Dear families,
Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Thank you so much for all the wonderful gifts and the beautiful poinsettia! You are so kind!!!
This past week the little elves in Room 166 were very busy! They wrapped presents and wrote cards in the "North Pole," learned a spelling song called "Santa," wrote cards to their Reading Buddies, learned about Hanukkah and made a Star of David ornament, sequenced the events from the beautiful story "The Polar Express," touched a real sleigh bell, read and coloured a booklet called "To the North Pole," estimated and counted candy canes, graphed who likes and who doesn't like candy canes, danced at the Holiday Dance-a-thon, sang carols with the whole school, made ornaments and crafts at our Holiday Party, played outside in the snow, and got a letter back from Santa!
Thank you so much to Hudson's, Sarah's, Mia's, Kate's and Ella's moms who organized and helped the children make wonderful crafts at our Holiday Party! Thank you as well to Jackson's dad who was this week's Mystery Reader!
The SKs also measured holiday things using non-standard units of measurement (stones), and we read lots of holiday books. All the children read a book about Christmas Grumps (kind of like the Grinch) and wrote and drew a picture about how they would "make a Grump grin."
There were no snuggle books sent home this Friday. The words of the week were HE and SHE.
Here is a website with ideas to support the mindful exercises we do during Quiet Thinking Time: www.tricycle.org/trikedaily/three-poems-children-mindfulness. We will be doing some more "Cosmic Yoga" in the new year.
It was our turn to use the iPads last week and the children practised their coding skills with the "Box Island" and "Scratch Jr." apps.
I have sent in a request to the Scientist-in-the Classroom website for April 20 in the morning for the "I Can Be A Scientist" session. When this date is confirmed I will let Tiffany and Tara know so that they can coordinate volunteers.
That's the news for this week! When we return from our holidays the children will be learning about Germs and Healthy Habits, as well as studying The Gingerbread Man fairy tale. Thank you in advance to Elea's mom Dr. Vivian Wong for volunteering to teach the children about germs and staying healthy!
I hope you have a WONDERFUL holiday and I wish you good health and much happiness in 2018! See you on January 8th!
Mrs. Tyndall
Monday, December 25, 2017
Friday, December 15, 2017
Week of December 11-15
Dear families,
My apologies for not doing the blog last weekend - I'm feeling much better, thank you for all your well wishes. The viruses going around this time of the year seem to be whoppers. We will be doing an inquiry about Germs and Healthy Habits in January so we can start off 2018 very healthy! Please help keep our classmates healthy by reminding your children to keep their hands out of their mouths. Thank you!
Lots of news to catch up on, in no particular order:
The children's BEAR inquiry work went home last week. Well done, cubs!
Bubbles the Class Beta Fish needs a home for the holidays! We are going on a family ski trip to Quebec until December 31. If you would be willing to take of Bubbles, please let me know! I will clean his tank beforehand, so all you have to do is feed him once a day.
Our classroom is officially Santa's Workshop! The children are making Christmas cards, wrapping "presents," reading holiday books, we are singing carols at the piano, Alfie the Elf is here, made little Christmas trees and ornaments, are making Stars of David of Hanukkah, wrote and mailed a letter to Santa, and much more!
In Science and Nature, we learned about Reindeer (Did you know they are good swimmers? and read a booklet. We also learned why it can be sunny and still snow, and that the Earth moves around the sun.
In Numeracy, we counted how many small triangles fit inside the big triangle that is our paper Christmas Tree. We also tallied and graphed (a.k.a. Data Management) whether the children A) had a fireplace, B) had a Christmas tree, C) like Candy Canes. The JKs did a "mitten mix up" matching/sorting exercise, and the SKs used stones to help them write the combination of 10 in several different ways (i.e. 1+9, 2+8, 3+7, 4+6 and so on).
In Literacy, the children wrote Christmas Cards to mom and dad, wrote a letter to Santa, did the MY Read and Write booklet, read and coloured a booklet called Sharing Cookies, are learning several songs with lyrics, are completing a Winter Word Wall with their Reading Buddies, and wrote and drew an accompany picture to "In the Winter, I....."
In Art, I showed the children how to draw various Holiday things on their mini white boards. Following steps is an important skill and the kids are getting very good at it! It's so great when they realize they can draw things just using simple shapes and a few details! They also wrote the words of the things they drew. The children are also enjoying painting holiday things at the painting easel, and they are painting a Hanukkah ornament. The children also traced, cut and decorated stockings. Their scissor skills are really improving!
In Daily Physical Activity, the children really enjoyed playing with the sleds and shovels in the snow this week! We were not able to use the gym because of the Holiday Concert and a volleyball tournament, but hopefully gym will not be cancelled next week. Please ensure your child have RUNNING SHOES at school so that s/he can safely participate.
We read How the Grinch Stole Christmas (one of my favourite books to read!) and then watched the 1966 movie. We are making a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast them.
Thank you so much to Rielle's Dad who was our mystery reader this week! Thank you as well to the parents who volunteered for Pizza Lunch!
The children did a wonderful job singing "Santa's Little Helpers" at the Sharing Assembly. Belated congratulations to Everleigh who received a certificate for EMPATHY. Evelyn and Anilee received certificates for KINDNESS and CARING. Mrs. Mosun and I are so proud of you!
Next week is the Holiday Craft Party on Thursday (don't wear your best party clothes - there may be glue and paint!), more Carol Singing, we'll read and do some activates related to the beautiful book The Polar Bear Express, and we'll do some "Magic Christmas Light" painting. Stay tuned!
It is our turn to have the iPads next week so we will also do some Coding activities.
That's the news for Room 166! If you are going to be away next week please let us know so we can ensure your child's mail bags go home in advance. Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.
My apologies for not doing the blog last weekend - I'm feeling much better, thank you for all your well wishes. The viruses going around this time of the year seem to be whoppers. We will be doing an inquiry about Germs and Healthy Habits in January so we can start off 2018 very healthy! Please help keep our classmates healthy by reminding your children to keep their hands out of their mouths. Thank you!
Lots of news to catch up on, in no particular order:
The children's BEAR inquiry work went home last week. Well done, cubs!
Bubbles the Class Beta Fish needs a home for the holidays! We are going on a family ski trip to Quebec until December 31. If you would be willing to take of Bubbles, please let me know! I will clean his tank beforehand, so all you have to do is feed him once a day.
Our classroom is officially Santa's Workshop! The children are making Christmas cards, wrapping "presents," reading holiday books, we are singing carols at the piano, Alfie the Elf is here, made little Christmas trees and ornaments, are making Stars of David of Hanukkah, wrote and mailed a letter to Santa, and much more!
In Science and Nature, we learned about Reindeer (Did you know they are good swimmers? and read a booklet. We also learned why it can be sunny and still snow, and that the Earth moves around the sun.
In Numeracy, we counted how many small triangles fit inside the big triangle that is our paper Christmas Tree. We also tallied and graphed (a.k.a. Data Management) whether the children A) had a fireplace, B) had a Christmas tree, C) like Candy Canes. The JKs did a "mitten mix up" matching/sorting exercise, and the SKs used stones to help them write the combination of 10 in several different ways (i.e. 1+9, 2+8, 3+7, 4+6 and so on).
In Literacy, the children wrote Christmas Cards to mom and dad, wrote a letter to Santa, did the MY Read and Write booklet, read and coloured a booklet called Sharing Cookies, are learning several songs with lyrics, are completing a Winter Word Wall with their Reading Buddies, and wrote and drew an accompany picture to "In the Winter, I....."
In Art, I showed the children how to draw various Holiday things on their mini white boards. Following steps is an important skill and the kids are getting very good at it! It's so great when they realize they can draw things just using simple shapes and a few details! They also wrote the words of the things they drew. The children are also enjoying painting holiday things at the painting easel, and they are painting a Hanukkah ornament. The children also traced, cut and decorated stockings. Their scissor skills are really improving!
In Daily Physical Activity, the children really enjoyed playing with the sleds and shovels in the snow this week! We were not able to use the gym because of the Holiday Concert and a volleyball tournament, but hopefully gym will not be cancelled next week. Please ensure your child have RUNNING SHOES at school so that s/he can safely participate.
We read How the Grinch Stole Christmas (one of my favourite books to read!) and then watched the 1966 movie. We are making a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast them.
Thank you so much to Rielle's Dad who was our mystery reader this week! Thank you as well to the parents who volunteered for Pizza Lunch!
The children did a wonderful job singing "Santa's Little Helpers" at the Sharing Assembly. Belated congratulations to Everleigh who received a certificate for EMPATHY. Evelyn and Anilee received certificates for KINDNESS and CARING. Mrs. Mosun and I are so proud of you!
Next week is the Holiday Craft Party on Thursday (don't wear your best party clothes - there may be glue and paint!), more Carol Singing, we'll read and do some activates related to the beautiful book The Polar Bear Express, and we'll do some "Magic Christmas Light" painting. Stay tuned!
It is our turn to have the iPads next week so we will also do some Coding activities.
That's the news for Room 166! If you are going to be away next week please let us know so we can ensure your child's mail bags go home in advance. Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.
Friday, December 8, 2017
Friday, December 1, 2017
Week of November 27 - December 1
Dear families,
December already! Christmas is in the air! The children are already asking when Alfie the Elf will come to the classroom. I'm pretty sure he'll be there on Monday!
Last week we read "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," first with the children not seeing the pictures and imagining the events. Then, they retold the story to me with the pictures. We also re-read "Corduroy" and the children did a dot-to-dot activity and a counting activity. We also read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" again and the children sequenced the story with pictures, retold the story, and coloured the colour words in the story.
For the nature/non-fiction part of learning about bears, the SKs read several features about Polar, Grizzly, Black and Panda bears, and categorized them under the headings CAN, HAVE, EAT and ARE. The SKs also wrote several words they knew that started with the letter sounds B,E,A,R and S, and the JKs helped me spell them on chart paper. They also completed a mini read-and-write CAN booklet. We'll finish our inquiry on What Animals do in the Winter next week, and the children will bring their folders home to show you! We'll focus on more numeracy activities next week (counting bears, rolling dice and colouring according to the number, and using our ten-frames).
We practised adding and subtracting with a ten-frame. A laminated 10-frame will be sent home for your child to practise. The children also completed their November calendars and wrote and drew "This is me in November."
We now have designated gym time each week! Please provide your child with running shoes (that stay at school) so that s/he can run safely in the gym.
On the Smartboard, we read Bob Books (on YouTube) together, and the children read copies in class. We also got 4 brand new sets of non-fiction levelled readers from Scholastic which I'm very excited about!
On Monday the children will help decorate our classroom for the holidays, and we'll start doing lots of fun literacy and numeracy activities about Santa, elves, and the Polar Bear Express! It's such an exciting time of year for the little ones.
Thank you so much to Elea's grandmother and dad who were our Mystery Readers this week.
The next Sharing Assembly will be on December 15. The children will be singing two holiday songs, and should dress in RED, WHITE and/or GREEN. Thank you! Santa or Elf hats are ok, too!
That's the news for this week. I hope you have a lovely weekend.
December already! Christmas is in the air! The children are already asking when Alfie the Elf will come to the classroom. I'm pretty sure he'll be there on Monday!
Last week we read "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," first with the children not seeing the pictures and imagining the events. Then, they retold the story to me with the pictures. We also re-read "Corduroy" and the children did a dot-to-dot activity and a counting activity. We also read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" again and the children sequenced the story with pictures, retold the story, and coloured the colour words in the story.
For the nature/non-fiction part of learning about bears, the SKs read several features about Polar, Grizzly, Black and Panda bears, and categorized them under the headings CAN, HAVE, EAT and ARE. The SKs also wrote several words they knew that started with the letter sounds B,E,A,R and S, and the JKs helped me spell them on chart paper. They also completed a mini read-and-write CAN booklet. We'll finish our inquiry on What Animals do in the Winter next week, and the children will bring their folders home to show you! We'll focus on more numeracy activities next week (counting bears, rolling dice and colouring according to the number, and using our ten-frames).
We practised adding and subtracting with a ten-frame. A laminated 10-frame will be sent home for your child to practise. The children also completed their November calendars and wrote and drew "This is me in November."
We now have designated gym time each week! Please provide your child with running shoes (that stay at school) so that s/he can run safely in the gym.
On the Smartboard, we read Bob Books (on YouTube) together, and the children read copies in class. We also got 4 brand new sets of non-fiction levelled readers from Scholastic which I'm very excited about!
On Monday the children will help decorate our classroom for the holidays, and we'll start doing lots of fun literacy and numeracy activities about Santa, elves, and the Polar Bear Express! It's such an exciting time of year for the little ones.
Thank you so much to Elea's grandmother and dad who were our Mystery Readers this week.
The next Sharing Assembly will be on December 15. The children will be singing two holiday songs, and should dress in RED, WHITE and/or GREEN. Thank you! Santa or Elf hats are ok, too!
That's the news for this week. I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Week of November 20-24
Dear families,
Happy Sunday! I hope you are having a nice weekend.
Last week in room 166 we learned more about bears (real and teddy), hibernation, migration and adaptation. We read "Under and Over the Snow," "The Hibernation Station," "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and "Don't Wake Up the Bear!" We watched a National Geographic video about what animals do in the winter. There is another kid video about this on www.makemeagenius.com. The children are enjoying playing in our Hibernation Station and Bear Cave (a tent and a big box), playing with various stuffies such as rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, bears, turtles, frogs, snakes. We are learning several songs and poems about bears, circling the sight words: "Bear is Sleeping," "Are You Sleeping," and "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear." We are also learning about what bears can do, eat, have and their features. The children practiced sequencing a story with Eric Carle's classic "Brown Bear, Brown Bear." The children also made a bear puzzle and we read and are sequencing the beloved story "Corduroy." The SKs learned how to do a word search on the Smartboard, and once they understood that the words could be backwards and diagonal, they had no problem finding BEAR words in two word searches. We also had a fun Teddy Bear Party! We counted gummy bears and danced to the Gummy Bear song! With our Grade 3 Reading Buddies, the children started making a non-fiction booklet about black bears. Next week we'll do more reading and writing about the book Corduroy and "We're Going on a Bear Hunt." We'll also try to write as many words as we can that start with the beginning sounds B E A and R.
Thank you so much to Ethan's mom who was our Mystery Reader this week. Chloe, a former student of mine who is in Grade 2 now, was also a Mystery Reader. She did such an amazing job! The words of the week were GO and TO. The children did an amazing job singing "Yellow Submarine" at the Sharing Assembly. Congratulations to Rielle, Everleigh and Hudson for receiving certificates for Empathy.
That's the news for this week. See you tomorrow!
Happy Sunday! I hope you are having a nice weekend.
Last week in room 166 we learned more about bears (real and teddy), hibernation, migration and adaptation. We read "Under and Over the Snow," "The Hibernation Station," "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and "Don't Wake Up the Bear!" We watched a National Geographic video about what animals do in the winter. There is another kid video about this on www.makemeagenius.com. The children are enjoying playing in our Hibernation Station and Bear Cave (a tent and a big box), playing with various stuffies such as rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, bears, turtles, frogs, snakes. We are learning several songs and poems about bears, circling the sight words: "Bear is Sleeping," "Are You Sleeping," and "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear." We are also learning about what bears can do, eat, have and their features. The children practiced sequencing a story with Eric Carle's classic "Brown Bear, Brown Bear." The children also made a bear puzzle and we read and are sequencing the beloved story "Corduroy." The SKs learned how to do a word search on the Smartboard, and once they understood that the words could be backwards and diagonal, they had no problem finding BEAR words in two word searches. We also had a fun Teddy Bear Party! We counted gummy bears and danced to the Gummy Bear song! With our Grade 3 Reading Buddies, the children started making a non-fiction booklet about black bears. Next week we'll do more reading and writing about the book Corduroy and "We're Going on a Bear Hunt." We'll also try to write as many words as we can that start with the beginning sounds B E A and R.
Thank you so much to Ethan's mom who was our Mystery Reader this week. Chloe, a former student of mine who is in Grade 2 now, was also a Mystery Reader. She did such an amazing job! The words of the week were GO and TO. The children did an amazing job singing "Yellow Submarine" at the Sharing Assembly. Congratulations to Rielle, Everleigh and Hudson for receiving certificates for Empathy.
That's the news for this week. See you tomorrow!
Friday, November 17, 2017
Week of November 13-17
Dear families,
It was wonderful meeting with all of you this week to discuss your child's progress!
Last week the children practised their numeracy and literacy skills with several centres. They made patterns with various manipulatives, sequenced objects, practised their letter sounds with letter games, counted and sorted, played a "what number comes next?" guessing game (i.e. 2, 4, 6, 8, ??), and made shapes with elastic bands on peg boards. We also completed a Venn diagram, labelled a drawing, and started working on our Jolly Phonics Duotangs (which the kids will work on all year).
