Weeks of December 18-January 4

Happy Holidays! I'm sure your children are very excited to be off for the holidays with their families and friends! Now all we need is snow!

This last week of school we did a lot of holiday-related things: we read non-fiction facts together about reindeer on the Smartboard and in booklets; we did our December calendars and "This is me in December" picture and writing; we cut out and decorated Christmas trees from paper; the SKs coloured Christmas lights by sum (i.e. 1+3=4, colour all sums of 4 red); the JKs coloured lights by reading the colour words; we did math problems on the Smartboard (i.e. two trees have 5 lights each - how many are there altogether); we also counted and sorted gold and silver rocks. The SKs played a kind of Reindeer Scrabble, in which the children had to create three letter words to match pictures on reindeer. The children also planted "magic beans" (tic tacs!) in Santa's magic snow and the next day they had turned into candy canes! Wow!

The words of the week were YOU and HERE. Please add them to your child's bedtime book box and practise them at home.

I sent home the Seniors' Phonics workbooks to work on over the holidays if they wish. They can also do the "Reindeer ARE, HAVE, CAN" sheet (we did this on the Smartboard together already) and the Christmas word search.

At the Sharing Assembly on Tuesday the children did a wonderful job singing "Toys and Tinsel" and "Oh Hannukah is Here." They also recited "Shy Santa" which I think is their favourite!

On Thursday, the children really enjoyed making wonderful crafts with our parent volunteers, who were the moms of Martel, Theo, Andrew, Claire, Matthew and Riley. Ellie's mom was our Mystery Reader. Thank you so much!! On the last day of school the children played, painted, sang holiday songs with the entire school in the gym, made more Christmassy stuff, and watched some Christmas classics on the Smartboard. Judging by their energy I think they had a wonderful time!

When we return on January 4 we'll do an Author Study on Mo Willems who wrote the hilarious and fun "Who Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus?" and other pigeon books. We will also (weather permitting!) start learning all about snow and ice in Science, and we'll start learning about several interesting Arctic Animals.

Thank you again for the lovely gifts you gave to me and my family. I love teaching your delightful children and I'm looking forward to hearing all about their holiday adventures in a few short weeks!

Week of December 14-18

Dear families,

We finished our last folktale this week - The Gingerbread Man - and started our Christmas and Hannukah activities to get into the spirit of the holidays! On Monday we made gingerbread cookies, baked them, and frosted them when they had cooled down. The children also helped me write instructions about "How to Make Gingerbread Cookies" which I will send home. I've also sent a recipe home if you would like to make them yourselves! Our painting centre only had two colours - brown and white - so the kids could paint gingerbread men. We retold the story, compared the traditional story to others we read (The Gingerbread Baby, The Gingerbread Girl), and wrote down adjectives to describe the gingerbread man. The SK homework for this weekend is to write down 6 adjectives themselves and to draw a picture. Since this was the last folktale we read, we also talked about what all the folktales we read had in common (a trick, often 3 characters that are the same, a wolf or a fox, etc.). With our Book Buddies this week we read and coloured a Gingerbread Man story booklet and a Sharing Cookies pattern booklet.

We also did some holiday activities, which we will continue next week. The children did a mitten match, and a dot-to-dot 1-20 reindeer. Our Science Centre has become a cinnamon- and peppermint-scented North Pole, and we also have a Holiday Card writing Centre complete with a mailbox. I love that the children are writing cards to their friends and family! In our building centres, the kids built "gingerbread houses" and in art we all made Elves out of wallpaper. These small motor activities are very important for young children to practise regularly. They also squeezed various colours of glitter glue on a large letters (of their name i.e. P for Peter) and spread the glue around. When it dries they can hang it on their tree at home. The ornaments I cherish most on my Christmas tree are the ones my children made when they were little. The children also had fun in dramatic play, playing with my Christmas puppets. The children learned more about Hanukkah from Miss Nisker and made clay dreidels. We also finished making the special gifts for mom and dad that went home in a white paper bag. I hope it is a keepsake you cherish for years to come.

A special Thank You to Dylan's grandmother who read "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" and "The Day the Crayons Quit." Christopher's mom helped out in the Computer Lab, and Tessa's, Alexandra's and Martel's moms helped out with Pizza Lunch on Friday. Thank you so much for your time and energy!

The upcoming week we'll write our Elves' "To Do" list and we'll do some Santa patterning and beginning and ending sounds. We'll read lots of holiday books and will sing songs at the piano. On Tuesday it's our last Sharing Assembly of the year (your children can wear festive hats if you have them), and on Thursday morning it's our Holiday Craft Party. On Thursday afternoon I will be with the Seeds of Hope group at the Kingsway Retirement Home. There will be a supply teacher to assist the children.

Please keep your Christmas Cards rather than recycling them, and send the picture halves to class after the holidays. We'll use them next year to write new cards to our friends!

That's the news for this week - there is supposed to be snow, finally, on Thursday!

Mrs. Tyndall :)

Week of December 7-11

Dear families,

I hope you are having a nice weekend. Still no snow!

I have sent home this month's December words (which are on both sides of the sheet) and the December Homework Bingo. We practise these words every day at Circle Time as well as the two songs and one poem we will be presenting at the December 15 Festive Sharing Assembly. I hope you can come! It will be at 9 a.m. in the Gym, as always.

This week was all about the Folktale Cinderella. We read different versions, the children play-acted the story, and they did number and alphabet mazes (correct order of letters and numbers) to help get Cinderella to her glass slipper. The Seniors worked on read and write dry erase boards to copy Cinderella sight words, and almost all the children have completed their awesome shoe box castles! I think I heard myself say "leave space for the mortar between the stones" 28 times :). I hope they have a lot of fun at home recreating scenes from folktales and making up their own stories with them! A great follow up activity to do at home would be for your child to measure his/her castle using a tape measure. The children also took turns using the boxes to build a class castle and I loved their descriptive words about how they built it and the features it had. Wonderful cooperative play! Miss Nisker read a non-fiction book about castles which the children found very interesting - it helped them with ideas for their big class castle! The children also read and coloured a little pattern book called "Who Can You See?" about Cinderella.

The Seniors practised clapping syllables of Cinderella words (i.e. godmother = 3 claps, slipper =2 claps) to assist them with their writing. The homework for the SKs is to complete the sight word booklet that they practised in class on the dry-erase boards. The Juniors and Seniors practised their 10-frames with beads and played a ten-frame game with dice.

Thank you to Theo's mom who helped out in the Computer Lab, and to our Mystery Readers Megan (who is now in Grade One!) and Iris' dad, who brought in a fairy tale book. Thank you to Martel's mom who made play dough. This week we will read several versions of The Gingerbread Man, and the play- dough will be handy! We will focus on this folktale in the morning and will do our Holiday/Christmas activities in the afternoons, starting with Elf Capades! The kids were very excited that Alfie the Elf had arrived in our classroom! The children will make an elf from wallpaper pieces and will write a list of what the elves have to do before Christmas. Miss Nisker will be teaching the children about Hanukkah. Thank you Miss. Nisker! We'll also make real gingerbread cookies in class and bake them in the school's oven. I can't wait!

I have completed the literacy and numeracy assessments for the Seniors. Juniors have their formal assessments next term. Please feel free to contact me at any time to arrange for a meeting about your child's progress.

That's my news for this week - see you tomorrow!

Mrs. Tyndall

Week of November 30 - December 4

Dear families,

I hope you enjoyed the sun this lovely November Saturday!

Thank you to our Computer Lab volunteers - Ellie's mom and Ruby's mom. Thank you also to Riley's mom who was our Mystery Reader this week, and to Dylan's and Claire's moms who helped out with pizza lunch. Thank you also to Matthew's mom who made play dough for the class!

This upcoming week is the Scholastic Book Fair in the Library. The children in Group 1 will be going on Thursday, and the children in Group 2 will be going on Tuesday. If you wish your child to buy books, please send their money in a plastic baggy marked with their name. Thank you!

In this weekend's TDSB bag your child's work on the book study of "Where the Wild Things Are" was sent home, along with their weekly snuggle book. Please return the snuggle book each Monday so that other children can read it.

This week we read several versions of The Three Little Pigs, starting with a very old version written in 1960. I think the children enjoyed reading all the other versions from the library that are in our classroom. We talked a lot about how they are the same and different and which they like better and why. We also did a Venn comparing the Troll and the Wolf. We also made cute piggy art from construction paper. On the tummy is a letter to the big bad wolf. I've typed up the children's ideas of what to write to the big bad wolf - they are so cute!

We also did a graphing activity; the children had to take turns with a spinner, which would land on a picture of either straw, sticks or bricks. Each time it landed on one of those three, they had to colour in one rectangle of the graph. Which ever they landed on the most and reached 10, they had to decorate a little house with that material. The follow up activity is to write if that was the best material for the house, or not. The Seniors helped the Juniors with this activity.

The children enjoyed building structures in class this week and were proud to show them to their classmates. They built houses in groups and then explained how they did it in front of the class. Great job! They also decorated three paper houses with real straw, sticks, and "bricks" (sponge painted), and retold the story using puppets. I recorded the children's descriptions of the structures they built and will send copies home when the Folktale unit is done.

On the Smartboard, we did guided reading of "How to Make Piggie Pie" and a simple version of "The Three Little Pigs," both of which will go in the children's Folktale Folder when we have finished this unit of inquiry. The homework for the SKs is to draw pictures and write how to make piggy pie. We did this together on the Smartboard first. The JK homework is to just read and colour this booklet.

Continuing with our science inquiry on the weather, we talked about the wind, like the wolf, blowing things down! Also, that snow is flakes of ice. The children brought some ice inside to our science table.

