Milky Way, Aliens, and Pre-k excitement!

Hello Purple Room Families,

Our very amazing rocket ship has been a great place for imaginary play where our friends have been having blast off on journeys to outer space and meeting planets and aliens and all sort of fascinating things. They pack their food, dress up, and get ready to step in the rocket ship for their mission. At the end of their play, they tell us about their journey and experiences. Their stories are one in a million - hilarious, imaginative and full of thrills and adventures. When the rest of the group hears them, it's that one moment when the entire class is laughing out loud together!









Last week, still being inquisitive about the Milky Way, we watched a short related video clip (they love seeing how space looks in reality). We learned about the billions of stars in the Milky Way and even black holes, and later worked to create our own.

We first sprayed our black fabric with white spray and then using a spiral motion, friends created the Milky Way...



Adding sparkles for billions of stars...






Adding foil as big stars or as black holes...



Other activities they loved using stars were...

Beading jewelry using sparkly star beads (fine motor skills in action!)...



Creating frames and constellations using star paperclips...



Friends have also been talking about aliens in their stories and were curious to know who they are, where they come from, and much more...of course when it's outer space, this topic cannot be neglected ;) ;)

According to our friends, aliens look different and some look scary while some are friendly, they talk like "aaaaaaaa" that we cannot understand, and can come from anywhere in space, mostly Mars!

Drawing our version of aliens...






The next day we introduced them to a big block of clay and learned a trick to cut it in slabs using dental floss...friends cut enough slabs for each friend to use one.






Later we pounded the clay, felt it, and using our fingers as tools started carving our aliens, after which we even decorated them and made wonderful stories. Everyone wanted their aliens to be friendly in order to be able to play with them...









Looking at their interest and persistence, the next day we worked on two head mannequins to transform them into aliens...we had two groups working on two heads as teams...

Beginning with taping the neck...



To make a strong foundation we started patting clay from neck to head..



Covering the face and using fingers shaping the eyes...



The other group working on their alien head...






In the end, rubbing on water to make the surface smooth...



This time we did not give them any materials to add to the aliens, and rather let them choose their own. They went all around the classroom looking for things by themselves and planning how to incorporate them in their clay models. It was interesting to see them come with a variety of things and very interesting to see how they used them.

Adding accessories...



The final alien models according to them were a boy and a girl named Mr. Gem Sophia Charlotte and Ms. Rainbow Sun Balloon respectively...



Later in the week, S and A were interested in braids and brought three pipe cleaners and asked teachers to tape it on the table so they could braid. What an amazing idea and a great skill to learn...



Beginning last week, all the four year olds wanted to do things that their older siblings do at school. They all wanted to do Pre-K related stuff and feel like a distinguished group. Thus, teachers started to keep an exclusive Pre-K table for related activities.

We hope to do this daily, but it will be at least twice a week in the mornings for sure. A few shots of my dedicated and hard working Pre-K friends...

Making their special journals...



Working on lesson 1- basic lines and curves :)



They wanted to do math on a worksheet, so this one was what they chose...



It's wonderful to see their self-esteem grow as they feel like the older group wanting to take the lead -- be it helping a friend or a teacher, they just feel so proud!

Each day is a day of fun, learning, and growing for all of us. We love to be the Purple Room team and have all sorts of adventures together, and we look forward to even more!!

See you all around!

Hugs,
Teacher Rashida

Earthquake Safety

The recent Napa Valley earthquake is a good reminder to talk about safety. Your child's safety is very important to us! Rest assured, we have a full emergency plan and keep supplies stocked at all times here at school.

Every month we practice a fire drill. The children know how to quickly line up and walk safely with teachers to the front of the school. Periodically we also add a "duck, cover, and hold" earthquake drill. Today was an earthquake drill day.

Earthquake & Fire Drills
We started by showing the children a short video clip about being "Turtle Safe" during an earthquake. (Here is the link if you want to watch it and practice at home too.) Later we did the earthquake drill, then lined up and went outside like a fire drill, just as we would do after a real earthquake while the building gets inspected for possible damage.

These drills happen at various times of the morning each month so that everyone will know what to do if they are inside or playing outside during a real emergency. (We usually do drills in the morning so that our half-day children will be included.) Infants in Green Room are obviously not ready to "duck, cover, and hold" in the traditional way, but their teachers do have an age-appropriate plan in place.

Contact Information
Has your phone number, email address, or home address changed in the past year? Is there anyone you would like to add to or subtract from your child's emergency pick-up list? In the event of a natural disaster, realize that traffic and road obstructions may make it hard for you to get here quickly, so the more people you have listed, the better. Anytime your contact information changes, please let us know right away so we can keep current records. That way we can be sure to get in touch with you in case of an emergency.

School is prepared.
In addition to stocking emergency supplies and practicing our emergency drills, we subscribe to a system called SchoolReach that lets us call and text every parent's home, cell, and work phone numbers simultaneously if needed. We would use this system to keep you updated in case of a school-wide emergency or natural disaster. In any type of emergency, teachers would stay with your children until every child has been safely picked up by an authorized adult.

Are you ready?
We encourage every family to make and practice an emergency plan at home. Do you and your children know how to duck, cover, and hold at home? Do you know two ways to get out of your room and out of your house? Do you have a meeting place outside of your house (such as a neighbor's front lawn) in case you all have to evacuate quickly? Do you have supplies on hand in case you have to shelter in place for a few days? Do you have enough medications or supplies for anyone in your family who has special needs? We encourage you to talk about these plans and practice them periodically so everyone knows how to be safe in an emergency at home. Here is the video link again if you want to practice being "Turtle Safe" together. 

