2025-26 Smart Start Week 22

Last week in our classroom was full of discovery and celebration as we explored the letters Q and K while also joining in the excitement of Read Across America Week! Books, language, and creativity were woven into everything we did as friends practiced recognizing these letters, listening for their sounds, and spotting them in the stories we read together.

Investigations and explorations throughout the week engaged friends in hands-on learning experiences that connected to our letters. We worked together to make cheese quesadillas, observing how heat changes things. Friends watched closely as the cheese softened and melted and the tortilla warmed and crisped. This simple cooking experience helped us think like scientists as we talked about how heat can transform foods.

To go along with our cooking, we quenched our thirst with fresh squeezed lemonade. Friends squeezed lemons and helped mix the ingredients, then compared the taste of the lemonade to fresh slices of lemon. Many noticed how sour the lemon tasted by itself and how adding water and a little sweetness changed the flavor.

Kindness is always an important theme for our classroom community, but this week we treated kindness with a little more importance. Friends painted kindness rocks that we will soon place around our community for others to find. We talked about how small acts of kindness can brighten someone’s day, even if we never meet the person who discovers the rock.

Some explorations also led into conversations about kinetic and potential energy as friends experimented with movement, noticing when objects were still and when they were in motion. In our journals, children reflected on the question, “What would you do if you were the queen or king of the world?” Many thoughtful ideas were shared about helping others and making the world a kinder place.

One group took our kindness discussion even further by talking about how we can be kind to the Earth. They helped pot propagated plants that we started earlier this year, carefully placing them in soil and watering them so they can continue to grow. It was a wonderful reminder that caring for our world is another important way we can show kindness.

Imagination was in full bloom in our classroom this week! Our queens and kings eagerly accepted the invitation to dramatic play, dressing up and creating their own wands to rule their kingdoms with creativity and kindness. In other areas of the room, friends took on different roles—some were busy serving up quarter pounders in our pretend restaurant, while others showed gentle care as they nurtured our baby dolls, practicing kindness and responsibility through their play.

Our artists also got to work on some exciting collaborative projects. Friends began painting pieces for our class quilt, each child contributing their own colors and ideas to create something meaningful together. We also explored bold lines and movement as we started creating life-size artwork inspired by Keith Haring, filling our space with energy and creativity.

Of course, Read Across America Week wouldn’t be complete without a little extra fun! Two ways we celebrated was Hat Day and Dress Like Your Favorite Storybook or Fairytale Character Day, and friends truly showed up and showed out in their favorite outfits. From cowboys to conductors and princesses to No, David! characters, all kinds of stories and genres were represented. It was a joyful way to celebrate books, imagination, and the many characters that make reading such an adventure.

We can’t wait to see the adventures that unfold next!

See you soon,

The Smart Start team