Happy Dongzhi!
Kindergarteners spent the week looking at and learning all about DongZhi Festival, the celebration of the Winter Solstice in China! Students made new discoveries about Chinese traditions and Dongzhi’s ties to the concept of yin and yang, as well as the importance of light. This week, students talked all about the similarities and differences of Dongzhi and the holidays they celebrate. Students cannot wait to share all that they have learned about Dongzhi in Whole School Morning Meeting next week with their older peers! They will also be learning about the importance of light in Hanukkah, Christmas, Los Posadas, St. Lucia Day, Winter Solstice, and Kwanzaa! 

How-To Books
We spent a lot of time this week working on building our How-To books, as Kindergarteners explained all of the things that they feel they’ve mastered. Students walked us step-by-step through how to do all kinds of things, from how to make and wrap a gift to taking care of a cat. Students started by illustrating their ideas, and built onto those by stretching out the sounds of the words and labeling their photos. Once students felt like they were finished, they looked back at their books to make sure they hadn’t missed any steps along the way! We’re not sure How-To get any more excited about all of the fantastic writing and thinking going on in our classroom.

Clothing Care
As part of their clothing unit, Kindergarteners spent the week experimenting with clothing care. Students have learned all about technology’s affect on clothing and have even gotten a peek at some tools used in the 1500s. Last week, students were tasked to use dirt, paint, or markers to make fabric as dirty as possible. Once the stains had set, we took half of them to wash in a washing machine and students  hand washed the others. We have learned that technology has made clothing care easier, but students were excited to compare results. Their handwashing seemed more effective on our dirt, while the washing machine did a better job with paint. But Kindergarteners and the washing machine both got ALL of the marker stains out!

Important Dates:
December 19th – PJ Day & Holiday Extravaganza 10:30-11:30 (11:30am Dismissal)
December 20th-January 3rd – Winter Break (No School)
January 3rd – Teacher Work Day (No School)
January 15th – MLK Day (No School)