Pre-Kindergarten

Units of Study:

Unit 1: Getting to Know You

Unit 2: Ball Study

Unit 3:Tree Study

Unit 4:Clothing Study

Unit 5: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Study

Unit 6: Buildings Study

Unit 7:Wheels Study

Unit 8: Exercise Study

Wheels are all around us. They are on cars, buses, shopping carts, riding toys, etc

Children love to explore how things move and how wheels help us do things easier.

The students will discover the physical attributes of wheels, how they work, how people in their community need wheels to make their work easier, and even use different materials to create their own wheels.  Through this unit we will focus on language, literacy, math and science skills to enhance their learning.

 

At home you can:

• Take a nature walk around your neighborhood and identify different types of wheels.
• Make Pizza and have your child use a pizza cutter to make pieces.
• Compare different types of wheels
• Ask them why a car has 4 wheels and a bicycle has 2 wheels?
• Talk about getting ready for kindergarten. Ask your child how they feel about moving to a new class next year. What do they think they should do to prepare for kindergarten?

 

Exercise is a crucial part in order to keep our bodies healthy and strong. Moving makes children feel capable and confident, releases tension, and builds strong bodies and minds. We will explore how our bodies move and learn the importance of moving our bodies. As we learn about exercise we will incorporate math, literacy, science, social studies, arts, and physical development skills. 

At home you can:

• Exercise as a family: ride bicycles together, go for walks.
• Take turns picking an exercise and count up to 20 while doing the exercise: EX: Jumping Jacks, Hopping, Running in place
• Play jump rope games
• Play with all types of balls: throwing, catching, bouncing

Reading: 

Pre-k students have spent an entire year listening to and interacting with a read aloud each day! They have grown to love books and understand some basic concepts of print. In these upcoming units we will read books about wheels, exercise, and kindergarten. As we continue to explore our daily read aloud, we will review the various parts of a book, including the title, author, and illustrator. Additionally, pre-k students will begin to be exposed to common sight words, such as “the”, “look”, and “my”. This will allow students to become familiar with some of the words seen most often in print. 

At home you can:

• Read books about wheels and exercise..
• Take a picture walk through a book before reading it together. Have your child make observations, connections, and ask questions. For example, “I see a family traveling in a car. I wonder where they are going. I’ve traveled in a car with my family to visit grandma before.”
• Let your child show off how to properly hold a book and turn the pages! See if they can tell a story using the pictures. Look out for any of our sight words in the text.

Suggested Books:

• Don’t let the Pigeon Drive the Bus By:Mo Willems
• The Most Magnificent Thing By:Ashley Spires
• Where’s the Ramp? By: Lisa NAdrea McCarthy
• ABC on Wheels By:Roman Olivera
• Head to Toe By: Eric Carle
• Wiggle By: Doren Cronin
• Barn Dance By: Bill Martin

Writing:

It’s been a great year for our writing development!  As they continue to practice writing their letters, we will be working on the understanding that when  letters are put together they form words. We will be labeling our pictures in connection with the wheel unit. Ex: car, door, names of different vehicles, counting the wheels in the different vehicles and writing the numbers.  

At home you can:

• Encourage your child to write their first and last name, making sure to leave a space in between. 
• Make it fun by making a name train! (See image below.)
• Provide your child with a list of family member’s names and have them try to write them. Notice how the first letter is always uppercase and the rest are typically lowercase.
• Have your child draw a picture of what they see at a park, zoo, or farm and label the picture. Help your child sound out the word 

 

Math: 

During our final unit, pre-k students will begin to learn basic addition and subtraction. In class we will use different objects to visually demonstrate these concepts. For example, we will show two babies at the park and show three more joining them. Then students will be asked to identify how many babies there are all together. Similarly, students will begin to explore subtraction by showing a group of people, taking some away, and identifying how many are left. Finally, students will practice writing numbers 0-10 on their own. 

 

At home you can:

• Use a toy car to practice tracing numbers or letters. (See image below.)
• Have your child practice writing numbers 0-10 using any fun type of writing tool, such as colorful markers or a fun pen.
• Make simple addition and subtraction problems at home. For example, “You have five blocks out. If we put two away, how many will be left?”
• Create an exercise and perform the exercise 20 times, count as you do the exercise.  

  

Gym/Gross Motor Movement

Students used colorful connecting links to make a path and pretended to drive their car along. They also walked along the path, hopped, skipped, and jumped along the path made from several links which they counted out with a friend or friends while playing together. The students had fun playing and dancing to a song that encouraged them to make a train by holding on to each other and marching around the classroom. Students also danced and acted out the song “Wheels on the Bus”. They were able to learn about the features of wheels and what purpose wheels serve on cars, buses, trains etc... Students enjoyed various spring songs and freeze dances that made them practice different exercises and stretching poses for strength. At home, you can go on a wheel hunt around your neighborhood while riding your bicycle, scooter or even sitting in a wagon. 

SAVE THE DATES

As we celebrate our last unit: Exercise

We would like to invite both parents/caregivers to have breakfast with us in the large playground on May27th at 8:30am and then exercise our bodies through some fun gross motor activities.

It is crucial to learn how to keep our bodies healthy & strong while having fun. Please bring a blanket and breakfast for you and your child.

Our Stepping Up Ceremony will be Tuesday, June 24th at 9:00 am

in the classroom.Two People per family can attend.

Make sure you bring ID to enter the school.

Can’t wait to celebrate!

]

Parent & Student Voice

Pre-K 1

I love Jamie (our fish). Nathan

 

I like playing with Violet on the computer. Eliana

 

I am so happy we went outside. Angie

 

Thanks for having me!!!!!! I appreciate it! Eliana’s mom

Thank you Ms Tracy like always your the best. Violet’s mom

Student Work