Winnie Bear Newsletter – February 17, 2010

Dear Winnie Bear Families,

For the past two weeks, we wrapped up our unit on “My Family” and spent some time talking about the Chinese Lunar New Year. We also worked very hard practicing our New Year’s performance, which I hope you all enjoyed. =)

Language: Vocabulary
Below is a list of theme specific vocabulary words that have been introduced:
1. Dragon Dance – 龙舞 （long wu）
2. Lion Dance – 狮舞 （shi wu）
3. Year of the Tiger – 虎年 （hu nian）
4. Fireworks – 烟火 （yan huo）
5. New Year – 新年 （xin nian）
6. Happy New Year – 新年快乐 （xin nian kuai le）

Reading: Stories
We read a few books regarding Chinese Lunar New Year and the different rituals that happen during new years.

Mathematics: Skip Counting
We introduced simple adding by using cut out family members. We would count one baby and then count one more baby and all together there are two babies. We went up to number 10.

Music: 恭喜恭喜 and Rhythm Clapping
We learned a new song called “恭喜恭喜.”
每条大街小巷，
每个人的嘴里，
见面第一句话，
就是恭喜恭喜，
恭喜恭喜恭喜你，
恭喜恭喜恭喜你。
We have also been doing some clapping by following a rhythm.

Science: Groundhog’s Day
On Groundhog’s Day, we talked about our shadow. The legend behind Phil the Groundhog was shared and we did an activity where we traced our shadows. We also discussed that we need light in order to make a shadow.

Art: Family Poster and Chinese Dragon
Each day, a different child shared their family poster with the group. Each child was not only proud of their own poster, but excited to see everyone else’s. We also decorated a Chinese dragon.

After Winter Camp, we will talk briefly about the Olympics and then start our third unit of inquiry, “Trees.”

Thanks,
Katherine
2/17/10