July 25th, 2014

Sacred Heart students had a blast this week!  Literally.  We celebrated a dinosaurs and volcanoes theme!

We had a chance to learn about some very cool dinosaurs with names I could only pronounce if I was a paleontologist or a 10-year-old boy.

And we got to examine volcanoes, learning a new song, too.

(To the tune of "Frère Jacques")
 
Old volcano, old volcano
Is asleep, is asleep
Shhh... don't wake it, shhh...don't wake it
It's asleep, it's asleep.

Old volcano, old volcano
Is awake! Is awake!
Rumble, rumble, grumble
Rumble, rumble, grumble
Blows its top! Blows its top!

One student, vacationing in Hawaii,  came back with gifts; a new volcano book and samples of volcanic rocks that we took turns inspecting.

We also discussed fossils and how they're made.  Then, we made our own fossils.

Meanwhile, in Ms. Rebecca's class, their dinosaurs left behind painted footprints.

We fished out magnetic dinosaurs...

...we put together dinosaur puzzles...

...and we painted volcanoes, too!

So did Ms. Rebecca and Miss Gabriella's class!

An especially fun event this week was Miss Kim's "Mentos and Diet Cola" eruption demonstration.  Now, I didn't know this (and had to verify it on MythBusters), but adding Mentos to Diet Coke doesn't just give the soda ultra-cool problem solving skills.  It also creates this reaction:

It really was very awesome.  Afterwards, we even had eager helpers for clean-up.

Back in my classroom, we were busy building volcanoes ourselves.  Phase I of our project was creating our paper mache moutains.

Phase II was painting them.

And, phase III, the eruption of Mt. Sacred Heart.  I can do this 20 years in a row and I'll never tire of it.

The highlight of the week, though?  Despite dinosaurs and volcanoes, we were visited by a chalkboard car.  Did you know that there is nothing more fun than drawing on a car? 

And I think Ocean Beach is a better place now because of it.

July 19th, 2014

It's water week at Sacred Heart!  And, this year, we built a preschool-sized car wash for extra fun!

Our courtyard was thoroughly scrubbed everyday this week by eager students!

But, we didn't just play in the water.  We investigated water, too.

We learned about pond habitats...

...and we made our own pond habitat.

We learned how clouds are formed in the sky, and then made our own puffy clouds (using a mixture of shaving cream and glue). 

We learned about liquids, solids and vapors.  Then, we juiced apples and grapes...

...and froze the juice into ice cubes.  We also had a chance to observe steam rising from a heated tea kettle to help grasp the concept of water vapors. 

Finally, we had a chance to wrap up our ocean theme as we explored the sea habitat. 

It's been a fun week!

July 11th, 2014

Planes, Trains and Automobiles!  Sacred Heart had fun with things that go! this week.

Our theme was jump-started by a big library of awesomeness. 

 My class explored a car center that doubled as a nifty math and pre-literacy lesson (each car had a letter or number that matched its own parking stall).  Special thanks to my son who unknowingly donated his collection of toy cars to the classroom this week.

As we moved to trucks, we solved pattern sentences...

...retold "Duck in the Truck" with feltboard story pieces...

...built a construction site...

 ...and observed how truck tracks vary as the grooves in their tires vary.

 Ms. Kim's class had fun with trucks, too, and made some of their own!

We experimented with density as we sorted objects that floated and objects that sank in water.

Then, we crafted boats!

And boat snacks!

Actually, the entire school had a lot of fun with snacks this week.  We made stoplights...

...and school buses, too!

A big event we honored this week was the ribbon-cutting and grand opening of our sandbox!  Thanks to all of our Jog-a-Thon donations (see blog post from June 6th), we are able to complete some wonderful projects, such as construct the ultimate sandbox!  Contributing the most for our Sacred Heart Preschool was the Maruccia family, who cut the ribbon opening day.

This sandbox has been thoroughly enjoyed by all this week!

We're just too cool for school.

July 4th, 2014

Happy 4th of July!!!  Sacred Heart Preschool was busy this week celebrating red, white and blue!

To ensure our fellow OB-cians knew we wished them a happy 4th as well, my class made window sticker collages for them.

We also practiced creating patterns with the red, white and blue foil stars.

To make things super festive, my students got to make their own shaky, glittery, spirally bottles.

We made fireworks, too.

Especially fun this week was our purchase of kinetic sand.  If you haven't felt this stuff already, please visit and do so soon.  It's the most peculiar sensation.  Made from a combination of fine sand and hydroxy-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (I always keep some in my cupboard for those just-in-case situations, don't you?), the sand feels somewhat like silly putty.  It's incredibly interesting.

We also visited Sparkles the Clown at the library on Monday.

Meanwhile, Ms. Rebecca's class was busy preparing for the 4th of July as well.

 On Thursday, she and Ms. Katie helped the students create our 4th annual preschool flag cake.

Actually, this year we made our 4th annual four cakes.  We've grown so big, we couldn't possibly make just one cake anymore.  Miss Kim's class joined the fun...
















...so did Miss Gabriella's...

...and mine.  Our flag cake is always something I look forward to planning each July.  This time, however, I missed it and Miss Lauren took over like a pro.  Why?

Because my beautiful niece was born.  Have a wonderful holiday, everyone!