Room 102 Kindergarten News Mrs. Donahue & Mrs. Leone, December 15, 2009 THEME: Holidays From Around the World During the days leading up to vacation, the children will create a holiday booklet. We will not have separate Table Time groups, but rather, we will complete the same projects while working in small groups. The children will learn about the following holidays: SANTA LUCIA - This is a Swedish holiday where the custom is for the oldest girl and the youngest boy of the family to serve their parents breakfast. We will ask the oldest girl and youngest boy of our class to serve a snack of coffee cake and milk to their classmates. The boys will make hats and the girls will make crowns. They will complete one paper for our holiday booklet, and review their seriating skills by completing a small/medium/large sorting sheet. HANUKKAH - We will read many books about this holiday including the book Latkes and Applesauce. The children will then color, cut out, and name a character from the book. We will play dreidel and complete another paper for our holiday booklet. KWANZAA - We will read several books about Kwanzaa, one in particular is a pop-up book about Kwanzaa that explains how African Americans participate in this seven day celebration. The children will play a memory game using the symbols of the celebration. They will make red, green, and black placemats that are the colors of the Kwanzaa flag. The children will also review their patterning skills by completing an AB picture pattern sheet. They will add a paper to their holiday booklet. CHRISTMAS - We will be very busy organizing our holiday family surprises. We are planning on having a “Fancy Snack” on Wednesday. As with all of our celebrations, we will eat at one large table. The children will also complete a paper for their holiday booklets. We will also listen to The Polar Express story tape. ODDS & ENDS: WINTER CLOTHING: If there is snow on the ground, please send in SNOW PANTS & BOOTS every day. We will go out for recess every day that we are allowed to go (e.g. reasonable wind-chill factor, no ice). If your child does not have the appropriate outdoor clothing, he/she will have to remain on the hardtop and may not play in the snow. This does not please them, as you can imagine. We read 100 books in our classroom and earned a certificate from Scholastic Book Clubs Classrooms Care Program. Scholastic Books will donate books in our name to programs that help children in need acquire books. BOSTON SHARE NETWORK is an organization that works with homeless shelters. One of their goals is to provide books to children who are living in shelters. These books are donated to the shelter libraries. The resident children may often keep the books so there is a continued need. If you are interested in donating books in good condition, please send them in and I will deliver them to this organization. OUR VERY BEST WISHES TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES FOR A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON, A HAPPY & HEALTHY NEW YEAR, AND A FUN VACATION!