Hi Magnolia Families,

Our last few weeks have been filled with fun, learning and lots of sunshine! We’ve been eager to enjoy extra outside time these days and have lots to share about our learning.

Welcome to the Zoo

You probably have heard that we’ve been turning our dramatic play corner into a zoo! Did you know that the children helped create the environment alongside teachers? They used green paint to create cardboard foliage, stood on stools to paint spots on our giraffe, and used sponges to paint the fur on the lions! It’s been great to hear all of the fun ideas coming from the children about how to use the space. Currently, there are charts for zoo staff to fill out about the health of the animals, as well as an area to “feed cheetahs.”

Earth Day

This year, Earth Day was celebrated on April 22nd. The Friday before, Magnolia enjoyed some planet earth art projects and brainstormed ways we can take good care of our planet. Julianne joined us to create “Mountain” books in honor of Harry Belfonte’s song “Turn the World Around.” Earlier this year in the Fall, we learned about Turtle Island. This is the name that many indigenous people call “North America”. We learned that the land that we live on in Berkeley California is also called “Ohlone Land”. This means that long ago, before the city of Berkeley was created, Ohlone people lived on this land. And they continue to live here to this day! The Ohlone people dream of preserving their land and culture even today. One way we can support them is to listen to Indigenous people and their stories. We all can agree that the health of our planet depends on people, healthy ecosystems and action to make sure Earth is safe! We can listen to Indigenous people and follow their lead to understand how to care for, love, and respect the land we live on.

BIG Feelings (We welcome them to stay a while!)

Here are some posters we made this week about big feelings, and the zones of regulation. We read a book called “Visiting Feelings” which talks about how some feelings may arrive and we can welcome them for a while, then let them on their way. Some feelings we might like to stay long, some short, but we can welcome them all and decide for ourselves when it’s time to let them go. 

Readathon Week

Each day this week we’ve been celebrating BOOKS! On Monday, grownups volunteered to come to our classroom to read. On Tuesday, some more volunteers joined our class to create bookmarks and books (stories written and illustrated by the children!) On Wednesday we made banana muffins after reading “If You Give a Moose a Muffin.” Thursday we made tortillas and were visited by author Anna Wong who read her book, “Doubly Happy.”  Friday we made tacos and read “Dragons Love Tacos”. It’s been a busy week filled with our favorite books and plenty of activities and learning.

Liv and Mitra’s Birthdays 🙂

Happy Birthday to Liv who turned 5 years old and Happy Birthday to Mitra too!

♥Emily.Mitra.Darius