Thank you to Alex who shared his books on "Empathy" and "Respect" with the class. November is Empathy month at the TDSB and we have talked a lot about this in class. With our Grade 3 Reading Buddies, the children each had a picture of people and were asked to think about how they were feeling. Then they drew a picture and wrote about when they felt the same way. Alex also brought in a Monarch butterfly he found and we watched a video about their migration to Mexico each fall. We talked about how to attract butterflies to our homes and, with prompting, the kids came up with "plant flowers" which was terrific! Again, thinking about how we can help other things, creatures, nature, and so on. Wonderful! The children also did a symmetry exercise by drawing and colouring the right side of a monarch butterfly. Good work!
This ties in very well to the new nature inquiry we will be starting on Monday about Hibernation/Migration/Adaptation. This will be followed by a big inquiry on bears! This kids will love it. Fiction and non-fiction, lots of learning, terrific books... It will be fun! Look for a new bulletin board display in the hall in the upcoming weeks all about what animals do and where they live in the winter!
The Mystery Reader this week was Kate's mom - thank you Tara!!
A quick note regarding cold weather clothing - mittens are easier for your child to put on than knitted gloves. Tube scarves are safer than wrap scarves and are much easier for your child to put on. Also, please remind your child to not go on the monkey bars with mittens or gloves - they won't be able to grip it and could fall. With rain and freezing temperatures the wood chips and ground beneath make for a hard landing!
The words of the week were THIS and WILL. We are also finishing a LIKE Read and Write mini book. Next week we'll do CAN. An extra copy of this year's Popcorn Words was sent home in yesterday's mail bag. This is review for the SKs.
I hope you have a very nice weekend!
It was wonderful meeting with all of you this week to discuss your child's progress!
Last week the children practised their numeracy and literacy skills with several centres. They made patterns with various manipulatives, sequenced objects, practised their letter sounds with letter games, counted and sorted, played a "what number comes next?" guessing game (i.e. 2, 4, 6, 8, ??), and made shapes with elastic bands on peg boards. We also completed a Venn diagram, labelled a drawing, and started working on our Jolly Phonics Duotangs (which the kids will work on all year).
Thank you to Alex who shared his books on "Empathy" and "Respect" with the class. November is Empathy month at the TDSB and we have talked a lot about this in class. With our Grade 3 Reading Buddies, the children each had a picture of people and were asked to think about how they were feeling. Then they drew a picture and wrote about when they felt the same way. Alex also brought in a Monarch butterfly he found and we watched a video about their migration to Mexico each fall. We talked about how to attract butterflies to our homes and, with prompting, the kids came up with "plant flowers" which was terrific! Again, thinking about how we can help other things, creatures, nature, and so on. Wonderful! The children also did a symmetry exercise by drawing and colouring the right side of a monarch butterfly. Good work!
This ties in very well to the new nature inquiry we will be starting on Monday about Hibernation/Migration/Adaptation. This will be followed by a big inquiry on bears! This kids will love it. Fiction and non-fiction, lots of learning, terrific books... It will be fun! Look for a new bulletin board display in the hall in the upcoming weeks all about what animals do and where they live in the winter!
The Mystery Reader this week was Kate's mom - thank you Tara!!
A quick note regarding cold weather clothing - mittens are easier for your child to put on than knitted gloves. Tube scarves are safer than wrap scarves and are much easier for your child to put on. Also, please remind your child to not go on the monkey bars with mittens or gloves - they won't be able to grip it and could fall. With rain and freezing temperatures the wood chips and ground beneath make for a hard landing!
The words of the week were THIS and WILL. We are also finishing a LIKE Read and Write mini book. Next week we'll do CAN. An extra copy of this year's Popcorn Words was sent home in yesterday's mail bag. This is review for the SKs.
I hope you have a very nice weekend!
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Week of November 6-10
Dear families,
I hope you are having a nice weekend!
Last week we focused on being a good friend, feelings, empathy, diversity and respecting others, which tied in to our discussions about why we wear a poppy on Remembrance Day (to remind us to be a kind friend). We did two book studies: "The Skin You Live In" by Michael Tyler and "It's Okay to be Different" by Todd Parr. The children made a class book called "It's Okay To..." which we'll make copies of for the children to enjoy at home. The children also did an exercise comparing their name to a friend's in a Venn diagram. It was challenging for some of them but we'll keep practicing this with other names and things.
The Kindness Quilt is finished and looks beautiful on our class bulletin board! Each child wrote how they can be kind to one another and dreew a picture.
We also did an impromptu inquiry on acorns! The children learned which animals (other than squirrels and chipmunks) eat acorns, which trees make acorns, why an acorn is shaped the way it is, what the not inside the shell looks like, and more!
November 16 is Pajama Day! If the children want to bring their favourite stuffy that's okay too!
The children did a wonderful job at the Remembrance Day Assembly. Thank you to Anjali who was the wreath bearer! The children made the wreath by cutting crepe paper into poppy shapes and gluing them altogether on a circle. If your child is struggling with small motor skills, a great idea is to buy them blunt-edged child scissors to practice at home. Maybe have them cut out pictures of the Mastermind Toy catalogue to send to Santa as a wish list!
On the Smartboard we worked on letter sounds and letter formation.
Last week we had some chilly weather and several children wisely wore their snow pants! Please encourage your child's independence by having them try to dress themselves. We learned a song to help us. The 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
We listened to the very first Curious George story written by Margaret Rey and H.A. Rey. The children helped create a timeline of the story on chart paper. This helps them use the words "first, second, third" etc. and "next, last." Look for more monkey stories to come! The children are also learning to think about the characters in stories we read: how they look, how they feel and what they do.
Thank you so much to Christopher's mom who was the mystery reader this week!
That's the news for this week. I'm looking forward to meeting you this upcoming week at Parent-Teacher interviews.
Mrs. Tyndall
I hope you are having a nice weekend!
Last week we focused on being a good friend, feelings, empathy, diversity and respecting others, which tied in to our discussions about why we wear a poppy on Remembrance Day (to remind us to be a kind friend). We did two book studies: "The Skin You Live In" by Michael Tyler and "It's Okay to be Different" by Todd Parr. The children made a class book called "It's Okay To..." which we'll make copies of for the children to enjoy at home. The children also did an exercise comparing their name to a friend's in a Venn diagram. It was challenging for some of them but we'll keep practicing this with other names and things.
The Kindness Quilt is finished and looks beautiful on our class bulletin board! Each child wrote how they can be kind to one another and dreew a picture.
We also did an impromptu inquiry on acorns! The children learned which animals (other than squirrels and chipmunks) eat acorns, which trees make acorns, why an acorn is shaped the way it is, what the not inside the shell looks like, and more!
November 16 is Pajama Day! If the children want to bring their favourite stuffy that's okay too!
The children did a wonderful job at the Remembrance Day Assembly. Thank you to Anjali who was the wreath bearer! The children made the wreath by cutting crepe paper into poppy shapes and gluing them altogether on a circle. If your child is struggling with small motor skills, a great idea is to buy them blunt-edged child scissors to practice at home. Maybe have them cut out pictures of the Mastermind Toy catalogue to send to Santa as a wish list!
On the Smartboard we worked on letter sounds and letter formation.
Last week we had some chilly weather and several children wisely wore their snow pants! Please encourage your child's independence by having them try to dress themselves. We learned a song to help us. The 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
We listened to the very first Curious George story written by Margaret Rey and H.A. Rey. The children helped create a timeline of the story on chart paper. This helps them use the words "first, second, third" etc. and "next, last." Look for more monkey stories to come! The children are also learning to think about the characters in stories we read: how they look, how they feel and what they do.
Thank you so much to Christopher's mom who was the mystery reader this week!
That's the news for this week. I'm looking forward to meeting you this upcoming week at Parent-Teacher interviews.
Mrs. Tyndall
Sunday, November 5, 2017
Week of October 30-November 3
Dear families,
November already! What a busy week we had last week! On Monday we went to the Strawberry Creek Farm and had a wonderful visit! The children explored a corn maze, went on a wagon ride through a forest, picked their own pumpkin, fed a donkey, bunny, goat and sheep, played in the playground, and watched a pumpkin get shot through a pumpkin cannon! Thank you so much to the parents who volunteered their time and energy on this trip; the moms of Elea, Ella, Anilee, and Hope, and Vivienne's dad.
Tuesday was Halloween, one of the most exciting days of the year for the little ones. The day started with Jackson's mom as Mystery Reader, then the LKS Halloween Parade, was followed by the Dance-a-thon, then some Halloween class activities, then a little walk across the street to visit the "haunted" house, lots of treat sorting, slime making, and ending with the Halloween Craft Party! The children made spider lollipops with Ethan's mom, witchy paintings with Yara's mom, Frankenstein faces with Dante's mom, and mummies with Maya's mom!
On Wednesday the children helped make a graph of their favourite type of candy (chocolate!), helped with a word web about slime, tasted and made a word web about roasted pumpkin seeds, made a pumpkin word web, read words with witchy fingers, and watched the Oscar nominated movie "Room on the Broom."
The children also continued working on their "Halloween Colours" booklet with their Reading Buddies, read with the Grade 8 L.I.V.E. volunteers (we do this once a week), and made beautiful poppy field paintings (on display in the hall). On Friday morning LKS will have a Remembrance Day Ceremony in the gym. If your child is in Sparks or Beavers, please dress them in their uniform for Friday's assembly. Thank you.
We will make a class poppy wreath this week and will start our Kindness Quilt. For the quilt, each child will write and draw a picture of how they are a friend to others. Then we'll put them all together to make a "quilt." Remembrance Day and the quilt we're making tie in well to the November TDSB trait of Empathy, which we will acknowledge at the November Sharing Assembly. We'll do lots of learning about what it is to be a friend in this inquiry, as well as the importance of respecting our differences and uniqueness.
The "popcorn" words of the week were SAID and WHERE.
For the November 24 Sharing Assembly please have your child wear yellow if possible. The yellow LKS school shirt would be perfect!
The November words list and November Homework Bingo went home in Friday's mail bag. Please encourage your child to practice these words at home. Thank you!
The Scholastic order is due on November 24. This is the last one before Christmas. If you would like the books to be a surprise, just write "gift" on your order form. Thank you for supporting Scholastic!
That's the news for this week. See you tomorrow!
November already! What a busy week we had last week! On Monday we went to the Strawberry Creek Farm and had a wonderful visit! The children explored a corn maze, went on a wagon ride through a forest, picked their own pumpkin, fed a donkey, bunny, goat and sheep, played in the playground, and watched a pumpkin get shot through a pumpkin cannon! Thank you so much to the parents who volunteered their time and energy on this trip; the moms of Elea, Ella, Anilee, and Hope, and Vivienne's dad.
Tuesday was Halloween, one of the most exciting days of the year for the little ones. The day started with Jackson's mom as Mystery Reader, then the LKS Halloween Parade, was followed by the Dance-a-thon, then some Halloween class activities, then a little walk across the street to visit the "haunted" house, lots of treat sorting, slime making, and ending with the Halloween Craft Party! The children made spider lollipops with Ethan's mom, witchy paintings with Yara's mom, Frankenstein faces with Dante's mom, and mummies with Maya's mom!
On Wednesday the children helped make a graph of their favourite type of candy (chocolate!), helped with a word web about slime, tasted and made a word web about roasted pumpkin seeds, made a pumpkin word web, read words with witchy fingers, and watched the Oscar nominated movie "Room on the Broom."
The children also continued working on their "Halloween Colours" booklet with their Reading Buddies, read with the Grade 8 L.I.V.E. volunteers (we do this once a week), and made beautiful poppy field paintings (on display in the hall). On Friday morning LKS will have a Remembrance Day Ceremony in the gym. If your child is in Sparks or Beavers, please dress them in their uniform for Friday's assembly. Thank you.
We will make a class poppy wreath this week and will start our Kindness Quilt. For the quilt, each child will write and draw a picture of how they are a friend to others. Then we'll put them all together to make a "quilt." Remembrance Day and the quilt we're making tie in well to the November TDSB trait of Empathy, which we will acknowledge at the November Sharing Assembly. We'll do lots of learning about what it is to be a friend in this inquiry, as well as the importance of respecting our differences and uniqueness.
The "popcorn" words of the week were SAID and WHERE.
For the November 24 Sharing Assembly please have your child wear yellow if possible. The yellow LKS school shirt would be perfect!
The November words list and November Homework Bingo went home in Friday's mail bag. Please encourage your child to practice these words at home. Thank you!
The Scholastic order is due on November 24. This is the last one before Christmas. If you would like the books to be a surprise, just write "gift" on your order form. Thank you for supporting Scholastic!
That's the news for this week. See you tomorrow!
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Week of October 23-27
Dear families,
I hope you are having a great weekend! The kids are getting so excited about Halloween!
Last week was a busy one in Room 166! Our inquiry on monkeys took a rest for the week while our little monkeys did a lot of Halloween literacy and numeracy activities! The monkeys will swing back into the classroom next week!
This week we:
- did a Pumpkin Investigation about our classroom pumpkin
- sang the song "Halloween Night" at the Sharing Assembly - good job!
- counted and drew pumpkins and wrote the numbers
- made bead patterns with Halloween colours (black, white, orange, purple and... glow-in-the-dark beads!)
- drew a picture of ourselves in our Halloween costume and wrote what we will be for Halloween (this is now a class book)
- decorated Halloween treat Bat Bags with bat wings and batty eyes
- started making a book called "Halloween Colours" with our Reading Buddies
- read lots of Halloween books
- made a booklet about the life cycle of a pumpkin
- read the terrific book "Where's My Mummy?" by Laura Crimi, and did a text-to-self activity, made little selfie mummies and sequenced the story
We also completed the Signs of Fall booklet with our Reading Buddies, did our October Calendar and "This is Me in October," completed the little Read and Write Books for the sight words ME, AND, IS and CAN. The popcorn words of the week were AM and BE.
If you are going to send in treat bags for your child's classmates, please make sure they are nut free. The kids will enjoy sorting them and putting them in their Bat Bags on Tuesday!
Tomorrow is our field trip to the Farm! It's supposed to be the same temperature as today (9-10 C) so be sure to dress your child appropriately. It's going to be a fun day! Thank you SO MUCH to the moms of Elea, Ella, Hope and Anilee who have volunteered on this trip!
Thank you as well to Elea's mom who helped with last week's pizza lunch, and to Anilee's mom who was the Mystery Reader!
Next week we'll do more pumpkin investigations, will open up our classroom pumpkin and count the seeds, and will write about all the fun things we did on the field trip! On Halloween Day there is the Parade in the morning, then the Dance-a-thon (please send in a can of food for the Food Bank as admission), and the Halloween Craft Party in the afternoon! What a fun time of the year for the little ones!
I hope you are having a great weekend! The kids are getting so excited about Halloween!
Last week was a busy one in Room 166! Our inquiry on monkeys took a rest for the week while our little monkeys did a lot of Halloween literacy and numeracy activities! The monkeys will swing back into the classroom next week!
This week we:
- did a Pumpkin Investigation about our classroom pumpkin
- sang the song "Halloween Night" at the Sharing Assembly - good job!
- counted and drew pumpkins and wrote the numbers
- made bead patterns with Halloween colours (black, white, orange, purple and... glow-in-the-dark beads!)
- drew a picture of ourselves in our Halloween costume and wrote what we will be for Halloween (this is now a class book)
- decorated Halloween treat Bat Bags with bat wings and batty eyes
- started making a book called "Halloween Colours" with our Reading Buddies
- read lots of Halloween books
- made a booklet about the life cycle of a pumpkin
- read the terrific book "Where's My Mummy?" by Laura Crimi, and did a text-to-self activity, made little selfie mummies and sequenced the story
We also completed the Signs of Fall booklet with our Reading Buddies, did our October Calendar and "This is Me in October," completed the little Read and Write Books for the sight words ME, AND, IS and CAN. The popcorn words of the week were AM and BE.
If you are going to send in treat bags for your child's classmates, please make sure they are nut free. The kids will enjoy sorting them and putting them in their Bat Bags on Tuesday!
Tomorrow is our field trip to the Farm! It's supposed to be the same temperature as today (9-10 C) so be sure to dress your child appropriately. It's going to be a fun day! Thank you SO MUCH to the moms of Elea, Ella, Hope and Anilee who have volunteered on this trip!
Thank you as well to Elea's mom who helped with last week's pizza lunch, and to Anilee's mom who was the Mystery Reader!
Next week we'll do more pumpkin investigations, will open up our classroom pumpkin and count the seeds, and will write about all the fun things we did on the field trip! On Halloween Day there is the Parade in the morning, then the Dance-a-thon (please send in a can of food for the Food Bank as admission), and the Halloween Craft Party in the afternoon! What a fun time of the year for the little ones!
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Week of October 16-20
Dear families,
I hope you are having a lovely weather and are enjoying the beautiful Fall weather.
Last week was very busy in Room 166! We added two more sight words to our Word Wall - ARE and AT. We did more Phonics Sound Sorts, with the letter sounds S A T I P and N. The Juniors are doing a terrific job writing their names - lots of improvement since September! - and the Seniors are learning to write their names with a capital letter first followed by lower case letters. We also completed two "Sight Word Mini Booklets" (we'll do a lot of these throughout the year): we did A and IS.
