Exciting Energy

This week we have been learning about light, heat, and sound energy. We discovered that our sun is our greatest sort of light and heat for our world. We created a circle map where we drew pictures of items that give off light. Then, we covered our pictures with glitter to illustrate the light that they give off.

Then, on Pajama Day, we studied about heat energy and took this fun opportunity to use a heat source to make hot chocolate. We also used our hot chocolate to melt candy canes and discussed some of the effects heat can have on objects. After reading Polar Express, we had a special delivery from the North Pole--gingerbread ice men. We were challenged to use our own body heat to melt the ice and get our own jingle bell out. This was so much fun! Here are some pictures from our fun event:

Finally, we learned about the science of sound and how sound energy can be used to make music. We learned about how our vocal chords work and felt them vibrate. Then, we explored musical instruments made out of recyclable materials. We also created our own shakers and had a Christmas sing-a-long. Here are some pictures and videos from our explorations with sound:

https://vimeo.com/196044029

https://vimeo.com/196043905

Music Around the World--Week 1--Australia

Welcome to our Music Around the World Club! I am so very excited that your child is joining me in this journey as we travel around the world exploring different countries and their unique music. I have two loves in life—music and children— so I could not be more thrilled to share this experience together with your child. We are going to learn to play instruments and sing songs from different countries. Then, we will share our music with you all at a Music Around the World Celebration Night in May. It is sure to be a night that you will not want to miss! Thank you again for allowing me the privilege to work with your child. I can not wait to share this experience together!

We began our musical tour around the world today by talking about the universal language of music and how it can touch all hearts and help all people. Then, we enjoyed singing "It's a Small World" together before flying around the world to Australia. 

The land down under had a lot to offer us! We learned about everything from koala bears to kangaroos and spent a "day in the life" of a girl from Australia on the Time for Kids website. We were also introduced to two of Australia's favorite instruments--bilmas and digeridoos. After listening to one of Australia's traditional songs featuring these instruments, we made our very own bilmas and digeridoos. Boy were they cool too! Finally, we began learning the Australian song that we are going to perform, Kookaburra. It is a silly song that will make you giggle and laugh, while allowing you to soak up the unique sounds of the digeridoos and the bilmas. Here is a show of our first day together. Leave us a comment and let us know what you think about our first week in Music Around the World!

https://vimeo.com/195067765

Spreading Christmas Joy and Kindness at School

This week our Kindergartners took time to spread love and joy to our school community by creating handmade candy cane huggers and delivering them to our faculty and staff. We told each one of them how much we appreciated them and what they meant to us. Here is a show from our special day of spreading kindness to others. 

https://vimeo.com/195061854

Sharing and Caring Service Project

This holiday season we are talking about how it is important to give back to our community and to show kindness and love to others. In order to show our students how they can help to make a positive difference in our world, we have them be a part of real life experiences through service projects. Our Kindergartners were so excited to participate in our Sharing and Caring service project today! They traveled to Chambrel Senior Living Center in our neighborhood and spread Christmas joy and love through a Christmas musical. They also passed out Christmas cards that they had made and peppermint sticks. The residents really enjoyed their performance and have already invited us to return! We hope you enjoy our show. Leave us a comment and let us know what you think!

            https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_CGJElEYcj8WXEwSVl1d0xsb28/view?usp=sharing

Thanksgiving Musical and Feast

We hope that you were able to come and see our Thanksgiving Musical and Feast today! This was our culminating activity for our study of Thanksgiving. Our students created their costumes and learned the songs and motions during the week. This video is a recording of our live performance from today. We hope that you enjoy it! Leave us a comment and let us know what you think. I have also included some pictures from our Thanksgiving Musical and Feast and from our turkey cupcake snack that we made today. Happy Thanksgiving!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_CGJElEYcj8dURrLXRRTWhTWFU/view?usp=sharing