Goodbye

Dear Students,

You were entrusted to our care in the beginning of the year and now we are proud to see you pounds heavier, inches taller, months older, more responsible and much more mature than you were then. It has been a pleasure and privilege to watch your personality unfold day by day. For having spent nine months together, we have grown closer and we shall always retain a little of each other.

We have lived, loved, laughed, played, learned and enriched our lives together this year. We wish it could go on indefinitely but we must send you forward. Take care of yourself, for you are precious.

Remember, Near or apart we are always in each other's heart. 

I wish you well ! 

Your teachers, 

 Ms Najla 

 Ms Carol 

 Ms Cecile 

 Pre K C 2019-2020

30th April, 2020 - Thursday

Note: Today we will have our meeting at 3:30 on zoom. See you all ! 

Please check 'PE' and 'Performing arts' pages for new lesson plans. 

Song: here

Activity 1: Language and Literacy (Alphabetic Knowledge) Alphabet Soup Match

Materials: Plastic/wooden letters or (any water-resistant objects with upper case letters written on it such as small wooden blocks/Lego), spoon/ tongs, water, large container, cookie tray, marker.

Vocabulary: letter names, phonic letter sounds, scoop, spoon, soup, match, container, tray

Beginning: Tell the child, today they will be making alphabet soup, and say, “I wonder what letters you will find?”

Middle: Encourage the child to scoop out all the letters and while they take each letter out, ask them which letter it is, and ask them if they can think of something that begins with the same letter. 

End: At the end have the child match all the plastic letters to the ones written on the tray, give them a 5-minute warning and then have them help clean up.  

Duration: 10- 15 minutes 

Extension: You and the child can play the game ‘I Spy’ by saying I spy with my little eye something beginning with a letter e.g.  ‘A’ then you have to guess what object they are thinking about, then take it in turns. You could also sing the ABC song. 

Brain Break:

Activity 2: Math (Data analysis) Graph a sock

Materials: 6 Pairs of socks (you can add more later), basket/container for socks, colored tape or large white easel paper with graph lines drawn on it, ruler, marker, small square paper, pencil

Vocabulary: sort, same, different, match, more, less, most, mostly least, pattern, spots, strips, stripy, numbers, color names.

Beginning: Tell the child, today they will be sorting socks and wonder what color/pattern socks they have most, ask them what they think? Explain that you will be using a graph to find out. Work alongside them making a graph of your own.

Middle: Encourage the child to sort the socks according to colors or patterns and ask them “I wonder where you will put the blue sock? Stripy etc? I see you put… together, I wonder where do you think this sock goes? If a sock has more than one colour ask them is it mostly … or … let them decide.

End: Once the child has placed all socks on the graph have them guess which column has the most/least, then tell them let’s find out. Encourage the child to count how many socks there are in each column then have them write tally marks or have them write the number of socks per column on a small piece of paper and put them above each column and compare them which is more, less etc.. Give the child a 5-minute warning and have them help clean up putting all the socks into the basket.

Duration: 10-15 minutes 

Extension: You could have the child count or pair all the socks. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Summer activities ⇓

link

29th April, 2020 - Wednesday

Note: Please check Mandarin tab for a new lesson plan. Also we will have our last live morning greeting session at 12:30. See you all !

We will have theme 'Patterns' for our next and last Thursday zoom meeting on 30th April, 2020 (Tomorrow) at 3:30 pm.

Song: here

Activity 1: Mathematics: Balloon number hunting 

Materials: balloon or (Foil), marker, paper

Vocabulary: number, count, more, less, hunt, order, under, beside, behind, front, top, bottom

Beginning: Start writing numbers (1 – 5) on the balloons. Let your child help you to write numbers or let him/her draw tally marks. Then hide them all over the house.

Middle: Tell your child, “Today we are going on a balloon hunting.” Let him/her search and collect balloons.

End: Give 3 minutes warning. Your child may identify and name the numbers. He/she may count the tally marks and say the total number.

