PreK - James Shields Elementary School

Shields Pre-K

Let’s Reduce, Reuse, Recycle in April!

Hello Parents! As part of our Preschool curriculum, we believe that studying how to reduce, reuse, and recycle trash and garbage will engage children because they are familiar with the topic and can dive deep into their imagination by turning something old into something new and exciting! Talking to our children about how some trash can be used again teaches them about recycling. Please talk to your children this month about how recycling means taking something you were going to throw in the trash, such as a piece of paper, and turning it into something new and useful like a new book.

Recycling helps our earth in two ways: Our landfills don’t fill up too quickly, so it saves landfill space and recycling helps save natural resources, like trees. Awesome!

Here are home activities for the month of April:
#1
Start by building a small “junk collection”. These items include items with print, such as boxes, bags, old clothing, and boxes with labels. This is helping them read! This “environmental print” helps them understand that reading is finding out the meaning of text and not just sounding out words. More examples include cardboard pieces, fabric scraps, buttons, plastic lids, tinfoil bits, old newspaper and magazines, old glasses, etc.
Make a plan! Remember the goal is to create something new from something that is old or has already been used! Think of your child’s favorite stories, T.V. shows, food, jobs, animals…..the sky is the limit. Once you make your plan, have your child draw a picture of what they are imagining (you can help them). This will be their blueprint! The goal here is to have your child take ownership in this creation.
Create your masterpiece! Once you create your masterpiece made from recycled items you can send your teacher a picture of it through REMIND. Please make sure you include your child’s first name and a brief description of the project. This will be accepted throughout the month of April. Have fun! We are so excited to see them!

#2
Celebrate EARTH Day on April 22!

Make a window sign for EARTH DAY 2020 and hang in your front window. Go to www.earthday.org for information on making our world a better place.
“Earth Day 2020 is going digital to protect public health, but the classic cardboard sign (or poster board, or paper, or whatever’s at hand) can let your neighbors know they can get involved. One of the easiest ways you can support our Earth is to put a sign in your window.”
Here are some ideas for your window sign:
Less plastic would be fantastic! Mother Earth doesn’t like quitters; pick up your litter
Don’t be trashy! Buy less plastic Dump bad habits, not your trash
Once you create Earth Day poster you can send your teacher a picture of it through REMIND. Please make sure you include your child’s first name and a brief description of the poster. This will also be accepted throughout the month of April.

We miss you all SO MUCH!! Take care and stay healthy! Remember we are all in this together!