Week of December 12-16

Dear families,

I hope you are having a nice weekend!

Last week we did a lot of counting! We counted holiday and winter items, and classroom objects. We talked about how to count: to say the number; arrange the items in a line or in groups of 10; point to the items; take the items away from the group as they are counted. The children also did a worksheet in which they counted the holiday objects and drew a line to the correct number and wrote the number. JKs did 1-1, SKs 1-20.

With their Reading Buddies, the children read, drew and wrote holiday words to make a holiday word wall.

At our Sharing Assembly on Thursday, we will be wearing holiday hats. They are available at the dollar store if you don't have one. We will perform a poem about elves! I hope to see you there! We will also have our Holiday Craft Party on Thursday afternoon!

I have sent home Journals for the JKs. In the journal is a list of sight words. The children are encouraged to draw pictures and write a few words about their picture.

The homework for this week is to complete the LIKE and CAN sight word sheets.

We also made an "Elf's To Do List" and the children wrote their own too. They have finished their elf art and this will go home on Friday, along with their other holiday work. We also did a Candy Cane Investigation! The children ate different flavours of candy cane and wrote about that.

On the Smartboard we learned about Holidays around the world and how to say, "Merry Christmas" in different languages. Next week we will learn about Hannukah, Eid and Kwanzaa.

The children loved watching the rehearsal of The Pirates of Pinantaville, made candy cane reindeer, made a special present for you, and got a letter back from Santa! They also compared and contrasted How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Pete the Cat Saves Christmas. Thank you to Michai's family for donating the Pete the Cat book to our Classroom! Thank you also to Elea's mom who helped out with Pizza Lunch, to Catherine for sharing a Christmas book, and Alex's dad for being Mystery Reader!

That's our news for the week. If your child will be absent on Friday please send in a note so that we can prepare his/her mail bag in advance.

I hope you have a wonderful week, the last one before the holidays!

Week of December 5-9

Dear families,

I hope you are having a lovely weekend - snow today! The kids will love it! We've been teaching the children the Snow Clothes Song (tune is My Darling Clementine):

First the snowpants
Then the boots,
Then the scarf, and the hat
Then the coat and the zipper
And the mittens go on last!

To support the school-wide Hour of Code last week, we talked a lot about the order of things, and the "steps" to accomplish a task, for example:

How to get from the classroom to the Library
How to make a plaster glitter star
How to dress for a cold day

We finished our Dr. Seuss author study! The children's folders went home in Friday's mailbag. I know they will enjoy showing you all their work! They finished the sentence, "If Thing 1 and Thing 2 came to school..." (The Cat in the Hat); "To make the Grinch smile..." (How the Grinch Stole Christmas); and "I want to go to..." (Horton Hears a Who). The children also made their own Horton with paint, and know that, in Dr. Seuss' famous words, "A person's a person, no matter how small." Thank you Ella and Ruby for bring in their Fox in Sox books, to Catherine for sharing her Lorax book and to Megan T. who was our surprise Mystery Reader and read from her own Dr. Seuss collection. With our Reading Buddies, the children completed the sentence "If I Ran the Zoo" from the eponymous Dr. Seuss book, and drew an accompanying picture. They also wrote Truffalo word family words from Seuss' "Oh the Places You'll Go."

The words of this week were HAVE and SAW. The homework for this week is to do the Holiday Word Search and practice the December words. The Guided Reading Techniques we have learned about are: Eagle Eye, Stretchy Snake, Lips the Fish and Chunky Monkey. I sent a copy of these home in Friday's mailbag.

Thank you to William's dad who was our Mystery Reader this week!

We started talking about the holidays too this week! The excitement is in the air I think! The children made bead pattern candy canes. The SKs had to use three colours, the JKs two. The children were also surprised when Alfie the Elf of the Shelf landed on the North Pole of our classroom globe, and gave each child a backpack bell! The children have finished making their Elves. Next week we will make "Elf To Do Lists" and will continue our Holiday Centres: word presents, clapping the syllables in holiday words, and listening for holiday word ending sounds. In the computer lab the children have been learning to read SNOW words. More to come over the next few weeks!

That's my news for this week - I hope you have a lovely week!

Week of November 28 - December 2

Dear families,

December already! Alfie, our Elf on the Shelf, made his appearance on Santa's shoulder on December 1 which the children were very excited about! December is such a wonderful month full of hope and good wishes, especially through children's eyes.

Last week we introduced the letter sound "Ee" like "egg" and the children helped create many words with S A T I P N C K E with magnetic letters. At another centre, they used clothes pins to put pom pom decorations on paper Christmas trees (great for fine motor skills!); sorted hundreds of beads into colours; made stick puppets for their "Oh the Places You'll Go" Balloon Art and Writing; and made a "Countdown to December 25" by patterning 25 beads on pipe cleaners. The children should move one bead over each day, and when all the beads are moved over, they ring the bell because Santa is coming!

We are also making an Advent Calendar of Kindness; each day the children share a new idea about how to be kind and we put it on our calendar. We will be learning about other December celebrations this month as well.

We continued our Dr. Seuss author story this week with "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Ble Fish" read by Caelan's grandfather who was visiting all the way from Australia! We also read "Green Eggs and Ham" again and the children listened for rhyming word families. The are learning to use the strategy of using their "Eagle Eye" to loo at the picture to help with meaning. They also learned the "Stretchy Snake" technique, which is to slow the word down by saying each sound, i.e. C-A-T... CAT.

Thank you Hannah and Alexandra for sharing your Dr. Seuss story books with us! After reading "Oh, The Places You'll Go," the children made rainbow balloons and they will wrote where they would like to go. Look for this soon on our hall bulletin board!

The children did a wonderful job singing Baby Beluga with Ms. McGee at the Sharing Assembly! Congratulations to Alexandra, Elea and James for receiving a certificate for Empathy. Well deserved!

The children completed their November Calendars and "This is Me is November," a copy of which will be sent home.

The children enjoyed listening to Cosmic Yoga this week, especially the one called, "Peace Out!" It is important for children to learn mindfulness and relaxation skills at an early age in order to help them as they grow. Look for other awesome Cosmic Yoga videos on YouTube!



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

Week of November 21-25

Dear families,

I hope you've had a lovely weekend - it was gorgeous weather today! Hard to believe it will be December 1st on Thursday!!

Last week we continued our Dr. Seuss Author Study. We started with Green Eggs and Ham which is a lot of fun to read. Dr. Seuss' books combine rhyme, rhythm and fun into stories that children have loved for over 60 years. They also have wonderful messages in them that children understand.

As a follow up activity to Green Eggs and Ham, the children named 26 foods from A-Z that they would eat, and 26 places (starting with the same letter sound) they would eat them i.e. Sarah would eat a sandwich on a slide, Gregory would eat gum on a goat, Victoria would eat vegetables on a vase, etc. The children will complete their written work this week.

The children also started their Cat in the Hat name art; first, they counted how many letters in their name; next, they wrote each letter on equal numbers of white and red trips of paper; then they organized them in an ABAB pattern, reversing the starting colour on one side of the hat. This was quite a challenge for some of our little ones! They glued them in order on both side of their hat and chose a skin colour for the face (some children are not at this stage yet). Lastly, they will draw their face, and on the other side they will glue a photo of themselves. Following simple instructions and remember the order of operations is an early math skill, as is patterning and sorting. When the hats are done they'll be proudly hung in the classroom :) .

One of the great things about teaching with Dr. Seuss is the many word families in his books. For example the CAT in the HAT, I would not eat them SAM I AM, HOP on POP, and so on. On the Smartboard, the children came up with several words that had the root -AM. We will do a lot more of this word-family study next week. With our Grade 4 Reading Buddies, the children were interviewed and drew a picture of them reading. This week they will hep our little ones with several word family roots, i.e. -AM, -AT, -IN, -IT, -OG, -OP.

The children also came up with ideas about what would happen if Thing 1 and Thing 2 (from The Cat in the Hat) came to LKS! They will write down their ideas and draw a picture with their Reading Buddies this week.

The homework for this week is to complete the "____ my name is ________ and I like ___________" with a thing your child likes that starts with the first letter of his/her name. We do this each day with the Special Person of the Day, too. The SK homework for the week is to complete the drawing on empathy (when they feel like other people do), and to complete other side of the work sheet on Feelings: "ictoria feels _____ when..."

The children also enjoyed doing Cosmic Yoga as a fun calming activity. Self-regulation is an important skill in the early years and Cosmic Yoga is an awesome way to teach kids about the benefits of Yoga.

Thank you so much to Ruby who collated December's Scholastic orders! They are due on December 1st to ensure they arrive before the holidays. Of you would like your order to be a gift, please just write GIFT on your order form and I will be sure to hand your order to you personally so it is a surprise for your child. Books make wonderful gifts!