Duration: 10 - 15 minutes

Extension: Your child could hunt up to 10 number balloons or he/she may compare tallies on the balloons and stating which balloon has more/less tallies. 

Brain Break:

Activity 2: Science & Fine motor skills: Ice painting

Materials: Bowl, ice cubes, paint, paint brush

Vocabulary: experiment, ice cube, cold, melting, round, back and forth, paint, temperature

Beginning: Place the materials on the table. Let your child explore, touch, feel and describe. Then say, “Today we will paint the ice cubes.”

Middle: Let him/her experiment. You may ask, “I wonder what will happen to the paint color once you paint the ice.” Wait for the response. Say, “I can see the ice is melting.” or “The color of ice is changing.” 

End: Give 3 minutes warning. You may describe his/her actions and acknowledge your child ideas.

Duration: 15 minutes

Extension: Next time your child could freeze the colored ice cubes by adding food color and water in the ice tray. Put your popsicle sticks into the color water. Once frozen, he/she may paint it on the paper.

28th April, 2020 - Tuesday

Note: Our morning greeting session will take place at 12:30 on Zoom followed by 10 minutes Arabic class until 12:55. See you all !

Please check 'PE' page for a new lesson plan.

We will have theme 'Patterns' for our next Thursday zoom meeting on 30th April, 2020 at 3:30 pm.

Song: here

Activity 1: Science (Oil and Water Experiment)

Materials: Baby oil or vegetable oil, washable liquid watercolors or food coloring, cups (preferably clear cups or glasses) and droppers (you can use a medicine dropper)

Vocabulary: Oil, water, mix, stir, soluble, droplets

Beginning: Show the materials to the children and ask them what they will be doing with them. Let them dip their finger in water and then oil to notice the difference in the two liquids.

Middle: Let the child pour water in two cups and add two different food colors or liquid watercolors to the water. Then let him/her stir to combine. In a third cup pour oil until the cup is halfway full. Now with the dropper let the child drip a little bit of colored water from the two cups of colored water into the cup of oil. Let them explore what happens when the drops of colored water drip into the oil. Bring attention to the fact that oil and water droplets are not mixing. Ask them the reason why and acknowledge their answers.

End: Give the child a two to three minutes warning and then ask them to help you clean up by discarding the colored water and the oil and by wiping away any spills.

Duration: 15 minutes

Extension: You can make a lava lamp based on the same concept. Here is a link for the experiment: here

Brain Break:

Activity 2: Math (Patterns) - Fruit kabobs

Materials: Any two kinds of fruits cut up into small pieces on a plate (watermelon/melon/pineapple/banana/apple/orange etc.), wooden bbq skewers/sticks/chopsticks

Vocabulary: Pattern, alternate, next, before, after

Beginning: Show the sticks/skewers and the fruits to the child and ask him/her what can they do with the materials?

Middle: Sit next to the child and start putting the fruit pieces on your stick by following a certain pattern (For example, orange, orange, apple, orange, orange, apple, orange, orange, apple and so on). You can ask the child what kind of pattern he/she is going to make. Encourage them to follow a specific pattern by saying out the name of the fruit they put on the skewer (For example, “I can see you put on a strawberry then watermelon then again strawberry. I wonder what will come next?)

End: Give the child a two to three minutes warning before the end of the activity and then ask him/her to help you clean up. The child may eat his/her fruit kebob at the end of the activity.

Duration: 15 minutes

Extension: You can give the child three fruits instead of two to make a more complex pattern (for example, apple, orange, strawberry, apply, orange, strawberry, apple, orange, strawberry and son on)

27th April, 2020 - Monday

Note: Our morning greeting session will take place at 12:30 on Zoom. 

Group ‘C’ will have its small group at 1:30 pm. See you !

Please check 'French' page for a new lesson plan. 

Song: here

Activity 1: Science and Technology

Materials: Heavyweight paper, variety of collage materials with different textures (for example, cotton, sand paper, fabric pieces, feathers, aluminum foil) or any materials that you have at home that help the same purpose.