Fall is such a beautiful time of year. The children collected lots of acorns for us and we did a numeracy activity with them at our tables: each child got a 10-frame and 10 acorns. They practised where to start placing the acorns (top left) when counting them. I gave them instructions that they had to follow, for example: "First, put two acorns on your 10-frame. Then add two more. How many do you have now? What is 2 plus 2? Now take away one. How many is 4 minus 1? Now add 3 more. How many do you have? Where did you put the acorns?" (6th acorn on the bottom left of the 10-frame). We continued this exercise to the 10th of the frames and then worked backwards and forwards adding and subtracting. The children will be making their own 10-frames to practise at home. Math is fun!
The children also finished their "Pumpkin at Night" pastel and tempera art, mixing yellow and red to make orange. They look wonderful! They are on display on the hall bulletin board.
We are learning a Pumpkin Poem and the SKs circled all the sight words they know. We are also practising a spooky song called "Halloween Night" which we will sing at the next Sharing Assembly.
With our Reading Buddies the children read and drew a booklet called "Signs of Fall."
The children were so excited about the Fall Fair! I got a pumpkin for our class and this week we will do a "Pumpkin Investigation:" we'll estimate then count the lines on the pumpkin, guess if it will sink or float, describe the outside, and estimate how many cubes tall it is. Later this week we'll estimate and count how many seeds there are in it.
We are going on a Field Trip to a farm on October 30th! Please return the permission form as soon as possible. Payment is online. If you would like to volunteer (4 volunteers are needed) please contact our Grade Parents Tiffany or Tara.
There was also a lot of "Monkey Business" this week in our room! The children finished their Monkey Art and wrote how monkeys are like them! They did several monkey centres: Matching the monkey sum to the equation, matching monkey upper and lower case letters, watching a video about Koko the gorilla who could sign language and who loved a kitten, and learning how monkeys are different from apes (monkeys have tails, apes don't). We'll continue our monkey business next week!
The November Sharing Assembly date has been changed to November 24.
Thank you so much to Ella's dad who was our Mystery Reader this week!
The next Scholastic Order is due on November 24th and has a lot of Holiday books. If you would like your books to be a gift, please mark "GIFT" on the order form and I will be sure to hand the books directly to you so they are a surprise!
Your child's "DOT" art, celebrating International DOT day (based on the book "The Dot" went home on Friday. I love how each of the dots were unique and expressed the children's personalities.
On October 31st there will be a Halloween Dance-a-thon, and for the first time ever, the Kindergarteners are going! They will dance for about 25 minutes in their costumes in the morning (after the parade). Please send in a can of food for "admission" to the dance, to support the Daily Bread Food Bank. If you forget, don't worry, your child will still be able to participate! Thank you so much for supporting "We Scare Hunger!"
I'm sorry I wasn't at school on Thursday and Friday - I had a wisdom tooth out! Ouch! I'm feeling on the mend and am looking forward to next week.
Mrs. Tyndall
I hope you are having a lovely weather and are enjoying the beautiful Fall weather.
Last week was very busy in Room 166! We added two more sight words to our Word Wall - ARE and AT. We did more Phonics Sound Sorts, with the letter sounds S A T I P and N. The Juniors are doing a terrific job writing their names - lots of improvement since September! - and the Seniors are learning to write their names with a capital letter first followed by lower case letters. We also completed two "Sight Word Mini Booklets" (we'll do a lot of these throughout the year): we did A and IS.
Fall is such a beautiful time of year. The children collected lots of acorns for us and we did a numeracy activity with them at our tables: each child got a 10-frame and 10 acorns. They practised where to start placing the acorns (top left) when counting them. I gave them instructions that they had to follow, for example: "First, put two acorns on your 10-frame. Then add two more. How many do you have now? What is 2 plus 2? Now take away one. How many is 4 minus 1? Now add 3 more. How many do you have? Where did you put the acorns?" (6th acorn on the bottom left of the 10-frame). We continued this exercise to the 10th of the frames and then worked backwards and forwards adding and subtracting. The children will be making their own 10-frames to practise at home. Math is fun!
The children also finished their "Pumpkin at Night" pastel and tempera art, mixing yellow and red to make orange. They look wonderful! They are on display on the hall bulletin board.
We are learning a Pumpkin Poem and the SKs circled all the sight words they know. We are also practising a spooky song called "Halloween Night" which we will sing at the next Sharing Assembly.
With our Reading Buddies the children read and drew a booklet called "Signs of Fall."
The children were so excited about the Fall Fair! I got a pumpkin for our class and this week we will do a "Pumpkin Investigation:" we'll estimate then count the lines on the pumpkin, guess if it will sink or float, describe the outside, and estimate how many cubes tall it is. Later this week we'll estimate and count how many seeds there are in it.
We are going on a Field Trip to a farm on October 30th! Please return the permission form as soon as possible. Payment is online. If you would like to volunteer (4 volunteers are needed) please contact our Grade Parents Tiffany or Tara.
There was also a lot of "Monkey Business" this week in our room! The children finished their Monkey Art and wrote how monkeys are like them! They did several monkey centres: Matching the monkey sum to the equation, matching monkey upper and lower case letters, watching a video about Koko the gorilla who could sign language and who loved a kitten, and learning how monkeys are different from apes (monkeys have tails, apes don't). We'll continue our monkey business next week!
The November Sharing Assembly date has been changed to November 24.
Thank you so much to Ella's dad who was our Mystery Reader this week!
The next Scholastic Order is due on November 24th and has a lot of Holiday books. If you would like your books to be a gift, please mark "GIFT" on the order form and I will be sure to hand the books directly to you so they are a surprise!
Your child's "DOT" art, celebrating International DOT day (based on the book "The Dot" went home on Friday. I love how each of the dots were unique and expressed the children's personalities.
On October 31st there will be a Halloween Dance-a-thon, and for the first time ever, the Kindergarteners are going! They will dance for about 25 minutes in their costumes in the morning (after the parade). Please send in a can of food for "admission" to the dance, to support the Daily Bread Food Bank. If you forget, don't worry, your child will still be able to participate! Thank you so much for supporting "We Scare Hunger!"
I'm sorry I wasn't at school on Thursday and Friday - I had a wisdom tooth out! Ouch! I'm feeling on the mend and am looking forward to next week.
Mrs. Tyndall
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Week of October 9-13
Dear families,
I hope you are having a lovely weekend. We talked about Fall weather last week and here it is; rain, wind, sun, cold, and frost and snow to come!
We also learned about what animals do in the Fall, did some colour mixing and pastel-resist art ("Falling Leaves on a Sunny or Rainy Day" - on display in our classroom), completed a pumpkin sequencing activity (from seed to jack-o-lantern), started pumpkin art by following simple directions, did a Thanksgiving Dinner Graph, and did turkey and pattern activities with our Reading Buddies.
We had a Fire Drill this week and the children did and EXCELLENT job!
Thank you so much to Shayan's mom who was our Mystery Reader this week!
The Popcorn Words of the week were THE and DO. The children also completed I and AM mini read and write mini books. We'll do these throughout the year. They get a star when they can spell the words!
We need more acorns please :) We will be using them with our 10-frame numeracy activity. Thank you! I asked the children to be like squirrels in the fall and collect as many as they could. We will return them to nature after our activity.
We are also learning about how to express numbers in six different ways; tally marks, blocks, number line, words, the numeral, order (first, second, etc.). I have sent home a copy of this for the numbers 1-9 for your child's reference.
The children reviewed their colour words by completing a colour word "pie" and they read an October Poem. The SKs circled all the popcorn words they knew.
We are reviewing the Jolly Phonics letter sounds S, A, T, I, P and N and completed a sound-sort activity.
We started our Inquiry on Monkeys!! Thank you so much to Alexander who is sharing his monkey books with us and to Hudson who shared his special monkey stuffy. We watched an Ed and Eppa video on monkeys and gorillas, and started a chart with SCHEMA (what we know), NEW LEARNING and MISCONCEPTIONS. We are reading fiction and non-fiction books about monkeys and the poem "Five Little Monkeys." Next week we will learn about what monkeys CAN (do), HAVE and EAT. We will also learn about different kinds of monkeys and how they are similar and different from us. Our little monkeys are enjoying this inquiry!
Starting on Monday and until November 1st, LKS will be collecting non-perishable food for the WE SCARE HUNGER initiative. Please send in non-perishable and nut-free foods to support those less fortunate. For the first time, Kindergarteners will be participating in the Dance-a-thon on October 31st!
That's the news for the week. Enjoy the rest of this Autumn weekend! :)
I hope you are having a lovely weekend. We talked about Fall weather last week and here it is; rain, wind, sun, cold, and frost and snow to come!
We also learned about what animals do in the Fall, did some colour mixing and pastel-resist art ("Falling Leaves on a Sunny or Rainy Day" - on display in our classroom), completed a pumpkin sequencing activity (from seed to jack-o-lantern), started pumpkin art by following simple directions, did a Thanksgiving Dinner Graph, and did turkey and pattern activities with our Reading Buddies.
We had a Fire Drill this week and the children did and EXCELLENT job!
Thank you so much to Shayan's mom who was our Mystery Reader this week!
The Popcorn Words of the week were THE and DO. The children also completed I and AM mini read and write mini books. We'll do these throughout the year. They get a star when they can spell the words!
We need more acorns please :) We will be using them with our 10-frame numeracy activity. Thank you! I asked the children to be like squirrels in the fall and collect as many as they could. We will return them to nature after our activity.
We are also learning about how to express numbers in six different ways; tally marks, blocks, number line, words, the numeral, order (first, second, etc.). I have sent home a copy of this for the numbers 1-9 for your child's reference.
The children reviewed their colour words by completing a colour word "pie" and they read an October Poem. The SKs circled all the popcorn words they knew.
We are reviewing the Jolly Phonics letter sounds S, A, T, I, P and N and completed a sound-sort activity.
We started our Inquiry on Monkeys!! Thank you so much to Alexander who is sharing his monkey books with us and to Hudson who shared his special monkey stuffy. We watched an Ed and Eppa video on monkeys and gorillas, and started a chart with SCHEMA (what we know), NEW LEARNING and MISCONCEPTIONS. We are reading fiction and non-fiction books about monkeys and the poem "Five Little Monkeys." Next week we will learn about what monkeys CAN (do), HAVE and EAT. We will also learn about different kinds of monkeys and how they are similar and different from us. Our little monkeys are enjoying this inquiry!
Starting on Monday and until November 1st, LKS will be collecting non-perishable food for the WE SCARE HUNGER initiative. Please send in non-perishable and nut-free foods to support those less fortunate. For the first time, Kindergarteners will be participating in the Dance-a-thon on October 31st!
That's the news for the week. Enjoy the rest of this Autumn weekend! :)
Monday, October 9, 2017
Week of October 2-6
Dear families,
I hope you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!
Last week we did a lot of numeracy and literacy activities related to Thanksgiving, and we'll top it off on Tuesday with a graph about which foods the kids ate for Thanksgiving! The children made a table decoration plate called "I am Thankful for..." with six pictures and accompanying pictures. We also read several books about Thanksgiving, including Todd Parr's wonderful book "The Thankful Book" and a lovely chapter books called "Gracie's Thanksgiving." The children made turkey finger puppets, did turkey pattern matching and sequencing, coloured a turkey by reading the colour words, and learned a really fun dance called "All You Turkeys Dance Around!" The kids loved it! It's easy to find on Youtube.
All the children's Mo Willems' work went home in Thursday's mail bag. When folders go home, your children will enjoy sharing and reading all the work they did. It's an excellent opportunity for them to review what they learned at school!
The popcorn (sight) words of the week are FOR and WENT. Our October words and October Homework Bingo were sent home in the mail bag as well. We practice those words every day in class.
We had two Mystery Readers this week! The first was my former student Hannah who is now in Grade One! The second was Alex's dad! Thank you so much for being Mystery Readers!
The Scholastic Book Fair is next week. Group One is going on Thursday, and Group Two is going on Tuesday. To avoid confusion, simply send in money (in a labelled zip-lock baggie) tomorrow, Tuesday. We will keep it in a safe place in the classroom until the kids go to the Book Fair. October's Scholastic Order is due tomorrow, October 10. Thank you for supporting Scholastic!
Each week your child brings home a Snuggle Up and Read book. If the book is "too easy," you could ask your child to spell words from the book. If it is "too hard," you could ask your child to find the beginning sounds of words or find sight words a.k.a. popcorn words.
Next week we will start learning about Signs of Fall in the mornings (science/nature) and ALL ABOUT MONKEYS in the afternoons (nature and fiction/non-fiction). If you can find an oak tree nearby, please bring in 10 acorns (or more!!) to use on 10-frames we are making and playing with. Thank you! We will also be making 3-D Autumn Tree Art and Pumpkin art.
Last week was photo day. Photo retake day and sibling photo day will be on November 1.
That is the news for this week! I hope you are enjoying the lovely weather this weekend. :)
I hope you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!
Last week we did a lot of numeracy and literacy activities related to Thanksgiving, and we'll top it off on Tuesday with a graph about which foods the kids ate for Thanksgiving! The children made a table decoration plate called "I am Thankful for..." with six pictures and accompanying pictures. We also read several books about Thanksgiving, including Todd Parr's wonderful book "The Thankful Book" and a lovely chapter books called "Gracie's Thanksgiving." The children made turkey finger puppets, did turkey pattern matching and sequencing, coloured a turkey by reading the colour words, and learned a really fun dance called "All You Turkeys Dance Around!" The kids loved it! It's easy to find on Youtube.
All the children's Mo Willems' work went home in Thursday's mail bag. When folders go home, your children will enjoy sharing and reading all the work they did. It's an excellent opportunity for them to review what they learned at school!
The popcorn (sight) words of the week are FOR and WENT. Our October words and October Homework Bingo were sent home in the mail bag as well. We practice those words every day in class.
We had two Mystery Readers this week! The first was my former student Hannah who is now in Grade One! The second was Alex's dad! Thank you so much for being Mystery Readers!
The Scholastic Book Fair is next week. Group One is going on Thursday, and Group Two is going on Tuesday. To avoid confusion, simply send in money (in a labelled zip-lock baggie) tomorrow, Tuesday. We will keep it in a safe place in the classroom until the kids go to the Book Fair. October's Scholastic Order is due tomorrow, October 10. Thank you for supporting Scholastic!
Each week your child brings home a Snuggle Up and Read book. If the book is "too easy," you could ask your child to spell words from the book. If it is "too hard," you could ask your child to find the beginning sounds of words or find sight words a.k.a. popcorn words.
Next week we will start learning about Signs of Fall in the mornings (science/nature) and ALL ABOUT MONKEYS in the afternoons (nature and fiction/non-fiction). If you can find an oak tree nearby, please bring in 10 acorns (or more!!) to use on 10-frames we are making and playing with. Thank you! We will also be making 3-D Autumn Tree Art and Pumpkin art.
Last week was photo day. Photo retake day and sibling photo day will be on November 1.
That is the news for this week! I hope you are enjoying the lovely weather this weekend. :)
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Week of September 25-29
Dear families,
October 1st already! With last week's hot weather we certainly didn't talk about "Signs of Fall" but now that Thanksgiving is around the corner, it will be easier for the children to see and feel the new season.
It was nice speaking you those of you who attended Curriculum Night. Thank you to Hope's mom who came with us on the Terry Fox Walk. Thank you as well to Yara's mom who was our Mystery Reader this week!
The children did a great job on our practice Lock Down, keeping very quiet in the cubby room "because there is a dog in the school."
The words of the week were CAN, ME, LIKE and MY. The letter sounds we practised this week were S and A. We also practised more patterns this week and will continue working on them next week.
We had our first Sharing Assembly of the year on Friday. The children did a great job reciting the poem "I Like School." Congratulations to Christopher, Ethan and Maya for receiving a certificate for RESPECT.
We completed a class book inspired by Mo Willems' "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" Each child will get a copy to bring home and we'll keep the original in our class library.
We also completed our first "This is Me in... (September)" and first calendar. I keep a copy for assessment purposes and send a copy home. We do these each month.
That's the news from Room 166! Next week we will do a lot of Fall and Thanksgiving activities. I hope you have a wonderful week!
October 1st already! With last week's hot weather we certainly didn't talk about "Signs of Fall" but now that Thanksgiving is around the corner, it will be easier for the children to see and feel the new season.
It was nice speaking you those of you who attended Curriculum Night. Thank you to Hope's mom who came with us on the Terry Fox Walk. Thank you as well to Yara's mom who was our Mystery Reader this week!
The children did a great job on our practice Lock Down, keeping very quiet in the cubby room "because there is a dog in the school."
The words of the week were CAN, ME, LIKE and MY. The letter sounds we practised this week were S and A. We also practised more patterns this week and will continue working on them next week.
We had our first Sharing Assembly of the year on Friday. The children did a great job reciting the poem "I Like School." Congratulations to Christopher, Ethan and Maya for receiving a certificate for RESPECT.
We completed a class book inspired by Mo Willems' "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" Each child will get a copy to bring home and we'll keep the original in our class library.
We also completed our first "This is Me in... (September)" and first calendar. I keep a copy for assessment purposes and send a copy home. We do these each month.
