This month children will begin a study of the ocean, and write or dictate letters to pen pals living in Florence, Oregon. Florence is a small town on the Oregon coast. I think our pen pals can help us learn a lot about the ocean and the animals that live there. It will be fun to see what our pen pals send us in return! I believe the pen pal experience will inspire the children to read and write.
We will also be caring for our school garden, harvesting zucchini and squash, planting peas, and measuring the growth of our pumpkins. Working in the garden will help the children connect with nature and inspire math and science activities. Insects abound in the garden. My next-door neighbor keeps bees. We will visit the hive to get a closer look at how they make honey.
Finally, we will have a friendship celebration the last week of September to celebrate the new friends we have made and say good-bye to summer. The children will plan the games, cook the food, and make the decorations for our party. This will likely conclude our ocean study topic. I am eager to see where the children's ideas and interests take us next!
I've included learning goals for September/October below, as well as some photos of materials that will be available in the classroom for the children to work with. We will be learning a lot this month! I am looking forward to the first day of school!
Cheers,
Teacher April
Learning Goals
Reading and Writing
- Recognize that there are upper- and lowercase letters.
- Write one's name using upper- and lowercase letters.
- Recognize common types of text (story books, information books, poems).
- Listen attentively and retell simple stories (story-telling basket, dramatic play).
- Compare objects and use descriptive words when talking about them.
- Recognize print in every day life (mail, recipes, maps, children's names).
- Begin to recognize initial sounds in words (O is for ocean, B is for boat, S is for seashell, F is for fish).
- Draw and dictate to represent and share feelings and ideas about a topic (pen pal letters).
- Count a number of objects 0-10 and associate with a written numeral (e.g., seashells, shark teeth).
- Use one-to-one correspondence when counting objects.
- Classify objects and count the number of objects in each category.
- Match models of objects with the real thing (e.g., globe is model of earth).
- Collect information about animals and their habitats.
- Use measuring tools to describe objects and create graphs (e.g., pea plant growth charts).
- Ask questions to seek help or learn more (record science questions on our question board).
- Answer questions giving reasons or evidence for conclusions.
- Learn to use basic art materials (scissors, watercolor paints, oil pastels, finger paint, murals).
- Engage in cooperative behavior, such as helping, sharing, and taking turns.
- Respect others and their belongings.
- Develop skills to solve conflicts and problems.
- Show independence in personal hygiene and care.
- Control body movement; move and stop in response to a cue (outdoor exercises).
Classroom Materials
Sorting objects by their initial sounds.
Materials are displayed on shelves in the classroom.
