Week of February 2-5, 2015

Week of February 2-5, 2015

Theme: I Know Animals

Focus Question: What are animals like?

Letter of the Week: D

Dear Families,

During this week, we will talk about animals, focusing on pets. We will compare animals based on appearances and discuss characteristics that make some animals amazing. This theme also gives us the opportunity to discuss how to care for pets. We will also talk about the difference between real and make-believe animals.

Learning Together

• Talk with your child about the animals that they know about. If you or a neighbor has a pet, ask your child to describe what the animal looks like and how it sounds.
• together, look for animals, such as birds or squirrels in your area. You might want to chart of the animals you see this week.
• With your child, watch television documentaries about animals. Discuss the appearances of the animals you see.
• Look through magazines and newspapers for pictures of animals and see which ones your child can name.

Activities

• Last week I was lucky enough to get a large box from a freezer that was being delivered at school. This week we are going to turn this box into something for our pets. The children will get to decide what they want to turn it into and then will be able to help with the transformation. 
• A variety of items to care for pets will be provided as well as some stuffed pets for the children to play with, there will also be items that may be used in a veterinary office so that the children can help their pets stay healthy.
• We will be sorting dog bones by size. 
• We will be choosing a pet and designing a house for our pet to live in. 
• We will be discussing what are important things for our pets to have to keep them healthy and safe as well as what we can do to help take care of them. 
• We are going to be making a D dog.
• We are also going to play a dice game. We will roll the dice and the number on the dice will tell us how many spots to put on the dog each time.
• We are going to be listening to letter sounds and environmental sounds and determining if they sound the same or different.
• Please send in a half sheet of paper that lists if you have any pets at home, what type of pets they are and what their names are. If you have any pictures of your pets we would love to see those as well. We are going to be graphing pets and seeing which type of pet there is the most of.

Upcoming dates:

• February 12-Valentine's Day party (kids only)-later this week I will be sending home information regarding Valentine's day activities.
• February 16th-No School President's Day