With our Grade 2 Reading Buddies, the children read and coloured a version of The Three Little Pigs that has a happier ending (the wolf runs away) than the traditional tale.

We had a visit from Hector from the Brentwood Library this week. The children listened to stories, sang songs, and learned about all the fun things to do at a public library.

On December 15, it will be "Wear a Festive Sweater Day' at LKS to raise money for the Seeds of Hope. It is also the day of an Author Visit in the Library, and is our Sharing Assembly in the morning. We will be singing holiday songs for you. It would be great if the children could wear a festive hat on this day for the assembly.

That's our news for this week! Next week will be all about castles and several versions of the classic tale Cinderella. Our Dramatic Play area is now decorated by the children as a castle and looks amazing!

Please send in shoeboxes and toilet paper rolls for our castles (as many as you can please). We also need 28 small baby food jars with lids. Thank you!


I hope you have a lovely weekend!

Week of November 23-27

Hello families,

This week was all about The Three Billy Goats Gruff and bridges. We read several versions of this classic folktale including "The Three Bully Goats" (which transitioned well into a discussion about bullying and bully awareness week) and "The Three Billy Goats Fluff" (which is a cute version in which the troll can't sleep due to the "trip trapping" of the goats' hooves and they have to come up with a solution to not bother the tired troll). We sequenced the story and its different versions and retold it. We also watched a video on the Smartboard called "What Makes Bridges so Strong?" Then four of the tables had the task of building a bridge out of tubes, various sizes of wooden sticks, and tape. Two tables had only small marshmallows and toothpicks. It was great that some of the children remembered that the triangle shape is often used in bridges. Many of the children also recalled going over bridges and their conversations and cooperative play and problem-solving was great to hear. After they built the bridge they drew it and wrote what the bridge HAS, CAN (do) and IS. We followed up with this activity by sponge-painting the setting of the story (dried/eaten grass, water, bridge, green grass), and by cutting gout and making puppets. The children's wonderful teamwork and thinking is on display on our hall bulletin board.

The children also made Troll and Ogre puppets and they will go home next week. They look awesome! Thank you Cole for bringing in Jan Brett's book "The Trouble with Trolls." We also graphed and tallied our answers to the question, "Would you throw the troll over the bridge or would you make friends with the troll?" I was impressed that more than twice as many children said they would make friends with the troll. :)

Please send in shoeboxes and toilet paper rolls for our castles ( as many as you can please). We also need 28 small baby food jars with lids. Thank you!

As an introduction to our next folktale, The Three Little Pigs, we went on a walking excursion around the shale pit, looking at the houses and fences - deciding which was strong, stronger, strongest. A large wall made of large and heavy rocks at the back of the pit was a clear winner. It was also a very windy day and this will lead nicely into our discussion of wind and the role it plays in the story. I sent home a wind vane kit if your child wishes to make one at home -- you just need a play-doh container and lid and a pencil.

The home work for this weekend for the SKs is to fill in the blanks with Troll adjectives to make a poem, and draw an accompanying picture (we did the adjectives in class on chart paper). They can also do the word search. The JKs should cut out and sequence the story pictures.

We also started talking about castles since they are in a lot of folk and fairy tales. The children made them from paper bags and we looked at and talked about the features of some famous castles (Windsor, Neuschwanstein) as well as our own Casa Loma. Thank you Theo for bringing in the home made castle from your house. We will start making ours too once more show boxes are sent in.

Thank you to Cole's dad who helped out in the Computer Lab, to William's mom who was our Mystery Reader on his special day, and to Martel's mom who also helped out in the Computer Lab.

Some of the children must be growing quickly because they are finishing their morning snack, lunch, and afternoon snack by lunchtime and don't have anything left over for afternoon snack time! Please be sure to send In enough healthy snacks for the whole day. I always have extra but they are just goldfish because I can't store perishable food for long in my fridge.

The last day to hand in any holiday Scholastic orders is tomorrow. Thank you!

That's the classroom news for this week - I hope you have a terrific week and look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!

Week of November 16-20

Dear families,

I hope you are enjoying the weekend!

This week we continued our book study of Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" and the number ten. The children completed their text-to-self connections by writing "When I feel wild..." and drawing a picture. On the Smartboard, we wrote and talked about adjectives describing wild things and Max. The children made and decorated individual "wild things" and we wrote and talked about what our wild things can do, have, say, and are. Next week we'll practise sight words by "helping Max tame the words" by reading them and putting them in a basket. We'll also practise reading words that start with a W for wild and an M for Max. We will sequence the story, and talk about the characters, setting, and retell the story.

This story leads very nicely into a study of Folk and Fairy Tales. The first one we will do is The Three Billy Goats Gruff. We will compare different versions of the story, retell it, and act out the story with puppets we'll make. We will also learn a cute song called The Troll that retells the story. This week, the children will read this with their Reading Buddies in booklet form. We will also compare this book to other versions such as The Three Billy Goats Fluff, which is a story told from the point of view of the Troll :). Next week is also Bullying Awareness Week and talking about the Troll in The Three Billy Goats Gruff and in other fairy tales leads well into this discussion. We will also do role-playing to support this discussion.

In Numeracy, we talked a lot about the number 10. We played with various manipulatives such as Rekenrecks, beads, cubes, etc. to make combinations of numbers to arrive at the number 10. The Juniors are just learning about this, the Seniors are understanding or beginning to understand this well. The children finished making their Rekenreks and should play with them at home. Using paper plates with dots on them of various sums under ten, we talked and wrote about several ways to think of TEN; one plus nine, two plus eight, three plus seven, seven plus three, etc. We also reviewed tally marks, talked about how to make ten with a pattern of cubalinks, a base ten strip, dice, and how to spell TEN. The children also had fun lining up in front of their friends and moving from one group to another to make ten.

The homework for the JKs this weekend is to practise writing M for Max and W for Wild. The SKs should finish the sentences "My Wild Thing IS, CAN, HAS, SAYs" (we did this first on the Smartboard). The Juniors and Seniors should continue playing with their Rekenreks and showing you how they work.

With our Reading Buddies, we read and coloured a Remembrance Day booklet with the poem In Flanders Fields. Hannah, Tessa, Iris, Claire and Avery did a wonderful job in the Remembrance Day Assembly. Thank you. The children were so well behaved as always.

Thank you so much to Matthew's mom Trudie who was our Mystery Reader this week. Thank you to Stella's mom who helped out in the Computer Lab!

On November 20th it is "Moustache Day" to support "Movember".

The "popcorn" or sight words of the week are PLAY and ON.

Our Dramatic Centre is now a Fairy and Folktale Dress up centre! This week children will also learn all about bridges and castles which often feature in Folktales. They will build them with Lego, Treo, and blocks. They children will also help create a castle in dramatic centre by sponge painting stones and bricks. It's going to look amazing! We will continue this Folktale unit in the weeks leading up to the December Holidays, and will talk all about Santa and his Elves starting in mid-December when this unit is done.

During quiet time, we have been doing Yoga breathing exercises and we also watched a kids DVD about Yoga and enjoyed learning about poses that were named after animals. During quiet time this week and next, we will listen to a cd of Fairy Tales read wonderfully by actors in "Once Upon a Fairy Tale." I'm looking forward to all the wonderful things we can learn from this unit/inquiry!

In Science we are going to learn all about Weather. I've set up the Science Centre with a home made weather vane (I'll send instructions home) and rain gauge. We'll track the weather each day and talk about what weather is and how it changes. November is the perfect month for this since the weather is so varied!

For Art, if you have SMALL BABY FOOD JARDS with LIDS please send them in. I also need small IOGO yogurt containers. We will be making trolls and figures for our paper bag castles. Thank you!

I hope you have a terrific week!

Week of November 2-6

Dear families,

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful Fall day. This week the children read and drew accompanying pictures to a "Signs of Fall" booklet with their Grade 2 Reading Buddies. They also made poppies in preparation for next week's Remembrance Day ceremony. We read Todd Parr's wonderful book "Peace is..." several times together and also on the Smartboard, page by page. Then we watched a video of Todd reading his own book and talked about the differences (www.toddparr.com). The children did some very nice written work and pictures this week, finishing the two sentences, "I was brave when..." and "Peace is..." They will be on display in the hall and classroom bulletin boards this week.

In Numeracy, the children are making their own rekenreks (http://www.k-5mathteachingresources.com/Rekenrek.html). These are tools to teach the 5- and 10-frame as well as several other early math skills such as addition and subtraction. The children will bring them home in Friday's mailbag. In Science, we did an inquiry on whether various objects sink or float, and talked about why this happens. We learned about density and displacement. We watched a Sesame Street video on bouyancy and a similar video on makemeagenius.com. We practised being scientists by Predicting, Observing, and Concluding, while testing whether or not the objects sank or floated. I have included a copy of the sheet we used at the Science Centre for you to use at home - a great bath time activity! We also talked about where the idea of Velcro came from (burrs!).

The children had a great time during the GROW presentation in the gym on Wednesday. Lots of energetic teamwork and fun! Thank you Mrs. Norton for organizing this for the children.

The homework for this week is: Seniors are to write in their journals, and Juniors are to do the Numbers Booklet that I sent home.

Thank you so much to Cole and his mom who were our Mystery Readers this week!

This Friday's mailbag included the new words for November as well as homework bingo for this month.

The sight words a.k.a. Popcorn Words for this week are AM and BE.

The due dates for Scholastic are November 20 and 27th. Thank you Stella for collating and stamping the Scholastic magazines this month!