Thank you so much to Andrew's mom who was our Mystery Reader this week, and to Hannah's mom and Hudson's mom who helped with Friday's pizza lunch.

November's Sharing Assembly will be on Wednesday, November 30th. The children will be singing "Baby Beluga." We hope to see you then!

That's the news from Room 166! I hope you have a terrific upcoming week!

Week of November 14-18

Dear families,

First snow today! Time for mittens, hats boots and scarves!

It was a pleasure meeting with you last week to discuss your child's progress. Both Juniors and Seniors will receive Progress Reports in February.

Last week the children completed a drawing and writing about what Peace Is... We continued our inquiry on Feelings and read several books about feelings. So far we have written and talked about how sometimes we feel happy, sad, mad or bored. Sometimes all in one day! We also read "You're Mean, Lily Jean" and "Enemy Pie" which are about bullying. The children helped Ms. Santiago write words to fill in a "Friendship Pie" and then they painted a pie and wrote the ingredients inside. The

A special thank you to Ellie, who brought in a Paper Wasp nest that had fallen from a tree. This led to a terrific science inquiry. First we guessed (made several hypotheses) about what it was and what kind of insect made it; then we observed the nest by passing it around, using our five senses and watching a video about paper wasps. Finally, we concluded that it was a paper wasp nest. The children also hypothesized about why the nest was empty i.e. why the wasps left their home. There were lots of interesting guesses and finally one classmate correctly hypothesized that the cold air made insects go underground. Good job!

Thank you as well to Hudson's mom who was out Mystery Reader this week.

On November 25 it is Moustache Day at LKS to support research for Prostate Cancer. Feel free to send your kids to school with a moustache that day! You may send donations with the kids; they will be collected by our Student Council. Thank you!

The November Scholastic Order is due on Tuesday. On Friday the children will be taking home their December order forms. They will be due December 1st to ensure delivery before the holidays. Please remember to mark your order form "GIFT" if you want me to hand your child's order to you personally rather than putting it in his/her backpack. Thank you!

The sight words of the week were PLAY and ON. The letter sound was "C." Next week it will be "K" and "CK."

This week with our Grade 4 Reading Buddies we will be doing interviews! It's also pizza lunch this week. Thank you in advance to our volunteers!

That's our news for this week. I hope you're having a great Sunday. :)

Week of November 7-11

Dear families,

I hope you are having a lovely weekend!

Last week we continued our learning about Empathy, which tied in very well with the Remembrance Day Ceremony on Friday. A special thank you to Alexandra who did a wonderful job carrying our class wreath during the ceremony. The children made poppy art with four red hearts, read and illustrated a booklet called, "A Poppy is to Remember," read the book "A Poppy is to Remember" by Heather Patterson and Ron Lightman, and echo-read and sang "Peace Is...,". "Poppy, Poppy," "Little Poppy," and "November" on the Smartboard or chart paper. I have sent copies of these home to practise. The children were very respectful listeners at our Remembrance Day Assembly. I was so proud of them!

We continued reading and talking about author Todd Parr's wonderful books, such as "It's Okay to be Different" and "Peace Is..." We also read the book and watched the video "What Does Peace Feel Like?" which is a wonderful book inspired by what children think peace feels like.

The seniors are doing a writing exercise on Empathy in which they look at a photograph, write what they think the people are feeling, and then write about when they felt that way too.

The sight words for this week were SAID and WHERE. The letter sounds are C and K as well as CK. We will continue focusing on these sounds next week.

Thank you to Henry's dad who was our Mystery Reader on Friday! And thank you so much to Ethan's dad, and the moms of Kate, Maya and Sarah for volunteering their time to be science teachers in our classroom. The children had an awesome time learning about the five senses!

Next week is anti-bullying awareness week and we will continue to focus (as we do all year!) on being a good friend.

That's the news for this week. The Seniors will receive their Progress Reports on Monday. I look forward to speaking with you this week regarding your child's progress at Parent-Teacher interviews.

Mrs. Tyndall

Week of October 31 - November 4

Dear families,

I hope you are having a terrific weekend! Nice to get the extra hour of sleep!

This week was off to an exciting start with Halloween on Monday! The children had fun walking in the school-wide Halloween Parade, and enjoyed making crafts at our party in the afternoon. Thank you so much to the moms of Caelan, Jackson, Ethan, Hudson and Elea and Andrew's aunt for making crafts with the children and bringing healthy snacks! Your time and energy was really appreciated and the children loved the crafts! The children completed their Halloween folders this week and their work went home in Friday's mail bag. The awesome Monster Math hands the children did with Ms. Santiago are on the hall bulletin board. I'm sure the children are very proud to show all of it to you!

The words of the weeks were AM and BE. This week we practised making several words with the first six letter sounds SATIPN. Practise this at hone with magnetic letters or letters written on paper!

We were treated to a visit from children's author Willow Dawson this week in the Library, and also to a Bus Safety lesson. The children practised exiting a real school bus from the back and learned important lessons about bus safety.

An important reminder about playground use and safety after school: Please ensure your child is properly supervised at all times.

This week we started our new Inquiry about Feelings. Our focus is on empathy, which is this month's TDSB Character Trait. This also ties in very well to Remembrance Day.

Sign up for Parent Teacher interviews started on Tuesday. This term Senior Kindergarten children will receive Progress Reports. I look forward to meeting with you during interviews the week of November 14-18.

That's the news for this week. See you tomorrow!

Week of October 24-28

Dear families,

I hope you are enjoying the mild Fall weather today.

Last week in Numeracy we focused on the number FIVE. When learning about numbers, we learn about: Conservation (understanding that the count for a set group of objects stays the same whether they are spread apart or close together); Stable Order (understanding that the counting sequence stays consistent i.e. 12345 not 12368); One-to-One Correspondence (understanding that each object gets only one count); Movement to Magnitude (understanding that as you move up the counting sequence the quantity increases by one; Order Irrelevance (understanding that the counting of objects can begin with any object in a set); Abstraction (understanding that the last count of a group of objects represents how many there are); and Unitizing (understanding that in our base ten systems, objects are grouped into tens once the count exceeds nine).

The children learned about the number 5 by exploring and playing with dice, beads, Fall objects, rocks, counters, cube-a-links, pine ones, and magnets. They also explored and practiced numeral formation and base ten by drawing on clear tablecloths I made on their tables. They traced numerals and played with base ten frames. Ms. Santiago had a great idea of painting the children's fingers and thumb with Halloween colours to show addition i.e. 2 black fingers + 3 orange fingers = 5. They'll make this "high five hand print" into a little Halloween monster. Cute!

The Halloween Party and Parade are on Monday at 1:30 and 9:00 respectively. Please remember that the children can bring masks but cannot wear them during the school day for safety reasons (tripping etc).

This week we celebrated two birthdays! Congratulations Elea and Henry!

The children did their "This is me in October " picture and sentence and their October calendar which are used for assessment purposes. I can see a lot of progress already!

On Monday we went on an Autumn Scavenger Hunt in the school yard and in the shale pit. The children had to find several signs of Fall using their 5 senses. They loved it!

Thank you to Ella's dad who was our Mystery Reader, and to Ethan and Kate's moms who helped with pizza lunch. Thank you Ruby for preparing the next Scholastic order, which will go home next week. It will be due on November 22.

In Art, the children made a "funny mummy" and in Science we weighed our little class pumpkin and we will count the seeds by 10s on Monday. Thank you Rielle for cleaning out the pumpkin! We also learned about how pumpkins grow; we watched a video called "A Season for a Pumpkin" and then sequenced 6 pictures of pumpkin growth from seed to pumpkin. We also practiced the poem "Five Little Pumpkins" which the children recited at Friday's Sharing Assembly. Congratulations to Lucas, Ruby and Sebastian who received certificates for Responsibility.

The children read, traced the words and coloured Halloween pictures in a booklet, and are making another booklet called Halloween Colours" with their Reading Buddies.

We also started our next inquiry which is on Feelings, and read "It's OK to Make Mistakes " and "I'm not Scared" by Todd Parr. All of Parr's books are wonderful in how they promote individuality and self-confidence.

That's the news for this week. See you tomorrow!

Week of October 17-21

Dear families,

I hope you are having a relaxing Sunday.

Last week we continued learning about, identifying and making patterns with various manipulatives. The children also continued learning about Signs of fall. We are learning the poem "If I Were a Leaf" and re-told the story "Lionel in the Fall." The children continued "discovering" sight words on leaves by painting them fall colours (I pre-wrote the words on the leaves using a white crayon). They are reading and illustrating a little booklet with their Reading Buddies called "Signs of Fall" and are reading non-fiction books about fall. Due to Friday's rainy weather our Autumn Scavenger Hunt had to be postponed until (hopefully) tomorrow. Speaking of rain, please remember that your child's indoor shoes should stay at school. Crocs or slippers work well. Thank you!

