2010 Superstars

Seabury Picnic

2011-08-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

The picnic was a big success! Thanks to everyone who came-fun people, good food and fabulous weather, a winning combination! We can hardly wait for school to start on Wednesday, it's hard to know if the teachers or children are the most excited. See you Wednesday.

Last post of the year

2011-06-07T20:35:00.000-07:00

September 2010

June 2011

It's hard to believe the year is over! It's been a great year filled with new friends and experiences and tremendous growth. We've really enjoyed working with this group of children and helping them grow. Thanks for sharing your children with us! Have a fun and safe summer, we'll see you back at school in August!

A Day at the Beach

2011-05-31T13:57:00.000-07:00

Things are starting to get wrapped up around the Superstar classroom. We have started our last project of the year and are looking forward to the last couple weeks together. It's been an amazing year with great kids. We'll miss them!

Last week we performed our community service project. We were asked to pick up litter at Chambers Bay. It was a beautiful day in sun. We cleaned up the beach, watched the birds and little critters with our educator from Pierce County, and had lunch in the grass. It was a great way to put into practice all the things we have been learning about taking care of our environment.

A busy time of year!

2011-05-22T19:18:00.000-07:00

We had lots of fun with our artist in residence.

We enjoyed our friends and the sunshine!

We set up a store to learn about money.

We had the "Superstar Regatta" to race our boats!

The Explorers helped us with our first word processing project.

We released our butterflies and they didn't even stop to say hello.

We painted an ocean mural.

We read with friends.

The Sharks shared their books with us.

I don't think we could possibly cram one more thing into our week! Learning and exploring together is a great way to spend a day!

Visit to the Butterfly Exhibit

2011-05-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

The Superstars visited the Pacific Science Center as the culmination of our unit on insects. It was a real treat to wander through the butterfly habitat. We had several "up close and personal" visits with the butterflies!

2011-04-25T20:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks in the Superstars. We've made polymers with glue, water and borax; we're hammered and taken apart a dvd player and a computer and we've planted vegetables with the Sharks for Earth Day. Our caterpillars are about to spin their chrysalis, the ladybugs are almost ready for their wings and the praying mantis eggs are about to hatch. It's a busy time of change and growth in our classroom. As the year winds down, it is so exciting to look back on all the changes that have taken place with the children. It's been a privilege to work with them!

The Big Idea

2011-04-08T18:18:00.000-07:00

The week before Spring Break we spent a couple of days exploring the "Big Idea" behind tops. We tried different types of tops, made our own tops, tried them on the floor and desk, and we tried spinning them fast and slow. We talked about the concepts of gravity, friction, inertia, centrifugal force and Newton's first law of motion. We shared what we had learned with other classes and demonstrated our techniques. It was a fun and engaging way to explore scientific concepts.

We enjoyed a visit from "Mickey"! Isn't he sweet!

Science Fair

2011-03-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

Lucky us! Odin was back to listen to our readers!

We love the science fair! All of our Superstars brought in fabulous science projects to share with us. We learned about oxidation, the perfect bubble solution, Newton's 3rd Law, the best laundry product for cleaning white socks, the interaction between eggs and vinegar and much more. The children eagerly shared what they had discovered with other students and parents.

Composting Lesson

2011-03-09T12:51:00.000-08:00

Monday we did a fun experiment where we are trying to discover things that are and are not biodegradable. Today's lesson on composting was a great follow up. We discussed what items can and cannot go into a worm bin and then used viewers to study the creatures that are in a worm bin. It also gave us a great visual of items that are various stages of decomposition.

Science Fun!

2011-03-09T12:37:00.000-08:00

We had a great time planting a rain forest

Green Eggs and Ham!

2011-03-09T11:33:00.000-08:00

2011-03-07T21:16:00.000-08:00

The Superstars are all about science this month as we get ready for the science fair. We've been working on understanding the scientific method and the steps needed to perform an experiment. We also found out it's harder than you think to make salt water that is denser than fresh water. The kids have enjoyed postulating a hypothesis, doing the experiment, making the observations and coming up with the conclusions. It's been a lot of fun!

science doesn't alway work the way we predict!

sometimes it does!

we have a budding photographer in the class

working together is an important of what we do

We also visited the Tacoma Art Museum to learn more about lines, geometry and perspective in art. That was fun too!

French at Seabury

2011-02-23T17:50:00.000-08:00

At Seabury, we are blessed to have two excellent French teachers. Recently, I was lucky to have the opportunity to sit in on a French class with our children. What fun!! They played games, sang and danced and never once suspected they were learning French! They excitedly joined in the fun, hardly able to sit still waiting their turn. Oh, to be a kindergartners having so much fun learning French!

The Human Body

2011-02-01T20:38:00.000-08:00

The Superstars are starting a new area of study this week. We are investigating the human body. We got right to work tracing our bodies so we can add the organs as we learn about them. I love the way the kids are so enthusiastic about learning new things. They jump right into new projects and love sharing any information and facts they have on the subject. This is such a special group of kids, they are bright and articulate, ready to work together to accomplish a goal. Some days, the biggest problem we have is not enough time in our day to do all the things we would like to do!

