It's a Good Day in Pre-K

January was a busy month in our Pre-K classrooms and February looks to be even busier! February is filled with many holidays and observances. I'd guess that when we think of all the February holidays we think of Valentine's Day, but Valentine's Day can't steal all the love! There are others as well such as Black History Month, President's Day, and Groundhog's Day. And don't jump, skip, or leap into March so soon. This year we celebrate Leap Day, which means we have a whole extra day to celebrate the month of February. Let's just leap over some of the cold and wintery weather. Bring on the sun!

Our Pre-K students in Mrs. Stauder's classroom at Green Meadow partnered with Mrs. Baldwin's third graders. As they finished their unit on penguins and polar bears, third graders helped our Pre-K students with a culminating project; non-standard units of measure. The students measured penguins with an ice cube ruler, while others used "life size" polar bear feet to measure items around the room. They finished by the third grade buddies reading a penguin or polar bear book to our Pre-K students.

Learning about the different types of penguins is certainly fun! In Mrs. Halsey's class at Red Mill students are learning about penguins, sorting by size, classifying based on where they live and what food they eat. They also compared their height to the largest, living penguin the Emperor Penguin! The Emperor Penguin can range between 3 and 4 feet tall, which would make them a nice fit in our Pre-K classrooms!

Powering early STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) skills OSMO builds on the foundations of coding, math skills, critical thinking and visual and fine arts! Here a student in our Ichabod Crane Pre-K classroom is blending real life doodles with on-screen action. The OSMO Monster asked the student to draw a duck on the whiteboard. As soon as she draws the duck, it comes to life on the screen. This also is great practice as it cements an understanding of new vocabulary, comprehension, and listening skills!

This month Mrs. Carbone will be visiting classrooms with a new robot named Botley. Botley is not just any robot – it's an educational companion designed to engage students in the world of coding and problem-solving

Through interactive activities and hands-on experiences, Botley helps children develop essential STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) skills in a playful and enjoyable manner.

Here's an overview of how Botley typically works:

Programming Commands:

• Botley is programmed using a simple remote control to create a sequence of actions for Botley to follow.

Screen-Free Coding:

• Botley often operates in a screen-free environment, emphasizing hands-on, tactile learning.

Sensors and Features:

• Botley is equipped with sensors that allow it to interact with its environment. Common sensors include infrared sensors for detecting obstacles and line-following sensors for tracking lines on the floor.

Problem-Solving Challenges:

• Educational activities with Botley often include various challenges and puzzles. Children program Botley to navigate mazes, solve problems, or complete specific tasks.

• These challenges help develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and sequential reasoning skills.

Engaging and Playful Learning:

• The primary focus of Botley is to make coding and programming enjoyable for children. The interactive and game-like nature of the robot keeps kids engaged and excited about learning.
  

Feb 19th- President's Day- Classes not in session

Feb 19th-23rd- Winter Recess- Classes not in session

Next year schools will be implementing the NYS computer Science and Digital Fluency Standards K-12. These standards cover computing, computational thinking, networks/system design, cybersecurity, and digital literacy. To have our students prepared for these standards we have already been hitting many of these standards such as computational thinking through coding. We also will soon be introducing Lego Education kits in our Pre-K classrooms. These kits include lessons that are aligned to these standards. Below is a video of STEAM Park, which is one of the kits we have ordered. You can also look for Coding Express, Story Tales, and My XL world which were also all purchased for our Pre-K students. Learning still is very fun, especially in Pre-K!

Email: michael.burns@questar.org

Phone: (518) 479- 6898