October Newsletter
The Monkey Messenger
Miss Sparacino AM
Miss Fernandez PM
The Leaves are Falling
Down and Changing
Color!
The Big Picture: Change!
All school year, we focus on the theme of “change”
throughout our units of study and centers. This past
month, we have been exploring the season of fall and
exploring the different primary and secondary colors. Our
Monkeys also received their first jobs this past month
which they are very excited about and proud to have!
The changes in the season
happened quickly. We noticed
the changes and continued our
unit on the study of fall. We
observed how the leaves
changed colors on the trees.
We then colored in our own fall
leaves to hang up on our
classroom tree!
We discussed the different
types of apples that grow on
trees in the fall! We observed
and sketched the Red Delicious
Apple, the Golden Delicious
Apple, and the Granny Smith
Apple.
** Save the Date! **
Election Day
Veteran’s Day
NO SCHOOL
NO SCHOOL
Tuesday
November 17
November 8
November 11
th
Thanksgiving Break
NO SCHOOL
Thursday
th
Friday
th
Fall Festival
Thursday November 24th
Friday November 25th
OCTOBER EDITION
2016
Apples, Pumpkins, Leaves, Oh My!
One of our highlights this month has been our feature on the different types
of apples! We learned about and looked at the Red Delicious Apples, the Golden
Delicious Apples, and the Granny Smith Apples. The children were very excited
about this because many of them eat apples or have gone apple picking before! We
used magnifying glasses to make apple observations and together we discussed the
different parts of an apple. We went over the stem, leaf, skin, core, flesh, and
seeds. The children sketched both the exterior and interior of each apple that we
had. On our last day of apples, we apple tasted! Students were able to taste all
three of the apples that we were studying. We then went over which apple the
students liked the most.
This month we also had pumpkins in our classroom! Just like with the apple, we
went over the different parts of a pumpkin. We discussed the stem, leaf, skin, pulp,
and seeds. The children had a lot of fun putting their hands inside the pumpkin and
feeling the pulp and seeds!
October Vocabulary
Apples
Red Delicious
Golden Delicious
Granny Smith
Ecstatic
Bittersweet
Weather
2
Stem
Leaf
Skin
Seeds
Core
Flesh
Sketch
Pumpkins
Pulp
Yellow
Green
Orange
Purple
Observation
OCTOBER EDITION
2016
What Have We Been Reading?
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Mouse Paint By Ellen Walsh
White Rabbit’s Color Book By Alan Baker
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish By Dr. Seuss
Little Blue and Little Yellow By Leo Lionni
A Color of His Own By Leo Lionni
It’s Pumpkin Time By Zoe Hall
Pumpkin, Pumpkin By Jeanne Titherington
Pumpkin Town By Katie McKy
Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins By Diana Ochiltree
Pumpkin Day, Pumpkin Night By Anne Rockwell
Harold and the Purple Crayon By Crockett Johnson
Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse By Kevin Hankes
What Have We Been Singing?
Our Classroom Jobs!
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Classroom Librarian
Schedule Helper
Calendar Helper
Line Leader
Caboose
Clean Up Friends
Lights Friend
Snack Bag Helpers
Napkin Helpers
Substitute
Chair Checkers
Attendance Helper
Table Washers
3
Denotes songs that are on Youtube.com.
Unpacking Song
Good Morning / Good Afternoon Song
Clean Up Song
Snack Song
Hallway Song
Listen and Move **
Go Bananas **
Dinostomp (Koo Koo Kanga Roo) **
The Color Green Song **
The Color O-R-A-N-G-E Orange Song**
The Color P-U-R-P-L-E Purple Song**
5 Little Pumpkins **
Bean Bag Dance **
OCTOBER EDITION
2016
Color Museums – AM Monkeys
4
OCTOBER EDITION
2016
Color Museums – PM Monkeys
5
OCTOBER EDITION
2016
The Writing Center
At the Writing Center, students are solidifying their eye to hand
coordination while also strengthening their hand muscles as they
stamped the different colors on paper. The Monkeys also enjoyed
using dot markers to stamp orange pumpkins! During green week, we
put out sheets of paper with the word green and we placed contact
paper over them with the sticky side up. The children used their
pincer muscles to pick up pieces of green string and trace over each
letter with the string. We gave the children plenty of opportunities
to free draw and express themselves! This past week, the Monkeys
became their own illustrators as we created our very first class
book titled The Monkeys and the Purple Crayon!
The Discovery Center
This past month consisted of making observations and creating
sketches while we took a closer look at our apples and pumpkins!
We discussed the interior and exterior parts of both the apple
and the pumpkin. The children were exposed to the different
textures and scents. We began to look at the similarities and
differences between the two. The children were amazed by how
much bigger pumpkin seeds were! Also at this center, the children
explored coloring making with watercolor paints. They used
medicine droppers to mix and create different colors.
6
OCTOBER EDITION
2016
Fine Motor
The Monkeys have also been exploring color making with
Play-Doh. The children were given different colors to
mold and mix together until a new one formed. For
instance, during green week, the children were provided
with blue and yellow Play-Doh. A big hit was our
watercolor painting. After reading Leo Lionni’s A Color
of His Own, the children were able to create their own
colored chameleons as they mixed watercolor paints on
their papers. This month, the children were given
clothes pins with their names written on them to start
clipping into each center. Through the use of these
clips, the children are strengthening their pincer
muscles. These clothes pins are also helping children
with name recognition.
Math Center
The Monkeys had fun “apple picking” as they
used tweezers to pick red, green, and yellow
pompoms off apple trees. They also enjoyed
placing “whip cream” on pumpkin pies by using
tweezers to pick up white pompoms. Working
with dice, the children continued to roll a die
until they had an entire pumpkin filled with
orange pompoms! These activities are exposing
the children to different quantities and building
their number sense.
7
OCTOBER EDITION
2016
Dramatic Play
Our dramatic play center has now become an apple
orchard! Here, we have three different types of
trees featuring our Red Delicious, Golden
Delicious, and Granny Smith Apples. We have
various apple pies, apple cider donuts, applesauce,
apple butter, and apple juice. The children have
been so excited about this new center!
Cozy Corner
The children loved creating different pumpkins faces
while using felt shapes at the cozy corner. In addition
to this, the Monkeys had a lot of fun exploring the
parts of a pumpkin while assembling and disassembling
felt pumpkin diagrams!
8
OCTOBER ISSUE
OCTOBER 2016
Another month has come and gone. Can you believe it?
Your children have picked up on many different routines and have
become more responsible as they each have their own class job!
We watch your children blossom each and every day. 
Thank you,
Miss Sparacino & Miss Fernandez
E-mail address: [email protected]