That's the news from Room 166! Next week we will do a lot of Fall and Thanksgiving activities. I hope you have a wonderful week!
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Week of September 18-22
Dear families,
I hope you have had a lovely weekend and enjoyed this amazing autumn weather! I found a white fuzzy caterpillar up north this weekend as well as 12 crayfish claws that a local seagull left behind. Perfect for our little Science Centre and nature inquiries!
Last week was busy in room 166! We continued our Mo Willems Author Study last week; after watching a little video about real pigeons and then Mo Willems' "Pigeon Needs a Bath!" the children helped me create a Venn diagram comparing real pigeons and Mo Willems' fictional pigeon. We also read Willems' book "Should I Share My Ice Cream" and talked about the TDSB Character Trait of Integrity, in other words, doing what you should do even when no one is looking! We made a "favourite ice cream" graph and tally marks, the JKs used bingo dabbers to find and trace the letter P for Pigeon, and the SKs "Read the Room" by finding pigeon sight words and writing 7 of them down. The SKs also competed a sheet by writing 5 more things the pigeon shouldn't drive, and are practising a booklet of pigeon popcorn words! Good work! The kids had a great time doing cookie math (after reading "Pigeon Wants a Cookie!") and ate an Oreo after solving a simple addition or subtraction problem involving cookies in jars! Thanks to Ethan for the extra Oreos!
Psssst! This month's Scholastic flyers have Mo Willems books! October's Scholastic order is due on the 10th.
In Numeracy, we started our inquiry on Patterns. The JKs are learning simple ABAB patterns and the SKs are learning to create and recognize more complex patterns such as ABCABC, AABAAB, ABBABB. The Juniors are creating a Numbers Poems Booklet, which includes all the little poems we say to help the children remember how to write the numbers 1-10. For example, "A straight line down is lots of fun, that's how you make the Number One!" We JKs also counted the corresponding stickers I gave them (who doesn't like stickers!!). One-to-One Correspondence is an important Kindergarten skill. As well, Zero the Zebra came out twice this week! It was September 20, and it was also the 10th day of school this week! We are also learning (JKs) and reviewing (SKs) how to make tally marks.
The SKs have been doing a terrific job with their journals! I am very happy that they are skipping lines and drawing lovely pictures to accompany their writing. Keep up the great work!
Kindly review with your children which is his/her snack and which is lunch. We discussed it in class but some of the little ones still aren't sure. Please also don't send fruit cups as snacks. Most of our class is carpeted and the children can't manage opening them, so spilled sweet juice attracts wasps this time of year as well as ants. Fresh fruit is easiest (and healthiest!).
The painting centre is officially open and already the children are making some beautiful art. I've put out rainbow colours (in the ROYGBV order), plus black and white, and some of the kids were quick to paint rainbows as well as lovely flowers.
Thank you so much to Alexander's dad who was our Mystery Reader this week! He read the classic stories, "Ferdinand the Bull" and "Library Lion."
With their Reading Buddies, the children answered questions about themselves and read books.
We are also learning a poem called "I Like School" and the children are learning how to write the word TO.
On Friday had a little cookie party for the children moving to the smaller class. Boy were they excited when they saw their new classroom!
That's the news for this week! I hope you have a lovely week. This hot weather is supposed to break by Wednesday. Whew!
I hope you have had a lovely weekend and enjoyed this amazing autumn weather! I found a white fuzzy caterpillar up north this weekend as well as 12 crayfish claws that a local seagull left behind. Perfect for our little Science Centre and nature inquiries!
Last week was busy in room 166! We continued our Mo Willems Author Study last week; after watching a little video about real pigeons and then Mo Willems' "Pigeon Needs a Bath!" the children helped me create a Venn diagram comparing real pigeons and Mo Willems' fictional pigeon. We also read Willems' book "Should I Share My Ice Cream" and talked about the TDSB Character Trait of Integrity, in other words, doing what you should do even when no one is looking! We made a "favourite ice cream" graph and tally marks, the JKs used bingo dabbers to find and trace the letter P for Pigeon, and the SKs "Read the Room" by finding pigeon sight words and writing 7 of them down. The SKs also competed a sheet by writing 5 more things the pigeon shouldn't drive, and are practising a booklet of pigeon popcorn words! Good work! The kids had a great time doing cookie math (after reading "Pigeon Wants a Cookie!") and ate an Oreo after solving a simple addition or subtraction problem involving cookies in jars! Thanks to Ethan for the extra Oreos!
Psssst! This month's Scholastic flyers have Mo Willems books! October's Scholastic order is due on the 10th.
In Numeracy, we started our inquiry on Patterns. The JKs are learning simple ABAB patterns and the SKs are learning to create and recognize more complex patterns such as ABCABC, AABAAB, ABBABB. The Juniors are creating a Numbers Poems Booklet, which includes all the little poems we say to help the children remember how to write the numbers 1-10. For example, "A straight line down is lots of fun, that's how you make the Number One!" We JKs also counted the corresponding stickers I gave them (who doesn't like stickers!!). One-to-One Correspondence is an important Kindergarten skill. As well, Zero the Zebra came out twice this week! It was September 20, and it was also the 10th day of school this week! We are also learning (JKs) and reviewing (SKs) how to make tally marks.
The SKs have been doing a terrific job with their journals! I am very happy that they are skipping lines and drawing lovely pictures to accompany their writing. Keep up the great work!
Kindly review with your children which is his/her snack and which is lunch. We discussed it in class but some of the little ones still aren't sure. Please also don't send fruit cups as snacks. Most of our class is carpeted and the children can't manage opening them, so spilled sweet juice attracts wasps this time of year as well as ants. Fresh fruit is easiest (and healthiest!).
The painting centre is officially open and already the children are making some beautiful art. I've put out rainbow colours (in the ROYGBV order), plus black and white, and some of the kids were quick to paint rainbows as well as lovely flowers.
Thank you so much to Alexander's dad who was our Mystery Reader this week! He read the classic stories, "Ferdinand the Bull" and "Library Lion."
With their Reading Buddies, the children answered questions about themselves and read books.
We are also learning a poem called "I Like School" and the children are learning how to write the word TO.
On Friday had a little cookie party for the children moving to the smaller class. Boy were they excited when they saw their new classroom!
That's the news for this week! I hope you have a lovely week. This hot weather is supposed to break by Wednesday. Whew!
Sunday, September 17, 2017
Week of September 11-15
Dear families,
Last week was busy in Room 166! The children are really enjoying our Author Study on Mo Willems! They made pigeon art; the SKs wrote about other things pigeons shouldn't drive and drew a picture; the JKs are colouring and reading a booklet about Pigeon's friends Elephant and Piggie; the children played a number matching card game with Elephant and Piggie, and we had lots of fun reading Mo Willems' terrific books that are fun to read and also teach little ones lessons about how to be a friend and solve problems. Thank you so much to Hudson who shared his Pigeon stuffy with his classmates! We'll continue with this author study and all their wonderful work will go home when we're done.
The children also played at various numeracy centres last week. Numeracy at this age is much more than counting and recognizing and printing numbers; it is being able to sequence; knowing which is more, most, less, least; ordination; solving problems and making good decisions; performing simple calculations; using technology such as computer applications to help solve problems; simple coding; managing time and money; handling everyday situations that involve numbers. This year the children will learn about Number Sense and Numeration, Measurement, Geometry and Spatial Sense, Patterning, and Data Management and Probability. Math is fun! Here is a great guide from the Provincial Government called "Doing Mathematics with Your Child:" parentGuideNumEn.pdf Next week we will start learning about (JKs) and reviewing and expanding (SKs) Patterns. Patterns are everywhere!
Last week was the first assembly of the year for LKS - the Terry Fox assembly. The children did a marvellous job sitting and listening attentively! We watched two videos on the Smartboard about manners and accepting others who are different from ourselves. We're all unique and the same at the same time!
The children also did a very good job during our first Fire Drill! Good listening and lining up!
We met with our Reading Buddies for the first time last week! Ms. Sunde's students helped ours complete the sentence "I was brave when..." and drew themselves running with Terry Fox.
Thank you so much to Mia who brought in real LAVA from Mount Etna in Italy! This turned into a great mini inquiry about volcanoes! Mia donated the lava to our classroom Science Centre. Thank you Mia! We love Science!
Every day in the afternoon we have "Quiet Thinking Time." This is about 30 minutes of quiet relaxation mindful time so the children can rest their minds and bodies and re-energize for the rest of the day. They listen to soft nature sounds, "spa-type" music, soft piano playing, zen-type music. It's a long day for the children, especially the JKs. This is also a time when I work 1-on-one with children in a quiet environment, do assessments, when children who need extra time can quietly finish their work, and is a very positive way of teaching the important skill of self-regulation.
On Friday it was INTERNATIONAL DOT DAY! This is inspired by Peter H. Reynolds' best-selling book called "The Dot," which is about a child whose teacher inspires him to be an artist. We read the book, and then the children all made their own dots by colouring in a circle, cutting it out, and then drawing on it some more with "magic" pencil crayons (water colour pencil crayons) and then brushing those marks with water. They look beautiful and are on display in the classroom bulletin board.
Cutting with child-safe scissors is a skill the children work on each week. Please provide your child with child-safe scissors at home so they can practise this important small motor skill and spatial skill.
The Sight Words (a.k.a. Popcorn Words) of the week are IS and AND. Most of the SKs know how to recognize and spell these already. They can extend this skill by spelling it and writing it. I have prepared the SK Journals and I am looking forward to reading them each week! Don't forget to complete the list at the front of the journal for your child with ideas for them to write about. Encourage your child to use the list of "100 most frequently used words" at the back of their journals. Thank you for supporting your child as a writer and illustrator!
Summer has finally arrived in Toronto :) and the children need layers of clothing so they don't get over heated. Please avoid dressing your children in flip flops because they can easily trip and fall wearing them. Close-toed shoes are safest for outdoor play. Thank you.
I would like to say a huge THANK YOU once again to Kate's mom Tara and Hudson's mom Tiffany who have generously offered to be our Grade Parents this year! If you would like to be a volunteer in our classroom this year please let them know. Thank you!!
That's the news for this week! I hope you are having a terrific weekend and are enjoying the beautiful weather.
Mrs. Tyndall
Last week was busy in Room 166! The children are really enjoying our Author Study on Mo Willems! They made pigeon art; the SKs wrote about other things pigeons shouldn't drive and drew a picture; the JKs are colouring and reading a booklet about Pigeon's friends Elephant and Piggie; the children played a number matching card game with Elephant and Piggie, and we had lots of fun reading Mo Willems' terrific books that are fun to read and also teach little ones lessons about how to be a friend and solve problems. Thank you so much to Hudson who shared his Pigeon stuffy with his classmates! We'll continue with this author study and all their wonderful work will go home when we're done.
The children also played at various numeracy centres last week. Numeracy at this age is much more than counting and recognizing and printing numbers; it is being able to sequence; knowing which is more, most, less, least; ordination; solving problems and making good decisions; performing simple calculations; using technology such as computer applications to help solve problems; simple coding; managing time and money; handling everyday situations that involve numbers. This year the children will learn about Number Sense and Numeration, Measurement, Geometry and Spatial Sense, Patterning, and Data Management and Probability. Math is fun! Here is a great guide from the Provincial Government called "Doing Mathematics with Your Child:" parentGuideNumEn.pdf Next week we will start learning about (JKs) and reviewing and expanding (SKs) Patterns. Patterns are everywhere!
Last week was the first assembly of the year for LKS - the Terry Fox assembly. The children did a marvellous job sitting and listening attentively! We watched two videos on the Smartboard about manners and accepting others who are different from ourselves. We're all unique and the same at the same time!
The children also did a very good job during our first Fire Drill! Good listening and lining up!
We met with our Reading Buddies for the first time last week! Ms. Sunde's students helped ours complete the sentence "I was brave when..." and drew themselves running with Terry Fox.
Thank you so much to Mia who brought in real LAVA from Mount Etna in Italy! This turned into a great mini inquiry about volcanoes! Mia donated the lava to our classroom Science Centre. Thank you Mia! We love Science!
Every day in the afternoon we have "Quiet Thinking Time." This is about 30 minutes of quiet relaxation mindful time so the children can rest their minds and bodies and re-energize for the rest of the day. They listen to soft nature sounds, "spa-type" music, soft piano playing, zen-type music. It's a long day for the children, especially the JKs. This is also a time when I work 1-on-one with children in a quiet environment, do assessments, when children who need extra time can quietly finish their work, and is a very positive way of teaching the important skill of self-regulation.
On Friday it was INTERNATIONAL DOT DAY! This is inspired by Peter H. Reynolds' best-selling book called "The Dot," which is about a child whose teacher inspires him to be an artist. We read the book, and then the children all made their own dots by colouring in a circle, cutting it out, and then drawing on it some more with "magic" pencil crayons (water colour pencil crayons) and then brushing those marks with water. They look beautiful and are on display in the classroom bulletin board.
Cutting with child-safe scissors is a skill the children work on each week. Please provide your child with child-safe scissors at home so they can practise this important small motor skill and spatial skill.
The Sight Words (a.k.a. Popcorn Words) of the week are IS and AND. Most of the SKs know how to recognize and spell these already. They can extend this skill by spelling it and writing it. I have prepared the SK Journals and I am looking forward to reading them each week! Don't forget to complete the list at the front of the journal for your child with ideas for them to write about. Encourage your child to use the list of "100 most frequently used words" at the back of their journals. Thank you for supporting your child as a writer and illustrator!
Summer has finally arrived in Toronto :) and the children need layers of clothing so they don't get over heated. Please avoid dressing your children in flip flops because they can easily trip and fall wearing them. Close-toed shoes are safest for outdoor play. Thank you.
I would like to say a huge THANK YOU once again to Kate's mom Tara and Hudson's mom Tiffany who have generously offered to be our Grade Parents this year! If you would like to be a volunteer in our classroom this year please let them know. Thank you!!
That's the news for this week! I hope you are having a terrific weekend and are enjoying the beautiful weather.
Mrs. Tyndall
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Week of September 5-9
Dear families,
The first week of school is over already! The children have done an amazing job learning classroom rules and routines and there have been very few tears! Here is just some of the learning the children (especially the little JKs!) did last week. They learned how to:
- get to school - some learned to board and exit a school bus
- manoeuver between the big people and the little people to find a classroom
- line up
- find their cubby and hook in the cubby room
- find their name on a table
- find space in a room full of other little beings - for some this may have been the largest group of children (32!) they have ever been with!
- the names of adults they have never seen before
- where the washroom is
- raise their hand and put their finger on their lips when they want a turn on the carpet
- sit "criss cross apple sauce"
- move carefully and quietly from one centre to another
- share toys and materials (this is ongoing!)
- follow each other in a line to go upstairs to the Library and Computer Lab
- open and close back packs
- read "snack 1" and "snack 2"
- new games
- a new poem
- new songs
- make new friends!
Just think of all those little things we need to learn to be more independent! My SKs are being awesome role models to the JKs. Well done!!
Our first read-aloud was "How Full is your Bucket" for kids. The children helped me put ideas on the "bucket filling" or "bucket dipping" side of chart paper. We have a red classroom bucket that we'll fill with pom poms when the children do positive things.
In Friday's mail bag there was a lot of important paper work to be completed. This is time sensitive so please return it by MONDAY. Thank you.
The first of our monthly words was sent home too ("August/September Words"). Please put it on the fridge or in your child's room so s/he can practice them at home. 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, Treo, Lego, dominoes, building toys, and dramatic play.
The first Scholastic order is due on September 22. Thank you for supporting Scholastic!
Our very first Mystery Reader was Nathalie, a former student of mine. Nathalie read a funny Mo Willems book. We will be starting a Mo Willems author study next week! If you don't know his books, he wrote "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" and many other funny stories that kids love. If you would like to be a Mystery Reader, please contact our Grade Parent Tiffany.
This year we are doing Reading Buddies with Ms. Sunde's Grade 3/4 class. We will meet for the first time next week!
The words of the week are I and AM. We add two new words to our word wall each week. The children completed their first "This is Me" work. We do these each month (with the SKs writing about their picture). It's so amazing to see the childrens' progress from month to month! They also practised tracing lower and upper case letters. Next week we will start the Snuggle Up book program and will send home journals for the SKs.
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. My family and I went up north for the day and today we saw the world premiere of "Jane" at the TIFF, a documentary about Jane Goodall. To our surprise and delight, Dr. Goodall was in the audience and spoke about her life after the film. It inspired me to do an inquiry on monkeys (fiction and non-fiction) with my little "monkies!" :)
I'm looking forward to seeing all the kids' happy little faces tomorrow!
The first week of school is over already! The children have done an amazing job learning classroom rules and routines and there have been very few tears! Here is just some of the learning the children (especially the little JKs!) did last week. They learned how to:
- get to school - some learned to board and exit a school bus
- manoeuver between the big people and the little people to find a classroom
- line up
- find their cubby and hook in the cubby room
- find their name on a table
- find space in a room full of other little beings - for some this may have been the largest group of children (32!) they have ever been with!