Please remember that I am always available before or after school to meet with you regarding your child's progress.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Tyndall

October's Classroom News

OCTOBER 19-24

Hello families,

I hope you are having a nice weekend. The children have been very excited about the upcoming Halloween Parade and Class Craft Party! On Monday they helped me decorate our classroom. We made a "Halloween Countdown" with beads. The children made a pattern of orange and black beads on a "pipe cleaner" with the number of sleeps until Halloween, with a little bell at the end. Each night they move one bead over, and when all the beads are moved over they ring the bell and it's Halloween!

NUMERACY: Numeracy in Kindergarten is much more than counting and sorting. The children are learning about sequencing, the benchmark numbers 5 and 10, patterning, and number formation, for example.

We did a lot of patterning this week: with beads for the Countdown and for our Spooky Pattern Tree, with large Halloween foam shapes (JKs), and with small Halloween shapes (SKs). Patterning is an important early Numeracy skill. Simple patterning can be ABAB, and more advanced patterning would be ABCABC, or ABBABB, AABAAB, ABCC, ABCC, ABCDABCD etc. Most of the Juniors just do the ABAB pattern, and the Seniors are able to create more complex patterns on their own.

We also practiced counting and writing numbers (as we do every day) with a pumpkin theme: the JKs completed a "Counting Pumpkins" booklet in which they traced the numbers 1-7, and drew the corresponding number of pumpkins. They did a great job! This teaches 1-1 correspondence as well as numeral formation. The Seniors did pumpkin math, in which they had to write the numbers that came before and after a given number, i.e. ___ 11 ___, or ____ 9 ____.

I made a fun "I Spy Haunted House" out of paper and various spooky stickers, in which the children had to count and record how many of each sticker they counter. For example, "I spy ____ bats." First the children are doing this on acetate with an erasable marker, then they'll do the work on paper. They love using the clipboards!!

Also in numeracy, we counted the seeds in our little pumpkin, and each child counted and will take home 10. We also put 10 seeds on each of the pumpkins on a big pumpkin mat, learning to count by 10s. With the extra seeds, we take turns placing them on a pumpkin mat with various numbers on it (i.e. put 5 seeds on the pumpkin with the 5 on it; put 8 seeds on the pumpkin with the number 8 on it). Thank you so much to Theo and Cole who had a great time taking the "goop" and seeds out of our class pumpkin! The children also worked together making Halloween and Skeleton floor puzzles.

SCIENCE: In Science, we weighed our pumpkin again after taking the seeds and "goop" out, and after cutting two triangle eyes and a mouth (I did this part). The children also helped use figure out how to weigh our pumpkin with the suitcase scale I brought to class. They had lots of amazing ideas, but we finally figured out that we had to put the pumpkin in a bag first before weighing it. We weighed the pumpkin after taking the seeds and "goop" out and it weighed 0.1 kg less.

The children also helped me make a Venn diagram of the characteristics of pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns, and what they had in common. This will be the SK homework next week.

LITERACY: In Literacy this week, we did a lot of Guided Reading with various Halloween books. The children read several books along with me and we pointed out the sight words and stretched out words we are learning. They also helped me spell Halloween words on chart paper, wrote and drew a picture about what they will be for Halloween, and we made a class booklet that is in our little class library. We also figured out the beginning and ending sounds to Halloween pictures and I put these in a booklet in our class library, i.e. B T for bat, P N for pumpkin. This is a very important skill to develop as the children learn to write.

The popcorn words for this week are THE and DO.

ART: The children made pastel and crayon resist art: they used pastel to draw a tree, fall leaves, a moon and a pumpkin, and then they painted a black watercolour wash on top and "BOO!" a crayon ghost appeared (drawn by me with white crayon in advance. *:) happy I think they liked it! They look great! We also made a Model Magic spider (with eight legs - the children had to count them), and a bat that hangs upside down. The children also sang Halloween songs with me on the piano. We'll do more of these next week! We also started making masking tape "baby mummies" to go along with the cute book we are going to focus on this upcoming week called "Where's My Mummy?" by Laura Crimi.

The SK Homework for this weekend is to complete the "spider" diagram with pumpkin adjectives.

I have also added a link to the top of my Blog called "Kindergarten Curriculum Document" for more information.

Next week we'll also do guided reading with a booklet called Frankie Friend, about being a good friend. The children will take home a copy to read at home.

A big Thank You to Kosti's mom who taught us Finnish words, and how to say "Hello" and "Good-bye" in Finnish! Thank you as well to Christopher's mom who helped out in the Computer Lab, and to the parents to help set up Pizza Lunch on Friday!

If you will be sending in treats for your child's classmates this week, this is a great opportunity for your child to label them: "From ______" or " To ________." Please ensure that treats are labelled nut and sesame-free. Thank you!

The children did a wonderful job singing "Leaves, Leaves" at the Sharing Assembly. Congratulations to Phoebe and Dylan who received a certificate for Responsibility.

An important safety reminder that if your child will be absent, or if there are any other changes to his/her regular routine, please call the school office to let them know.

That's the news from room 166! I am really looking forward to Friday's Halloween Party and Parade! It's a highlight of the year and so much fun for the kids!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Tyndall

OCTOBER 20-25

Hello everyone. Please note that I am always available any time before or after school to meet with you regarding your child’s progress, assessments, etc. Just send me an email if you would like to discuss your child’s progress.

WEEK OF 20-25:

We started our Inquiry on Apples as well as a Science Experiment, predicting and observing what happens to apple slices when these environments: air, lemon juice, salt, and vinegar. We chart the changes each day for 7 days. We also made an Apple Glyph (numeracy skills) and talked about and wrote the sequence to make apple sauce. Then we made our apples into apple sauce and wrote about how we liked it! We also wrote and read a mini booklet called “Who Took the Apples.” We watched a short video on the Smartboard about the journey of a seed to apple sauce.

The children practised pattern and design-making with various shapes and sizes of stones on large chart paper in the hall. Their problem-solving and patterning skills were terrific!

We are learning about Respect and will celebrate this at the Sharing Assembly. We read Kevin Henkes’ wonderful book “Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse” and talked about what Respect means in our classroom and at home. Christopher and Natasha will be receiving Respect certificates.

We also started an Author Study of Laura Numeroff, who wrote the wonderful circular stories “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,” “If You Give a Moose a Muffin,” “If You Give a Pig a Party” and several more. After listening to the stories the children re-told the events in the story, which is an important literacy skill.

Thank you to: Catherine’s mom who was Mystery Reader; Theo’s mom who helped in the Computer Lab.

The Sight Words of the week are CAN and ME. Seniors should be writing in their Journals each weekend and handing them in each Monday.

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 28 - OCTOBER 2:

The children did a wonderful job at their first Sharing Assembly of the year, reciting the poem “Me.”

We continued observing our apple slices in the Science Centre - our observations and comments will be sent home in next Friday’s mail bags. The children are terrific at observing and their natural curiosity allows for so much learning!

As we prepare for our school’s Terry Fox Walk on October 2nd, the children completed a picture and words called “Running With Terry” and we talked and wrote about what Terry DID, WAS, and HAD.

A natural continuation of our Inquiry on Apples is our Inquiry on Healthy Habits and Foods, especially at harvest time. The children also helped write about what apples and healthy foods ARE, HAVE and MAKE. The Seniors’ homework is to label the parts of the apple and complete this written ARE, HAVE and MAKE work at home. Thank you for sending in grocery flyers for our Healthy Habits Inquiry. We listed and described together Healthy and Not Healthy foods and cut and glued them. Please provide your children with small scissors and glue at home so that they can practise these important fine motor skills. The children also were proud to show me their healthy snacks.😊

In our Author Study we read “If You Take a Mouse to School” and “If You Give a Pig a Pancake” and retold the stories.

The children also enjoyed taking turns at the Smartboard signing in and finding letter sounds on www.ABCya.com.

In Art, the children painted beautiful pictures of some sunflowers I brought in and they are on display on our classroom bulletin board. The sight words this week are LIKE and MY.

The children had Photo Day as well. I have sent home the October Words to practise at home as well as October Homework Bingo.

Thank you to Martel’s dad who was Mystery Reader and Andrew’s mom who helped in the Computer Lab!

WEEK OF OCTOBER 5 - 9:

Thank you first of all to Theo’s mom who was Mystery Reader, to Megan in Grade 1 who was also a reader for the children, and Phoebe’s mom who helped out in the Computer Lab! Thank you also to Matthew who helped out with our unit on Healthy Habits and Germs by bringing in a science book.

We sang Turkey songs and poems this week and “If You’re Healthy and You Know It.” Copies will be sent home in Friday’s mail bags.

We watched a video on the Smartboard by PBS’ Sid the Science Kid about The Journey of a Germ. We passed around a slice of bread and will be observing the difference between the “clean hands” slice and the “dirty hands” slice. Germs are invisible but they are ick and make us sick! On the Smartboard and at our tables, we read booklets called “Germs are ICK and make me SICK.” I hid 21 germs throughout the classroom and the children did a Germ Hunt to find them, learning that they can be everywhere! We also did a “Shake Hands” song activity and I put glitter glue on my hands. The children noticed that whenever they shook my hand and then gave each other a high five, the glitter (i.e. germs) would pass from one child to another!

We also continued our Patterning Work (numeracy) by making patterns with stamps, stickers, stones, beads, bingo dabbers, and coloured blocks.

Every morning Grade 8 Volunteers in the L.I.V.E program will read with the children one-on-one. This week we also met our Book Buddies from Ms. Sunde’s Grade 2 class. We will meet and read each week to improve our literacy skills and make new friends.

In our Healthy Habits unit we also talked about how all our healthy food comes from nature and farmers, and we talked about different parts of plants that we eat.

IN and SEE are our sight words this week.