Vocabulary:  Soft, rough, shiny, or bumpy.

Beginning: Introduce the collage materials, and encourage your child to touch and describe the feeling. Model descriptive words such as: soft, rough, shiny, or bumpy.

Middle: Encourage the child to create a collage with the materials. Use the materials to create your own collage too. As you are working, continue to describe your work and the materials you are using. Encourage the child to think of other things in the house that are similar to the materials he/she is using; “This aluminum foil is shiny, what else is shiny?”. Listen and acknowledge what the child is saying.

End: Give your child a five-minute warning. Ask him/her to help you put away the materials back to their place. Talk to your child about his/her collage. Ask open ended questions such as: “I wonder what you did”.

Duration: 10-15 minutes

Extension: Go on a treasure hunt around the house. Find items with similar attributes, for example, things that feel soft, rough, slippery, or mushy etc.

Brain Break:

Activity 2: Mathematics

Materials:  3 jars or any containers, 10 x 1 SAR bills, 4 x 5 SAR bills, and 3 x 10 SAR bills (if you don’t have bills, you could find pictures and print the amount needed)

Vocabulary: Money, buy, purchase, exchange, value, amount, add, etc.

Beginning: Remember to disinfect the bills before using. Show each bill and ask them its value (1, 5 or 10 SAR?). Ask your child what money is used for. Listen and acknowledge what they say by adding to their vocabulary new words such as, exchange, value, buy, purchase, etc.

Middle: Tell your child you’re going to mix all the bills and then sort them into 3 different containers. The 1 SAR bills in a jar, 5 SAR bills in another and the same goes for the 10 SARS. Encourage your child to count the number of bills in total and begin sorting them into the containers.

End: Give your child a 3 minutes warning. Ask your child to compare which jar has more bills and encourage him/her to say how many more.

Duration: 10 - 15 minutes

Extension: Create a pretend play scenario where you own a shop and are selling the objects in the house. Encourage your child to pick out an object he/she would like to “buy” and after telling him/her the price (not more than 10 SAR). Then, help your child figure out what and how many bills to give you in exchange for that object.

26th April, 2020 - Sunday

Note: Our morning greeting session will take place at 12:30 on Zoom. 

Group ‘A’ will have its small group at 1:30 and Group 'B' at 2:00 today. See you all ! 

Please check 'PE' and 'Arabic' pages for new lesson plans. 

Song: here

Activity 1: Language, reading 

Materials: The Cat Secrets book

Or

Link: here

Vocabulary: Secret, title, author, whisper, attention, shame, purr, reveal, etc.

Beginning: Go through the pictures in the book without reading the words. (Mute the video if you do not have a hard copy of the book and are watching the video. The link to the video is provided above)

Middle: Turn the volume on or read the words in the book if you have a hard copy. Acknowledge children’s ideas as you read the book. Encourage them to pretend to be a cat. Ask them to purr like a cat and make animal sounds (“Meow”). Ask your child to predict what may happen next in the story as you go through the book/video. (while pausing the video in between)

End: Recall at least three things that happened in the story. Encourage them to use words such as “first”, “then” and “next”. Ask him/her questions related to the book such as: “I wonder what the cat secrets may be.”

Duration: 10-15 min

Extension: Ask your child to pretend to make sounds like the animals mentioned in the book and to stretch like a cat, a dog, or tip toe like a mouse etc.

Brain Break:

Activity 2: Creative Arts/Fine motor

Materials: any materials that you may have to make jewelry such as Pipe colored cleaners, ribbons, paper foil, twist ties, rubber bands, beads, color coated paper clips, shoe laces, feathers, glue.

Vocabulary: Tiara, crown, palace, queen, reception party, gala, fancy, jewelry, etc.

Beginning: You can start by making up a story that you are invited to a reception party by the queen at her palace. Ask your child what she/he thinks the queen, the king, the princes, and the princesses will be wearing. Listen and acknowledge what your child is saying and mention the words “golden crown”, “silver tiara”, “diamond watch”, etc. Encourage your child to imagine what the guests at the party are wearing.

