Last week’s blog introduced the literacy study units that are occurring at The International Preschools in February and March. This week’s blog will spotlight the units taking place in our Pre-K (4s) and our Junior K (4s/5s) classrooms.
The children in these classes are focusing on either a chapter book series or on a singular chapter book. Art projects, science centers, dramatic play centers, math, music, and more carry the book’s theme throughout the classroom. This type of unit showcases the play-based learning that occurs inside of our school every day!
Scroll down for photos and descriptions of the books chosen by our Pre-K and Junior K teachers.
76 Pre-K 1: Zoe and SassafrasChapter Book Seriesby Asia Citro
Zoe is a scientist who tackles conundrums with her cat, Sassafras. Each book in the series shows Zoe using science-based learning such as asking questions, creating hypotheses, making predictions, and conducting experiments to solve the mystery at hand. The Pre-K 1 children’s current theme is science, where the children conduct experiments at meeting time, work in a “science lab” in their dramatic play area, and explore science-heavy topics such as the solar system.
76 Pre-K 2: Dinosaurs Before Dark (from the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osbourne)
Jack and Annie are the main characters in the Magic Tree House series books. Dinosaurs Before Dark is the first in the series. The Pre-K 2 class at 76th Street is learning about dinosaurs in conjunction with their book study. The children made a tree house, dioramas to use with toy dinosaurs, and have been exploring fossils, to name a few exercises. They even played dinosaur-themed dominos as a math activity!
86 Pre-K 1: Don Freeman Author Study
Each year, IPS hosts an online auction for our annual Spring Benefit. Due to COVID-19, we will not be celebrating in-person this year…but the auction lives on! One of the projects that is auctioned off are journals that the children contribute to. In these journals, the children take home a stuffed animal character from the book/books that they are reading, and write/draw what the animal did with the child during their stay. 86 Pre-K 1 is conducting an author study on Don Freeman, who wrote the book, Corduroy, among others. Each child is making his/her own COVID-safe paper “Corduroy” to take home for adventures, photos, and writing!
76 Pre-K 3: My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
In honor of 76 Pre-K 3’s reading of My Father’s Dragon, each child made his/her own striped dragon using construction paper, paint, and paper.
86 Junior K: Stuart Little by E.B. White
The Junior Kindergarten at 86th Street is reading Stuart Little by E.B. White. Each child will take a mouse (a.k.a. Stuart Little) home to embark on a journey with the Junior K students. We are looking forward to learning about Stuart’s journey, which will be documented in their classroom journal!
Next week, be sure to visit the IPS blog to learn about the Green Room (3s) author studies!
Interested in learning more about the IPS curriculum? Read all about our play-based learning philosophy on our website!
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Fathers and Special Friends Read-Aloud in a classroom at our 76th Street location.
The International Preschools is in the middle of its annual Fathers and Special Friends Read-Aloud. For this event, male relatives and friends of our students are invited into the classrooms to read to the children. This person can be a father, brother, grandfather, cousin, uncle, or special friend.
While the program was originally founded many years ago to identify male figures as reading role models for young boys, it has evolved simply into a wonderful opportunity for cherished caregivers and loved ones to provide a literacy-based activity for our preschoolers.
The International Preschools Blog is an opportunity to journey into the school's classrooms. Here you will find information about play-based education, diversity, classroom themes; all the things that make learning joyful and fun at one of the best preschools in New York City.