This week we also celebrated the Blue Jays by wearing blue and white or Blue Jays clothing! Go Jays!!!

We are almost finished our Healthy Habits/Germs Inquiry and are starting our Signs of Fall Unit. The children are encouraged to bring in signs from nature that Fall is here. They are working on booklets called “Leaves” and “Fall is Here.”

As always, please take time to talk with your child about the wonderful work that comes home in his/her mailbag.

Finally, the children worked hard on their Thanksgiving “I am Thankful For” plates, and wrote and drew four things they are thankful for.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family. I am very thankful for the opportunity I have each day to teach your wonderful children.

Helping Your Child in Kindergarten

Helping Your Child in Kindergarten

1. Ensure that your child has adequate sleep and a regular bedtime. A well-balanced diet is also essential for your child to do his/her best at school.
2. Read stories suited to your child’s interests and ability to understand.
3. Answer your child’s questions and encourage curiousity. Give your child words for things that interest him/her.
4. Take your child to various places outside the home and talk about what s/he sees, e.g. library, stores, zoo, museum, art gallery, friend’s houses, park, etc.
5. Give your child plenty of time to get ready for school. Allow enough time to dress as independently as possible. Your child is very proud to be able to get dressed independently! Help him/her think about the order in which clothes are put on e.g. legs in snowsuits first, then arms; boots, hat, scarf and mittens last.
6. Your child learns responsibility by taking care of and putting away belongings.
7. Provide your child with a toy storage area. Open shelves allow your child to get out and put away toys easily. Your child can help you label the bins!
8. Have your child keep a pair of indoor shoes at school such as Crocs. This ensures that s/he will have suitable footwear during the school year.
9. Provide materials for active outdoor play, such as balls, bicycles and scooters.
10. Supervise the amount of t.v. and media, devices, etc. your child watches.
11. Friendships are very important to development. Encourage your child to invite his/her friends to play dates.
12. Speak to me about any concerns or new problems that arise. Interviews can be arranged by calling the school office (416-394-7890).
13. Discipline: Have suitable and prompt consequences for misbehaviour. Provide explanations for the consequences and make sure your child understands. Rules should be easy to understand. Positive reinforcement works best!
14. Talk to your child about school as an interesting and fun place to go; a place where s/he will have fun and learn many new things. Reinforce learning by telling your child, as s/he talks about school, all the things s/he is learning!
15. Read with your child each day. Enjoy this special time with your child!

Yours in partnership,

Mrs. Tyndall 

Week of September 21-25

Dear Families,

It's hard to believe that summer will be over and autumn begins next week! The weather has been so beautiful!

We had a busy week in Room 166. On Monday the entire school attended the Terry Fox Assembly. Donation forms were sent home and are due by the end of the month please. Our first Scholastic Order was due today but you can send in your order forms by Monday at the latest. Pizza lunch orders are due online by September 25 for the first pizza lunch, and October 13th for the other pizza lunches.

Many thanks to Claire's dad who was our Mystery Reader this Thursday. Many thanks as well to our Grade Parents Mary (Martel's mom) and Theresa (Stella's mom) for compiling the Class Contact List and for coordinating our parent volunteers this year.

Just a reminder that your child needs TWO snacks each day. Please assist your child by explaining what his/her snacks are in his/her lunch bag. Some children are telling me their parents forgot to pack them a snack and then we find fruit or veggies in their lunch bag! We have snack at about 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. I have a water fountain in my classroom and the children can use their water bottles during outdoor play and at lunch.

PLEASE remember that we have a student with a nut and sesame allergy in our classroom. Lambton Kingsway is a nut-safe school and all commercially made products (such a protein-type bars) must have the "nut-free" logo and must not say "May contain nuts" on the list of ingredients. Any snacks that do not meet this criteria will be returned home. Thank you.

Within the next few weeks we will start our Reading Buddy program with Ms. Sunde's Grade 2 class! This is an exciting program for the children and a great learning experience and opportunity. Stay tuned for more information!

The children did a great job during our Lockdown practice. Next week the school will have a Fire Drill. We talked about these procedures and the children did a great job being very quiet and lining up. Every day the Juniors are learning more and more of our routines and I'm proud of how the Seniors are setting a terrific example for them!

This week in Literacy we "Read the Room" looking for upper and lower case letter matches; we played letter and letter sound bingo on the Smartboard (abcya.com); we "stretched out" and read three-letter words on the Smartboard; the SKs read and wrote colour words; we reviewed (SKs) and are learning (JKs) our sight words I, AM, IS and AND; the Special Person of the Day showed us how they "Fix Their Name" by unscrambling the letters.

In Numeracy we: counted (and the SKs wrote) the letters in our names; the JKs did Chicka Chicka counting coconuts; the SKs did a Number Hunt.

In Art we made Eye Spy Names; some children drew a bouquet of sunflowers in the class; made a Chicka Chicka Name tree. We will talk more about the sunflowers next week in Science.

In the Science Centre the children brought in a root from a tree in the playground; seeds; milk weed pods.

Next week we will learn All About Apples and will incorporate this inquiry into our Science, Numeracy, Literacy and Art activities. We will also examine our sunflowers more. We will start an Author Study on Laura Numeroff who wrote the wonderful books "If you Give a _____ a _______." We'll start with "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie!" and "If you give a Moose a Muffin." If you have copies of Numeroff's books at your home please send them in with your child so we can read along! I have one copy of each of her books. It will be fun! Look for lots of activities in next week's and the following week's mailbags! If you remember, please send in apples, cookies and muffins for snacks this week to go with our learning!

The Seniors received their new Journals in today's mailbag. I have attached a list of 100 high frequency words as a little dictionary on the back page. I have also glued in the list of things you asked your child to write about this year, as a guideline, and a list of Dos and Don'ts (i.e. do skip lines, do use the popcorn words, do sound words out, don't write out the sentences for your child to copy from). Please return your child's journal each Monday. I am really looking forward to reading them and to seeing all the lovely accompanying pictures!

That's the news from Room 166. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Tyndall

Week of September 14-18

Dear families,

We have had our first week with all the children in! This is a very busy and exciting time for the children. There have been a number of letters and forms sent home to be signed. Please make sure you send back your completed forms.

It was so nice to meet all of you! The children have been doing a great job lining up outside the playground door. Thank you so much for assisting with this transition by saying good-bye at the door. Our SKs have been doing a wonderful job making the Juniors feel welcome and helping them with routines!

When all the contact information has been sent in, Grade Parents will be contacting you regarding volunteer opportunities in the classroom. For example, each Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. a parent volunteer is Mystery Reader. This is a surprise visit. The parent signs in at the office, the office buzzes the classroom to let us know "The Mystery Reader is here," and I send two children to the office to pick him/her up. Then the Mystery Reader reads a book or two they have brought from home to the children.

There are also volunteer opportunities to help the children in the Computer Lab and to assist on Craft Days (Halloween, Winter Holiday, 100th Day of School, etc. - see "Important Dates" column at right). The kids love to see their parents in the classroom and your time and energy are really appreciated! It is wonderful to see a child's face light up when mom or dad comes into our class!

If anyone would like to volunteer to sort, staple and stamp the Scholastic order forms each month it would be much appreciated!

This week and next week will be spent on establishing rules and routines. It will take many of the children (especially the JKs) quite some time to learn all the various rules and routines. We all learn together and the Juniors learn so much from the Seniors as well.

We are currently talking about our Names. We are also reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and are learning and reviewing letter names and sounds. The children's first work of the year is called "This is Me" and it is proudly on display in the hall bulletin board. We are also working to learn high frequency words ("Popcorn Words" since they keep popping up!) and last week's words were I and AM. We will learn two new words each week and your child will receive a copy of each word in their mailbag. The JKs are learning letter names and sounds and the SKs are reviewing sight words. We are also doing numeral review (counting and number formation) on the Smartboard. Next week we will continue numeracy and literacy activities related to the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom book as well as Eye Spy letters, letter sounds, and numbers. We will also be talking about Terry Fox and will join the rest of LKS at the Terry Fox Assembly on Monday.

That's my news for this week! I'm looking forward to next week when all the children are in each day. I hope you've had a lovely weekend.

Mrs. Tyndall

Week of September 8-11

Dear Parents,

Welcome to Mrs. Tyndall’s Kindergarten Class at Lambton Kingsway Junior Middle School! I am delighted to have your child in my class this year. We are going to be learning a lot this year and it is my goal to do everything I can to make sure my classroom is a welcoming place full of learning, fun and friends. Please also join me in welcoming Early Childhood Educator Miss. Nisker to our classroom! Thank you to Martel's mom Mary and Stella's mom Theresa who have volunteered to be our Grade Parents this year!

We enjoyed meeting everyone at the Kindergarten Open House today! I am looking forward to a wonderful year and I know you are, too.

Kindergarten is a two-year program and our classroom has both Juniors and Seniors. I encourage you to have conversations with your child about what we are doing in school. Parental involvement is very important. Your participation and support will help instill a positive attitude about learning. When we all work together, students are successful! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns during the school year. Please check my blog each weekend for updates and important classroom information.


Kindergarten Schedule
8:45-8:50 Entry
8:50-11:20 Morning Program

11:20-12:30 Lunch
12:30-12:35 Entry
12:35-3:05 Afternoon Program

Your child will need a regular-sized backpack for Kindergarten. This backpack should be large enough to carry snacks, lunch (if your child is not going home for lunch), a library book, small reading books, as well as a clear TDSB plastic "mailbag" (provided by me) that will go home at the end of each week. This bag will include notes from school, classwork, art projects, etc. Please return this bag to school each Monday, and remind your child to hand put it in the bin provided when s/he enters the classroom. Please give your child opportunities to practice opening, putting things in, taking objects out of the backpack and then zipping the backpack closed.