We love the zoo!

2011-01-25T20:21:00.000-08:00

What a great day to go to the zoo! We practically had the place to ourselves and it hardly rained at all! We visited Point Defiance Zoo as part of our unit on the Arctic and Antarctica. We attended a class on Arctic animals and then got to see the animals up close. The opportunity to see the animals and touch their fur, antlers, and bones makes a real impression on the kids. They will retain more of what they have learned in the classroom because of this experience. Besides all the good educational reasons for going, we had a lot of fun!

2011-01-18T18:07:00.000-08:00

The music program was terrific. It always amazes me how confident these young children are. Not a single case of stage fright among them! Thanks for braving the snow to join us.

This is the time of year when the we are really hitting our stride in the classroom. All of the adjustment issues are behind us, the screening has been completed for placement in reading and math groups, and everyone knows the routine. Now is the time when we see the most growth, and wow, have we seen tons of growth just since winter break. Everyone is reading now and enjoying their success. Math is getting easier and more fun. The children are working more independently and accomplishing so much.

We spend a lot of our time working on reading and language skills. Our most independent readers are reading chapter books that average about 110 pages in a week's time. Our beginning readers read to each other and the dogs and are now really happy to be reading. We are working on writing words and making sentences. Today the word cards were all over the floor and the kids created sentences with a subject and a verb. They had a great time learning about people, places , things and action words. It is amazing how much power there is in the written word and they are beginning to enjoy that power!

It's good to be back at school!

2011-01-10T21:23:00.000-08:00

It's so good to be back! I don't know who was more excited to be back at school, the kids or us! We jumped right back into our routine and started a new unit of study. This month we're learning about the Arctic, Antarctica and the animals that live there. Did you know there are hundreds of different kinds of penguins? They all live south of the Equator but not necessarily in icy conditions. Those are just a couple of the facts we've learned this week. Each of the children has picked an animal they would like to know more about and we've been doing some research on them. This week we'll be making an environment for our animals.

To finish out our first week back at school, we had the opportunity to go see "Lyle the Crocodile" at Seattle Children's Theatre. It was wonderful! The children were spellbound for the whole 2 hour performance. It's been a good week!

2010-12-14T17:58:00.000-08:00

It's been an exciting week. Pierce County Environmental Education was back to visit us. This week we learned all about the water cycle. We learned that it is not always an exact circle from rain to evaporation, sometimes the water is used by plants and animals first. The children pretended to be a drop of water and traveled many different paths along the water cycle.

This week we also had our open house. It was great that so many of you were able to come in and see what we've been working on this trimester. The kids love having you in the classroom.

Getting ready for the holidays

2010-12-06T18:28:00.000-08:00

The Superstars are busy decorating the classroom for the holidays. We have a gingerbread house village complete with a train set on our social studies/science table. The children made the houses at home and brought them in to share with the class. We have been reading several different versions of "The Gingerbread Boy" and comparing and contrasting them. It's amazing how many versions there are! We are also working on patterning and fine motor skills by stringing beads into wreaths and candy canes.

We're looking forward to the Lower School Music Program this week, we hope you'll be able to join us.

Snow Snow Snow!

2010-11-30T22:09:00.000-08:00

Snow Babies

Snow!

The Bear Cubs join us for some free play on the short snow day

Check out our awesome chalk fall trees and wind and rain watercolor. We have some great artists!

Pioneer Farm

2010-11-30T22:00:00.000-08:00

Jumping in the hay loft

Milking the cow

Grinding corn

Pioneer School

The wood shed

Doing the laundry

Native American welcome paint

Shooting with a bow and arrow

2010-11-15T18:36:00.000-08:00

This week we were lucky to have Odin, the reading dog, return to our classroom. Odin listens to each child as they read something they think Odin will enjoy. One child picked "Dog and Cat", we're pretty sure that was his favorite! Odin is a great dog, gentle and calm, it's a real treat to have him in the classroom listening to our young readers.

We are continuing our study of Native Americans and working on our culminating project with the Shark class. It's a great time to be a Superstar!

The Superstars and the chocolate factory

2010-11-08T19:23:00.000-08:00

We finished our unit on community helpers this week with a visit from one of our parents who is a dentist. The kids learned a lot and I hear there is more brushing going on at home! His treasure box was a particularly big hit.

On Thursday we visited Theo's Chocolates in Seattle. It was the most beautiful fall day. We learned all about chocolate making and tasted lots of samples in the factory. Then we had lunch outside and watched the boats go by. It was a perfect day for a picnic!

Halloween!

2010-11-01T13:14:00.000-07:00

Halloween is a favorite among most young children and the Superstars are no different. The children have been planning for weeks what they would wear and who they would be. It's been a hot topic of conversation during snack and circle time. The kids were treated to a great party on Wednesday and given an opportunity to show off their costumes.

