerful hello song, followed by a fun clap-and-move activity to B-I-N-G-O. The children practiced clapping along as we spelled the name, which helped them strengthen their memory and sequencing skills.

Next, we dove into the world of fast and slow waltzes! The children learned to follow the quick 1-2-3 beat and enjoyed listening and moving to both fast and slow tunes, including the Can-Can, The Blue Danube, and the Pink Panther theme.

To wrap up, the children got hands-on with rhythm by creating their own beats on drums while their classmates clapped along and echoed the patterns. It was a lively, interactive way to explore music, and everyone had so much fun!

Service Learning♻️

Thank you, families, for your continued support! Thanks to all of our recycling efforts, we earned $10 more this week, bringing our total to $35. We are now just $10 away from reaching our $50 goal!

Please continue bringing in soda cans and water bottles so we can reach our goal together very soon. The children have been so excited to participate and track our progress.

Below are the containers accepted for a California recycling refund:

📚Library guest Reader

This week, we were so happy to welcome Zachary’s dad, Jonathan, who joined us to read to the children during library time. Jonathan thoughtfully connected our weekly theme to the stories, helping the children learn about nocturnal animals.

The books The Not So Sleepy Owl by Natasha Moutinho and Moonlight Animals were engaging, fun, and perfectly on theme as we explored wildlife and nighttime animal life. The children truly enjoyed this special visit and learning experience!

We have added new guest reader slots for the month of February and look forward to many more fun and exciting visits. Please click on the image of the books to sign up!

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