12/18/15

Happy Winter Break!

We had a fun and eventful week to gear up for our time off.

Our holiday party was such a success! The kids played games, made snow globes, ate yummy snacks, and even had a winter gear relay! Thank you to all of our parent volunteers who made it so much fun.

In math, we continued to play the many games we have learned in class, such as top it,  monster squeeze, the domino matching game, and roll and record. These games focus on skills like addition, counting on, number association, and  number writing.

To complete our gingerbread story study, the kids colored, cut, and glued the story in the correct order to retell the traditional version as a literacy activity.

We completed our holiday study with Kwanzaa, St. Lucia, and Christmas this week. Elin's mom came in to teach us about St. Lucia. The kids got to dress in traditional Swedish robes and they brought pepparkaker cookies and saffron buns to share with the class! 

Mark your calendars for the second annual NPES "Math Mania" family night!  Please join us on January 12th from 6 p.m.-7 p.m. to learn more about the math program at NPES and engage in exciting math activities with your child.  This event is for NPES parents and students in grades PK-8 and we strongly encourage all to attend. Look for an evite to follow in the next few weeks.  Please contact Emily Friend at friend@npeschool.org with any questions.

Thank you so much for your wonderful holiday gift. I cannot begin to express my gratitude. I am so thankful to all of you for your generosity, support, and amazing children. It has been such a joy to work with all of you and your children this year. Thank you for sending excited and motivated learners to school each day. 

I look forward to spending the next half of the year with your kids. Have a relaxing and joyful winter break.

Thank you again and see you in the new year!

Ms. Ardito 

12/11/15

Happy Friday!

This week we began our winter holiday study. During this time, we learn about different holidays around the world that are celebrated during this season. We focus on the cultural aspects of each holiday as opposed to the religious components. The kids enjoyed learning about Las Posadas, St. Nicholas day, and Noa and Molly's mom came in to teach us about Hannukah! We made our very own Menorahs out of paint with our hands. 

Ms. Woltmann taught a lesson about the European holiday St. Nicholas. She told us that St. Nicholas was a kind man who provided gifts to those who were less fortunate. We played a traditional German game of "hide the pickle". Each child decorated their own pickle and hid them around the room. Then we went on a pickle hunt! Once the kids found someones pickle, they said something kind to that student. We emphasized that the true spirit of winter holidays is all about kindness and giving. 

Next week we will study Kwanza, St. Lucia, and Christmas. We studied Diwali back in November with Mili and Vikrant's mom. We are so grateful to have families willing to come in and share their culture with us! 

We are continuing our Gingerbread story study and have read so many different versions! We are getting very good at comparing and contrasting each one. In keeping with our gingerbread theme, we spent time creating our own "deconstructed" gingerbread men. They are hanging outside our classroom, come take a look!

We celebrated Vikrant's Super Kid Day this week. His mom and brother shared Dinosaur cookies with the class and read "Prehistoric Mammals" by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld.

Mick's sister and mom came in as mystery readers this week and read "Missing Piece" by Shel Silverstein.















Ella Protess, another second grader, also came in as a mystery reader! She read "Goldilicious" by Victoria Kann.

















Darcel, Kate's nanny, also came as a mystery this week! She read "Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad" by Jacky Davis.


Can you believe we had a 4th mystery reader? Sam's grandma surprised us and read "". She brought a felt board so the kids could interact with the story. We had so much fun.











The Winter Showcase was such a success! The kids did a wonderful job and had so much fun. We were so proud of them!

On Friday we had our "Hour of Code". The kids were paired up with fifth grade to learn about coding. They played a coding game on the iPad and had a great time. Thank you to all of our awesome parent volunteers!

Just a reminder that dismissal is at 3:10 from the playlot. In inclement weather we dismiss from the vestibule. If you need to pick up your child early please let the office know and we will happily send your child down. It helps us to keep the afternoon pack up a bit smoother. Thank you!

Next week is a big holiday travel week, please let me know if your family will be out of town for any part of it.

We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Ms. Ardito

Hour of Code

Today, the kindergarteners had the opportunity to guide a robot in his quest to light squares  during their Hour of Code experience. The kindergarteners were paired with a 5th grade buddy that brought an iPad for their use. The 5th graders acted as guides and reading assistants as the kindergarteners worked within the Lightbot app to move their robot using icons to represent commands. The adults in the room had the chance to overhear amazing conversations between the children as they problem solved, thought through situations sequentially, and examined cause and effect behaviors. These skills translate across the curriculum, but with the coding experience, students had the chance to practice them in a game based setting. 
The code.org site is a wonderful free resource for coding and app creation opportunities for children. I would also encourage you to check out Scratch Jr. (works well as an iPad app) and Scratch for more advanced coding experiences. Scratch offers a platform for students to write code and create a game that can be shared with others in a safe online setting. Your child might also be interested in experimenting with a Makey Makey (If I explain it, I won't do it justice). Take a look at this wonderful device that makes it possible to turn bananas into a keyboard. In conjunction with Computer Science Week and Hour of Code, the Tynker app, is offering free in-app purchases until December 11th. This app provides coding and problem solving challenges for all ages and levels. Coding is the perfect opportunity for kids to utilize their problem solving and spatial reasoning skills over the winter break.
An extra special thank you goes out to Nicholas Wong, Eric and Lisa Wolff, Chris Kaufield, and Mike Check (dad to Josie in 1st and Braeden in 3rd) for their help in facilitating this process for the students.

This week in kindergarten we've been in a winter frenzy! We've put away our fall decorations and turkey books and taken out our December decor.

Just a reminder, the Winter Showcase is next Wednesday at 7pm. Mr. Saltz has asked the kids to arrive at 6:40 pm. The show will be in the auditorium at North Side College Prep, 5501 N Kedzie Ave, Chicago, IL 60625.  The Kindergarteners can go directly to the stage where Ms. Woltmann and I will be to help organize them.  After their performance kids will be dismissed from the stage to go sit with their families. We are so excited for the show!

We have started reading a series of Gingerbread stories as part of our December reading unit. We will explore the several different versions of this story as retold by many authors. The kids are learning that a story can be shared again and again in different ways. We are also learning to compare and contrast the differences and similarities in each one.


This week in math we learned a new game called the "Train Game". Students start with zero cubes and "grow" a train by taking turns rolling a die and adding that amount of cubes to the train. The game ends when one child reaches 10 cubes. This activity focuses on one-to-one correspondence and adding numbers up to 10.

On Thursday, we had the opportunity to go upstairs to the Junior High Project Fair. The older kids spent time sharing their work with our class. We loved learning from them!

In our reading this week, we learned to point to each word while we read to help us be better readers. Try this strategy at home with your child in your reading this weekend. 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. See you Monday! 

Ms. Ardito