The sight words of the week were THE and DO. Our Jolly Phonics Sounds of the week are P and N. We've finished our first set of the Jolly Phonics sounds, which are SATIPN. There are so many words we can make with just those 6 letters!

We also combined our learning with fun Halloween=themed activities. The children: made more patterns with orange, black, white and glow-in-the-dark beads; read Halloween books; helped graph, tally and write the number of different costumes we'll wear for the Parade,; wrote what they would be on Halloween for a class book; helped write Halloween words; played with Halloween concentration cards; learned the poem "Five Little Pumpkins" on the Smartboard; played with our "Haunted House' by counting and writing the number of objects in the house; traced dot-to-dot lines with "pumpkin doodle;" estimated the weight of and number of seeds in our class pumpkin. Next week we'll continue with fun literacy, science and numeracy Halloween activities. If you are sending in items for Halloween for your child's classmates, please be sure to send them in by Wednesday at the latest so the children have enough time to sort them in the bags. Thank you.

Last week the children participated in a Power of One presentation. Thank you Ms. Norton for organizing this awesome presentation! Thank you Alexandra for sharing her book "Arthur's Halloween" with us! Thank you Catherine's mom for being Mystery Reader! Some of the children's work was on the LKS Twitter feed!

Next week in Numeracy we will focus on the number FIVE and sequencing. We'll also weigh, open up, count the seeds, weigh the seeds, and then weigh our class pumpkin again. When you carve your own pumpkin at home don't miss the terrific opportunity to sort the seeds into groups of 10 an count them!

I hope you have a terrific week - eight more sleeps until Halloween!

Mrs. Tyndall

Week of October 10-15

Dear families,

I hope you're having a nice weekend. What beautiful weather we've been having this October!

This week we focused on the numeracy skill of Patterning. First, we talked about sorting and why and how we sort things. For example, we can sort by shape, size, colour, type, and many other ways. In the Computer Lab, Ms. Santiago guided the children's learning about sorting with the program "Sammy's Science House" which has several sorting activities. We then moved our learning to patterning, starting with the basic pattern ABAB. This week children played and explored at several centres in the classroom with various objects: sorting and then patterning stones of three different colours; using bingo dabbers on cardstock; threading and patterning orange, white and black beads (Halloween colours :) on pipe cleaners; different kinds and colours of dinosaurs and bugs; with various sizes and colours of popsicle sticks; with colourful wooden cubes, and with cube-a-links. The children also watched a Peep and the Big Wide World video about Measurement and Patterning on the Smartboard. The Juniors are learning the basic ABAB pattern and all the children are encouraged to describe and create more complex patterns such as AABAAB, ABCABC, ABBABB, etc. When we talk about patterns the children are prompted to explain their pattern using these letters. This is another important numeracy skill.

The children also glued the pattern of wooden sticks they created onto cardstock and made Halloween sticker patterns, writing the letters (A,B,C as appropriate) under the stickers. The children are encouraged to find patterns in our natural and man-made world (such as clothing) and to practise making patterns at home. We'll continue with patterning next week (but with a Halloween and Fall theme). In Literacy, Science and Art, the children are learning about Signs of Fall. They are encouraged to look for signs of fall in the natural world and have started reading and drawing Signs of Fall in a little booklet with their Reading Buddies. We are reading fiction and non-fiction books about the Fall as well. The children did a lovely job finishing their Fall Tree Art (on display in the hall), inspired by Barbara Reid's book, "Picture a Tree." They also learned about texture and used toothpicks to add details to the plasticine leaves. Once the weather gets a little chillier we've go for an Autumn Scavenger Hunt around the school to look for more signs of Fall.

The sight words of the week were THE and DO. The Jolly Phonics letter sound we are currently focusing on is "P."

The children had fun on Blue Jays Spirit Day, as well as Letter Day. LKS has spirit! The kids also enjoyed shopping for books at the Scholastic Book Fair in the Library! The classroom Scholastic Order is due next week. On Friday the children were treated to a performance of STOMP by the Grade 8 Music Class, and Ruby's Grandfather was our awesome Mystery Reader this week, reading "Harry the Dirty Dog" (a classic!) and "How to Babysit a Grandpa." Thank you so much!

I have booked a Scientist-in-the-Classroom visit for November 10 from 8:45-11:20. We will need 4 parent volunteers. If you have already signed up for a classroom craft party please allow parents who have not had this opportunity to volunteer on November 10th. Thank you.

A reminder that LKS is collecting non-perishable nut-free food for the Daily Bread Food Bank over the next two weeks before Halloween. Each teacher has a box outside his/her classroom for the food items. Thank you so much.

In Friday's mail bag you received the Special Person of the Day Calendars from November-June. If you need to make any changes and need to switch with someone, just email them and please cc me so I can make the change in my Day Plans. Thank you.

Next week we will continue our patterning, learning about Fall, and will start some fun literacy and numeracy Halloween activities and centres.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Mrs. Tyndall

Week of October 3-7

Dear families,

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend. The children were so proud of the "stained glass" votive candle holder they made for you. We read "The Thankful Book" by Todd Parr and the children wrote about what they are thankful for. The number one answer was "My Family." They also learned the poems "Gobble, Gobble," and "Five Little Turkeys."

The letter sound of the week was "P." The sight words were IN and SEE.

The children brought home their "Pete the Cat Loves Colours" folder. Please encourage your child to tell you about their work and to read it with you.

Ms. Zappi. Ms. Sunde and myself are organizing a "Scare Hunger" food drive for the Daily Bread Food Bank. LKS is collecting non-perishable and nut-free foods for the next 2 weeks. Thank you for your support!

On Wednesday it is wear BLUE JAYS clothes to school day at LKS. Baseball caps are allowed woo hoo!

Thank you to Caelan's mom who was our Mystery Reader this week. She read some Curious George stories to the class.

With our Grade 4 Reading Buddies the children made a construction paper tree. When it's dry they will be adding fall-coloured plasticine leaves to follow up on our Barbara Reid book study of "Picture a Tree." www.barbarareid.com These will be put on display on the hall bulletin board.

The Scholastic Book Fair is this week. Group 1 goes on Thursday, Group 2 on Friday. If you would like your child to purchase a book/s, please send money in a plastic zip-lock bag marked with your child's name.

Our classroom Science Centre has changed from Simple Machines to Signs of Fall. Once the leaves turn a litle more, we'll go on an Autumn Scavenger Hunt in the Shale Pit and around LKS. The children are also painting "magic" sight word leaves for our big tree in the dramatic centre. This is easy to do at home. On white cardstock, write sight words with a white crayon. When your child paints it, the word will magically appear!

That's the news for this week! Happy Thanksgiving - we have so much to be thankful for.

Mrs. Tyndall

Week of September 26-30

Dear families,

I hope you are having a nice weekend.

This week we completed our inquiry on Primary Colours and colour mixing. We mixed colours with various media, including paint, water colour pencils and bingo dabbers. The children completed a colour wheel, tracing over the words and colouring appropriately. We watched a video of Peep and the Big Wide World on Colour Mixing, Ms. Santiago made play dough of different colours with the children.

We also completed our Author Study of James Dean and his Pete the Cat books. The children each got 4 "Groovy" buttons like Pete the Cat and we talked about adding and subtracting them. We made a graph about them together, they drew them freehand, and then coloured 4 buttons on a work sheet and wrote about them: "My Groovy Buttons are..."

The Popcorn Words (sight words) of the week were LIKE and MY. Please put them in your child's Bedtime Book Box for practice at home.

It was a week of "firsts" for the Juniors: first photo day, first pizza lunch, first Sharing Assembly, first Reading Buddies! We had fun meeting our Grade 4 Reading Buddies and reading and colouring a Pete the Cat booklet together.

The Grade 8 LIVE program is up and running as well; each morning two students read leveled readers one-on-one with two children in the hall for about 20 minutes.

The homework for this week is to complete the "I Can..." sheet, writing the word "I" in various patterned sentences.

Thank you so much to Hannah who collated and stamped this month's Scholastic order forms. They are due on October 17th. Thank you as well to Alexandra's dad who was our Mystery Reader. Ruby brought in her own copies of Pete the Cat books, too, and read to her friends. Thank you, Ruby!

This week we also did some Cosmic Yoga, which the children really enjoyed. It's a great website for kids, teaching them about Mindfulness, Relaxation and Self-Regulation.

We had fun coming up with "B" words and beginning sounds this week, with a definite Blue Jay theme :) Ball, bunt; bat, batter, blue, baseball, and lots more!

We have reached the end of September and the end of each month the children complete a "This is me in [month]" and they fill in a calendar with numbers. These are used to track progress and a copy is sent home. I keep the original for Parent-Teacher interviews.