As your child enters school, independence (and attempting to be independent) is very important. Saying a cheerful goodbye at the outside door will ensure your child has a smooth transition to classroom routines and independence.

The beginning of the day, end of the day, and lunch time are busy times, with children coming and going to before and after school programs, taking the bus, daycare, etc. My first priority is ensuring that each of my children is dismissed safely to parents and caregivers, bus attendants. etc. If you wish to speak with me about your child's progress, please send a note and I’ll be happy to make an appointment to speak to you at a time convenient to all.


Please note that the Kindergarten Playground/Yard is CLOSED after school each day as it is reserved for the After School Program. Thank you.


Important Numbers:

School Office: 416-394-7890
Please leave a message with the office if your child will be absent from school. Messages can be left 24 hours/day. Please give your child’s name, teacher name, and reason for absence.

My Program:

In keeping with the Ministry of Education’s Full Day Kindergarten Curriculum, the Kindergarten Program is Inquiry-Based. I will also be doing several educational and interesting theme-based literacy and numeracy activities with the children adapted to their level and interests, which also helps prepare them for SK/Grade One Curriculum. The children will bring these themed units home in folders when they are completed, so that you can see all the hard work they have been doing in class!

Each child is unique. Young children grow and develop at their own rate. When provided with opportunities to play and interact with their peers and guided by adults, children have the opportunity to expand their knowledge and solve problems through everyday activities. While there will be large group discussions, much of the interaction between your child and myself and Miss. Nisker will be in small groups or one on one. As a result, children will be able to receive as much individualized attention that is geared to their interests as well as their development and abilities.

Centres:

The Kindergarten classroom is set up as a number of centres. Independence is key to the program and, as such, the learning materials are housed in storage shelves and containers that allow children to find and reach them on their own. The children are expected to help keep our classroom clean and organized by cleaning up their activity when finished with it and returning it to the proper place.

While centres will change through the year (according to which theme we are working on), some remain, with the materials changing to meet our learning expectations. Some of the centres in our classroom are:

- Sand and/or Water
- Math (Numeracy)
- Writing
- Reading/Books/Mini Library
- Creative (Art)
- Sensory
- Building
- Science/Discovery
- Computers (2)
- Dramatic Play

They will also be encouraged to rotate through all the different centres. Each child has a designated seat at a table, and a designated spot during Circle Time and Smartboard Work Time. Otherwise, as a rule, children will play in small groups of 2-4 children.

Additional Activities:

Library and Computers – We are fortunate to have Teacher Librarian Ms. McGee, who maintains a wonderful primary resource centre. Each week we will have an opportunity to visit the library for a read aloud or learning activity, as well as a book exchange. The library is also next to our Computer Lab where the children will have an opportunity each week to explore a variety of programs and learn how to use the computers.

Physical Education – Our gymnasium and outdoor kindergarten playground are large open spaces where children will be able to participate in activities to promote healthy living. Co-operative games and moving safely are the major components of the kindergarten gym program.

Volunteers:

There are many opportunities for parents to volunteer in the classroom, such as Mystery Reader (every Thursday at 9 a.m.) and Craft Parties. Any person wishing to volunteer at the school requires a recent, valid police check from the Toronto Police Department. Annual Declarations are required for any current volunteers. I have sent home a copy of this form. Please contact your Grade Parent if you wish to volunteer for classroom activities.


Safety:

Ensuring the safety of the students, staff and visitors at Lambton Kingsway is a priority. Students in Kindergarten enter and leave through their classroom doors to the kindergarten yard. Should you need to enter the school, please use the front doors and sign in at the office each time you visit us.

A note from home is required for changes to regular routines (i.e. a child who normally stays at school for lunch will be going home, or a child who normally takes the bus will be picked up by a caregiver, or a child is going on a play date after school and will be picked up by another caregiver). For the safety and security of your child, we cannot change your child’s routine if a note is note provided. Please do not assume that if a note is left in your child’s backpack your child will remember to give it to his/her teacher. Please hand the note personally to me first thing in the morning and/or call the office with the change to routine.

If your child is going to be absent from school for a planned activity (i.e. doctor, dentist, early or extended holiday) please send a note in advance so that it can be forwarded to the office. For unexpected absences, please call the safe arrival system (416-394-7890) and leave a message with your child’s full name, teacher, and reason for absence.

Classroom Rules and Routines:

One of the main goals in Kindergarten is to develop self-regulation. I work with the children to help them maintain control of their actions and behaviours. Our classroom expectations are to:

- Listen to others
- Use a quiet voice
- Keep hands to yourself
- Sit while in a group
- Walk while inside the school


Home Communication:

Communication between home and school is essential. Every Sunday evening, I update my blog (www.mrstyndallslksblog.blogspot.com). Please make a habit of checking it regularly for important dates, information about what we are doing in class, and other updates. Each day items such as notes, newsletters, permission forms, etc. may be sent home. Children in my Kindergarten class use a communication bag (a clear plastic TDSB bag with their name on it) to carry items between home and school. Please place notes from home, or any money for pizza, Scholastic Book Orders, field trips, etc. in the bag. Please do not lose this bag as I only have a few extras. Thank you.

To help keep orders safe and contained, please seal any required money inside an envelope or zip-lock baggie, and put your child’s name on it, along with the purpose for the money being sent.


Calendar:

A classroom calendar will be sent home during the last week of each month (or earlier) for the next month. Please post in a special place so that you and your child are prepared for all designated activities. Please make note of special dates such as your child’s Special/Snack Day, due dates for pizza and book orders, etc.

Reading Skills:

Reading is an essential skill that lasts a lifetime. It is your and my responsibility to ensure that your child develops early reading skills. An at home reading program will be provided, beginning in the first term. A folder with a reading log, as well as early reading “snuggle up” books will be provided. Your Snuggle Book needs to travel to and from school in your child’s white TDSB bag. More information will be provided once we begin the program in October.

Spare Clothing:

Children occasionally don’t make it to the washroom on time. They also like to “find” puddles or go down slides that aren’t quite dry. To make such instances easier for everyone, please send a change of underwear, pants and socks to keep at school. Wet clothes will be placed in a plastic bag and sent home. Please be sure to replace used items the next school day.

Library:

We will have a scheduled library period for a visit and book exchange each week. Children are responsible for the books that they sign out. They will be provided with a library bag to bring their book to and from school.

Snacks and Lunches:

Your child should bring two healthy, nut-free snacks each day. Children will have an opportunity to eat in each of the morning and afternoon nutrition breaks. The purpose of these breaks is to provide energy and nourishment for your child. Please choose healthy items that your child enjoys. Due to food allergies, children must not share their food with others. We continue to strive towards being a nut-free school for the safety of the children with nut-based allergies. Children will NOT be allowed to open or consume any items known to contain nuts.

Please do not send cans of pop/juice for your child. Cans are difficult for students to handle and they rarely finish the entire drink. Keeping the can throughout the day is troublesome as cans spill and attract ants. Please use juice boxes or water bottles instead. There is also a water fountain in our classroom, so water bottles are not necessary.

Scholastic Book Orders:

This is a voluntary book club for children. Each month a book flyer will be sent home. Please choose the books you would like on the order form, and return the order form and a cheque (payable to Scholastic Books). Orders are placed the day after the due date (found on the order form or on the class calendar), and orders are usually received within a week. Your child will bring home their books in their backpacks, to be opened at home. If you wish to purchase an item as a gift, please send me a note with your order.

Personal Items:

PLEASE LABEL ALL CLOTHING, SHOES, AND OTHER ITEMS BROUGHT TO SCHOOL.
Toys should be left at home.

Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions that have not been covered! Please keep this newsletter for future reference.
I’m looking forward to a wonderful year!

Kind regards,


Mrs. Beverley Tyndall


betyndall@rogers.com
mrstyndallslksblog.blogspot.com
416-394-7890 (Office)

Welcome to my Classroom!

Dear families,

I hope you have had a lovely summer! I am looking forward to the start of a wonderful school year! Please check this blog weekly for important and up to date information.

We are having an Open House on Tuesday, September 8. The Senior Kindergarten students are invited to visit from 10:00 am to 11:00 am and the Junior Kindergarten students can see their class from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. This is a great opportunity to have a look around their classroom, find his/her cubby, say "Hi" to Mrs. Tyndall, see old friends and have a positive start to the school year. Please line up outside the playground door to enter the school. I will also have mailbags ready with beginning of the year paperwork.

Kindergarten Hours 2015-2016

Morning Entry 8:45 a.m.
I will meet the children outside the classroom at the playground door.

Lunch 11:20 a.m.
I will dismiss the children going home for lunch from the playground door outside the classroom.

Afternoon Entry 12:30 p.m.
I will meet the children outside the classroom at the playground door.

Dismissal 3:05 p.m.
I will dismiss the children to their caregivers from the playground door outside the classroom. Students attending before and after school programs or going home on the bus will be escorted by a staff member.

Children will be responsible for bring their own 2 snacks (morning and afternoon) and lunch to school. We encourage the children to go home for lunch if possible as it can be a nice break during the busy day. Children should bring healthy snacks that are easy to eat independently. A reminder that we are a nut free school and nut products are not allowed.

We have Quiet Time after lunch when the children rest quietly for approximately 20 minutes so that they are refreshed for their afternoon of learning. You may provide your child with a small pillow if you wish. Another option is the semi-circular type pillow worn on airplanes.