- the names of adults they have never seen before
- where the washroom is
- raise their hand and put their finger on their lips when they want a turn on the carpet
- sit "criss cross apple sauce"
- move carefully and quietly from one centre to another
- share toys and materials (this is ongoing!)
- follow each other in a line to go upstairs to the Library and Computer Lab
- open and close back packs
- read "snack 1" and "snack 2"
- new games
- a new poem
- new songs
- make new friends!
Just think of all those little things we need to learn to be more independent! My SKs are being awesome role models to the JKs. Well done!!
Our first read-aloud was "How Full is your Bucket" for kids. The children helped me put ideas on the "bucket filling" or "bucket dipping" side of chart paper. We have a red classroom bucket that we'll fill with pom poms when the children do positive things.
In Friday's mail bag there was a lot of important paper work to be completed. This is time sensitive so please return it by MONDAY. Thank you.
The first of our monthly words was sent home too ("August/September Words"). Please put it on the fridge or in your child's room so s/he can practice them at home. 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, Treo, Lego, dominoes, building toys, and dramatic play.
The first Scholastic order is due on September 22. Thank you for supporting Scholastic!
Our very first Mystery Reader was Nathalie, a former student of mine. Nathalie read a funny Mo Willems book. We will be starting a Mo Willems author study next week! If you don't know his books, he wrote "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" and many other funny stories that kids love. If you would like to be a Mystery Reader, please contact our Grade Parent Tiffany.
This year we are doing Reading Buddies with Ms. Sunde's Grade 3/4 class. We will meet for the first time next week!
The words of the week are I and AM. We add two new words to our word wall each week. The children completed their first "This is Me" work. We do these each month (with the SKs writing about their picture). It's so amazing to see the childrens' progress from month to month! They also practised tracing lower and upper case letters. Next week we will start the Snuggle Up book program and will send home journals for the SKs.
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. My family and I went up north for the day and today we saw the world premiere of "Jane" at the TIFF, a documentary about Jane Goodall. To our surprise and delight, Dr. Goodall was in the audience and spoke about her life after the film. It inspired me to do an inquiry on monkeys (fiction and non-fiction) with my little "monkies!" :)
I'm looking forward to seeing all the kids' happy little faces tomorrow!
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Welcome to Room 166!
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 Ms. Mosun to our classroom! Thank you to Hudson's mom who has volunteered (again!) 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 have lots of opportunities each year for parents to volunteer in the classroom, including weekly Mystery Readers (every Day 4)! Please contact our Grade Parents for further information regarding volunteering in the classroom. Thank you!
I am looking forward to seeing you at the Kindergarten Open House next Tuesday! 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
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 Ms. Mosun to our classroom! Thank you to Hudson's mom who has volunteered (again!) 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 have lots of opportunities each year for parents to volunteer in the classroom, including weekly Mystery Readers (every Day 4)! Please contact our Grade Parents for further information regarding volunteering in the classroom. Thank you!
I am looking forward to seeing you at the Kindergarten Open House next Tuesday! 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
Friday, June 30, 2017
Friday, June 23, 2017
Week of June 19-23
Dear families,
We've been counting the school days down in class with ice cream scoop pictures and there are only 4 more scoops left!
We finished our inquiry on Canada and all the children's awesome work is in today's mail bag. Thank you to all the kids who have been showing their Canadian spirit by wearing Canada clothes and bringing in flags and books! On the last day of school we will celebrate Canada by wearing red and white!
We watched two awesome videos about Canada = one called "150 Facts About Canada" and the other was a beautiful song by Bran Anderson called "We Are Canadian." We learned "Land of the Silver Birch" and circled the popcorn words in the lyrics. We coloured a drawing of explorer Samuel de Champlain, made and ate beaver tails (easy peasy - just butter naan bread, dip it in cinnamon sugar, and warm up - yum!), and finished our ABCs of Canada booklet! T is for Toronto, U is for Underground (we learned about the Big Nickel Mine in Sudbury!), V for Victoria Day, W for wheat (the kids felt and drew real wheat and learned about what we make with wheat), X is for the Canadian National Exhibition (the Ex!),Y is for the Yukon (they drew the Northern Lights), and Z is for Zamboni!
The children read and drew (SKs) and coloured (JKs) summer words and made Summer Reading Bookmarks as well.
Thank you so much to Alexandra's family who have volunteered to take care of Bubble the Beta Fish over the summer!
In the Computer Lab the kids reviewed the programs they worked on during the year. We got two new computers in our classroom (old ones from the computer lab, actually, but they work really well!) so we have a new centre! Exciting!
I hope you have a terrific weekend. So hard to believe next week will be the last week of school! I am really looking forward to the SK Graduation Celebration on Wednesday!
Mrs. Tyndall
We've been counting the school days down in class with ice cream scoop pictures and there are only 4 more scoops left!
We finished our inquiry on Canada and all the children's awesome work is in today's mail bag. Thank you to all the kids who have been showing their Canadian spirit by wearing Canada clothes and bringing in flags and books! On the last day of school we will celebrate Canada by wearing red and white!
We watched two awesome videos about Canada = one called "150 Facts About Canada" and the other was a beautiful song by Bran Anderson called "We Are Canadian." We learned "Land of the Silver Birch" and circled the popcorn words in the lyrics. We coloured a drawing of explorer Samuel de Champlain, made and ate beaver tails (easy peasy - just butter naan bread, dip it in cinnamon sugar, and warm up - yum!), and finished our ABCs of Canada booklet! T is for Toronto, U is for Underground (we learned about the Big Nickel Mine in Sudbury!), V for Victoria Day, W for wheat (the kids felt and drew real wheat and learned about what we make with wheat), X is for the Canadian National Exhibition (the Ex!),Y is for the Yukon (they drew the Northern Lights), and Z is for Zamboni!
The children read and drew (SKs) and coloured (JKs) summer words and made Summer Reading Bookmarks as well.
Thank you so much to Alexandra's family who have volunteered to take care of Bubble the Beta Fish over the summer!
In the Computer Lab the kids reviewed the programs they worked on during the year. We got two new computers in our classroom (old ones from the computer lab, actually, but they work really well!) so we have a new centre! Exciting!
I hope you have a terrific weekend. So hard to believe next week will be the last week of school! I am really looking forward to the SK Graduation Celebration on Wednesday!
Mrs. Tyndall
Sunday, June 18, 2017
Week of June 12-16
Dear families,
Happy Father's Day!! I hope you are having a great day with your terrific little ones.
This past week was busy in Room 166! Most exciting I think was that our caterpillars became butterflies!! The kids were so thrilled! We fed the butterflies oranges, melon and orange juice for a few days, then released them into the playground. The SKs read and illustrated a booklet inspired by "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" called "The Very Busy Senior Kindergartner" which described what they did each month this year. The JKs finished writing and illustrating "I am very excited for SK because..." and all the kids are practicing songs for the next (and last!) sharing assembly and for the SK Graduation Celebration. The kids made a very cute keepsake book called "If the Kids Ruled Room 166!" They will each get a copy in Friday's mail bag.
On Wednesday LKS celebrated and thanked all our amazing volunteers that help make LKS such a wonderful school. Thank you SO MUCH for all your time and energy!!
This week in the computer lab with Miss. Santiago the kids reviewed all the TDSB programs they had worked on during the year.
In this Friday's mail bag were some summaries of sight words and summer homework ideas for the kids, including a summer journal and list of Grade One Sight Words for the SKs. I've also sent home the completed phonics and writing duotangs which the kids can review over the summer, along with their inquiry folders. It's important for the children to keep reading and writing over the summer months. :)
Thank you so much to Alex who brought in another great book about Canada! And to Henry who shared his family's beautiful Group of Seven art book! Wonderful!! Thank you also to Lucas' mom who was our Mystery Reader! This week we did "M is for Maple Syrup" (the tasting part was the best I think), "O is for Ottawa," "P is for Puck, Paddle and Pearson International Airport," "Q is for Quebec," "R is for RCMP and Rocky Mountains" and "S is for Salmon and Snow." The kids learned how to say hello is French, learned a bit about Ottawa - the Parliament Buildings and the Rideau Canad - and watched a BBC video of salmon swimming upstream and grizzly bears catching them! With our Reading Buddies, we wrote and drew a big picture about why we love Canada.
It's hard to believe that there are only 9 more school days left! Each day the Special Person takes down one of our "ice cream scoops" for our end-of-year count down. And Friday was Freezie Friday! I have a feeling that next Friday will be another Freezie Friday, and the last day of school will definitely be a "Freezie Thursday!" :)
Next week we will finish our ABCs of Canada booklet, make and eat Beaver Tails, and learn a lot of summer words. The SKs will read and draw them, and the JKs will read them and colour the pictures.
I hope you are having a wonderful Father's Day weekend!!!
Happy Father's Day!! I hope you are having a great day with your terrific little ones.
This past week was busy in Room 166! Most exciting I think was that our caterpillars became butterflies!! The kids were so thrilled! We fed the butterflies oranges, melon and orange juice for a few days, then released them into the playground. The SKs read and illustrated a booklet inspired by "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" called "The Very Busy Senior Kindergartner" which described what they did each month this year. The JKs finished writing and illustrating "I am very excited for SK because..." and all the kids are practicing songs for the next (and last!) sharing assembly and for the SK Graduation Celebration. The kids made a very cute keepsake book called "If the Kids Ruled Room 166!" They will each get a copy in Friday's mail bag.
On Wednesday LKS celebrated and thanked all our amazing volunteers that help make LKS such a wonderful school. Thank you SO MUCH for all your time and energy!!
This week in the computer lab with Miss. Santiago the kids reviewed all the TDSB programs they had worked on during the year.
In this Friday's mail bag were some summaries of sight words and summer homework ideas for the kids, including a summer journal and list of Grade One Sight Words for the SKs. I've also sent home the completed phonics and writing duotangs which the kids can review over the summer, along with their inquiry folders. It's important for the children to keep reading and writing over the summer months. :)
Thank you so much to Alex who brought in another great book about Canada! And to Henry who shared his family's beautiful Group of Seven art book! Wonderful!! Thank you also to Lucas' mom who was our Mystery Reader! This week we did "M is for Maple Syrup" (the tasting part was the best I think), "O is for Ottawa," "P is for Puck, Paddle and Pearson International Airport," "Q is for Quebec," "R is for RCMP and Rocky Mountains" and "S is for Salmon and Snow." The kids learned how to say hello is French, learned a bit about Ottawa - the Parliament Buildings and the Rideau Canad - and watched a BBC video of salmon swimming upstream and grizzly bears catching them! With our Reading Buddies, we wrote and drew a big picture about why we love Canada.
It's hard to believe that there are only 9 more school days left! Each day the Special Person takes down one of our "ice cream scoops" for our end-of-year count down. And Friday was Freezie Friday! I have a feeling that next Friday will be another Freezie Friday, and the last day of school will definitely be a "Freezie Thursday!" :)
Next week we will finish our ABCs of Canada booklet, make and eat Beaver Tails, and learn a lot of summer words. The SKs will read and draw them, and the JKs will read them and colour the pictures.
I hope you are having a wonderful Father's Day weekend!!!
Sunday, June 11, 2017
Week of June 5-9
Dear families,
I hope you are enjoying this gorgeous weather where ever you are this weekend! It's supposed to be a hot week so please put sunscreen on your little ones before school and make sure they have a hat to wear. Thank you!
This past week we completed our June calendar and our "This is Me in June" drawing and writing. Needless to say, a lot of the kids wrote and drew a picture of Springfest!
We have started new learning about camping and our dramatic centre is now a campsite complete with a tent, fishing poles, a dock, fish, a river, frogs and a loon, trees and owls, and books about camping. The kids are loving it and are taking turns playing in it. We learned about camping safety as well, and the children read and completed a booklet about camping safety. We are reading books about camping and camp, and also made real s'mores with the kids (using a microwave instead of a campfire) and then wrote out instructions how to make them. We compared Canoes to Kayaks using a Venn Diagram. Thank you Ruby for sharing a photo of yourself camping!
Thank you as well to Hannah's brother Jacob and her mom who were our Mystery Readers this week!
The SKS wrote about what they would be when they grew up and made a paper plate self-portrait in preparation for our SK Grad later this month.
The words of the week were ZOO and ZEBRA.
In our inquiry on Canada, we talked about and coloured a page about symbols of Canada with our Reading Buddies, and completed our "L" page in our ABCs of Canada booklet: L is for loon, lobster, and lacrosse, three very Canadian things! Tomorrow I am bringing in real maple syrup for our "M is for Maple Syrup" and we'll learn where maple syrup comes from. I think we will do a blind taste test and compare "pancake syrup" to real maple syrup with a Venn Diagram, and write down which we like better and why!
The children have also been working very hard on their (TOP SECRET!) Father's Day gifts.
Next week we will continue our inquiry on butterflies, camping and Canada.
Thank you SO MUCH for the wonderful Staff Appreciation lunch last week! The dishes were delicious and enjoyed very much by all!
I hope you have a great week!
I hope you are enjoying this gorgeous weather where ever you are this weekend! It's supposed to be a hot week so please put sunscreen on your little ones before school and make sure they have a hat to wear. Thank you!
This past week we completed our June calendar and our "This is Me in June" drawing and writing. Needless to say, a lot of the kids wrote and drew a picture of Springfest!
We have started new learning about camping and our dramatic centre is now a campsite complete with a tent, fishing poles, a dock, fish, a river, frogs and a loon, trees and owls, and books about camping. The kids are loving it and are taking turns playing in it. We learned about camping safety as well, and the children read and completed a booklet about camping safety. We are reading books about camping and camp, and also made real s'mores with the kids (using a microwave instead of a campfire) and then wrote out instructions how to make them. We compared Canoes to Kayaks using a Venn Diagram. Thank you Ruby for sharing a photo of yourself camping!
Thank you as well to Hannah's brother Jacob and her mom who were our Mystery Readers this week!
The SKS wrote about what they would be when they grew up and made a paper plate self-portrait in preparation for our SK Grad later this month.
The words of the week were ZOO and ZEBRA.
In our inquiry on Canada, we talked about and coloured a page about symbols of Canada with our Reading Buddies, and completed our "L" page in our ABCs of Canada booklet: L is for loon, lobster, and lacrosse, three very Canadian things! Tomorrow I am bringing in real maple syrup for our "M is for Maple Syrup" and we'll learn where maple syrup comes from. I think we will do a blind taste test and compare "pancake syrup" to real maple syrup with a Venn Diagram, and write down which we like better and why!
The children have also been working very hard on their (TOP SECRET!) Father's Day gifts.
Next week we will continue our inquiry on butterflies, camping and Canada.
Thank you SO MUCH for the wonderful Staff Appreciation lunch last week! The dishes were delicious and enjoyed very much by all!
I hope you have a great week!
Saturday, June 3, 2017
Week of May 29 - June 2
Dear families,
What gorgeous weather we are having! I hope you are having a great weekend and are having fun at Springfest!
This week was busy in Room 166. Thank you as always to our amazing volunteers - Rielle's dad was the Mystery Reader this week!
One of the caterpillars changed into a pupa and is hanging upside down in its little container. When all the 6 caterpillars have done this, we will move them to a new large net so they can fly around when they emerge from this stage in about 2 weeks. The children did a lot of learning about butterflies and caterpillars this week and their folders went home on Friday. They worked on symmetry, completing the other half of a butterfly (a mirror image) with their reading buddies; watched time-lapse videos of metamorphosis; learned new butterfly facts (they taste with their feet!); completed caterpillar ABC and 1-20 work; coloured and then drew a life cycle wheel themselves; traced and coloured in butterfly shapes, making sure they were symmetrical; did a butterfly colour-by-number sheet; completed and read a "caterpillar walk" booklet with position adjectives (in, around, over, on, below, eg.); looked at leaves in the Kindergarten garden that had holes in it because "caterpillars nibbled through!"; saw an inch worm; re-told the Very Hungry Caterpillar story with flash cards and manipulatives; sequenced the story with pictures; and read fiction and non-fiction caterpillar and butterfly books. The numeracy component of this inquiry was learning about symmetry, sequencing and writing numbers.
Thank you so much to Ruby and Catherine for singing the "This Land is Your Land" and "Land of the Silver Birch" for us! I will be teaching the children these songs as part of our Canada inquiry. Your probably know them yourselves! Thank you Catherine for sharing your beautiful dreamcatcher with us.
In our inquiry on Canada, we did "H is for hockey/I is for inukshuk/J is for Jasper" in our ABCs of Canada booklets. We learned all about Inukshuks. I brought a small one in from home and we learned how they are made, what they are, why the Inuit people of Canada's north make them, and what shape they are. Then the children cut and assembled one themselves out of paper, then drew one freehand. Good job!
The words of the week were FUN and FRIEND. IN the computer lab the kids played on GoNoodle.com and learned more about caterpillars.
The June words sheet and homework bingo went home in Friday's mail bag. It's hard to believe that it's June already!
Senior Kindergarten students, please send in a baby picture by June 8 for the Senior Kindergarten graduation video. Thank you.