Our very first Sharing Assembly of the year went well. The children sang "There's No One Else Like Me," and Alex, Phoebe and Rielle received certificated for Respect. Well done!

The new October word list and October Bingo Calendar was sent home in Friday's mail bag. Please put the word list on the fridge or your child's Bedtime Book box. When they can read a word (alone or using the picture), they colour it in!

We have a few more things to do before the "Pete the Cat Loves Colours" folder goes home in Thursday's mail bag.

On Friday it is a PA day. The Kindergarten Team will be reviewing and discussing the Kindergarten Curriculum document. Monday is Thanksgiving, and this upcoming week we will be focused on this special day when we remind ourselves to be thankful. Look for some Fall-themed and Thanksgiving art and work in this week's mail bag!

That's the news for this week - I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend. I also hope the Blue Jays win tonight! :)

Mrs. Tyndall

Week of September 19-23

Dear families,

I hope you are enjoying this lovely fall weather.

This week we continued learning about primary and secondary colours. to inspire us we read the wonderful Herve Tullet books "Press Here," "Mix it Up" and "Let's Play" as well as "Mouse Paint." We graphed our eye and hair colour, mixed primary paint colours together and did primary colour "math" (i.e. red + blue = purple). Next week we will make and mix primary colour play dough together as well.

We also learned about one of the simple machines in our classroom (door stopper) and how wedges made jobs easier. The children helped me identify wedges in the playground and in the classroom (e.g. wood chips, sand tools, eating utensils).

We are completing Pete the Cat pattern books which reinforce colour words and sight words, and which the children can read with you at home.

Many of the Juniors are still learning to form letters (their name being the most important word!). Any extra small-motor practice they have at home as well is terrific, including using child-appropriate round-edge scissors, glue sticks, and tracing and writing with various writing utensils. I remind the children to write letters and numbers with pencil, and to colour with crayons/pencil crayons etc. For the Juniors, tracing is a very good activity that strengthens their small motor ability and control of writing utensils. I have sent home a tracing alphabet for practice. Writing your child's name in highlighter and having them trace over top of it is also helpful.

The Popcorn Words of the week are CAN and ME. Your child's first Snuggle Up and Read Book went home in Friday's mail bag. Please return the book each week so that s/he can get a new one.

The SKs received their Journals on Friday. When our child completes a journal entry, I will "mark" it (I will write a note to them in the journal) and will put awesome stickers on it, too. :)

I also sent home instructions on how to make a Bedtime Book Box out of a shoe box, which is where your child keeps his/her popcorn words and Snuggle Up books. There is no need to bring it to school when it is done. It's just a fun way to inspire your child to read before bedtime.

We will meet with our Grade 4 Reading Buddies from Mrs. Shkler's class next week! Each week on Day 2 we will read books together, write together, and make new friends. The children will also take turns reading with three Grade 8 volunteers during each Homeroom period.

The whole school also participated in a Wellness Activity on Thursday by talking about what makes us happy. Our answers are on a paper chain outside the classroom.

Our very first Sharing Assembly this year will be on September 30th. We are going to sing a song called "There's No One Like Me."

I hope you have a lovely weekend. See you Monday!

Week of September 12-16

Dear families,

It was a pleasure meeting with you on Curriculum Night and having the opportunity to present information about the Kindergarten Curriculum with our Kindergarten Team. Please click on the link above for further information about the Ontario Kindergarten Curriculum Expectations.

The children participated in the Terry Fox assembly and did a terrific job in our very first Fire Drill.

A huge thank you in advance to our Grade Parents this year: Simone (Caelan's mom) and Tiffany (Hudson's mom). There are many opportunities to volunteer in our classroom each year, such as Mystery Reader (weekly) and craft parties (October, December, April) as well as Scientist in the School, a field trip and the 100th Day Math Party. A Mystery Reader is a volunteer (usually a parent). They sign in at the office, the office buzzes our classroom that "the Mystery Reader is here," two children bring him/her to the classroom, and the reader reads 1-2 books. Our first Mystery Reader was my former student Megan! Thank you Megan! Please contact our Grade Parents if you would like to volunteer in the classroom this year.

This week we continued learning about colours and Pete the Cat books. The children learned a song called "Rainbow" and the poems "Rainbow Hair" and "Am I...?" about colours. They counted Pete the Cat 10-frames, helped spell adjectives describing Pete, and are making a pattern booklet called "I Like My Shoes" patterned after the Pete the Cat book.

The Popcorn (Sight/High Frequency) words this week are IS and AND. The first two Jolly Phonics sounds we are learning are S and A. The children also took turns playing and exploring various letter and number centres this week.

In Art the children made "Eye Spy Letters (JK) and Eye Spy Letter Sounds (SK) collages, which are on display on the classroom bulletin board.

In Science the children have started playing with the "simple machines" and tools in our little Science Centre, for example various hole punches, a stapler, paper clips, and fasteners.

We also started Daily Physical Activity (as well as outdoor play) in the classroom with the terrific website Go Noodle.

The Snuggle up and Read a Book exchange will start this upcoming Friday. Each Friday the children will take a classroom book home in their mailbag, and return on Monday. They will get a new book each week (upon returning the previous one). Once again our wonderful Grade 8 student volunteers will be reading one-on-one with the children each homeroom period. We will also be doing weekly Reading Buddies with Mrs. Shklar's Grade 4 class.

A small note about lunches and snacks - please ensure your child has enough food for their lunch and two snacks, as well as utensils. If you are packing apple sauce or yogurt, a good idea is to freeze it the night before so that it's not as messy and also keeps the other food cool!

Thank you for your Scholastic Orders. They are due by September 28. If you are ordering online, please ensure you send me your order forms as well. Thank you! Scholastic helps teachers buy books and materials for the classroom.

That's the news for this week! I hope you are having a terrific weekend!

Friday. September 9

Dear families,

We've had our first week of school! I am so happy to say that the children are all adjusting very well and are learning the classroom routines very quickly! I'm proud of them! Next week we will continue to establish and review routines. It will take many of the JKs the whole first term to learn all the various rules and routines. I am encouraging the Seniors to help the Juniors and be leaders.

This week there were a number of letters sent home to be signed and returned. Please make sure you send back your completed forms. Thank you. SK Parents please complete and return the journal topics you would like your child to write about this year.

If I have stamped your child's work with "Please complete for Mrs. Tyndall," this means that your child did not complete his/her work in class and that it should be finished at home and returned in Monday's mailbag. Thank you.

We are currently learning all about COLOURS, starting with colour words, and the Pete the Cat book "I Love My School Shoes" which explains colour mixing in a fun way. We will continue with colour mixing and Pete the Cat stories over the next few weeks. The children have started their first read and colour booklet called "I like my school shoes." We also completed our first graph, "What is your favourite colour?" Our favourite colour is green!

We have also started right into Phonics with the letter/sound "S." The popcorn (sight) words of the week are I and AM. I have sent them home for practise.

It would be wonderful if you could practise letter and sound recognition with your child at home. We are learning to recognize high-frequency words in the modeled writing each day. As well, it is important for your child to learn to print his/her name this year with a capital letter, followed by lower case letters. This is not going to happen overnight with my little JKs. It may take most of the year for some! Try making their name with play-dough, sugar on glue, or dot-to-dot on paper.

The children are also learning about working together cooperatively in Centres. We have played in the following centres: wooden letter games, patterns, magnetic letters and numbers, counting cards, Wedgits, dominoes, building toys, and dramatic play.

Curriculum night is September 15. The Kindergarten presentation will start at 5:30 in the Gym. We hope to see you then.

That's the news for this week! I'm looking forward to a terrific next week and a great year ahead!

Have a great weekend.

Week of September 5-9

Dear Parents,

Welcome to Kindergarten at Lambton Kingsway Junior Middle School! I am delighted to have your child in my class! 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. Santiago to our classroom! Thank you to Caelan's mom Simone who has volunteered to be our Grade Parent this year! We need one more Grade Parent. Please email Madeleine Lowenbork-Frick (mfrick@sympatico.ca) if you would like to be a Grade Parent.

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. Santiago 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 Day 1 at 9 a.m.) and Holiday 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. 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 Leader Day, due dates for pizza and Sholastic 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 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. Please return you Library books each Monday.

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)

June 29

Dear families,

Wow - the last week of school! It was a fun and busy week as we finished our learning about summer and talked about what to expect next year in SK and Grade One!

Our Senior Kindergarten Graduation was on Tuesday. Thank you so much to our SK Parents who provided a beautiful cupcake-cake for the children, along with fruit, juice and cheese snacks, as well as cutlery and napkins. The children had a great day and are excited about next year!

This week the SKs wrote about what they would like to be when they grow up. On the other side of that page is "I would like to tell my Grade One teacher..." I think your child's Grade One teacher would love to see this in September!

