Primary Room 5

April News

For the month of April, we will be in full spring bloom and learn about Islands and Volcanoes. We will learn what an island is and compare it to a lake. We will learn how a volcano forms and its parts. We will explore the continent of Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands. Art will be inspired by the theme of the month and Spring. We will also have our annual spring egg hunt!

March Recap

For the month of March, we dived into a popular unit of study - Dinosaurs! We discussed the three types of dinosaurs: carnivore, herbivore and omnivore. The children learned carnivore dinosaurs eat meat, herbivore dinosaurs eat plants, and omnivore dinosaurs eat both plants and meat and some even eggs! Children shared their favorite dinosaurs through picture drawings and discussions – the Tyrannosaurs rex, Brontosaurus and Pterodactyls were popular ones! The children explored parts of Africa’s landforms, biomes and its animals. We explored African art and made African masks using different shapes of paper. We explored African music and learned about their traditional dances and drumming celebrations. We noticed beautiful vibrant colors and patterns on their clothing and painted faces.

We celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday with a fun spirit week and read our favorite books by Dr. Seuss! We continued the March celebrations with a special St. Patrick’s Day party and painted rainbows. The older children attached their rainbow rhymes to their paintings. We explored how a rainbow forms using a sunlight prism as demonstration. We imagine sunlight as a bag of all the colors mixed, and when sunlight passes through the raindrops (the prism), they act like tiny prisms, which are special shapes that can split light into colors. When the raindrops bend into the sunlight, we see the colors of the rainbow! 

February Recap

February was a fun month filled with love, friendship, and more celebrations! We shared ways to be good friends and practiced by using our helping hands, using kind words, giving space, and how to invite a friend to play or work. We also introduced the skill of problem solving with the use of the peace rose. We read The Peace Rose book which models how to use the peace rose and how to share feelings and resolve conflicts. The children prepped for their Valentine’s Day celebration decorating their bags and cutting heart shapes. They also made a handprint friendship wreath as a class using paint – Hands Together, Friends Forever!

We explored the largest continent in the world and its beautiful people and clothing, its animals such as the panda and elephant, the plants such as bamboo and the lotus. Some children did their own flag explorations. We had the privilege to have a special guest share their Japanese culture with us, a huge thank you to the Iwata family! We ended our month learning about the stages of the water cycle and how they repeat over and over again. We learned the terms evaporation, condensation, precipitation, collection and wrapped it up with a fun science experiment to help demonstrate. Lastly, in celebration of dental month, we discussed the importance of taking care of our teeth by brushing twice a day and flossing daily to help keep the sugar bugs away! The children also received a special care package from Giggles & Grace Pediatric Dentistry. 

January Recap

We welcomed the new year with a countdown and new friends in our class! January was a fun month of learning. We learned about the temperature change during this time of year and shared some of our favorite winter activities such as skiing and making snow angles. Children were presented with a season’s activity puzzle which teaches how to identify parts of the year with seasons and months. This was a great visual of the year cycle for them and a fun opportunity to compare the differences between all four seasons, plus appropriate clothing for each. Children made their own connections and discovered their birthday season – it was a sweet teachable moment! We also discussed how hibernation takes place for animals during the winter season. We read books about these animals and the children were very intrigued by the frogs and toads. Did you know frogs and toads burrow themselves underground in the mud during their hibernation/dormant state? The children loved it! We also did a fun craft of a bear sleeping in a den.



Winter took us to Antarctica, the coldest continent in the world. We learned it is also the driest, windiest and highest continent, home to around 5 million penguins and 1,000 people who are mostly researchers working in stations around the continent. We shared real-life photos of these researchers, with their equipment and types of transportation used to explore. Antarctica also gave us an opportunity to learn about icebergs and explore snow and ice! The children made sensory snow to play with shaving cream and corn starch. We also discussed how ice forms when water reaches a temperature below 0 degree Celsius. As a class, we put it to the test by pouring water into ice cube trays and froze them for our ice cube painting activity. The children had fun adding droplets of food coloring into the water. They couldn’t wait to see the results the following day and get to painting.

Lastly, we ended our month learning how to take care of a plant and celebrating the Lunar New Year. The children truly enjoyed learning how to clean and care for an indoor plant with grace. We simply used a small spray bottle and cotton ball. We also talked about the importance of overwatering a plant. We have great Botanists underway! Finally, we celebrated Lunar New Year – the year of the snake – making lanterns and cherry blossoms with paint. The children also received a lucky coin in a red envelope. Happy Lunar New Year! 

December Recap

December took us to celebrate holidays around the world and explore bits of Europe. We briefly discussed about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas and Diwali. We learned when and how these different cultures gather to celebrate their holiday and traditions – from eating traditional food like latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) for Hanukkah, Kwanzaa displaying traditional woven mats called mkeka on tables with meaningful items such as baskets of fruits and vegetables, an ear of corn for each child in the family and a unity cup called kikombe cha umoja. The children really enjoyed learning new vocabulary this month! We also discussed how dance and music are important parts of celebrations in many cultures. We shared how music brings joy! In celebration of Christmas and Diwali, we explored the music of The Nutcracker and watched some of the waltz and had a Bollywood dance party. 

We focused on Europe’s location and how it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea using our colored globe and maps. We introduced major European countries and major landmarks using pictures and drawings. We also introduced Europe’s cultural foods like pizza (Italy), croissants (France), paella (Spain) and fish and chips (England). Yum! Furthermore, we tied in our artist of the month Edgar Degas who was a French artist from Paris, France who was known for his oil paintings and pastel drawings of dancers. The children made their own Degas dancers using a coffee filter, watercolors and glitter - they turned out beautiful! Lastly, we closed out our month of celebrations with a fun spirit week and a special visit from Santa! The children were thrilled!

November Recap

We kicked off the month by discussing the holidays we celebrate this November. Our book of the month was “Fill a Bucket” by Carol McCloud and Katherine Martin. We discussed empathy and how to be a good friend. The children had a lot of fun decorating our door with hearts describing how they are good friends. They learned about “filling each other’s bucket,” through kind acts. We also discussed California. We had the children color in their state and looked at various state items such as: the bird, flower, animal, etc. We shared some of our favorite things about California, a common answer was the love for the beaches. We also enjoyed our Thanksgiving Harvest Feast. The students enjoyed a buffet of food that we all brought in. We all sat together and talked about what we are thankful for. Thank you, families, for signing up to bring items in.

October Recap

October’s theme was the Solar System and Space. For geography, we focused on the continent of North America. The book of the month was We Are Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger. Throughout October, the children participated in lessons on locating North America on maps and globes. They engaged in discussions about the changing seasons and weather. Our friends enjoyed talking about how their daily outfits have transitioned from shorts, skirts, and short sleeves to leggings, pants, long sleeves, and sweaters. 

We also discussed the Earth's layers and our eight planets. The children learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin and its various parts. In science, they had a lesson on hot versus cold items. Additionally, our friends had a great time working on enrichment projects with Ms. Stephanie, including creating their own spiders using pretzel sticks and cream cheese. They also planted poppy seeds in our school garden and in individual cups to watch them grow at home. Every Friday, the children worked on ABC Mouse as part of our computer enrichment.