Your child will need a backpack for Kindergarten. This backpack should be large enough to carry a library book, snacks, a lunch bag (if he/she stays for lunch) and his/her class mailbag (supplied by me). Please give your child opportunities to practise opening, putting things in, taking objects out of the backpack and then zipping the backpack closed. As your child enters school, independence (and attempting to be independent) is very important. If your child is staying for lunch, he/she will also need a reusable lunch container. We have a water fountain in our classroom, so your child does not need a water bottle. Please label all snack containers coming to school so they can be returned to their owner when misplaced. This is a good time to buy extra food containers. Pencils, crayons and erasers, etc are supplied by the school, but this is always a wonderful opportunity to purchase items for home use during the back to school sales.

Please continue to check this blog weekly for updates and information on what we are learning each week in Room 166!


See you on Tuesday! Have a great long weekend!

June 26

Dear families,

It's hard to believe that summer is officially here! The children talked a lot about their exciting summer plans and I'm sure everyone will have a terrific summer together.

In your child's last white bag I sent home: First Grade Sight Words (for the SKs), a number practice sheet and Car and Road Trip Bingo (JK and SK), and homework sounds to review and practise (single letter sounds for the JKs, double letter sounds for the SKs). I also sent home a Summer Journal for the SKs, to show to their Grade One teacher in September. The JKs should also write in their journals and draw accompanying pictures.

The JKs read a little book called "Summer, Summer, What Do You See?" The JKs and SKs completed "In the Summer..." writing and art, and made Grad Art of themselves. The Seniors were very excited when we took a peek inside the Grade One rooms, and loved playing in the "big kid playground" this week. We also had a fun last visit with our Reading Buddies and exchanged cards.

The Senior Kindergarten Graduation was wonderful and the children received certificates and awards. The Juniors also received awards for their hard work this year, and all the children and parents had fun watching the year-end DVD.

Thank you to Matthew H.'s dad who was our last Mystery Reader of the year. Thank you as well to Matthew C.'s mom and Lauren's mom who volunteered with the Pizza Lunch on the Lawn. The children had a terrific time and it was so nice for them to have lunch with their families on the hill!

Thank you as well to Mrs. Paldon for all her hard work in the classroom this year. I will miss her very much! In September we welcome Ms. Nisker in the classroom as our ECE. Ms. Nisker worked in Ms. Iafrate's classroom this year.

Thank you SO MUCH to Trudie and Erika, our Grade Parents, who made our classroom volunteer schedule run so smoothly. I really appreciate all your time and energy. THANK YOU as well to all the parents who volunteered their time in the classroom and Computer Lab this year; it means a lot to the children to see their parents helping in their school and they'll remember that in years to come.

Thank you for the wonderful globe for the classroom - the children will continue to learn about our wonderful world with this amazing tool! Thank you for all your kind words, cards and lovely gifts as well! I love my job and I look forward to teaching your children every day! Thank you so much!!!

I know the Seniors will have much continued success in Grade One, and I am really looking forward to being the Juniors' teacher again in September! We're going to learn a lot and have fun!

I hope you have a wonderful, safe and happy summer!

Week of June 22-26

Dear families,

Happy Father's Day to all the dads of Room 166! I hope you are having a nice weekend with your family.

Last week we finished our unit on safety and reviewed safety at home, by the water, at the cottage, on the road, in the park, and when to dial 9-1-1. We also celebrated Luca's, Olivia's and Sophie's birthdays! We read with our Reading Buddies and toured their Ancient Egypt exhibit. The children also continued having a great time "camping" in our camp site centre.

The JKs wrote a little book called "I learned..." and the SKs wrote "I would like to tell my Grade One teacher..." and drew a picture. Cute! The children also completed their last assessment - their June calendar and "This is me in June" written work. The SK children also finished their "The Very Happy Senior Kindergartener" booklet. Look for all this work in this Thursday's white bag.

The children also did a wonderful job singing at the last Sharing Assembly! Congratulations to Elizabeth, Jack, and Olivia for receiving certificates for Perseverance. Wonderful effort!

In your child's white bag this week is the completed unit on Safety, their beautiful art and writing from our Inquiry on Lilacs, a list of 100 sight words to practise over the summer, and a list of Summer Words that the children can read and draw accompanying pictures. There is also the last few sets of popcorn words: LOVE, GET, AS, NEW, WHAT and JUMP. Their homework is to complete the WHAT mini book.

Thank you so much to Stella's family who offered to take care of Bubbles the Beta Fish over the summer!!!

Thank you to Iris' mom who was the Mystery Reader, and to Lauren's mom who helped in the Computer Lab.

Next week we'll do a fun little reading and writing unit on how to make a pizza since Thursday is Pizza lunch on the lawn. Please see the latest Parent Council email for information on Lunch on the Lawn. If you are going to be absent next week please let me know so that I can ensure your child's work and year end gift make it home. Thank you.

I have almost finished making the DVD for the Senior kindergarten Graduation on Wednesday morning! I am really looking forward to celebrating that day with the Senior children and their parents. Don't forget to bring a camera!

I hope you have a terrific week!

Week of June 15-19

Dear families,

I hope you are having a great weekend in spite of today's rain!

Last week we continued learning about safety, and focused on road safety and Elmer's 7 Safety Rules. We also learned and talked about Camping Safety and Cottage Safety. The children read and coloured books about Camping Safety. I opened up a new centre in the "home centre" area complete with a camping tent, a pretend camp fire, a "canoe," fishing rods and a "lake," flashlights, and sleeping bags! The kids love it! They take turns in the Camping Area, playing in 2s, so that 4 children get to play there each day (2 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon).

We also did a "Risk Watch Knowledge Test," in which the children circled pictures that showed the safest of various situations. We read "Stop, Drop and Roll," and the children also learned that "Leaves of 3, let them be" (i.e. poison ivy!) and we looked at photos of real poison ivy to help the children identify it.

We also wrote a book called "I Love my Dad because..." which the dads will receive this Sunday on Father's Day, along with some beautiful art the children made.

All the butterflies hatched from the pupas and the children were very excited to see that. Two of them hatched before our very eyes! We wrote our last page in our Butterfly Science Journal and let the butterflies free in the playground. The children also wrote "If I were a butterfly I would..."

Lots of Thank Yous this week: Avery's mom and Martel's moms helped out in the Computer Lab, Olivia's mom was a Mystery Reader, Will (Matthew H.'s brother) and Kaden from Mrs. Wilson's class pair-share read a book, lots of children brought in 3D objects from home to share with the class, Adam brought in a book about Monarchs, and Sophie brought in a photo of a swallowtail butterfly that landed on a tree at their house.

On Wednesday we will have our last Sharing Assembly. Olivia, Elizabeth and Jack will receive certificates for the important character trait of Perseverance. Way to go!

If anyone would like to take care of Bubbles the Beta Fish during the summer I would appreciate it! He is very easy to take care of. Let me know!

If you know that your child will not be at school of the last day, please let me know so that I can give him/her a year-end gift before hand. Thank you!

Next week we will continue our Inquiry on Safety and the children will bring this folder home on Friday.

I hope you have a terrific week!

Week of June 8-12

Dear families,

This week we completed our inquiry on 2-and 3-D shapes, ending with a classroom "shape hunt" in which the children searched the classroom for 10 different 2-and 3D shapes and tallied how many they found. Not surprisingly, most of the objects in the class are rectangular prisms and cylinders, and we have very few triangular prisms. I've encouraged the children to keep looking for those shapes at home and in their environments so don't be surprised if them exclaim, "That house is a cube!" At the various centres, the children enjoyed making various shapes upon shapes with elastics and a peg board, learning that shapes are inside other shapes i.e. two traingles make a square or a diamond or a rectangle. We also practised our 3D Shapes poem, a copy of which is in your child's white bag. The children's homework for this week is to design their own shape by joining dots on a "peg board" like the one we used in class. Thank you to Chloe who brought in examples of 3-D objects from home!

Our butterfly pupas/chrysalis are now in the big tent awaiting the day they come out of their chrysalis and are butterflies! A plate of sugar water awaits them in case this happens over the weekend. This week the children completed Page 3 of their Science Journal, writing about and drawing a picture of the pupas. The details were terrific! Thank you to Cole for bringing in a caterpillar from his cottage! We're not sure what it will will metamorphose into but we gave it some extra food and have our fingers crossed!

We also did two more pages of our Very Hungry Caterpillar book, retelling Eric Carle's story and colouring in the pictures the same way he did. I'm impressed with the amount of details the children remember about the story. Terrific! We will finish the book when the butterflies emerge, which will probably be this week.

The children did a WONDERFUL job tracing and then colouring in a butterfly. They used which ever colours they wished, but the important thing was to make sure it was symetrical, i.e. each wing was the same. I was so impressed with the details and all the different colours the children used, as well as their excellent symetry. Next week they'll be writing, "If I were a butterfly, I would..." and I will post that and their butterflies on our classroom bulletin board.

We also watched a video clip about the life cycle of the silk worm, and I brought in a few examples of silk. The silken "thread" that one caterpillar spins is about 1000 metres long! What an amazing creature. When I explained that 1000 metres was about the distance from LKS to Central Arena/Memorial Pool, the kids eyes grew quite big!

Our new words on the Word Wall are UP, FROM and WITH. Please complete the mini work books that went home in your child's white bag to reinforce the spelling of these important sight words.

I also sent home the new June/July words for your child to practise at home (we read them each day at school as well).

Thank you so much to Theo's mom who was the Mystery Reader. Thank you as well to Parent Council for the delicious "comida mexicana" at the staff appreciation luncheon!

Next week we are going to talk about summer safety: around water, in the home, at the cottage, on the roads. We'll also write more in our Science Journals, and make a book for Father's Day. The Seniors will be making a special book about themselves in Kindergarten for graduation.