The children also completed a colouring activity about boating safety and wearing life jackets. They finished their Canada Day Fireworks art and it looks awesome.

Thank you so much to Stella's mom who helped out this week in the computer lab.

Today, the last day, was Pizza-Lunch-on-the-Lawn. Thank you so much to the parent who volunteered their time with this too - Andrew's dad, Ellie's mom, Hannah's mom, and all the other parents who helped make it a success.

We met with our Reading Buddies today and for a special surprise watched "Finding Nemo" together.

I would like to say a huge Thank You to Theresa and Mary for all their help this year as fantastic Grade Parents. Being a Grade Parent takes an enormous amount of time, organization and energy, and one big reason this year ran so successfully with all our parent volunteers was thanks to Mary and Theresa's work. Thank you again to all the parents who volunteered their time in the classroom this year - the children loved seeing you in their environment!

Thank you as well to Miss. Nisker who also helped make this year terrific.

Finally, thank you so much for the wonderful teacher gifts... I love teaching and I feel enormously grateful for the lovely children and families I get to work with each day.

I hope you have a safe and fun summer, and I will see you in September!

Mrs. Tyndall

Week of June 27-29

Dear families,

It's so hard to believe that this will be the last few days of school before the summer holidays! It looks like we're going to have lovely summer weather! It was so hot on Monday that we had Freezie Monday as well as Freezie Friday!

This week was our last Sharing Assembly, and Riley, Ruby and William received certificates for Perseverance. I am so proud of you!

The Seniors were very excited about being allowed to play in the "big kids'" playground this week, and about seeing the Grade One classes.

I'm happy to report that our class returned all of their overdue Library books! Way to go!

The Seniors are working on their big Phonics duotangs (great practice for Grade One) and the Juniors wrote about and drew their favourite Kindergarten Activity. The Seniors are also finishing up their Memory Book, and all the children are practising Summer Words. They also shared and wrote what they wanted to do this summer, and wrote that on a Beach ``Bucket List`` craft.

We made Thank You cards for our Reading Buddies. This week will be our last class together. Thank you Ms. Sunde`s Class!

Our sight words this week were EAT and EGG. Next week there will be four: GOOD, BYE, SCHOOL, KIDS. :) I sent home 5 sight words lists with the SKs to review at home.

Thank you to Andrew's mom who helped our in the Computer Lab and Iris' mom who was the Mystery Reader!

The children finished their Canada Day 3-D Fireworks Art and they look amazing.

We also recorded and graphed all the different activities the children will be doing this summer.

Tomorrow (Monday) your children will be receiving their report cards. I am so proud of all of them and all their progress! Wednesday is the year-end LKS assembly and Pizza Lunch on the Lawn.

That`s the news for this week! I am really looking forward to seeing all the SK Parents and family at their children`s graduation on Tuesday at 1:30. I have finished the slideshow and it turned out really nicely. I`m looking forward to sharing it with you!

See you tomorrow :)

Week of June 20-24

Dear families,

I was an awesome week last week! The field trip to Springridge Farm was so much fun and the children participated in so many fun and educational activities! First, there was a wagon ride to the strawberry patch. The children learned that the two water reservoirs hold water which is fed to the strawberry patch by pipes. After learning about how strawberries are planted and how they grow, each child picked two strawberries fresh from the field. Then they walked further up the hill and had a terrific view of the Niagara Escarpment. They could see as far as the CN Tower! The children also saw two turkey vultures in the sky. After the view from the Lookout Tower, they walked down the hill and picked fresh clover for the goats. The goats loved them! The children then went to the Bee Education Area and learned all about bees. Theo got to dress up as a Bee Keeper! The children saw a real bee hive and watched the bees in action. Then they saw baby chicks, and fed grain to hens and goats. After looking at the rabbits and King Pigeons, the children took turns going down the slides and explored the hay bale play area. They had apple juice and ran up and down a hay hill, and then it was time to get back on the bus! Our tour guide Farmer Fiona said that our class was the "best of 2016" and I was so proud of the children's excellent behaviour and great questions for Farmer Fiona. Thank you SO MUCH to the wonderful parent volunteer moms of Alexandra, Andrew, Dylan, Luca and William'who came with us on the trip and helped supervise the children!

Last week we finished our Inquiry on Farms by doing a "Farms..." booklet with the words HAVE, CAN and GROW. The children also wrote about their trip to Springridge Farm and drew a picture. They watched a video about sheep from Farmer Tania, made Ruby's farm puzzle (thank you Ruby!), looked at pictures of farms from long ago before there were tractors and big machines (thank you Camilla!), and played Farmer's Market.

LKS had a practice fire drill and the children did an excellent job lining up quickly and quietly by the fence.

Thank you so much to Matthew's mom who was our Mystery Reader on Thursday. Thank you to Avery who found a robin's egg and brought it in to share at the Science Centre.

On Monday the children had great fun participating in the Dance for the Red Cross (Alberta Relief Fund). The children also completed the last calendar of the near (June) and the last "This is me in... (June). I am so impressed with the progress they have made since September.

I sent home the SK Summer Journals. Your child's Grade One Teacher woukd love to have this in September!

Sadly, Bubbles the Beta Fish died of old age on Monday. I will get a new Bubbles in September.

It was so hot last week that I decided to call it Freezie Friday which was welcomed by the kids. Can't wait until this Friday!

I hope you had a wonderful Father's Day weekend and enjoyed the beautiful art and card your child made for you.

On Thursday we will celebrate the last TDSB Character Trait of Perseverance at the Sharing Assembly. I hope to see you then!

Have a wonderful week!

Week of June 13-17

Dear families,

I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

This week we learned more about farms and farm life in preparation for our field trip on the 15th. The children are so excited! They sang the classic Old MacDonald song (good for memory!) and completed an accompanying booklet. The children had all their questions about horses answered - thank you to Miss. Nisker who videotaped herself taking care of her beautiful horse William. The children asked questions about pigs and sheep, which we will answer next week. They helped write the answers on the Smartboard to what various farm animals HAVE, CAN, ARE, EAT. The children also completed a reading activity booklet in which they had to match the sound animals make to the picture and word. We watched a terrific video on the Smartboard called "The Little Chick Company - It All Starts With an Egg" about eggs and chickens. We watched it two times, pausing the second time to quiz the children about what they learned and understood. The children also made and took home little plaster farm animals that they coloured. I added magnets and voila a cute fridge magnet. Next week we will finish our inquiry off with questions and answers about sheep and pigs. We will also do more summative activities about farm life in general. The children will complete writing activities about Wednesday's field trip and will bring their Farm Inquiry Folders home on Friday!

Thank you so much to Tessa who brought in porcupine quills from her cottage. This lead to a great discussion and a recap of habitats and local wildlife. I'm so pleased when the kids bring in items from the natural world to share and talk about!

The words of the week were ZOO and ZEBRA. Next week they will be KID, KITE and KITTEN.

The school had two fire drills this week and the children did a perfect job lining up quickly and quietly and following me outside to our designated spot. Great job!

In Friday's mail bags I included a list of Grade One High Frequency (sight) words. This is a good little tool to review over the summer. Speaking of which, the children completed a reading and drawing activity with their Reading Buddies about Summer Words. Their buddies helped them read the words (e.g. sun screen, picnic) and they drew an accompanying picture together. They look great!

Thank you so much for the Staff Appreciation Lunch... The food was amazing and this was a real treat! Thank you so much to Luca's mom who provided delicious pasta from her resto "Eatalian!" Thank you to Avery's mom and dad who were a Mystery Reader dynamic duo!

An important note regarding the field trip: please ensure you child is wearing running shoes, socks, sunscreen, and has a litterless lunch and snack packed. No crocs please. We will eat our morning snack before getting on the bus. Parent Volunteers, please arrive at 10:15 so that I can give you your packages (name tags, kleenex, etc.). The children's lunch bags should be in their backpacks. Thank you!

That's the news for this week! I hope you are having a terrific weekend.

Week of June 6-10

Dear families,

I hope you enjoyed the gorgeous weather this week! Our Sight Words were FUN and FRIEND, two things that go together! Next week the sight words will be ZOO and ZEBRA.

This week we continued our learning about farms! The children learned a lot more about cows thanks to a video by a friend of Miss. Nisker's who is a dairy farmer. The children also posed several more questions about horses, which will be answered next week! The kids completed 2 farm word searches with their Reading Buddies, and read fiction and non-fiction books about farms. We did a comparison chart about pigs and sheep, and did guided reading on the Smartboard with the booklet "What Do You Do?" The children also watched some non-fiction videos about Foggy Farmer, and watched a real farmer work with different farm machinery. www.farmerfoggy.com The children also learned where the word "horsepower" comes from! The kids made booklets called "Who is in the Barn?" The JKs read and coloured it, the SKs read and drew the appropriate pictures to demonstrate understanding. The children also made the cover page for their Farm Folders, and completed an "itsy bitsy" farm booklet. They are still working on a farm vocabulary sheet as well as a longer booklet called "I am Going to a Farm." Thank you Dylan for sharing your story about baling hay at a farm! Thank you as well to Dylan's mom who helped in the computer lab, and to Martel's mom who also helped out in the lab.