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to talk to Jennifer or your child's teachers. Thank you!

- Teacher Jennifer

Twinkle twinkle little star, oh why are you so far!

Last week our moon quest was over and the topic of stars came into question when the children came to know that sun is the biggest star and it gives light to the moon. What are they, how are they formed, how many stars we have, why can't we hold them, etc were questions of concern in our inquisitive minds. We spoke quite a bit on the friendship between the sun and the moon and how they give breaks to each other and take turns to have the two sides of the globe enjoy day and night.

Monday we brought in a big poster of the solar system. They were thrilled to see it and right away went into discussions. During drop off parents also got involved with reading and tracking what is where.

The bold and the brightest was our sun that captured everyone's eyes...

Children walking with reference books and books that they would like us to read, while parents had small groups to answer the children's questions...



We put the poster upright in our science area...B pointing to the asteroid belt and calling friends to check it out as well...



During the weekend, Teacher Rosemary took the boxes home in order to cut out the windows and door that the children had drawn, and to assemble the boxes into a rocket ship as per the children's drawn blue prints/ designs...

Our raw rocket...



We added the control panel and took the rocket outdoors...
Children painting and adding sparkles...



At the same time, the boys team worked together to paint the box for cutting out the wings...

Tada!!! One of the most outstanding results of our team work...it stood there glimmering and shining in the bright sun and we all wondered how thrilling and exciting our journey to the outer space will be! :-) :-)



After adding the wings, other accessories, and shiny silvery electronic looking stuff as decoration outside, our astronauts are getting ready to take off :)

Friends even looked out of the window and narrated what they saw to the control station on Earth :)



W is referring to the science area of our resources in order to work on the final touches if needed...



Well, after we had finished making our moon, the biggest struggle was how to hang it up. After a lot of trial and error (phew!) we now believe that "IT TAKES FOUR TO HANG UP ONE MOON!!!" Hahahahahaha
(Don't wonder, the fourth one was me...I had to capture this after all ;) ;) ;)



Our circle time began with admiration for our biggest star in the solar system- the sun, and many other questions relating to stars came up: how are they formed, how do they come out, how far are they, and many more. We saw a great video on the sun and how Earth orbits the sun and the sun gives it light. Children were excited to see the bubbling lava and the shooting fire from the sun. They also learned about the black spots, how the outside was the hottest and the temperature drops from out to This has been a tremendous learning for teachers as well as the children. They were also fascinated by the twinkling Milky Way galaxy and how there are billions and billions of stars in it. We spoke a bit about the different shapes of stars we see in the sky during night time. A child said that those shapes are called constellations. That was a big word, but everybody loved repeating it again and again. So later we pretended to be the stars and form a constellation.

"Constellation Purple Room!" :)



Checking out more constellations...



Customizing our own constellations using marshmallows and promising to eat them as a family snack after going home :) Everybody enjoyed it, wanted to make many more, and kept with their promise. I am extremely blessed to have these children. Thank you for sharing your precious bundles with me...muaah to all my kiddos :0)



We also made individual galaxies where we poked holes through foil paper and set it in a glass jar with a battery light inside. After switching off the classroom lights, we could see the little light coming out of the holes all around the glass jar. It was so peaceful. Some even named their galaxies with absolutely funny names.



We later enjoyed the glimmering starlights as centerpieces during lunch...

After watching the video on sun, and choosing to use three colors that represent fire, we went on to make our sun to add to our outer space model.

We squeezed paint on poster boards and added sparkles...

Using plexiglass to press down the paint...



Patting, pushing, and using all our muscles we squished the paint underneath...

Checking out the prints left behind...



We took the glass at the light table to have a closer look at the prints...

L bought a white paper to transfer print from glass to regular paper...he wanted to print the figure that he called the 'Martian' (you can see it at the right side of the above image. It definitely looks like a Martian :)



We bought the glass back to the working table and squeezed some more paint on the poster boards and this time moon walked over it pretending there was no gravity and jumping like astronauts...



Bringing the glass to the light table once again for checking more patterns and transferring more prints...



The next day when the prints on the poster board had dried, we cut two circles and stuffed paper inside, making a 3D sun and Added golden rays...



We later used the prints we had made a day before from plexiglass to regular paper, to cut and make our own individual suns.

After we hung up the sun, friends added glow in the dark stars on the door and the windows to pretend they are star gazing when inside the rocket...smart kiddos!

After all the hangings and decorations and lightings, we began our photo-shoot...



Other activities we did during the week...

SOLAR SYSTEM PUZZLE...
L got a solar system puzzle to share. I bet it was a tough one, but they nailed it!
A lovely example of team work...we learned how much fun it was to work together and with each other's help we could finish our big project!



The moment of success with all thumbs up!!!



SENSORY WITH MOON SAND...A THOROUGHLY SAND-TASTIC TIME :)
We mixed 16 cups of fine play sand, 8 cups of corn starch, and 4 cups of water to get the consistency of quick sand.

Friends preparing the mixture...



Friends landed rocket ships, satellites, and astronauts on the moon sand and saw how they slowly drowned..

D applying gentle pressure and checking her hands drowning...



We even made moon rocks and after putting them down, saw them gel up within the moon sand mixture. They said it feels cold, soft and not gooey. And yes, it was a very different texture to feel and enjoy!!!

Our designed bench is getting crowded each day and they love watching people, friends, and cars go by...



Looking forwards for another great week ahead!

Hugs,
Teacher Rashida.