Let's Go to the Zoo!
July 23 - July 29, 2023
Dear Friends,
This week we are taking an online trip to the zoo! In kindergarten we learn about living things. We learn about plants and animals. This week we are going to learn about animals. We have short video clips you and your family can watch to see just how much animals are like humans. There is a beautiful video clip about the friendship between an orangutan and a hound dog that will put a big smile on your face! We hope you take some time to read the zoo poem and practice pointing to words as you read with someone in your family. Practice writing the word you this week. Find it in the poem! How many times is it in the poem? Be sure to check out the Bembo's Zoo online book we have linked on our site! Practice sorting animal cards this week. How many ways can you think of to group these animals?
Are you counting down the days until the first day of school? If you haven't started, be sure to check out the resource section and print out the calendars and see how many days there are until the first day! Your teachers are resting up, having fun and getting excited about the first day too! Be safe and have fun!
Love,
The Kindergarten Team
This week we are taking an online trip to the zoo! In kindergarten we learn about living things. We learn about plants and animals. This week we are going to learn about animals. We have short video clips you and your family can watch to see just how much animals are like humans. There is a beautiful video clip about the friendship between an orangutan and a hound dog that will put a big smile on your face! We hope you take some time to read the zoo poem and practice pointing to words as you read with someone in your family. Practice writing the word you this week. Find it in the poem! How many times is it in the poem? Be sure to check out the Bembo's Zoo online book we have linked on our site! Practice sorting animal cards this week. How many ways can you think of to group these animals?
Are you counting down the days until the first day of school? If you haven't started, be sure to check out the resource section and print out the calendars and see how many days there are until the first day! Your teachers are resting up, having fun and getting excited about the first day too! Be safe and have fun!
Love,
The Kindergarten Team
Let's Read Together!Families,
Please print out the poem so your child can help you point to the words as your read. This will help them learn about how print works and what their eyes need to do as they read. Begin to talk about punctuation marks. Talk about periods and exclamation marks in this poem. You is another word that is on our Kindergarten Word Wall. Have your child find it in the poem. Have your child practice writing the word you in shaving cream, with sidewalk chalk, with a paint brush and water on the sidewalk, or with pencil or crayons. Read the poem several times with your child so they can join in with you. Enjoy playing with words and sounds with your child. Our poem this week is about going to the zoo. Have you been to a zoo? Which animals are your favorites? As you read this poem with someone in your family, help point to the words. To The Zoo
I'm going to the zoo with you with you. I'll try to stalk a lion and ride a kangaroo! Then I'll climb a tall giraffe and laugh and laugh and laugh and LAUGH! When I've had enough of zoo I'll leave it and go home with you with you with you! ~Lee Bennett Hopkins
Alphabet ZooCan you think of an animal whose name begins with each letter of the alphabet? Work with your family to see how many letters of the alphabet you can match with a beginning letter. In the resource section, there is an animal alphabet you can color and make a book out of if you choose. Have fun!
This is cool! After you have gone through the alphabet and named animals, be sure to visit this website for a very special word and letter alphabet book.
Talk and DrawChildren in kindergarten are sometimes hesitant to draw on their own. You can help your child by encouraging them to try and draw on their own. Breaking down the drawing into parts can help your child manage the task. The questions below can be used as a guide when drawing with your child. Praise their effort and point out what they did well. Think about your favorite zoo animal. Tell someone in your family about your favorite zoo animal. Why did you choose this animal? Have you seen it at the zoo? What did you notice as you watched it? What do you know about this animal? Now make a picture in your head of the animal. Think about the shapes that make up the animal's body. Is the head of the animal round or more triangular? Is the body a box shape or more round? Does the animal have long or short legs? Now think about important details on the animal. What shape are the ears? eyes? nose? Does the animal have whiskers? A tail? How can you show fur, or scales, feathers? Now think about colors. What color is the animal mostly? What is the animal covering(fur, fins, feathers, shell)? Now it's time to start drawing! You might want to begin by sketching the shapes first for the outline shape of your animal. Then add your details. Finally, add color. Take your time, stop and think as you work, and most of all, have fun! Walk and TalkThis week would be a great week for a trip to the National Zoo! In the Resource section, we have several activity sheets your family could use while visiting the zoo. These resources focus on the animal coverings, habitats and adaptations which are concepts we learn about throughout the school year while studying living things.
Animal SortIn kindergarten, our children work with sorting by various attributes in math. To be successful, children need to recognize that items have differences and similarities. Sorting and talking about how they put items into groups is an important skill. Children need many opportunities using different types of items to sort. Children also need to be flexible in their thinking. The animal cards in the resource section provide children several different ways to sort. Encourage your child to think of several different ways to sort the cards. Possible sorts include: animal coverings, number of legs, movement, habitats. This week, let's work on sorting. Print the animal cards and cut them out. Be sure you know what each animal is before you start. Look closely at the animals and notice how some are the same. Now put the animals in groups. When you group items following a rule, you are sorting. For example, when we sort socks by color, the rule is groups are formed by the color of the sock. Be sure you tell someone what your sorting rule is each time you sort the animals.
Animal AnticsCan animals be friends? Watch this video and decide for yourself!
Meet Surya, an orangutan, and Roscoe, a dog, in this video. They are good friends. Watch for three things these animals do that show they are friends. Are these things human friends do? How different are animals really from humans? This short video shows chimps using tools. Tools are items used to do work. Watch how these chimps make their own tools to get food.
Have your parents ever told you to be quiet? Well, watch this video and see and hear some of the loudest animals on earth!
One last quick video! Just like human families, beavers have families too! We hope you find some ways your family is like this beaver family.
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Riddle Corner
Why do leopards never escape from the zoo? Scroll to the bottom of the column for the answer! Animal Sorting Pictures
National Zoo ResourcesThe National Zoo has a great resource to use as you explore the zoo. I suggest taking along a bigger screen than a phone to take full advantage of the excellent digital resource the zoo has provided.
nationalzoo.si.edu/zoo-tour/animal-adventure-guide/#/ Read AloudEnjoy this special story called Never Play Music at the Zoo, by John Lithgow. Listen to the author read and sing his story! Then, draw a picture that shows why you should never play music at the zoo!
Answer to the RiddleWhy do leopards never escape from the zoo?
Beacuse they always get spotted! |