Thank you to everyone who donated to our basket for the silent auction. It looks great! Have fun at Springfest!
That's the news for this week. See you on Monday!
What gorgeous weather we are having! I hope you are having a great weekend and are having fun at Springfest!
This week was busy in Room 166. Thank you as always to our amazing volunteers - Rielle's dad was the Mystery Reader this week!
One of the caterpillars changed into a pupa and is hanging upside down in its little container. When all the 6 caterpillars have done this, we will move them to a new large net so they can fly around when they emerge from this stage in about 2 weeks. The children did a lot of learning about butterflies and caterpillars this week and their folders went home on Friday. They worked on symmetry, completing the other half of a butterfly (a mirror image) with their reading buddies; watched time-lapse videos of metamorphosis; learned new butterfly facts (they taste with their feet!); completed caterpillar ABC and 1-20 work; coloured and then drew a life cycle wheel themselves; traced and coloured in butterfly shapes, making sure they were symmetrical; did a butterfly colour-by-number sheet; completed and read a "caterpillar walk" booklet with position adjectives (in, around, over, on, below, eg.); looked at leaves in the Kindergarten garden that had holes in it because "caterpillars nibbled through!"; saw an inch worm; re-told the Very Hungry Caterpillar story with flash cards and manipulatives; sequenced the story with pictures; and read fiction and non-fiction caterpillar and butterfly books. The numeracy component of this inquiry was learning about symmetry, sequencing and writing numbers.
Thank you so much to Ruby and Catherine for singing the "This Land is Your Land" and "Land of the Silver Birch" for us! I will be teaching the children these songs as part of our Canada inquiry. Your probably know them yourselves! Thank you Catherine for sharing your beautiful dreamcatcher with us.
In our inquiry on Canada, we did "H is for hockey/I is for inukshuk/J is for Jasper" in our ABCs of Canada booklets. We learned all about Inukshuks. I brought a small one in from home and we learned how they are made, what they are, why the Inuit people of Canada's north make them, and what shape they are. Then the children cut and assembled one themselves out of paper, then drew one freehand. Good job!
The words of the week were FUN and FRIEND. IN the computer lab the kids played on GoNoodle.com and learned more about caterpillars.
The June words sheet and homework bingo went home in Friday's mail bag. It's hard to believe that it's June already!
Senior Kindergarten students, please send in a baby picture by June 8 for the Senior Kindergarten graduation video. Thank you.
Thank you to everyone who donated to our basket for the silent auction. It looks great! Have fun at Springfest!
That's the news for this week. See you on Monday!
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Week of May 22-26
Dear families,
I hope you are having a lovely weekend! What gorgeous Spring weather!
This week we started a mini art inquiry on The Group of Seven ("G is for Group of Seven") in our inquiry on Canada. We are learning more about nature and the seasons from their beautiful paintings. If you have a chance to take your children to the McMichael Gallery in Kleinburg, or to the AGO, they would be able to see the real paintings of colouring they did themselves. The children learned about the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN WHY and HOW of the Group of Seven, and many of them know and have been to parts of Ontario where the Group painted (Algonquin Park and Georgian Bay, for example). We talked about why they painted nature, how they traveled to the north, how they camped, and the children tried to figure out how they made such big paintings there (they didn't - they traveled with a small box with slats for wood panels that they painted on both sides, and chose ones they liked the best to replicate on large canvasses back in Toronto). The children practiced simple coding exercises by following step-by-step instructions to colour Lawren Harris' "Mountain and Lake" and and Tom Thomson's "The West Wind." They then did a step-by-step painting in the style of Tom Thomson's "Northern Lights." Hint! Father's Day is coming!! The children watched a beautiful video about what the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) is on the Smart Board and did a colouring sheet about it. We also read two books about the Aurora Borealis Indigenous myth. Next week we will learn about indigenous painter Norval Morrisseau whose works are also at the McMichael Gallery. He painted in vibrant primary colours, which the children will love. We will also learn about symmetry from his paintings.
Next week we will continue our ABCs of Canada and will talk and write about where we have traveled in Canada and/or where we are going to travel in Canada this summer!
Thank you so much to Alex who brought in wonderful books about Canada and a beautiful map book. Thank you as well to James' and Hudson's moms who helped with Friday's pizza lunch.
Our Caterpillar larvae have arrived! We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and will be learning all about the life cycle of the butterfly. They will start to form their pupas in about two weeks. It will be very exciting when we have butterflies to see and release into the yard!
Thursday was a very special day because Terry Fox's brother Fred came to LKS to participate in our assembly. Our class was Team Orange and had fun cheering on their team's tricycle racers!
It was also our May Sharing Assembly, recognizing the TDSB Character Trait of "Integrity." Congratulations to Nathan, Mia, Kate and Maddie who received certificates!
Last week was also the Book Fair in the Library and the children enjoyed shopping for books!
In the Computer Lab with Miss. Santiago the kids have been working with the program ABCya.com.
That's the news from Room 166 this week! Next week we will continue learning about Canada and Butterflies. :)
I hope you are having a lovely weekend! What gorgeous Spring weather!
This week we started a mini art inquiry on The Group of Seven ("G is for Group of Seven") in our inquiry on Canada. We are learning more about nature and the seasons from their beautiful paintings. If you have a chance to take your children to the McMichael Gallery in Kleinburg, or to the AGO, they would be able to see the real paintings of colouring they did themselves. The children learned about the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN WHY and HOW of the Group of Seven, and many of them know and have been to parts of Ontario where the Group painted (Algonquin Park and Georgian Bay, for example). We talked about why they painted nature, how they traveled to the north, how they camped, and the children tried to figure out how they made such big paintings there (they didn't - they traveled with a small box with slats for wood panels that they painted on both sides, and chose ones they liked the best to replicate on large canvasses back in Toronto). The children practiced simple coding exercises by following step-by-step instructions to colour Lawren Harris' "Mountain and Lake" and and Tom Thomson's "The West Wind." They then did a step-by-step painting in the style of Tom Thomson's "Northern Lights." Hint! Father's Day is coming!! The children watched a beautiful video about what the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) is on the Smart Board and did a colouring sheet about it. We also read two books about the Aurora Borealis Indigenous myth. Next week we will learn about indigenous painter Norval Morrisseau whose works are also at the McMichael Gallery. He painted in vibrant primary colours, which the children will love. We will also learn about symmetry from his paintings.
Next week we will continue our ABCs of Canada and will talk and write about where we have traveled in Canada and/or where we are going to travel in Canada this summer!
Thank you so much to Alex who brought in wonderful books about Canada and a beautiful map book. Thank you as well to James' and Hudson's moms who helped with Friday's pizza lunch.
Our Caterpillar larvae have arrived! We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and will be learning all about the life cycle of the butterfly. They will start to form their pupas in about two weeks. It will be very exciting when we have butterflies to see and release into the yard!
Thursday was a very special day because Terry Fox's brother Fred came to LKS to participate in our assembly. Our class was Team Orange and had fun cheering on their team's tricycle racers!
It was also our May Sharing Assembly, recognizing the TDSB Character Trait of "Integrity." Congratulations to Nathan, Mia, Kate and Maddie who received certificates!
Last week was also the Book Fair in the Library and the children enjoyed shopping for books!
In the Computer Lab with Miss. Santiago the kids have been working with the program ABCya.com.
That's the news from Room 166 this week! Next week we will continue learning about Canada and Butterflies. :)
Saturday, May 20, 2017
Week of May 15-19
Dear families,
I hope you are having a wonderful long weekend. This week the children learned about why Canadians celebrate Victoria Day and they made Victoria Day Fireworks art. In our "ABCs of Canada" booklet the children did "C is for Canada/cougar/cottage/canoe or cold;" "D is for Dinosaur Dig in Drumheller (Alberta)/diamond mine/dogsled/dreamcatcher;" "E is for eagle/the Edmonton Oilers;" "F is for flag/Terry Fox;" and we skipped ahead to "V is for Victoria Day." Happy Victoria Day! The children also learned about dream catchers and are making their own with Miss. Santiago. They coloured a Canadian flag, circled the sight words from "Oh Canada," watched an anthropologist dig for dinosaur bones in Drumheller, Alberta, and learned about dream catchers and why Canadian indigenous people make them.
Thank you so much to Sarah's mom and brother who were our Mystery Readers this week! Thank you as well to Maya who brought in her copy of "ABC of Canada" to share.
Thank you as well to Miss. Kim who invited us to watch her class perform two "Reader's Theatre" plays. The kids loved it!
The kids are enjoying "reading their clothes" i.e. "Roots" or Beaver Canoe" or "World's Best Kid" on their t-shirts. :) They also had a wonderful time meeting author Lorna Shultz in the library. Ms. Shultz came all the way from Drumheller, Alberta to read her wonderful books about hockey to the kids.
The children's sunflower seeds have all germinated and went home last week. Please place the whole biodegradable pot in your garden or in a large pot in a sunny spot. The children also painted a still life of beautiful spring lilacs that Mrs. Stefanowisz brought to school from her garden.
Next week we will learn a song about the Provinces and Territories of Canada, we will learn and write about the G (Group of Seven/Geese/Great Lakes) H (Hudson's Bay/Halifax) and I (Inukshuk) of Canada, will continue making our dream catchers, we will make puzzles from our map of Canada, and we'll go to the Book Fair on May 25. If you would like your child to purchase a book/books from the Book Fair, please send money in a zip lock baggie with his/her name on it. Thank you.
The next Scholastic Order is due June 9th. There will be one more Scholastic Order after this.
That's the news for this week. I hope you are having a fun long weekend with family and friends. Happy Victoria Day!
I hope you are having a wonderful long weekend. This week the children learned about why Canadians celebrate Victoria Day and they made Victoria Day Fireworks art. In our "ABCs of Canada" booklet the children did "C is for Canada/cougar/cottage/canoe or cold;" "D is for Dinosaur Dig in Drumheller (Alberta)/diamond mine/dogsled/dreamcatcher;" "E is for eagle/the Edmonton Oilers;" "F is for flag/Terry Fox;" and we skipped ahead to "V is for Victoria Day." Happy Victoria Day! The children also learned about dream catchers and are making their own with Miss. Santiago. They coloured a Canadian flag, circled the sight words from "Oh Canada," watched an anthropologist dig for dinosaur bones in Drumheller, Alberta, and learned about dream catchers and why Canadian indigenous people make them.
Thank you so much to Sarah's mom and brother who were our Mystery Readers this week! Thank you as well to Maya who brought in her copy of "ABC of Canada" to share.
Thank you as well to Miss. Kim who invited us to watch her class perform two "Reader's Theatre" plays. The kids loved it!
The kids are enjoying "reading their clothes" i.e. "Roots" or Beaver Canoe" or "World's Best Kid" on their t-shirts. :) They also had a wonderful time meeting author Lorna Shultz in the library. Ms. Shultz came all the way from Drumheller, Alberta to read her wonderful books about hockey to the kids.
The children's sunflower seeds have all germinated and went home last week. Please place the whole biodegradable pot in your garden or in a large pot in a sunny spot. The children also painted a still life of beautiful spring lilacs that Mrs. Stefanowisz brought to school from her garden.
Next week we will learn a song about the Provinces and Territories of Canada, we will learn and write about the G (Group of Seven/Geese/Great Lakes) H (Hudson's Bay/Halifax) and I (Inukshuk) of Canada, will continue making our dream catchers, we will make puzzles from our map of Canada, and we'll go to the Book Fair on May 25. If you would like your child to purchase a book/books from the Book Fair, please send money in a zip lock baggie with his/her name on it. Thank you.
The next Scholastic Order is due June 9th. There will be one more Scholastic Order after this.
That's the news for this week. I hope you are having a fun long weekend with family and friends. Happy Victoria Day!
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Week of May 8-12
Dear families,
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!! I hope you like the cards, candles, booklet and song the children have made for you ❤️ and I hope you are having a lovely weekend! Thank you so much to the AMAZING volunteer mom's who spent their day with us at the Ontario Science Centre: Amy, Vivian, Heather, Jennifer, Marsha, Tara and Seshi! Thank you to Henry's mom for being our Mystery Reader!
This week we started learning about Canada! We are making an alphabet booklet called "The ABCs of Canada " and have done "N is for Niagara Falls," "A is for Arctic" and "B is for Beaver." With our Reading Budfies we coloured a totem and Cabane a Sucre and read books about Seeds, Plants and Canada.
The children completed their "This is me is May" work by writing and drawing a picture about their trip to the Science Centre. They also completed the calendar.
The words of the week were THERE and THAT.
The next Scholastic order is due by tomorrow, Monday.
That's the news for this week! We'll continue learning about our beautiful country for the next few weeks.
I hope you have a terrific week!
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!! I hope you like the cards, candles, booklet and song the children have made for you ❤️ and I hope you are having a lovely weekend! Thank you so much to the AMAZING volunteer mom's who spent their day with us at the Ontario Science Centre: Amy, Vivian, Heather, Jennifer, Marsha, Tara and Seshi! Thank you to Henry's mom for being our Mystery Reader!
This week we started learning about Canada! We are making an alphabet booklet called "The ABCs of Canada " and have done "N is for Niagara Falls," "A is for Arctic" and "B is for Beaver." With our Reading Budfies we coloured a totem and Cabane a Sucre and read books about Seeds, Plants and Canada.
The children completed their "This is me is May" work by writing and drawing a picture about their trip to the Science Centre. They also completed the calendar.
The words of the week were THERE and THAT.
The next Scholastic order is due by tomorrow, Monday.
That's the news for this week! We'll continue learning about our beautiful country for the next few weeks.
I hope you have a terrific week!
Friday, May 5, 2017
Week of May 1-5
Dear families,
This week was all about how plants grow and building structures. Thank you for sending in snacks with seeds - the children planted several different kinds of seeds in our "Kinder Garden:" tomato, cucumber, strawberry, avocado, pepper, pear, blackberry, sunflower, apple, and watermelon! They each planted a sunflower seed to germinate in the classroom, and planted more sunflower seeds and pepper seeds in the Kindergarten garden. Fingers crossed! The children also completed a picture of a plant, drawing the flower, seeds and roots, and then labelling the parts. WE watched a short video about how plants grow, and a Peep and the Big Wide World video about Peep and his friends planting a seed.
It's been a very rainy and wet May so far, so we learned a poem called "Water" (the children filled in the blanks) and another called "Rain." They also drew a picture of themselves playing outside which we are then covering with "rain" by using a marble and gray paint!
With their Reading buddies, the kids completed two adjective charts about Living and Non-Living things.
They have also been working very hard on Mother's Day gifts (shhhhh!)!
The popcorn words of this week are LITTLE and OUT.
Thank you so much to Elea's mom and brother who were our mystery readers this week! Thank you as well to all the parents who volunteered for next week's field trip to the Science Centre!
This week the children really enjoyed building structures from a photo of a famous structure in the world, and then drawing it and writing about it. In the Computer Lab with Miss. Santiago, the children made pictures out of 2-D shapes. We then read the book "Scribble" by Ruth Ohi, and the children embellished their 2-D shape pictures to make it a more detailed and colourful picture. Then they wrote about what it is on the back of their drawing. These are on display in the school hallway.
We also reviewed our numeral formation on our mini dry erase boards, and spent Friday working with various manipulatives (stones, blocks, rocks, beads, etc.) to do some simple addition (i.e. ___ + ___ = 6; 6=___ + ___).
Next week we will start learning all about Canada to celebrate Canada's 150th Birthday this July.
That's the news for this week. I hope you have a nice weekend!
This week was all about how plants grow and building structures. Thank you for sending in snacks with seeds - the children planted several different kinds of seeds in our "Kinder Garden:" tomato, cucumber, strawberry, avocado, pepper, pear, blackberry, sunflower, apple, and watermelon! They each planted a sunflower seed to germinate in the classroom, and planted more sunflower seeds and pepper seeds in the Kindergarten garden. Fingers crossed! The children also completed a picture of a plant, drawing the flower, seeds and roots, and then labelling the parts. WE watched a short video about how plants grow, and a Peep and the Big Wide World video about Peep and his friends planting a seed.
It's been a very rainy and wet May so far, so we learned a poem called "Water" (the children filled in the blanks) and another called "Rain." They also drew a picture of themselves playing outside which we are then covering with "rain" by using a marble and gray paint!
With their Reading buddies, the kids completed two adjective charts about Living and Non-Living things.
They have also been working very hard on Mother's Day gifts (shhhhh!)!
The popcorn words of this week are LITTLE and OUT.
Thank you so much to Elea's mom and brother who were our mystery readers this week! Thank you as well to all the parents who volunteered for next week's field trip to the Science Centre!
This week the children really enjoyed building structures from a photo of a famous structure in the world, and then drawing it and writing about it. In the Computer Lab with Miss. Santiago, the children made pictures out of 2-D shapes. We then read the book "Scribble" by Ruth Ohi, and the children embellished their 2-D shape pictures to make it a more detailed and colourful picture. Then they wrote about what it is on the back of their drawing. These are on display in the school hallway.