On Thursday we will start our "10 days left of school ice cream scoop countdown!" Wow, so hard to believe that the end of this year is so quickly approaching. It's been a terrific year!

I hope you are having a nice weekend.

Week of June 1-5

Dear families,

Almost June already!

This week we learned about the difference between butterflies and moths, metamorphosis, and we talked more about how plants make new plants, why they make so many seeds, and how those seeds get on the ground. We had a visit from mini Mystery Readers Anna and Dana from Mrs. Wilson's class, and we listened to author Helaine Becker talk about how she writes books. We sequenced The Very Hungry Caterpillar, wrote another entry in our Science Journals about how the caterpillar larvae have changed, highlighted all the popcorn words we could find on an information sheet about Metamorphosis, listened to Eric Carle read his book, reviewed beginning, middle, and ending sounds of one-syllable words, and finished our "In the Park" booklets. The children also made a Butterfly Life Cycle Wheel.

The last Snuggle books will be sent home on June 12. Please be sure to return the books you still have at home.

The very last Scholastic Order is due on Monday.

Thank you to Tessa's mom who was the Mystery Reader (thank you for bringing in a non-fiction book about insects!!), Claire and Megan's moms who helped with Pizza lunch, Christopher's mom and COle's dad who helped wit the Computer Lab, Theo who brought in a robin's egg shell, Claire who brought in a maple key (which led to a great discussion about how amazing nature is that it designed the seeds so well!), and Adam who brought in a book about butterflies.

The homework for this week is to complete the mini books BY and FROM, and to look for 3D objects at home. We'll start our unit on 3-D object this upcoming week.

Here is an excellent website for literacy that is terrific for early readers: www.uniteforliteracy.com

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

Week of May 25-29

Dear families,

This week in Room 166 it was all about caterpillars, butterflies, and art! And just in time, our Painted Lady larvae arrived on Friday!

We read Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar which many of you have at home (great chance for your children to retell/re-read the story at home!) and played at various inquiry centres, such as a re-telling centre with the objects the caterpillar ate. We'll continue to discuss this book next week and will play in sequencing centres, days of the week centres (another great part of this book), healthy food centres, and life cycle centres.

We talked about what butterflies look like up close and the children remembered that they have scales on their wings and, unlike dragonflies, don't lose their colour when they die. We also talked about the symetry of their wings, and the children coloured a large butterfly in, making sure to match each side. They also drew in the head, thorax, abdomen, compound eyes, proboscis (mouth), and antennae. We also reviewed the life cycle.

The kids also made one part of a very long caterpillar a la Eric Carle, using various water colours. Their sponge-painted "very hungry" caterpillars are on display in the classroom. We are also reading other fiction and non-fiction books about butterflies.

After I prepared the food for our new larva, each child had a turn to come up and observe the larvae and what will be their new home for a few weeks. They smelled the larvae food ("It smells like oatmeat!") and wanted to take them home immediately! The larvae will stay in our Science Centre until the caterpillars attach themselves to the lid of their container, at which point I will move them to their new home - a butterfly observatory "net." Stay tuned! We'll be taking notes like scientists do, observing the changes that are happening and making predictions. The kids are great scientists!

The children did a great job singing "The Butterfly Song" at the Sharing Assembly. Thank you for coming! They also enjoyed shopping for books at the Book Fair in the Library.

In preparation for our artist visit, the children painted some purple lilacs I brought in using just two colours, lilac and green. They look beautiful. The children also wrote little sentences about lilacs. I am trying to teach the children to look closely at their world - there are so many beautiful things to see! I'll put them on display when I take down the All About Bugs bulletin board.

Artist Janeen visited our classroom and the children made a beautiful painting for Father's Day. Thank you so much to the parent volunteers who helped out: Aaden's mom, Dima's mom, Christopher's mom, Theo's mom, Megan's mom and of course Matthew H.'s mom.

We are also working on a booklet called "In the Park," in which the children wrote and draw about what they see, feel, like, hear, play in the park. We'll finish it this week.

Last but not least, the children did a wonderful job on "This is Me in May" with a picture and writing, and their May calendar on the back. The children told me all the things they did in May, and there was so much to write about! Springfest, Victoria day fireworks, Mother's Day, Insects, family visits, play dates, the Book Fair, the Artist, going to the cottage, and so on. These are also great assessment tools for school and home. Their progress is so wonderful to see and I am so proud of them. You must be too!

Thank you also to Megan who brought in a dragonfly nymph, Izzie, who shared a beautiful glass butterfly she has, Iris and Theo who brought in more lilacs, Cole who brought in an allium to paint, and Megan's mom who was Mystery Reader. Thank you to Olivia who brought in a whole clover plant from leaves to roots, and to Dima who shared his "Fly Guy" book. It's so great when the kids bring in things that show that they're really learning and extending their learning and interest outside the classroom.

The word wall words this week are NOT and HELP. Please do the NOT mini book for homework and return. THIS and WE were last weekend's homework.

SK parents only: Please be sure to send in a baby photo of your child so I can put it on our SK Graduation DVD. I would like the photos by June 5th at the latest. Thank you!

Next week we'll do more Inquiry, Literacy and Numeracy work on butterflies. Also, author Helaine Becker will be doing a presentation for the kids iin the Library in the morning. www.helainebecker.com

I hope you are having a terrific weekend!

Week of May 18-22

Dear families,

Today your child's white bag went home packed with things to share with you - their inquiry on insects, some work about Earth Day and plants, and some art. They are very proud of all their work and should be! I've made a class booklet called "We Know About Insects" that has all the children's responses and ideas about each of our mini inquiries, i.e. Where do Insects Live? Dragonflies, Ladybugs, etc., When something is "bugging" me I can say...(good problem solving exercise!) plus all their individual insect inquiries. We did all of these on chart paper first. Look for your child's name and his/her responses throughout the booklet. This will also give you an indication as to how much s/he is participating, learning, observing, and paying attention during lessons and at our centres - all important skills!

Some samples of their work are on display in our hall bulletin board.

This week we learned more about bees; we drew bee hives using hexagon shapes, counted sequentially and made dot-to-dot bee hives and bees, then coloured them, always using "real" colours (i.e. no purple bees!); we glued "pollen" on a picture of a honey bee and labelled all the parts; drew and wrote about an insect and had a friend check that it had all its parts; talked and wrote about what we could say when something is "bugging" us; talked ant wrote about things that "bug" us (funny answers!); made insect structures from large and small building blocks, watched a video about bees wax and honey; tasted honey; smelled beeswax candles, beeswax lip balm, polished and waterproofed some wooden sticks with pure beeswax. We also looked at a honey bee wing under the microscope.

We also continued our Inquiry on Plants - what they are, how they grow, what they need to grow, and so on. Several of the children's bean seeds have germinated and I have sent them home. Just plant the whole paper pot in the ground beside a fence or trellis or even a tree so that it can climb. You could also stake it of course. I hope the plants make lots of healthy and organic beans for you!

The children also made a booklet called "My Seed" which was a step-by-step sequencing of how plants grow. We also played in several learning centres, not just bug themed! They were: popcorn word reading, alphabet caterpillars and made-a-word, flip book (i.e. mat, bat, sat, cat, pat), cube building and shape drawing, and of course we have been reading our Insect and Plant books every day.

Thank you to: Samantha for bringing in bees wax hand cream; Izzie for bringing in a book called "I Love Bugs!, Matthew C.'s mom for helping with computer Lab; Iris' dad for being the Mystery Reader; and Sophie, Christoper and Avery for bringing in dandelions at various stages of growth. It is so terrific when the children are inspired by their learning and bring things in to share that demonstrate that interest and enthusiasm. It makes my day! Thank you also to Kate and Matthew H.'s brother Will from Mrs. Wilson's class who were special guest readers! Thank you to parents who sent in books for the Book Drive, and to those of you who contributed to the Seeds of Hope toonie drive for Nepal. The whole school earned extra recess time on Tuesday!

Please note that the Scholastic Book Fair is next week. Our class will go on Tuesday afternoon, although the Book Fair is open all week. If you wish your child to purchase a book/s, please send their money in a zip lock baggie with their name clearly labelled. Thank you. Our last class Scholastic order is due at the end of May.

Next week we are doing a unit on Eric Carle's lovely and well known book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" because our live caterpillars are scheduled to arrive on Tuesday!We'll be doing lots of literacy and numeracy activities related to this theme. There are a lot of things to discuss and do related to this book: sequencing, days of the week, healthy eating, and the life cycle of the butterfly.

An important message from the Before and After Program: Please note that the Kindergarten Yard is closed to students after school and is in use by the B and A students at this time. Thank you.

I also sent your child's April calendar and "This is Me in April" drawing and writing. I do keep copies of this work for assessment and it is a good indicator as to your child's overall progress and development in numeracy and literacy.

Next week will be an exciting week with our larvae arriving, the Sharing Assembly, the visit from Artist Janeen (thank you in advance to our parent volunteers!), and the Book Fair.

I hope you have a very nice Victoria Day Weekend!

Week of May 11-15

Dear families,

I hope you have had a wonderful Mother's Day with your children! I hope you enjoy the Mother's Day gifts the children made for you. They were so proud of them and excited about hiding them until today! Included in the gift bag is something to hang their art on the window with. The children wrote "I love you because..." and their answers were all so sweet. Happy Mother's Day!

Last week we had two fun outdoor lessons about Aussie Rules Football. I think the kids had fun!