The kids had a lot of fun of Thursday in 11 farm-themed centres. There were 8 math centres with simple and more complex math problems to solve as a group, for example: "Farmer Joe has two cows and 3 calves. How many are there altogether?" and "There are 3 hens. Each hen lays 2 eggs. How many eggs all together?' The children had farm animal manipulatives to help them. They also did a "Spin a Farm Animal" centre, in which they had to spin farm animals and graph their results. Another centre was the "Bossy r, ar and or centre, which reinforced pronunciation rules for the children. The last centre was called "Animal Round Up" in which the children rolled dice and counted what they rolled, with farm animal pictures to help. All of these centres helped the children with numeracy skills.

Also tied to numeracy skills is the Cow Glyph that the children are making. Each child is making personalised cow art that tells a story. JK cows have white ears and a white tail; SK cows have black ears and a black tail. Girls' cows have udders; boys' cows have horns. If a child is 4, s/he draws 4 spots on the cow glyph. If a child is 5, s/he draws 5, if a child is 6, s/he draws 6. Finally, the glyphs show what kind of milk the child likes depending on the colour of their cow glyph's bell. Blue means they like chocolate milk; orange means they like white milk; green means they like strawberry milk. When the cow glyph is done, the children write their "moo"velous data, for example: "I am 5. I am a girl. I am a JK. I like chocolate milk." We'll finish the glyphs next week!

Thank you to Theo who shared some special animals with the class. Thank you as well to Claire who shared a wonderful non-fiction story about farm life. Thank you as well to Iris' family who donated some phonics sets and flashcards to our literacy centres!

This week was extra special because we welcomed Artist Janine to our classroom! The children learned all about Emily Carr and, after doing a practise page, completed beautiful pastel and water colour artwork. Psst! It will be for Father's Day! The children also made a beautiful card!

In today's mailbags I sent home the new June calendar (how can it be June already?!) as well as June homework bingo. I also sent home a list of all the inquiries your wonderful children did this year! Well done!!

Chloe celebrated her (July) birthday on Friday. We will celebrate all the summer birthdays in June! Next week we celebrate 4 birthdays (Andrew, Camilla, Stella and Samantha), which means lots of cookies and cupcakes! Healthy veggie and fruit snacks would be a good idea next week! :)

We planted our bean plant in the Kindergarten garden and the children made a little sign. It already has some flowers so hopefully with some care and some luck we'll see some beans!

That's the news from Room 166! Next week we will continue our inquiry and learning about farm life. I hope you have a terrific weekend!

Week of May 30-June 3

Dear families,

This week we completed our inquiry on Canadian Coins and their values, learning about the loonie and the toonie, and doing several summative written and centre-based activities. The children loved playing "store" and "yard sale" with the cash register, coins, play money and gift cards. The children learned about Braille and how the visually impaired can tell different values of coin and paper money. We continued answering all the questions the children had about money (I sent a copy of these home with their folders), such as, "Where is money made?" and "Why isn't it flat?" and "Why is Queen Elizabeth on the money because she is the Queen of England?" All great questions! We re-watched the Making Stuff video and discussed steps to making coins. We also learned a new money song to help remember the values of coins, and learned about how polymer bills are made and why we use them instead of paper bills. The kids did coin rubbings on tracing paper and completed a money book and the sentence "If I had 100 dollars I would..." with their Reading Buddies (WOULD was one of the sight words we learned this week). We learned about the word "symbol" and why particular pictures were on Canadian money. Next week I will move the cash register to the Dramatic Play Centre where the kids can play "Farmer's Market."

At the Sharing Assembly the children did a terrific job singing and dancing to the Gummi Bear song. Congratulations to Camilla, Iris and Tessa who received certificates for "Integrity." That's a special one and I'm very proud of you!

Thank you to Avery's mom and Theo's mom who volunteered for Computer Lab this week, and to Andrew's mom who was our Mystery Reader! She read to the kids outside and brought cool fossils too!

The children also completed mini read-and-write booklets of DID, SOME, THEY and WOULD, and completed their May calendar and "This is me in May." I have sent a photocopy home, and keep the originals for assessment. I will send them home next month. If I have sent home an extra calendar for your child to do, please return it (completed) next week. Thank you.

The Book Fair was a great success and the children loved shopping and window shopping for books in the Library!

On Thursday it was Kosti's last day as his family is moving to Finland. We had a party at the end of the day and Kosti's mom kindly brought snacks and juice boxes. The children presented him with a giant card they made, with what they wanted to say to him, such as "I will miss you" and "You are a nice friend." We will miss you Kosti and wish you and your family all the best on your new adventure!

On Friday when it was so hot I opened up Groovy Girls, Littlest Pet Shop and Doll House Centres (I brought them from my home since my kids have long outgrown them!) and they were such a hit! Cooperative play is an important skill and I loved seeing the children share and play together so nicely. The children also had fun playing on the iPads. We will have them in our class all next week. Yay!

Our Special Person of the day pulled names from a hat to decide who would volunteer to assist with supervision of the children on the Springridge Farm field trip - thank you in advance to the moms of Alexandra, Luca, Andrew, William and Dylan. I have prepared packages for you for the trip. It will be so much fun!

Next week we will start our Inquiry on Farms and Farm Animals. We will start with our Schema (what we know already) and then Questions and then New Learning, as well as Misconceptions. Miss. Nisker will start us off with her in-depth knowledge about horses! We'll follow that up with cows, pigs and sheep, as well as other farm animals and farm life. I'm excited about this unit and have a lot of fun educational things planned for the kids.

That's my news for this week. I hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather this weekend! See you Monday!

Week of May 24-27

Dear families,

The mail bags went home early, on Thursday, because it is the Victoria Day long weekend and traditionally several children are absent on the Friday before. Inside the bags was your child's amazing Dinosaur work! This was a fun inquiry and I think all the children enjoyed it and learned a lot. We finished off the unit this week by doing three bubble maps: of T-Rex, Triceratops, and Pterodactyl. The kids also made a Pterodactyl puppet using water colours ("since the Pterodactyl ate fish and lived close to the water"). I sent home a copy of all the words they made from the word DINOSAUR, and we watched a little Dino Dan video about dinosaurs. Thank you Avery for bringing in a nest - we put it in our dinosaur centre and put a big "dinosaur" egg in it.

We started our new inquiry on Canadian Coins and their values. So far we have learned about the penny, the nickel, the dime and the quarter. We are learning about the penny even though it is no longer in circulation because it helps the children understand the concepts of, for example, "10 CENTS, 5 CENTS, etc.. The children are excited about this unit! I start off teaching each coin with a magic box that makes the coins disappear! The children are coming up with all kinds of theories as to where the coins are! We are identifying and colouring the coins, learning two money songs (a favourite is the Honey Bunny Money song on Youtube), and learned about saving money instead of spending money from a Berenstain Bears story. We are learning about the symbols on the coins and why they were chosen (maple leaf; beaver - fur trade; dime; Bluenose; quarter- elk, etc.)I showed the kids a photo of the Bluenose II that I took on a trip to Halifax, and our Money Centre has coins and symbols displayed in it for the children to explore, as well as Special Coins such as Olympic coins. We also watched a video from the excellent series "Making Stuff" on how coins are minted. We also started a chart with Schema (what we know about money) and Questions (things about money they want to learn). We will answer those questions nexty week. Next week we'll also learn about the loonie and the twoonie, and we will do several summative exercises and activities to reinforce their learning. I encourage you to let your children play with, count and explore coins at home.

The children also had fun during outdoor play playing with bubbles and water, and came up with some interesting ways to keep the water inside the bin while using pipes and funnels and measuring cups.

Thank you so much to Catherine's mom who was our awesome Mystery Reader this week. Thank you as well to Stella's and Matthew's moms who helped in the Computer Lab. When there are no volunteers for the computer lab or pizza lunch or other volunteer slots, it is often our amazing Grade Parents Theresa and Mary who fill in the gaps and volunteer their time. I can't thank them enough for all their time and energy! Thank you Mary and Theresa.

Our Popcorn words this week were DID and SOME.