We also reviewed our numeral formation on our mini dry erase boards, and spent Friday working with various manipulatives (stones, blocks, rocks, beads, etc.) to do some simple addition (i.e. ___ + ___ = 6; 6=___ + ___).
Next week we will start learning all about Canada to celebrate Canada's 150th Birthday this July.
That's the news for this week. I hope you have a nice weekend!
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Week of April 24-28
Dear families,
I hope you're having a great weekend!
Last week we continued our learning about 2-D and 3-D shapes. The children built shapes with various building toys and took inspiration from photos of famous buildings and structures (the Golden Gate Bridge,the CN Tower, Stonehenge, Tower Bridge, the Tour Eiffel, for example). After building the structure with a buddy, they each described and drew the structure they built. Children love building structures and they are learning to build, identify and describe a cube, rectangular prism, cylinder, and pyramid. Thank you so much to Andrew who brought in his wonderful Lego Architecture book to share! We will complete this inquiry next week.
The children continued bringing in objects they made from recycled materials. They are fantastic!!!
We also learned about buoyancy in a little inquiry about Sink or Float. The children predicted which if several items would sink or float, which we counted, and then some of them played in that centre, and we came together and discussed which items sank/floated and why. We watched a short video on buoyancy as well and the children learned that density is a factor, too, not just weight (i.e. a ping pong ball floats but a golf ball sinks; a big cruise ship floats, etc.). Tied in with this inquiry on water is also a little science experiment at the Science Centre on absorption - the kids use water droppers to put water onto cotton balls, sponges, a chamois, etc. to observe different rates of absorption.
Also at our little Science Centre is a celery bunch that is regrowing in water. We'll also regrow a potato and we will start our Spring inquiry about seeds and plants next week. It would be wonderful if you could pack snacks that have seeds in them, so we can take the seeds, plant them indoors, and observe/record what happens. Strawberries and tomatoes would work well. I have several other kids of seeds (vegetables and flowers) for the children's "Kinder Garden."
Next Friday will be Pajama Day! Last week's Twin Day was fun! LKS has school spirit!
Thank you to Maya's mom who was the Mystery Reader, and to Mia's and Kate's moms for helping with Pizza Lunch day on Friday! Thank you as well to those of you who volunteered for the Science Centre Field Trip. Our Grade Parents will contact you regarding this.
The kids did a great job at the Sharing Assembly, singing "You've Got the Whole World in your Hands." Congratulations to Ethan, Henry and Menaal for receiving certificates for Cooperation!
That's the news for now - I hope you have a terrific week!
I hope you're having a great weekend!
Last week we continued our learning about 2-D and 3-D shapes. The children built shapes with various building toys and took inspiration from photos of famous buildings and structures (the Golden Gate Bridge,the CN Tower, Stonehenge, Tower Bridge, the Tour Eiffel, for example). After building the structure with a buddy, they each described and drew the structure they built. Children love building structures and they are learning to build, identify and describe a cube, rectangular prism, cylinder, and pyramid. Thank you so much to Andrew who brought in his wonderful Lego Architecture book to share! We will complete this inquiry next week.
The children continued bringing in objects they made from recycled materials. They are fantastic!!!
We also learned about buoyancy in a little inquiry about Sink or Float. The children predicted which if several items would sink or float, which we counted, and then some of them played in that centre, and we came together and discussed which items sank/floated and why. We watched a short video on buoyancy as well and the children learned that density is a factor, too, not just weight (i.e. a ping pong ball floats but a golf ball sinks; a big cruise ship floats, etc.). Tied in with this inquiry on water is also a little science experiment at the Science Centre on absorption - the kids use water droppers to put water onto cotton balls, sponges, a chamois, etc. to observe different rates of absorption.
Also at our little Science Centre is a celery bunch that is regrowing in water. We'll also regrow a potato and we will start our Spring inquiry about seeds and plants next week. It would be wonderful if you could pack snacks that have seeds in them, so we can take the seeds, plant them indoors, and observe/record what happens. Strawberries and tomatoes would work well. I have several other kids of seeds (vegetables and flowers) for the children's "Kinder Garden."
Next Friday will be Pajama Day! Last week's Twin Day was fun! LKS has school spirit!
Thank you to Maya's mom who was the Mystery Reader, and to Mia's and Kate's moms for helping with Pizza Lunch day on Friday! Thank you as well to those of you who volunteered for the Science Centre Field Trip. Our Grade Parents will contact you regarding this.
The kids did a great job at the Sharing Assembly, singing "You've Got the Whole World in your Hands." Congratulations to Ethan, Henry and Menaal for receiving certificates for Cooperation!
That's the news for now - I hope you have a terrific week!
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Week of April 17-21
Dear families,
I hope you are enjoying the gorgeous Spring weather today!
We finished our inquiry on Oceans and all the children's wonderful work went home in Friday's mail bag. Their beautiful dioramas are done, too! They worked very hard on learning about ocean life and are eager to share this with you! The "In the Deep Blue Sea" hall bulletin board will stay up for a bit longer and then that writing and art will be sent home, too.
Happy Earth Day! Last week the children started bringing in their Earth Day projects: toys or art made from recyclable objects. They are awesome! Some of the things the kids made were: a caterpillar, a shark, a giraffe, a telescope, binoculars, a jet pack, a jelly fish, a diorama, and a turtle! I can't wait to see what the kids make next week!
For Earth Day the kids also made a door hanger, wrote how to take care of the Earth, learned about what to put in the garbage vs. the blue recycling bin, and painted a still life picture of pussy willows. They also watched a "Peep and the Big Wide World" video about Earth Day.
We are also continuing our learning about 3-D shapes in Numeracy. I showed the children how to turn two circles into a square and sent them each home one so they could, too. Just search "Geometry Magic: Turn Circles into a Square" for a video on hoe to do this. It's easy! We also learned a poem about 3-D shapes and sang a fun rap about them from the Smartboard. The children are learning to identify, name, make, draw and write the names of 2-D and 3-D shapes. In the computer lab with Miss. Santiago the kids worked on the Millie's Math House program about shapes.
We also read the well-known book "Rainbow Fish" which is about being a good friend, and about how we can all learn from each other. The kids enjoyed doing a colour-by-letter picture of the rainbow fish (i.e. R=red, B=blue etc.).
The children are very excited about our upcoming field trip to the Science Centre on May 11! Please ensure that your child's permission forms are returned and that the online payment is complete by APRIL 28. Thank you. If you would like to volunteer, please "tick" the volunteer box on the form. The Grade Parents will determine volunteers based on previous opportunities. Thank you for your enthusiasm and time!
Thank you to Rielle for bringing in her toy fish and sea star, William for sharing his "growing and shrinking" sea star, and to Sebastian who brought in a Robin's egg that had hatched!
Please note the date change of the April Sharing Assembly from April 26 to APRIL 27.
That's the news for this week. Next week we will start a Science Inquiry on "Will it Sink or Float?" and will continue our learning about Spring and the Earth!
I hope you are enjoying the gorgeous Spring weather today!
We finished our inquiry on Oceans and all the children's wonderful work went home in Friday's mail bag. Their beautiful dioramas are done, too! They worked very hard on learning about ocean life and are eager to share this with you! The "In the Deep Blue Sea" hall bulletin board will stay up for a bit longer and then that writing and art will be sent home, too.
Happy Earth Day! Last week the children started bringing in their Earth Day projects: toys or art made from recyclable objects. They are awesome! Some of the things the kids made were: a caterpillar, a shark, a giraffe, a telescope, binoculars, a jet pack, a jelly fish, a diorama, and a turtle! I can't wait to see what the kids make next week!
For Earth Day the kids also made a door hanger, wrote how to take care of the Earth, learned about what to put in the garbage vs. the blue recycling bin, and painted a still life picture of pussy willows. They also watched a "Peep and the Big Wide World" video about Earth Day.
We are also continuing our learning about 3-D shapes in Numeracy. I showed the children how to turn two circles into a square and sent them each home one so they could, too. Just search "Geometry Magic: Turn Circles into a Square" for a video on hoe to do this. It's easy! We also learned a poem about 3-D shapes and sang a fun rap about them from the Smartboard. The children are learning to identify, name, make, draw and write the names of 2-D and 3-D shapes. In the computer lab with Miss. Santiago the kids worked on the Millie's Math House program about shapes.
We also read the well-known book "Rainbow Fish" which is about being a good friend, and about how we can all learn from each other. The kids enjoyed doing a colour-by-letter picture of the rainbow fish (i.e. R=red, B=blue etc.).
The children are very excited about our upcoming field trip to the Science Centre on May 11! Please ensure that your child's permission forms are returned and that the online payment is complete by APRIL 28. Thank you. If you would like to volunteer, please "tick" the volunteer box on the form. The Grade Parents will determine volunteers based on previous opportunities. Thank you for your enthusiasm and time!
Thank you to Rielle for bringing in her toy fish and sea star, William for sharing his "growing and shrinking" sea star, and to Sebastian who brought in a Robin's egg that had hatched!
Please note the date change of the April Sharing Assembly from April 26 to APRIL 27.
That's the news for this week. Next week we will start a Science Inquiry on "Will it Sink or Float?" and will continue our learning about Spring and the Earth!
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Week of April 10-14
Dear families,
What an exciting week it has been! On Monday, the children enjoyed a terrific performance about fairy tales by the Dufflebag Theatre; on Tuesday it was the Spring Craft Party; on Wednesday it was Pink Day and today was Blue and White Day! Thank you so much to the moms of Mia, Riley, Jackson, Phoebe, Sebastian and William who made wonderful crafts with the kids and brought tasty snacks too!
This week on our Ocean Inquiry we learned about Jelly Fish bio-luminescence, Portuguese Man-o-War, where sand comes from |(Video: The Amazing Life of Sand) and what we can do with it, and the Great Barrier Coral Reef. We watched a scallop swimming, learned to identify the cowrie, conch, cone, scallop, olive, turkey wing, murex and bear claw sea shells, learned how an oyster makes a pearl, and tasted real sea weed! We also watched a live video feed of the Monterrey Aquarium, watching a kelp forest, jellyfish, and sharks. The kids asked terrific questions about ocean life, inspired n=by all of this! In the Computer Lab, Miss. Santiago showed the kids videos about the coral reef. They also used a kid-safe version of Google called KIDSREX.
Thank you so much to: Henry who brought in a real fish fossil; Andrew who brought in a 100 million year old shark tooth; Hudson who brought in his penguin from Chile; Maya who shared her clown fish; Maddie who shared her duck; and Hannah's mom who read Beauty and the Beast! What a great week it was.
We also continued our inquiry into 3D shapes. I enourage the children to look for and identify 3D shapes they see.
The words of the week were WAS and I'M. Thank you so much to Ruby who collated the Scholastic Orders. They are due on May 15.
That's the news for this week. Next week we will complete our ocean inquiry and will continue our learning about 3-D Shapes.
I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend!
What an exciting week it has been! On Monday, the children enjoyed a terrific performance about fairy tales by the Dufflebag Theatre; on Tuesday it was the Spring Craft Party; on Wednesday it was Pink Day and today was Blue and White Day! Thank you so much to the moms of Mia, Riley, Jackson, Phoebe, Sebastian and William who made wonderful crafts with the kids and brought tasty snacks too!
This week on our Ocean Inquiry we learned about Jelly Fish bio-luminescence, Portuguese Man-o-War, where sand comes from |(Video: The Amazing Life of Sand) and what we can do with it, and the Great Barrier Coral Reef. We watched a scallop swimming, learned to identify the cowrie, conch, cone, scallop, olive, turkey wing, murex and bear claw sea shells, learned how an oyster makes a pearl, and tasted real sea weed! We also watched a live video feed of the Monterrey Aquarium, watching a kelp forest, jellyfish, and sharks. The kids asked terrific questions about ocean life, inspired n=by all of this! In the Computer Lab, Miss. Santiago showed the kids videos about the coral reef. They also used a kid-safe version of Google called KIDSREX.
Thank you so much to: Henry who brought in a real fish fossil; Andrew who brought in a 100 million year old shark tooth; Hudson who brought in his penguin from Chile; Maya who shared her clown fish; Maddie who shared her duck; and Hannah's mom who read Beauty and the Beast! What a great week it was.
We also continued our inquiry into 3D shapes. I enourage the children to look for and identify 3D shapes they see.
The words of the week were WAS and I'M. Thank you so much to Ruby who collated the Scholastic Orders. They are due on May 15.
That's the news for this week. Next week we will complete our ocean inquiry and will continue our learning about 3-D Shapes.
I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend!
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Week of April 3-7
Dear families,
I hope you're enjoying the gorgeous Spring weather today or are at least watching the Masters indoors!
Last week we continued our Inquiry on Ocean Life, learning about Pufferfish and Jellyfish. They made awesome "Jellyfish in a Bottle" with Miss. Santiago, the SKs made jellyfish from clear plastic for our bulletin board, and the JKs will make floating Man-O-War Jellyfish. With their Reading Buddies they completed Seahorse and Jellyfish adjective/fact sheets. We watched awesome BBC Earth videos about Pufferfish and Jellyfish including an amazing video of a Japanese Pufferfish making a nest with amazing precision. The children drew their own pufferfish and nests and also made a larger one for the bulletin board display. We also tried a toothpick/water experiment in which the 10 toothpicks moved to form a star. The children are starting to decorate their dioramas with ocean objects. Exciting!
Thank you so much to Ethan who brought in a shark's jaw and to Kate who brought in a real starfish! The kids loved touching them and looking closely at them! Thank you also to Sebastian's dad who told me about the "jellyfish cam" and the "live shark cam" at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium! We will look at these tomorrow!
Thank you to Ethan's dad who was our Mystery Reader and to Hannah who shared her awesome Ocean Book with the class. Maya brought in her "Littlest Mermaid" book and Menaal shared her seashells and Mermaid book with her friends.
On Thursday we watched a terrific presentation about Birds of Prey by the Mountsberg Raptor Centre in Halton. The children saw and learned about the American Kestrel, the Red-tailed Hawk and the Great Horned Owl, and then drew a picture and wrote about the presentation.
We also started learning about (JKs) and reviewing (SKs) 3D Shapes in the man-made and natural world, for example the puffer fish becomes a sphere, an aquarium is a rectangular prism, an owl's eye is a cylinder and so on. It was great hearing the children use this knowledge in conversation, such as "My lunch bag is a cube" "My yogurt cup is a cylinder" and "The bubbles in Bubbles' tank are spheres." Please encourage your child to describe objects with this vocabulary.
To celebrate Earth Day which is April 22nd, I sent a note home about making a toy or object our of recycled materials. We reuse and repurpose a lot of objects in Kindergarten! Our Mystery Object (a daffodil bulb) sprouted roots and leaves but didn't bloom. Maybe it needed soil!
Next week we will continue our Ocean Inquiry, learning about Mollusks and Sea Shells, which is a terrific way to talk about living vs. non-living things. We'll also be learning about Sand, which will end our Inquiry (did you notice we went from Largest to Smallest, starting with the Blue Whale?). We'll also celebrate Spring with a Craft Party! Thank you in advance to the parents who have volunteered for this fun day!
That's the news for this week :)
I hope you're enjoying the gorgeous Spring weather today or are at least watching the Masters indoors!
Last week we continued our Inquiry on Ocean Life, learning about Pufferfish and Jellyfish. They made awesome "Jellyfish in a Bottle" with Miss. Santiago, the SKs made jellyfish from clear plastic for our bulletin board, and the JKs will make floating Man-O-War Jellyfish. With their Reading Buddies they completed Seahorse and Jellyfish adjective/fact sheets. We watched awesome BBC Earth videos about Pufferfish and Jellyfish including an amazing video of a Japanese Pufferfish making a nest with amazing precision. The children drew their own pufferfish and nests and also made a larger one for the bulletin board display. We also tried a toothpick/water experiment in which the 10 toothpicks moved to form a star. The children are starting to decorate their dioramas with ocean objects. Exciting!
Thank you so much to Ethan who brought in a shark's jaw and to Kate who brought in a real starfish! The kids loved touching them and looking closely at them! Thank you also to Sebastian's dad who told me about the "jellyfish cam" and the "live shark cam" at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium! We will look at these tomorrow!
Thank you to Ethan's dad who was our Mystery Reader and to Hannah who shared her awesome Ocean Book with the class. Maya brought in her "Littlest Mermaid" book and Menaal shared her seashells and Mermaid book with her friends.
On Thursday we watched a terrific presentation about Birds of Prey by the Mountsberg Raptor Centre in Halton. The children saw and learned about the American Kestrel, the Red-tailed Hawk and the Great Horned Owl, and then drew a picture and wrote about the presentation.
We also started learning about (JKs) and reviewing (SKs) 3D Shapes in the man-made and natural world, for example the puffer fish becomes a sphere, an aquarium is a rectangular prism, an owl's eye is a cylinder and so on. It was great hearing the children use this knowledge in conversation, such as "My lunch bag is a cube" "My yogurt cup is a cylinder" and "The bubbles in Bubbles' tank are spheres." Please encourage your child to describe objects with this vocabulary.