On the science table, the kids are taking a VCR apart and checking out the insides of a pumpkin. If you notice a sudden interest in screwdrivers, this is why!

Fire Trucks and Storm Drains

2010-10-24T20:23:00.000-07:00

This week the Superstars were visited by the fire department and Enviro Challengers. We learned more about the job of a firefighter and got to check out the rig. During our class with Enviro Challengers we played games about things that go down our drains. While several kids thought the fire fighters had a pretty cool job, they weren't quite as enthralled with cleaning out storm drains. We all agreed it would be better if we were more careful with what went down those drains instead of having to clean them out!

We are also working on our critical thinking skills. We are practicing using all of our senses to describe things, this week we used our sense of touch to figure what an object was without using our eyes. With a little practice, we got pretty good at it!

Pumpkin Patch!

2010-10-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

This week the Superstars visited the Pumpkin Patch. We had a beautiful day and an interesting tour. We learned about corn and floating pumpkins and enjoyed a trolley ride. We could have spent hours in the corn maze alone. Before the pumpkin patch, we had a visit from the Tacoma police department. We learned about how to keep ourselves safe. The detective that visited us stressed that all children this age should know their phone number and address. It would be great if you could practice this at home.

2010-10-10T14:29:00.000-07:00

The Superstars have been very busy this week. We learned about the importance of hand washing using a black light from the Health Department, had a visit from a firefighter to learn about stop, drop, and roll and had a visit from a Pierce County Environmental Educator to learn about the cycle of things in our environment. The kids brainstormed about things that go in a cycle, one they came up with was the apple seed to apple to rotten apple. Another was the life cycle of a frog. We compared those to the cycle of paper, it starts with a tree, is made into paper, is used, re-used and finally recycled into new paper. By end of the class, we all understood the importance of recycling to keep our planet healthy, there was, however, that nagging question of where the first frog egg came from if there were no frogs to lay it. We decided to save that question for next year when they are in the Sharks class.

Stop Drop and Roll with Tacoma Fire

2010-10-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

Stop Drop and Roll!

Fire Safety Talk

Proud of the good job we did crawling low under "smoke"

Art and Pancakes

2010-10-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

The Superstars are loving our new art curriculum. Friday afternoons, we have a parent who leads us in one of the new art lessons. We are learning about all kinds of art and how it was made. We are talking about the emotion and feelings we get from looking at the art and then we get to create some of our own masterpieces!

This week we made pancakes for snack. It was a wonderful opportunity to measure and mix and take turns and then eat what we made! The kids thought these were the best pancakes ever!

Worms!

2010-09-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a week full of science and discovery in the Superstars! The Environmental Educator from Pierce County visited us on Tuesday and brought a tub full of worms. We learned about worms and their bodies and the important role they play in the garden. Then later in the week we spent some time in the science room using our new light table to make observations about seeds, pods and leaves. The children are getting really good at making descriptive observations, we use these in our science lessons and in our writing. We even had time this week to do some "Buddy" reading with the Sharks! It's been another good week in the Superstars!

Friends 101

2010-09-18T18:37:00.001-07:00

The past 2 weeks we have been having class meetings with the Sharks class. We are working on how to be a good friend. That sounds pretty straightforward but when you are 7 or younger, it's not as easy as it sounds. Sometimes it is just hard to think first before you act. At our last meeting, we talked about what to do when someone has something you want. We did some role playing and brainstorming to come up with some good solutions. Turns out, Mrs. Van and I are really good at whining! Thankfully, the kids were able to help us work out our problems! We are hoping these joint meetings will help all of the children to be kind and respectful of each other with skills they can use in any situation.

Busy Children!

2010-09-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

I just love this job! The children are wonderful! They are settling into the routine and we are having a really good time! This past week we have learned about math patterns, problem solving, and measuring. We made playdough and applesauce. We made pictures in the style of Matisse and DaVinci and started reading groups. We used fingerpaint to work on writing our names in lower case letters, had a visit from Enviro Challenger and started technology. As you can see, we had a very busy week! I'm sure your children are coming home exhausted!

It's been a great week!

2010-09-06T18:09:00.001-07:00

We're off to a great start in the Superstars! The children are making friends, learning the routine and school rules, and getting comfortable in the classroom. We are starting to screening for alphabet awareness, number awareness, reading and math abilities and interests. They had their first visits with the PE teacher, French teacher and the school librarian. This week they will meet the music teacher and start technology.

Helene and I have lots of fun and interesting activities planned for your children. We are happy to be getting the school year under way and are looking forward to giving your children many learning opportunities this year.

Welcome to the Superstars!

2010-08-30T15:49:00.001-07:00

The room is ready and we're ready! We're looking forward to greeting your Superstar on Wednesday morning. It will be a PE day for us so be sure your child is wearing appropriate shoes for running. (or send them with your child) Remember the Parent Coffee in the MP room after you drop off your child.