If you would like your child to purchase books at the Book Fair next week, please send in money in a baggie with your child's name clearly marked. Thank you. Group Two Library goes on the 25th, Group ONE Library goes on the 27th. Computer Lab times remain the same. Window shopping is fine too and reinforces the concept of saving money :)

Please return your child's permission forms for Springridge Farms by the 25th along with a cheque for 23.00 payable to LKS (which is a combined cost of the Artist visit on May 31 and the Field Trip). Several parents have already indicated they would like to volunteer. Please kindly note that priority will be given to those parents who have not volunteered on the Scientist-in-the-Classroom Day. Names will be drawn from a hat and those parents will be notified. Thank you so much for offering your time and energy!

As the Senior Kindergarten Graduation Day approaches, I will start compiling all the lovely photos of the kids' learning to make the year-end DVD. SK PARENTS ONLY, please send in a photo of your child as a baby so I can add it to the DVD. Please send in a hard copy; do not email it to me. Thank you. I will scan it and return it to you. Please send this in by JUNE 14 at the very latest. Thank you.

I hope you have a wonderful long weekend!

Week of May 16-20

Dear families,

This week we continued our learning about Dinosaurs and the children were Paleontologists. First, they practised excavating chocolate chips from cookies (they had to count the chips before eating them :) ); then they each removed hardened purple play doh from three clay "dinosaur" bones, using several tools; and finally they put the bones together in teams of 2 or three. At each step, they drew and wrote what they did. We also compared how many chocolate chips they excavated, using the words MOST, LEAST and SAME. I think they really enjoyed the activities! I made enough clay bones so that each child can each take 3 home. The children also learned a song called "I am a Paleontologist." All their learning and observations are part of a booklet called "Paleontologist" that will go home on Friday. I think they especially liked wearing the yellow hard hats that Paleontologists wear!

The children coloured a large paper "dino" egg, and then wrote about it; "My dinosaur egg IS... HAS... INSIDE THERE IS..." We also looked at what real dinosaur eggs look like on the Smartboard. They also made Triceratops Art and coloured and cut big herbivore and carnivore dinosaur puppets, looking at non-fiction books for reference. I loved all the details!

Our Dinosaur learning chart is almost done: we start with a SCHEMA (what the children already know), then NEW LEARNING, as well as MISCONCEPTIONS (i.e. all dinosaurs had claws). I will type up the children's answers and will send a copy home in their Dinosaur Folder.

The children also did some Dino dot-to-dot (numbers and alphabet) activities, and they completed 6 Dinosaur Numeracy activities. At each centre they had to read the math question and, using the objects, come up with the answer. For example, "There were 2 dinosaurs and six plants. How many plants does each dinosaur get?" I will send home a copy of the questions.

The children took turns doing a "Dinosaur Dig" in the classroom sandbox, and did a "Pet Dinosaur" activity with their Reading Buddies. They learned about Pangea (the "supercontinent") that the dinosaurs roamed, and how the Earth looks today, with 7 separate continents. They drew pictures of both, and learned a song called "Continents." They made a giant dinosaur floor puzzle as well as smaller puzzles (thank you Claire for sharing yours with us!), and painted dinosaurs and paleontologists at the painting centre. We also matched up beginning and ending parts of sentences, i.e. "Dinosaurs lived..... millions of years ago."

Thank you to Tessa who brought in her collection of mini dinosaurs, and to Dylan who brought in a fossil! The kids are excited about learning that the Earth is a big rock and about fossils, and they have been bringing in stones that they like as well. Maybe there are future geologists or paleontologists in the classroom! A trip to the ROM would be a wonderful follow up to this unit!

We are reviewing our learning about Habitats by matching animals with their habitats. The children are observing our plants' growth daily and are writing in the growth journal. This week they also wrote about why Springfest was fun and drew a picture (they are on display in our classroom). If they didn't go to Springfest, they wrote about why Mother's Day was fun.

The sight words of the week were THERE and THAT, and the kids completed a mini read-and-write THERE book. Miss Nisker also brought in bubble wrap for the kids to practise their small motor skills. Who doesn't love popping bubble wrap?

Thank you Hannah's mom for being our Mystery Reader this week! Thank you as well to Cole who shared a terrific habitats book with the class, and to Martel and his mom who collated the Scholastic order forms. The order is due by May 31st. This will be the last order of the year.

Our next Inquiry will be about Farms (getting us ready for the field trip in June), followed by Canadian Coins and their values. I'll change the dramatic play centre into a Farmer's market where the kids can "buy" healthy fruits and vegetables.

That's the news from our classroom. I hope you are having a relaxing weekend! Go Jays (Saturday and Sunday), and Go Raptors (Sunday)!

Week of May 9-13

Dear families,

I hope you are enjoying the lovely weather this weekend! I would like to wish all the moms a very Happy Mother's Day. The children have made and wrapped something special for you!

This week we finished our study on Habitats and the children brought their folders home with them on Friday. We completed our inquiry by learning about the flora and fauna in deserts and mountains. We also read all our booklets on the Smartboard so that the children could continue practising them at home. The Pond and Savanna booklets can be completed at home. Our Habitats bulletin board in the school hallway is finished! If you have a few minutes after school please come see the wonderful work the children have done to create it!

This week we also continued our learning about Dinosaurs and the children brought home the fossils they made. Our first batch didn't quite work since we poured the plaster mix on top of the sea shells. We re-thought our instructions and made another batch with the shells on top of the mixture.

We have also been reading a lot of fiction and non-fiction books about dinosaurs, and learned about and drew the Earth when there was just one large continent called "Pangea." The children are also learning a song about the seven continents.

We learned about the life cycle of dinosaurs, and compared features of herbivores and carnivores. The children completed a Venn diagram activity about this with their Grade 2 reading buddies.

The children have also been counting and sorting dinosaurs of various types, and made T-Rex Skelton art. I was pleased when some of the children wanted to,leave some of the "bones" unglued and raised off the paper "so they would be 3-D!" Great connections between units of learning!

The sight words of the week were LITTLE and OUT. Thank you to Stella, Cole and Dylan talked to their classmates about supporting the Syrian refugees at Springfest. Thank you as well to Matthew's mom who was our Mystery Reader, and to Catherine's and Christopher's moms who helped out in the Computer Lab!

The children brought home the grass seed "Egg Heads" they made and the Sunflower sprouts. Pleas help your child plant them directly into your garden or a pot. The sunflower will need some support as it grows.

I have had some questions about the field trip in June - no worries, the permission forms are not ready yet since we are still awaiting the cost for the school buses.

I hope you have a wonderful time at Springfest if you are going! Psst - there is a Dinosaur Dig in the sandbox!

Next week we'll continue learning facts about dinosaurs, focusing on the (always popular!) T-Rex and Truceratops. The children will be Paleontologists and will do some excavating activities, and then they'll write a booklet called "I am a Paleontologist" describing what they observed and learned.

That's all the news from Room 166! See you on Monday!

Week of May 2-6

Dear families,

This past week was all about Habitats in the morning and Dinosaurs in the afternoon! Our Habitats bulletin board in the hall is really coming along and the children have been busy writing words and making pictures to match each habitat. This week we focused on Tropical Rainforests and The Arctic. After reading them together on the Smartboard (guided reading),the children read and coloured their own booklets about these habitats. By the end of their inquiry they will have made a booklet for each habitat. Next week we'll learn about Deserts and Mountains. The children are drawing detailed pictures of what is in each habitat on their own after they share their ideas on chart paper. We also caught a local centipede that was scurrying in the classroom and took a good look at it in the Science Centre! I'm sure they would love to talk about our local habitat (forest, river, pond, lake) with you!

Our week got off to an exciting start when "Mrs. Tyndall found a giant egg in her back yard!" (In actual fact my daughter kindly made a large egg shape from papier mache which I painted.) First, the children shared their ideas (which we wrote down) about what they guessed or inferred about what was inside the egg. The kids' ideas were great: chocolate, confetti, a chicken, nothing (hollow), for example! Then they drew a picture and wrote the word of what they inferred. The next day, I gave them three clues one by one (long tail, sharp claws, sharp teeth)and after each clue, they inferred more and more about what was inside the egg. They wrote the clues down and drew what they NOW thought was in the egg. Finally, the next day, the egg "hatched" while they were at the Library and out popped a Triceratops! We learned about its features and the children drew it and wrote its name. I think they really enjoyed the activity because they each wanted a piece of the "egg!" It's in this week's mail bag.

We are also learning about fossils - what they are and how they formed. Henry brought in a fish fossil and I brought in a fish fossil from Alberta's Badlands and a fossil of a few shells that my son found in Mimico creek. We talked about there being a lot of fossils in the creek because of the mud and shale. (I reminded them to stay away from the creek unless they were with an adult.) On Friday we watched "Land of the Dinosaurs" and learned about what Paleontologists do. I showed the children the items we need to make our own fossils (plaster powder, water, two containers, a spoon, a shell) and the children helped us figure out what the steps would be, in which order. Then I made up some plaster and the kids chose a shell, and we poured the plaster mixture over it. Now we're waiting! We reused empty play dough containers with lids so the kids can open them at home safely with your help :) Thank you!