In our Kindergarten garden the children were very excited to find a beetle, an orange ladybug, a bee with lots of pollen on its legs (we'll learn a lot about bees this week), and ants. Thank you so much to Izzie who brought in a dragonfly nymph, which is the second last life cycle stage of a dragonfly. We watched a video about a dragonfly emerging from the nymph stage. Thank you as well to Cole who brought in books about insects and to Anderson who brought in an awesome guide to insects. And thank you Megan who brought in ants! We also learned, read and wrote a about the praying mantis, common house fly and ants. We wrote a little book called "My Book of Insect Facts" and reviewed all the things we have learned about insects so far.

We continued our Inquiry on Plants; the children have all planted their bean seed in peat, and pretty soon they will see the shoots appear! We learned about how plants grow, and about why plants make seeds. We are learning the who, what, where, why, when and how of plants! In the classroom window are also several different kinds of seeds that will produce different plants, such as beans, carrots, and flowers. Speaking of carrots, I sent home some carrot seeds to plant in your garden/in a planter. Have fun watching them grow and then eating them! We talked about which parts of plants we eat, for example:

Tubers - potatoes
Bulbs - onions, garlic
Stems - celery
Flowers - broccoli
Fruit - strawberries
Leaves - lettuce
Legumes - peanuts
Roots - carrots
Seeds - sunflower, pumpkin seeds

We learned and made booklets about what plants need: water, sun and air and about the parts of a plant. We also are singing a song called "The Farmer Plants the Grain." We are also making a booklet called "Five Little Seeds" which explains what happens to seeds (some are blown away by wind, some are eaten by birds, some grow into flowers, etc.).

With our Reading Buddies, the children used their "foot prints" (literally, a tracing of their foot that they cut out and used to measure) to measure each other, and items in the lunchroom. Then they recorded their results. And then they played together in the playground!

A big thank you to Megan who collated the last Scholastic Orders of the Year. The last orders are both due May 31. Books make wonderful gifts for summer reading! Scholastic order also help the classroom by funding books for our library.

During our daily morning reading time, the children read mini dictionary/alphabet folders I made with simple photos of items and the accompanying word i.e. an apple, "apple." You can make these too at home (summer is a great time for this, for example!) I simply used file folders to cut and glue words and pictures starting with each sound of the alphabet. and made sure the pictures were clear and of things the children were interested in, i.e. L for Lego, P for Princess. Flyers from Toys 'R Us or Mastermind, or catalogues (and of course Google Images) are great for this!

This week we'll wrap up our inquiry on insects and will use the Smartboard to compare and contrast insects with Venn diagrams. We will also learn a fingerplay about a growing seed and practise our song for the next Sharing Assembly. On May 20, we will be honouring Iris, Martel, Avery and Chloe for always demonstrating Integrity. In the classroom, this means always doing the right and kind thing, even if no one is looking :) It is tied with Honesty.

We'll continue to learn about plants and will review 2- and 3-D shapes as well.

In this week's white bag was a copy of the new May words. Please practise these at home with your child.

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Week of May 4-8

Dear families,

I hope you are enjoying the beautiful Spring weather!

A lot is going on in Room 166, most especially about backyard bugs! We learned, read and wrote about the habitat, features and diet of stick insects, grasshoppers, beetles, fleas, fireflies and ladybugs. We took our magnifying glasses and bug catchers outside and saw bees collecting pollen, ants coming out of their nests in the ground, and wasps buzzing around. In the classroom, a centipede scurried by and we caught it and it's now in the Science Centre. It was a real-life opportunity for the children to remember that centipedes are not insects because they have (a lot!) more than 6 legs. We also saw a spider in the bathroom and remembered that spiders are not insects either since they have 8 legs. Jack brought in a caterpillar (thank you Jack!) which will turn into an insect when it is an adult. Izzie brought in a spider and a ladybug. Dima brought in binuculars and we discussed how we would use them compared to a miscroscope, a telescope and a magnifying glass. I set up my husband's microscope from when he was a child and the children took turns looking at a bee wing through it.

The children played a numeracy game called "Ants in your Pants" and a sight word game called "There's a Fly in my Soup." They looked at their friends' faces through a "bug's eye viewer" which was like seeing like insects see, through compound lensess, and they drew a picture of what they saw. They also wrote and illustrated "It really bugs me when..." and watched a grasshopper jump in slow motion on the Smartboard. We also saw hundreds of beautiful and colourful beetles on the Smartboard, and learned that they come in all colours and patterns, "just like jewels." Izzie also brought in a butterfly chart. Thank you! The children are also making firefly art and finished making their caterpillars and dragonflies. Look for a buggy bulletin board next week!

In numeracy we also continued our inquiry on Measurement. The children had fun when I drew a line around their little feet with which we'll measure things around the school. The children also used measuring tape, measuring cups and rulers to measure items around the classroom.

The new Popcorn Words are HAS and WANT. We played a "Find Your Word Friend" game in which the children had to find the other children in their group that had letters that made their sight word, i.e. one child had T, another had H, another had E and they had to find each other to spell THE.

On May 6 in the morning, and May 8 in the afternoon, the children will be participating in a special event called "Aussie Rules Football."

Next week we'll learn about more insects and will finish our book "Dragonfly, Dragonfly, What Do You See?" as well as our "I Know Insect Facts" book in which the JKs will pick two insects to write about and the SKs will pick four. We'll also continue measuring and recording what we measure! Thank you so much to the children who brought in insects to share in the science centre. I think the kids are learning a lot and are enjoying this inquiry!

That's the news for this week. I hope you have a wonderful week!

Week of April 27-May 1

Dear families,

I hope you are enjoying the lovely weather this weekend.

This week we continued our science inquiry on Insects and the children looked for "backyard bugs" in the playground. A big Thank You to my former student Angelina who donated a giant paper wasp nest. The children passed it around, learned how the wasps made it, and saw a science video on paper wasps. The nest is in our science centre now along with an ant farm and butterflies. They are also exploring the features of insects in our Insect centre, filled with life-like plastic insects. We watched a science video about dragonflies which the children found very interesting. We are also going to be learning, reading and writing about stick bugs, grasshoppers, fireflies, fleas, beetles, house flies, praying mantis, lady bugs, ants and, last but not least, butterflies. Our butterfly larvae are scheduled to arrive May 19!

This week we also read the lovely Eric Carle books The Grouchy Ladybug and The Very Busy Spider. Next week we will read more fiction and non-fiction books by Eric Carle such as The Very Lonely Firefly, and we'll save The Very Hungry Caterpillar and lots of learning opportunities for the week the larvae arrive.

This week was also Earth Day and the children did a colour-by-number Earth, and wrote "I care for the Earth when..." and "I love our Earth because..." and drew lovely accompanying pictures. Their ideas are posted in the hallway. Thinking about the Earth through the eyes of a child really makes you remember how precious it is.

In Numeracy, we discussed and reviewed Order Irrelevance, i.e. that no matter which order you count something in, the total remains the same. We also reviewed the fact that larger objects and small objects are counted the same (i.e. 3 giraffes is not more than 3 ants).

The Popcorn words this week are COME and LOOK. We practiced our A-P-R-I-L song and made daffodil art to go with the poem.

We completed the April calendar, numbers 1-30, and the children wrote about "This is me in April." They did a lovely job and their work is on display in the hallway. I am so pleased with how far they have all come reading and writing. They are definitely ready for next year!!

We also started our inquiry into Measurement. The children had fun as I drew a line around their foot. They cut the "foot print" out and will use it next week to measure different things around the classroom and the school. They will also use different lengths of yarn to explore measurement in the classroom and out in the yard. We will also learn what we use to measure things.

Thanks you Iris and Chloe for bringing in books about bugs. Thank you Chloe's dad for being Mystery Reader. Thank you Aaden's mom for helping with the Computer Lab. Thank you to Martel's mom and Megan's mom for helping with Pizza Lunch.

A reminder that April's Scholastic Order is due next week.

That's our classroom news. Have a great week!

Week of April 20-25

Dear families,

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful Spring weather! Well, we've said, "Bye-bye Birdies" to our Inquiry and I think the children learned a lot about birds' habitats, their diets, their young, and fun facts. We saw a video of an Ostrich running (and even chasing a jeep!), hummingbirds in flight, and watched as the baby bald eagles have grown and are starting to stand up in their nests. We learned about the life cycle of a chicken, all about the size, shape and colour of eggs, and put our "Ducks in a Row" by putting words in the correct order to make a sentence, then writing the sentence down. We wrote about eggs in some egg art that is displayed in the hall. The children found it interesting that eggs come in so many different colours, from white to blue to brownish colours with spots, and all the way to black (Emu). We also did "Home Tweet Home" math by helping a bird go home by adding up numbers, and learned how to read and sort our Bird Facts/Not Bird Facts folder. We also completed the booklet "All About Birds", which has all the fun facts about the birds we learned about. We wrote about our favourite birds, why we like birds, and drew our favourite bird. Blue Jays, Owls, Hummingbirds, Penguins, Flamingos and Ostriches were favourites (Go Jays!). The kids also had fun sorting the birds we learned about in groups of "Angry" birds and "Scaredy" birds. All the children's wonderful work went home in Friday's white bag. I hope you have fun listening to your children tell you all about birds!

As a follow up to last week's rain, we wrote about why we like/don't like rain. This work is on display in the classroom.

This week's Popcorn Words are HE and SHE. Last week's words were BIG and RUN. The homework for this weekend is to do the mini books for those words.

A big Thank You to: Megan's family who collated the Scholastic order forms; Avery's dad and Adam's dad who were Mystery Readers; Izzie and Sophie for bringing in bird toys to talk about, and Martel's mom who helped with Computer Lab.

Next week we'll start two new Inquiries, on Measurement and Backyard Bugs.

I hope you have a terrific week!