To celebrate Earth Day which is April 22nd, I sent a note home about making a toy or object our of recycled materials. We reuse and repurpose a lot of objects in Kindergarten! Our Mystery Object (a daffodil bulb) sprouted roots and leaves but didn't bloom. Maybe it needed soil!
Next week we will continue our Ocean Inquiry, learning about Mollusks and Sea Shells, which is a terrific way to talk about living vs. non-living things. We'll also be learning about Sand, which will end our Inquiry (did you notice we went from Largest to Smallest, starting with the Blue Whale?). We'll also celebrate Spring with a Craft Party! Thank you in advance to the parents who have volunteered for this fun day!
That's the news for this week :)
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Week of March 27-31
Dear families,
I hope you are enjoying the gorgeous weather today! What a change from last week when the kids had to put their snow coats on!
Last week we continued our inquiry about The Ocean. The children learned about starfish and sea horses, made them from paper and wrote about them. We read Eric Carle's book "Mr. Seahorse" and learned about other ocean animals in which the dad takes care of the babies like sea horses do. The children also made clay starfish and positioned them on real shells to dry for their dioramas. They are also making puzzles from their big Ocean colouring page. Because (most) Starfish have five arms, the children played at a "Make Five" Centre, too this week. We watched National Geographic Kids videos about Sea Stars and Sea Horses. With our Reading Buddies we completed a Starfish adjective chart and also started classifying ocean animals into the categories of mollusks, crustaceans, fish, mammals, invertebrates and sea birds. Next week we will learn more about invertebrates (the jellyfish!) and mollusks, which leads nicely into a discussion about living and non-living things (mollusks vs. sea shells). The kids also made as many words as they could with the letters in the word SUBMARINE and STARFISH, and did a word search with ocean words beginning with the letter "S."
Friday was a CRAZY day because it was Crazy Hair Day at LKS, Pizza Day (thank you parent volunteers Elea's mom and Phoebe's mom!) and the Sharing Assembly (congratulations to Ellie, Riley and Sarah who received well-deserved certificates for Honesty!).
A friendly reminder that April's Scholastic orders are due on Monday. The words of the week were WHAT and NEW, like "What's new?"
Thank you so much to Maddie's grandpa who brought in a Conch Shell (wow!), to Ruby who brought tiny seashells, Hudson who shared his Sea Turtle from Chile, and Jackson's Dad who was our Mystery Reader this week!
In Friday's mailbag there was the new April Words and Homework Bingo.
Next week we'll continue our inquiry on the Ocean! Thank you for bringing in clear plastic bottles (with lids!) for our jellyfish activity which we will start this week!
That's the news from Room 166. I hope you have a great week!
I hope you are enjoying the gorgeous weather today! What a change from last week when the kids had to put their snow coats on!
Last week we continued our inquiry about The Ocean. The children learned about starfish and sea horses, made them from paper and wrote about them. We read Eric Carle's book "Mr. Seahorse" and learned about other ocean animals in which the dad takes care of the babies like sea horses do. The children also made clay starfish and positioned them on real shells to dry for their dioramas. They are also making puzzles from their big Ocean colouring page. Because (most) Starfish have five arms, the children played at a "Make Five" Centre, too this week. We watched National Geographic Kids videos about Sea Stars and Sea Horses. With our Reading Buddies we completed a Starfish adjective chart and also started classifying ocean animals into the categories of mollusks, crustaceans, fish, mammals, invertebrates and sea birds. Next week we will learn more about invertebrates (the jellyfish!) and mollusks, which leads nicely into a discussion about living and non-living things (mollusks vs. sea shells). The kids also made as many words as they could with the letters in the word SUBMARINE and STARFISH, and did a word search with ocean words beginning with the letter "S."
Friday was a CRAZY day because it was Crazy Hair Day at LKS, Pizza Day (thank you parent volunteers Elea's mom and Phoebe's mom!) and the Sharing Assembly (congratulations to Ellie, Riley and Sarah who received well-deserved certificates for Honesty!).
A friendly reminder that April's Scholastic orders are due on Monday. The words of the week were WHAT and NEW, like "What's new?"
Thank you so much to Maddie's grandpa who brought in a Conch Shell (wow!), to Ruby who brought tiny seashells, Hudson who shared his Sea Turtle from Chile, and Jackson's Dad who was our Mystery Reader this week!
In Friday's mailbag there was the new April Words and Homework Bingo.
Next week we'll continue our inquiry on the Ocean! Thank you for bringing in clear plastic bottles (with lids!) for our jellyfish activity which we will start this week!
That's the news from Room 166. I hope you have a great week!
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Week of March 20-24
Dear families,
I hope you are enjoying this windy Sunday! A big WELCOME to our new SK student Nathan and his family!
I'll start with all the "Thank Yous" this week: Thank you to Ella, William, and Alex for bringing in and sharing books about the Ocean; Alex, for bringing in ROM coloring sheets from the whale exhibit; Ruby for sharing her ocean puzzle; Sarah, Andrew and Menaal for bringing in sand from their holiday which their classmates will use in their dioramas; Ellie for bringing in shells and sand from her Florida trip; Rielle and Andrew for bringing in shells; Maddie's mom who was our Mystery Reader; and Ruby for collating this month's Scholastic Order! This Scholastic order is due on April 3.
This week we learned two new poems - about Crabs and Lobsters - and circled the "popcorn" (sight) words. They also helped me complete two schema/new learning/misconceptions charts about the octopus and crab. With their Reading Buddies, the children wrote what octopi HAVE, CAN (do) and EAT, and also wrote facts and adjectives about them. We watched National Geographic Kids videos about crabs and octopi.
The children have been asking some awesome questions during this inquiry which led to a great discussion about under-water volcanoes and ocean oil rigs! I have a chunk of lava in the science centre along with shells and sand. In the Computer Lab the children followed up these discussions with more learning about volcanoes and ocean life.
On Friday they started their Glyphs, which reinforce basic numeracy concepts. The children are making a picture/puppet of themselves based on the following criteria: boy/girl; age; whether they prefer the ocean or a pool; and they favourite beach toy. Look for them on display soon in our classroom!
That's the news this week from Room 166. I hope you have a terrific week!
I hope you are enjoying this windy Sunday! A big WELCOME to our new SK student Nathan and his family!
I'll start with all the "Thank Yous" this week: Thank you to Ella, William, and Alex for bringing in and sharing books about the Ocean; Alex, for bringing in ROM coloring sheets from the whale exhibit; Ruby for sharing her ocean puzzle; Sarah, Andrew and Menaal for bringing in sand from their holiday which their classmates will use in their dioramas; Ellie for bringing in shells and sand from her Florida trip; Rielle and Andrew for bringing in shells; Maddie's mom who was our Mystery Reader; and Ruby for collating this month's Scholastic Order! This Scholastic order is due on April 3.
This week we learned two new poems - about Crabs and Lobsters - and circled the "popcorn" (sight) words. They also helped me complete two schema/new learning/misconceptions charts about the octopus and crab. With their Reading Buddies, the children wrote what octopi HAVE, CAN (do) and EAT, and also wrote facts and adjectives about them. We watched National Geographic Kids videos about crabs and octopi.
The children have been asking some awesome questions during this inquiry which led to a great discussion about under-water volcanoes and ocean oil rigs! I have a chunk of lava in the science centre along with shells and sand. In the Computer Lab the children followed up these discussions with more learning about volcanoes and ocean life.
On Friday they started their Glyphs, which reinforce basic numeracy concepts. The children are making a picture/puppet of themselves based on the following criteria: boy/girl; age; whether they prefer the ocean or a pool; and they favourite beach toy. Look for them on display soon in our classroom!
That's the news this week from Room 166. I hope you have a terrific week!
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Week of March 6-10
Dear families,
Last week we continued our inquiry on the Ocean! We read and coloured a booklet called "In the Deep Blue Sea" and have started to decorate the hall bulletin board with ocean life. The children first each painted a large piece of paper blue, and that is our background for the bulletin board. They have finished making Blue Whales and Orcas and have started making sharks! They will be learning and writing about Octopi, Crustaceans, Seahorses, Jellyfish, Mollusks and Sand, and we'll add their work to the board as well go along. It will be awesome! Some of the children said they were going to a beach for the March Break so I gave them little bags to bring some sand back - that will go in their dioramas and they can share it with their friends for their dioramas, too.
We read lots of fiction and non-fiction books about ocean life, whales and sharks, including the classic "Amos and Boris." Our science centre has shells, sand, a sea sponge, coral, a sand dollar, a bracelet made of shell, a real sea horse, a horseshoe crab, and a shark tooth in it!
The children are learning several poems about ocean animals and the ocean. This week they learned "Smiley Shark" and "I'm a Great Big Whale." With their Reading Buddies, they filled out a shark adjective chart, and wrote what sharks CAN (do), HAVE, and EAT. We also watched National Geographic Kids videos about humpback whales, sharks and Orcas, and learned the word "diversity." They listened to the sound of ocean waves during quiet time, and during quiet time they took turns working with us on their bulletin board art. The children helped fill out a Shark Chart with SCHEMA (what they already know), NEW LEARNING ("there are over 400 different kinds of sharks) (sharks have cartilage, not bones) (baby sharks are called pups!) and MISCONCEPTIONS (i.e. "sharks are mean").
Thank you to Sebastian for bringing in an Ocean book; Catherine for bringing in a mermaid puzzle; Ella for sharing her sea turtle stuffy and shell; Rielle for sharing her sea shells; Alex for bringing in amazing photos of the ocean life he saw in Hawaii (a starfish, whale, and dolphins!); Maddie for sharing her stuffy dolphin; and Kate for the postcards she brought from Mexico. Thank you as well to Michai's mom who was our Mystery Reader; Adam from Ms. Kim's class who brought in an amazing painting he made of a real hammerhead shark he saw; and my former students Carly and Lola for pair-share reading "Shark Trouble."
The words of the week are SAY and WITH. Before we said goodbye for the March Break, the children shared their guesses about a "mystery object" (a daffodil bulb :)). We put the mystery object in some water and will revisit our observations and predictions when we come back after the break.
I hope you have a lovely holiday with your wonderful kids - when we come back it will officially be Spring!!
Last week we continued our inquiry on the Ocean! We read and coloured a booklet called "In the Deep Blue Sea" and have started to decorate the hall bulletin board with ocean life. The children first each painted a large piece of paper blue, and that is our background for the bulletin board. They have finished making Blue Whales and Orcas and have started making sharks! They will be learning and writing about Octopi, Crustaceans, Seahorses, Jellyfish, Mollusks and Sand, and we'll add their work to the board as well go along. It will be awesome! Some of the children said they were going to a beach for the March Break so I gave them little bags to bring some sand back - that will go in their dioramas and they can share it with their friends for their dioramas, too.
We read lots of fiction and non-fiction books about ocean life, whales and sharks, including the classic "Amos and Boris." Our science centre has shells, sand, a sea sponge, coral, a sand dollar, a bracelet made of shell, a real sea horse, a horseshoe crab, and a shark tooth in it!
The children are learning several poems about ocean animals and the ocean. This week they learned "Smiley Shark" and "I'm a Great Big Whale." With their Reading Buddies, they filled out a shark adjective chart, and wrote what sharks CAN (do), HAVE, and EAT. We also watched National Geographic Kids videos about humpback whales, sharks and Orcas, and learned the word "diversity." They listened to the sound of ocean waves during quiet time, and during quiet time they took turns working with us on their bulletin board art. The children helped fill out a Shark Chart with SCHEMA (what they already know), NEW LEARNING ("there are over 400 different kinds of sharks) (sharks have cartilage, not bones) (baby sharks are called pups!) and MISCONCEPTIONS (i.e. "sharks are mean").
Thank you to Sebastian for bringing in an Ocean book; Catherine for bringing in a mermaid puzzle; Ella for sharing her sea turtle stuffy and shell; Rielle for sharing her sea shells; Alex for bringing in amazing photos of the ocean life he saw in Hawaii (a starfish, whale, and dolphins!); Maddie for sharing her stuffy dolphin; and Kate for the postcards she brought from Mexico. Thank you as well to Michai's mom who was our Mystery Reader; Adam from Ms. Kim's class who brought in an amazing painting he made of a real hammerhead shark he saw; and my former students Carly and Lola for pair-share reading "Shark Trouble."
The words of the week are SAY and WITH. Before we said goodbye for the March Break, the children shared their guesses about a "mystery object" (a daffodil bulb :)). We put the mystery object in some water and will revisit our observations and predictions when we come back after the break.
I hope you have a lovely holiday with your wonderful kids - when we come back it will officially be Spring!!
Sunday, March 5, 2017
Week of February 27 - March 3
Dear families,
This week we started our inquiry on THE OCEAN! We started small - by learning about our classroom fish, Bubbles the Betta fish :) We went went BIG by learning about the biggest creature on Earth, the Blue Whale! We watched a National Geographic video about the Ocean and about Blue Whales, and played in various classroom centres: tracing blue whales, making a 3-D Blue whale, doing a large ocean puzzle (thank you Ruby for sharing that with us!), writing Blue Whale facts and adjectives, reading ocean and whale books (thank you Alex for sharing books with us!), counting and sorting sea shells on ten-frames (thank you Ella and Alexandra for bringing in extras!), playing pirates and ocean animals in the dramatic centre, doing a blue whale crossword puzzle, labeling a blue whale, and putting together small ocean puzzles. The kids also made 3-letter words in a "There are words in my submarine" centre. During quiet time the children listened to real whale sounds. In Numeracy, the children counted goldfish in groups of 2, 5 and 10 and also added goldfish together. The they ate them :)
We also started our Ocean dioramas - thank you for bringing in shoe boxes for this project. If you have extras we would really appreciate them! The children painted the inside of their shoe boxes and we will be creating a 3-D diorama with each of the ocean animals we learn about. This ties in nicely to the Kindergarten Curriculum expectation of learning about 3-D shapes. We are learning a song called "In the Ocean" and will be learning several poems about ocean animals during this inquiry, copies of which will be sent home. With our Reading Buddies, we wrote what Blue Whales CAN (do), HAVE and EAT, and read a booklet called "In the Deep Blue Sea." In the Computer Lab, the children are learning more about oceans on "Pebble Go." ***This March Break at the ROM there is a special exhibition on WHALES*** - I'm sure the kids would LOVE to see it!!! www.rom.on.ca
The kids had a great time on Wednesday's Field Trip to see Musician Jack Grunsky. Thank you so much to Andrew's mom and Michai's dad for volunteering!! Thank you also to my former students Izzie and Nathalie for reading to the class, to the Grade 8 students who read with the kids each day during home room, and to Jackson's mom who was our Mystery Reader this week!
The children are also making super-cute Leprechaun masks for St. Patrick's Day. Thank you Miss. Santiago for assisting the kids with this!
Next week we will continue our inquiry into oceans, and will learn about Orcas and Sharks!
That's the news from Room 166 - I hope you are having a great Sunday.
This week we started our inquiry on THE OCEAN! We started small - by learning about our classroom fish, Bubbles the Betta fish :) We went went BIG by learning about the biggest creature on Earth, the Blue Whale! We watched a National Geographic video about the Ocean and about Blue Whales, and played in various classroom centres: tracing blue whales, making a 3-D Blue whale, doing a large ocean puzzle (thank you Ruby for sharing that with us!), writing Blue Whale facts and adjectives, reading ocean and whale books (thank you Alex for sharing books with us!), counting and sorting sea shells on ten-frames (thank you Ella and Alexandra for bringing in extras!), playing pirates and ocean animals in the dramatic centre, doing a blue whale crossword puzzle, labeling a blue whale, and putting together small ocean puzzles. The kids also made 3-letter words in a "There are words in my submarine" centre. During quiet time the children listened to real whale sounds. In Numeracy, the children counted goldfish in groups of 2, 5 and 10 and also added goldfish together. The they ate them :)
We also started our Ocean dioramas - thank you for bringing in shoe boxes for this project. If you have extras we would really appreciate them! The children painted the inside of their shoe boxes and we will be creating a 3-D diorama with each of the ocean animals we learn about. This ties in nicely to the Kindergarten Curriculum expectation of learning about 3-D shapes. We are learning a song called "In the Ocean" and will be learning several poems about ocean animals during this inquiry, copies of which will be sent home. With our Reading Buddies, we wrote what Blue Whales CAN (do), HAVE and EAT, and read a booklet called "In the Deep Blue Sea." In the Computer Lab, the children are learning more about oceans on "Pebble Go." ***This March Break at the ROM there is a special exhibition on WHALES*** - I'm sure the kids would LOVE to see it!!! www.rom.on.ca
The kids had a great time on Wednesday's Field Trip to see Musician Jack Grunsky. Thank you so much to Andrew's mom and Michai's dad for volunteering!! Thank you also to my former students Izzie and Nathalie for reading to the class, to the Grade 8 students who read with the kids each day during home room, and to Jackson's mom who was our Mystery Reader this week!
The children are also making super-cute Leprechaun masks for St. Patrick's Day. Thank you Miss. Santiago for assisting the kids with this!
Next week we will continue our inquiry into oceans, and will learn about Orcas and Sharks!
That's the news from Room 166 - I hope you are having a great Sunday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)