Thank you to Luca who brought in a nest, to all the children who are sharing their dinosaur books with us, thank you to Stella's dad who read "Dinosaur Stomp" to the kids, to Martel's Claire's and Tessa's moms who helped with pizza lunch, and to Riley's and Henry's moms who helped Miss. Nisker in the Computer Lab!

The sight words this week were PRETTY and HOW. The kids did a "how" read and write mini book.

I sent home the new May words and Homework Bingo, as well as a copy of the Special Person of the Day for May and June. The Show and Tell item for May and June is "My Family."

This was the last week for the "Take-Apart Centre" and the "Make a Toy (reuse materials) Centre. The new centre is "All about Plants and Seeds" and the children have been observing the growth of our various seeds and recording their observations in a class journal.

Elizabeth, Luca and Stella received TDSB certificates for Cooperation at this month's Sharing Assembly. Well done! All the Kinders sang "This is the Way we Help the Earth." The Kinders also enjoyed a presentation by children's author Chad Solomon!

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

Week of April 25-29

Dear families,

Last week we completed our big inquiry and learning about Earth week and the children proudly brought their folders home to show you. Throughout the year we talk about nature and science and in April we focus on the Earth. The children wrote letters to the Earth and drew an accompanying picture. We continued talking about the meanings of REUSE, RECYCLE and REDUCE and the children had a lot of terrific ideas about how to do this. They completed a sorting activity with pictures of paper, metal and plastic, and played with memory cards (a set of which they made themselves to play at home). The whole school also did a yard clean up on Earth Day. All the children did lovely paintings of the Earth surrounded by stars. The children also did "puffy paint" earth art which is drying over the weekend.

This week they also planted grass seeds in the half egg shells (to make "egg heads!"), planted sunflower seeds, and found "mystery seeds" in the Kindergarten yard that we planted in a pot too. We will be observing and learning about the germination/growth of all these seeds as well as beans.

There was a terrific presentation by the ROM about trees that the children watched, and the children completed drawings of themselves as Earth Rangers.

We are continuing our inquiry together on Habitats on the Earth and have so far talked and read about the Ocean, Forest, and Prairie/Grassland. Next week we will be developing a bulletin board in the hall about habitats.

Also in keeping with Earth Day and recycling, the children are continuing to enjoy the "Take-Apart Centre" and I brought in an old intercom from home and Claire brought in a small scanner for the children to take apart and examine. The children have also been bringing in and making great toys made from recycled cardboard and other household objects. This week Martel, Christopher and Cole made decorative shields, Dylan made a saw, and Matthew made a rocket launcher and a rocket. Two children work at the centre each day.

Miss. Nisker taught the children about Passover this week and on Monday will do an Afikaman hunt. Thank you Miss Nisker.

The sight words of the week were WHO and DOWN.

Thank you to Samantha who brought in a silica package that she found in the yard - we talked about not to touch this. We will turn it into a science learning opportunity next week, watching how the crystals absorb water.

Thank you as well to Martel's mom who made play-doh for the children. Martel also prepared this month's Scholastic order forms. The next order is due May 31st.

Thank you Camilla who brought in a book about reusing home articles to make egg heads.

Thank you as well to Elizabeth's dad who was our mystery reader.

Next week in the morning we are continuing our learning about Habitats and in the afternoons we are going to be learning about dinosaurs. Thanks to Samantha who brought in a "dinosaur foot" she made from a tissue box, because this inspired all the kids to want to learn more in class about dinosaurs. I have several books about dinosaurs and Kosti, Dylan and Christopher brought in terrific books too.

That's our news from room 166. I hope you have a terrific week!

Week of April 18-22

Dear families,

I hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather this weekend! This week the children will definitely be planting their grass seeds (in the 1/2 egg shells) and pumpkin seeds! They should be ready to take home in time for safe planting in your garden/pot. We'll be learning a lot about seed growth as we continue our inquiry about life on the Earth and taking care of the Earth.

Last week we learned a song called "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" and read and coloured a matching booklet. We brainstormed why we love the Earth and the children's answers were so insightful and genuine. We also brainstormed How to reduce, recycle and reduce things and the children had a lot of great ideas. We reuse/repurpose a lot of things in Kindergarten! I will type up the children's answers and send them home with their "Earth Folder." The kids also painted beautiful Earths and nests in trees following my example. We went on a nature walk in the shale pit and the children had to find several nature items. Next week we will learn about what is inside the Earth. We'll also start our inquiry on plants and habitats.

The kids' folder on 2- and 3-D Shapes went home on Thursday. They are always so pleased to put their work in their folders because it reminds them of all the awesome learning they've done! to finish off this inquiry, we cut several shapes and, with our Reading Buddies, glued them together to make a puzzle in which at least 2 sides were touching. We did more thinking about day-to-day 3-D shapes, such as cylinders (twistables, jars, vases, cups, etc.) cubes (Bubbles the Beta Fish's tank!), rectangular prisms, spheres (balls, marbles, the Earth, eggs) and even triangular prisms (3-sided pencils). The children also made some cool art by cutting and stamping 2-D shapes.

The "Take-Apart Centre" is still a big hit and the kids have had a great time using tools to take apart a clock, a laptop (thank you Andrew!), keyboards (we reused the letters for the play doh centre), and a phone. If you have any more old electronics the kids learn so much from taking them apart and looking at how they're made under the magnifying glass.

Thank you for sending in the wallet-sized photos. A special thank you to Theo's mom who sent me a link of a Robin's nest which, over 4 weeks, showed eggs hatching and finally the babies flying from the nest! The children loved it! We are also watching the live cam of a Bald Eagle's nest in Pennsylvania. Thank you to Chris' mom who helped in the Computer Lab, to Camilla's sister and Ruby's mom who were our Mystery Readers, and to Samantha who brought in 3-D boxs shapes (a heart and a rectangular prism).

The sight words of the week were WAS and I'M. The children did a read-and-write booklet for WAS. They learned that I'M is a contraction of the two other popcorn words they know I and AM.

This upcoming week we will start a new inquiries on Habitats and Plants, and will continue our inquiry on the Earth.

That's the news from Room 166 - I hope you have a terrific week!

Week of April 11-15

Dear families,

Last week we continued our inquiries into 2- and 3-D shapes and Spring, learning about maple syrup and more about nests. We also started a larger inquiry about taking care of our home the Earth.

Shapes: The children turned 2-D shapes into 3-D shapes with scissors, turning a circle into a spiral and, with assistance, a rectangle into a chain. They also cut 2-D shapes and made a collage, traced 2- and 3-D shapes then drew them independently. They did a 3-D shape hunt in the classroom and tallied how many they found.

A special thank you to Camilla who brought in a piece of a sugar maple tree from the Kortwright Conservation Centre, which prompted an inquiry about maple syrup. We wrote and then read the who, what, where, when why and how of maple syrup on chart paper, and watched a short video about it. The kids loved tasting the syrup the best I think! Camilla also brought a book about maple syrup and the children took turns saying a sentence about each page (retelling).

Our inquiry on nests continued and the children learned about how birds build them, which reuse them, and why birds build different sizes of nests. We watched videos of birds building them and did a sorting activity about smallest to biggest. We read a fiction book called The Best Nest, and Peep and the Wide World.

April is Earth month (April 22 is Earth Day) and this week we talked, wrote and illustrated "I care for the Earth when..." and "I love the Earth because..." These are on display in the hall bulletin board. The children did a colour-by-number picture of the earth, watched a short video about our beautiful planet, and we are reviewing what goes in the recycling bin.

Please send in a wallet-sized photo of your child's face for an Earth door hanger. We also talked about how often we reuse objects in Kindergarten, and I am encouraging the children to make something at home from recycled/reused objects. We will put them on display in the classroom. We re-purposed a pop bottle as part of our (top secret!) Mother's Day art, for example. We will continue the theme with the books "Beautiful Junk" and "Recycling Things to Make and Do."

I hope you had a wonderful time at the LKS social if you went! The children made a poster with their names in their handprints to decorate the venue.

Exciting news! On June 15 the Kindergarten classes will go to Springridge Farm. Permission forms will be sent home soon. If you are available to volunteer please indicate this on the form. Thank you!

April 13 is International Wear Pink Day. Wear pink if you have it!

The sight words this week were AS and JUMP.

Thank you to Martel's and Theo's moms who volunteered in the computer lab this week, to Tessa who shared a photo of a nest with eggs in it, and to Samantha who shared her shell collection. It lead to an interesting discussion about the beautiful shapes of nature.

Next week we'll continue our learning about Shapes and Earth.

Have a terrific week!