Hippos -3 Day Class

 

Hello Hippo Families!

We had a wonderful week with your children in the Hippo room!  We are learning and practicing the the classroom routine, working on transitions, being safe on the stairs and going over the class rules. We are also learning our daily schedule. It is posted on our white board and we check it each day as well as discuss or show pictures of the expectations involved.  This week we continued our classroom jobs. The students get jobs every other day and get to choose which job they'd like.  Jobs include calendar, electrician, line leader, caboose, weather, door holder and bell ringer. (goals: responsibility, accepting transitions, listening, following rules)

In the hippo room, we encourage self help skills.  It begins by following the morning routine when entering the classroom.  When the children need help with anything, we ask that they try it first themselves.  The students practice unzipping and getting their snacks out as well as packing up to go home.  We have the hippos put their backpacks on the floor, unzip their backpacks, check their cubbies for papers, load their belongings and zip up their backpacks.  

Our theme this week was "Hippos".  We learned a few hippo facts, practiced some "Hippo" songs, watched a video of real hippos and even learned how to spell hippo to the tune of "BINGO".  We discussed the letter H is the beginning letter in the word Hippo.

The hippos went to art for the first time with Ms. Tara! We learned some rules in art, watched a video about  lines and then made lines with oil pastel colors.  Art provides many opportunities for fine motor practice, making decisions and using language.

The children really enjoyed learning about Fiona, a hippo from the Cincinnati Zoo.  During snack, we watched a video from when she was a little baby. The doctors took such good care of her so she could then be reunited with her parents.  

This week in our 2nd steps social/emotional skills curriculum, we met Sammy and Susie.  Sammy was scared his first day of school. We told him all the fun things we do in our classroom. Susie was very excited to start school.  We talked to her about the listening rules and then she was ready to learn.  We practiced singing the listening rules and using hand motions to help us remember. 

Our centers included: playing with scoopers in moon sand(sensory), going on a Hippo word hunt for the word HIPPO (recognizing letters, word), playing with hippos in playdoh, painting our hippo masks (fine motor, making decisions), using props to go with the book, You Can't Move a Hippo (comprehension, sequencing), cutting grass which hippos eat- green yarn and construction paper (cutting, holding scissors correctly, using helper hand), matching cookie shapes based on the book, Chocolate, Chippo, Hippo, (recognizing shapes) painting with hippo footprints and answering where the hippo tracks took them...(sensory, following directions, using language), making spots using daubers on the letter H (recognizing the letter H), making pretend gum out of model magic and a pink marker that was the spot in the book, Hippospotamus. (fine motor, strengthening fingers), and doing hippo movements in the gym (gross motor, following directions). We were busy hippos this week!!!

Books we read:
You Can't Move a Hippo
Hippospotamus
That's Not a Hippopotamus

Chocolate Chippo Hippo

Song: (tune to BINGO)
There is a class at LECC
and Hippo is its name oh
HIPPO, HIPPO, HIPPO
and Hippo is its name oh
(take a letter away and clap)

Hippo Song: (tune..Are You Happy and You Know It)
Oh, I wish I was a hippopotamus! (clap, clap)
Oh, I wish I was a hippopotamus! (clap, clap)
I'd jump and I'd dive,
do a happy little jive
Oh, I wish I was a hippopotamus! (clap, clap)


Questions to ask your child:
1.  What new special did we go to this week? (art)
2.  Ask your child what job he/she did this week.
3.  When do hippos eat, during the day or more at night?  (at night)
4.  How long can hippos hold their breath underwater?   2 minutes or 5 minutes? (5 minutes)
5.  What do hippos eat?  (plants and grass)
6.  In the book, You Can't Move a Hippo, what did the mouse say to get the hippo to move off the             bridge? (he said please)


Things to Practice At Home
Please practice self help skills at home. Self help skills contribute to independence and self esteem. Have your child practice unzipping their backpack, loading their own snack and zipping it up by themselves so they are ready for school. It is easier for them to do this when the backpack is on the floor. Also, practice having your child take off and put on their own shoes.

Coming up next week:
All About Me and Family Traditions


Important Dates

9/18 Parent Open House

10/14 Parent Teacher Conference Week

Wonderful pictures!

Our hippos are so cute!

Pretend gum just like in our book, Hippospotamus

We made pretend gum using pink markers and white model magic.
After coloring the model magic we kneaded it to make it turn pink.

Our sensory table was a hit! Everyone loves moon sand!
We also had to learn to wait our turn because there are only
3 students at a time.

We made spots on the letter H for Hippo.

Bouncing like a hippo does in water.

Hippo movements.

We had our first art class!

Hippos eat grass so we cut pretend grass. This is a great opportunity to 
work on correct grip and safety.

It was fun to put straws and connectors together to make things.

We went on a HIPPO word hunt in the classroom.

Here we are using the props from the book
You Can't Move a Hippo.

We watercolored our hippo face for our mask.

Music fun!

We colored our ears for our mask.

Little Pet Shop

Big Room Fun

We painted our masks gray.