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The FUNd Stuff at PNA!
- Vol 7, Issue 6: Everyday Stories from PNA
- Dec 20, 2019
- 5 min read
Dear Friends and Families of PNA,
As Snowflake Bentley proved, no two snowflakes are alike; and at PNA, no two students are alike, and this creates a rich learning environment. As we reflect back on 2019, we want to say thank you to everyone who has invested in education. Education is one of the best investments that you can make because it can never be taken away from you. Each day at PNA, students are expanding their minds in the classrooms, the hallways and the outdoors. The learning does not stop at the end of the day and independent education enables a curious mind to continually take in new knowledge.
Today marks the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year and we start our journey back towards the sun. When students return to the building after the holidays, refreshed and excited, we too begin our journey towards the sun, sowing the seeds of growth in our student’s minds.
From all of us at PNA, we wish you happy, safe holidays!
Peter
Peter Kling
Director of Development & Enrollment
Winter Wonder
by Melissa Smith | PNA Early Kindergarten Teacher
This week in the Beluga Classroom we continued our theme of winter activities. Although our weather was not very cooperative, we read books about the special circumstances actually needed for snow to fall, and we looked at photographs of the many different types of beautiful snowflakes which can form. It really is amazing to look at them!!
The different themes we focus on each month or so in preschool give us terrific opportunities to teach and reinforce important literacy and mathematical concepts in fresh ways. Here are a few of the winter-themed activities we did this week which supported the children in their mathematical learning:
Sequencing: We the concept of making a snowman to practice sequencing events. While children can easily tell you how to make a snowman, this provided us with a good opportunity to practice using the words “first, next, then, and last”. We also talked about the ordinal numbers, first, second, third, fourth. After working together to put four pictures of building a snowman in order, each child received a paper with identical pictures to color, cut out and glue down in order on a piece of construction paper. After completing it we helped them compare the order of their pictures with the example. Simple and fun!
Snowflake puzzles: These puzzles help children begin to meet the Kindergarten Common Core State Standard which is to “Correctly name shapes regardless of their orientations or overall size”. Learning to recognize shapes in common objects is fun, and the puzzles are self-correcting so that children can work by themselves or in pairs to learn their shapes in a way that’s frustration-free.
Graphing: We did two graphing activities which the children really liked. The first was a Winter Activity Graph. Every child was given two post-it notes to put on the two activities they liked best, and then we talked about the results. Children are very visually oriented, so they liked being able to see which activity got the most votes. We also learned to use words like least and most, and phrases like fewer than, more than, and equal to describe what we saw on the graph. We also played a Snowman graphing game as a class where we took turns rolling a cube which had various snowman parts on it, and we “raced” to see which part would make it to 10 first. You’ll be excited to know that the Button won!
Math even sneaked its way into our sensory play! These students have used beads and straws to give their snowmen's arms AB patterns! Way to go girls!
PNA's First Lego League Competition
Congratulations to the First Lego League Robotics team for their success at the Anchorage Qualifier on Saturday! The team gained more points on each of the three rounds of the Robot Game and finished in 11th place out of 19 teams, which is an impressive feat for such a young, rookie team! The team did an amazing job working together to build and design a robot and program it to complete the missions. The team hopes to compete again in January and plans on competing again next year!
Thank you to Coach Erin Hicks for her help and support and to all the parents who helped with the competition last Saturday!
For more information about FIRST Lego League visit: http://www.firstlegoleague.org/about-fll
Postcards from the Classroom
Take a look at the exciting activities students were involved in last week!
Click any picture to jump into the slideshow.
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Other Ways to Support PNA
Link your Fred Meyer rewards card:
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Shop with Amazon Smile:
AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to your favorite charitable organization.
On your first visit to smile.amazon.com, you need to select Pacific Northern Academy from the list of charitable organizations before you begin shopping.
Pick.Click.Give
Pick.Click.Give. allows Alaskans to donate a portion of their Permanent Fund Dividend to causes they care about statewide.
While applying for your PFD online, your can choose to Pick.Click.Give to Pacific Northern Academy. All donations are tax deductible and donors will receive tax documentation from the State once their donations have been processed. Permanent Fund Dividend applications are available from January 1 to March 31, though Alaskans may choose to add or adjust their pledges online through August 31.
Coming Right Up...
January 1st - Pick.Click.Give!
January 21st - 24th - Brown Bag Talent Showcase (More information to come)
January 25th - PNA: Barnes and Noble Bookfair
Just One More...
Many Thanks To
John Hardwick and Ral West
As always, our continued success is shared with the people and companies that support us.
Skiva Investments LLC
The FUNd Stuff is a bi-monthly (or so) publication from the staff, students, parents, and teachers of PNA. Want to know more about anything we've highlighted here? Get in touch! (907) 333-1080 or jaho@pacificnorthern.org
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