Middle: Show your child the materials and say, “I wonder what kinds of sparkly jewelry you’ll make for the reception party”. Describe what the child is making, how she/he is combining and attaching the materials. Ask your child questions about the texture, color, size, etc.

End: Give your child a five-minute warning. Ask him/her to describe his/her work and how he/she is going to wear it.

Duration: 15 minutes

Extension: Bring more jewelry-making materials in the art area. Use brochures or any pictures of jewelry for men and women. If you have extra clothes, you can bring and adjust them for your child’s pretend play to wear when they go to the party.

23rd April, 2020 - Thursday

Good morning PreK C ! Today is our concert day at 3:30 pm on zoom. 

Song: here

Activity 1: Language, Literacy and Communication: Book Enjoyment and Knowledge: Book ‘Good Night Gorilla’ 

Materials: Book Online ‘Good Night Gorilla’ here

Vocabulary: Zoo, zookeeper, gorilla, elephant, lion, giraffe, armadillo, hyena, mouse, cage, rope, bike, tire, thread, flashlight, night, keys, nightgown, dark, floor, curtain, bed, lamp, rug, yard, trees, follow, scream, etc.

Beginning: Ask the child to predict what they think the story is going to be about, then go through the pictures in the book without reading the words. (Mute the video if you do not have a hard copy of the book and are watching the video. The link to the video is provided above)

Middle: Turn the volume on or read the words in the book if you have a hard copy. Acknowledge children’s ideas as you go. Make them predict what they think will happen next in the story as you go through the book/video.

End: Encourage the child to recall four or more events that they remembered in the story, and remind them what they predicted, encourage them to think if their prediction was the same or different from what happened. Then ask the child questions related to the book such as “what happened in the beginning of the story, what animals do you remember? and what happened in the end, ‘I wonder what was your favorite animal?, What do you think would happen if all the animals were let out of the zoo for real? Why do you think the gorilla opened all the cages? Why are the animals following the zookeeper to his house? Why did the wife of the zookeeper take all the animals back to the zoo? Why can’t zoo or jungle animals live with people?

Duration: 10-15 minutes

Extension: You could give the child a piece of paper and a pencil and ask them to draw all the animals and parts of the story they remember. You could watch the animated version of the book - here or gather a few jungle animals and act out the story or make up your own.

Brain Break:

Activity 2: Mathematics & Fine Motor, (Number and counting) - Making paper chains
Materials: different colored papers with lines drawn on them, have some pre-cut strips as a backup, ruler, scissors, glue, Optional: Stapler, pencil

Vocabulary: Paper, chain, color names, link, hoop, loop, ring, under, over, put together, press, hold, long, short, pattern, next, stick, strips.

Beginning: Tell the child that today they will be making a paper chain. Ask them “I wonder what colors your paper chain will have? And who will have the most links on their paper chain.

Middle: Encourage the child to cut out a few strips of paper and work beside the child demonstrating how to make a paper chain, by gluing or stapling the ends and linking the hoops together. Ask the child” I wonder what color you will use next”, tell them you’re going to make a paper chain with 15 paper links and ask them how many they will make. Notice how they link the paper together, by saying “I see you…..,”

End: Tell the child, it's almost clean up time they have 5 minutes left, “I wonder who has the most links on their paper chain?”, encourage the child to lay their paper chain beside yours and count them one at a time, then compare how many they have. Then encourage the child to clean up all the materials and ask them what they think they should do with the extra pieces of paper should they make a box of recycled papers? To use later or if they should be thrown away.

Duration: 10-15 minutes 

Extension: You could have the child write on a piece of paper tally marks or the number of links on the paper chain. Ask the child where they would like to hang their paper chain, you could write and make a new link and add it to the paper chain everyday according to any agreement you may have with your child such as every time they read a new book, or when they try a new food etc.

                        ----------------------------------------------------------------