Dear families,
We had another great week in Room 166! The words of the week were GO and TO. The letter sound of the week was Dd. We finished up our David Shannon author study, comparing the "David" books and other David Shannon books withe a Venn diagram, watched a David read-aloud story on the Smartboard, and the SKs wrote and drew a picture about why they liked the book "David Goes to School."
Lo and behold, it turns out that David Shannon illustrated kids' books about pirates, too! This week we read a lot of fun pirate books and practised retelling the stories. We made an "Itsy Bitsy Pirate Book," made a pirate glyph (a numeracy activity), made a big treasure map with our reading buddies, painted tea on the map to make it look old, played with a pirate treasure chest full of coins (pennies!), sea shells, a map, pirate hats, and "jewels," and practised talking like pirates do! We also learned how to draw a pirate using our mini white boards and white board markers. Please bring in a paper towel roll next week so your child can make a "pirate telescope."
The children also did their "This is me in November" drawing and writing, and their November calendar. I have put them on display in the hall bulletin board. I'm seeing so much progress since September!
Next week we will do more pirate numeracy, literacy, science and art activities, and will also start our holiday work all about December and Santa. Alfie the Elf on the Shelf might arrive on Monday! We will also start learning our songs in preparation for the Holiday Concert! December is such an exciting month for children.
Today the children brought home a "Christmas Countdown" which is 25 patterned beads and a bell on a pipe cleaner. Each day, the children should move one bead over, and then when all the beads are moved over, they can ring the bell because that is Christmas Day! Please leave these at home so they don't get lost. You can use these year after year just as you would an advent calendar.
To practice self-regulation, the children listened to Cosmic Kids Yoga's "Zen Den" and did Cosmic Kids Yoga "Spezzi the Pirate Parrot" and "Harry Potter Yoga." Learning to quiet our minds and bodies is an important life skill in our busy world, and the children tell me that really enjoy how yoga makes them feel "calm."
In the computer lab with Mrs. Mosun, the kids watched Sesame Street and David Shannon Books.
Thank you to Ella's mom, who was our Mystery Reader this week! She taught the children a song and read a wonderful book called "Ada Twist the Scientist."
Congratulations to Dante, Elise and Emerson for receiving a TDSB award for "Empathy." They demonstrate that they care about how other children feel. Good work!
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, November 30, 2018
Monday, November 26, 2018
Week of November 19-23
Dear families,
I hope you had a nice weekend! This is what we did in our classroom last week:
Literacy:
The letter sound of the week was Mm. The sight words of the week were THIS and WILL. The children traced Mm, coloured pictured that began with the letter sound Mm, matched Mm pictures to Mm words, and independently wrote Mm. We continued our David Shannon author study with more “David” books, which the kids loved. They wrote how to be a “peace maker” instead of a “peace breaker” like David. With our reading buddies, the kids drew a picture and wrote words about what to do and what not to do, like David. The children also traced a “David” alphabet letter sheet, and then they drew and wrote about how to follow rules in the classroom, play ground, lunch room and bathroom (not like David!). The SKs did work on making predictions based on the David books, about what they thought would happen in The “It’s Christmas, David!” Book. Then we read the book together. Making predictions, talking about the beginning, middle and end of stories, and remembering the characters of a story are all important early literacy skills that we work on each day. The SKs also wrote and drew a picture about what they liked about the book “David Goes to School.” The JKs arevworking on letter formation and letter sound recognition.
In Numeracy, we graphed and tallied how many children went to the Santa Claus Parade, how many watched it on t.v., and how many did not watch it. We also worked with our 10-frames.
In Art, the children made David puppets. We do a lot of cutting and gluing each week. A pair of child-safe scissors at home will really help your child improve this important small-motor skill, and will build up their confidence!
In Science, I showed the children several every day objects and the children predicted which would sink and which would float, and then we tested them! The classroom Science Centre has the three primary colours of yellow, red and blue food colouring mixed with water. The kids really enjoyed using a dropping pipette to put a drop of colour in a tray with little boxes (kind of like an ice cube tray that makes tiny ice cubes!). Theybwere amazed at all of shades of colours they could create wi5 just yellow, red and blue. Being translucent (water and food colouring) helps them really see the different shades and. Artery of colour. Using pipettes is also good to develop small motor skills!
In Self-Regulation, the children are learning mindful meditation. We read a great book called “I Am Peace” and listened to “Mindful Meditation for Kids” on the Smartboard. We also did Cosmic Kids Yoga to “Popcorn the Pirate.”
In the Computer Lab with Mrs. Mosun, the kids worked on Starfall, read books on the computer, and did ABCya.
Thank you very much to Shay’s mom who was our Mystery Reader, and to Reina’s mom and Casey’s mom who helped with pizza lunch.
The kids had fun watching the school-wide “Minute to Win It” challenge in the gym. LKS has great school spirit!
This week we will finish our author study and we will start our fun literacy and numeracy unit on Pirates!! Aaarghhh!
The next Scholastic order is due on December 6th. Books make wonderful holiday gifts! Let me know if your order is a gift and I will be sure to hand it directly to you at dismissal so it’s still a surprise!
Have a wonderful week!
I hope you had a nice weekend! This is what we did in our classroom last week:
Literacy:
The letter sound of the week was Mm. The sight words of the week were THIS and WILL. The children traced Mm, coloured pictured that began with the letter sound Mm, matched Mm pictures to Mm words, and independently wrote Mm. We continued our David Shannon author study with more “David” books, which the kids loved. They wrote how to be a “peace maker” instead of a “peace breaker” like David. With our reading buddies, the kids drew a picture and wrote words about what to do and what not to do, like David. The children also traced a “David” alphabet letter sheet, and then they drew and wrote about how to follow rules in the classroom, play ground, lunch room and bathroom (not like David!). The SKs did work on making predictions based on the David books, about what they thought would happen in The “It’s Christmas, David!” Book. Then we read the book together. Making predictions, talking about the beginning, middle and end of stories, and remembering the characters of a story are all important early literacy skills that we work on each day. The SKs also wrote and drew a picture about what they liked about the book “David Goes to School.” The JKs arevworking on letter formation and letter sound recognition.
In Numeracy, we graphed and tallied how many children went to the Santa Claus Parade, how many watched it on t.v., and how many did not watch it. We also worked with our 10-frames.
In Art, the children made David puppets. We do a lot of cutting and gluing each week. A pair of child-safe scissors at home will really help your child improve this important small-motor skill, and will build up their confidence!
In Science, I showed the children several every day objects and the children predicted which would sink and which would float, and then we tested them! The classroom Science Centre has the three primary colours of yellow, red and blue food colouring mixed with water. The kids really enjoyed using a dropping pipette to put a drop of colour in a tray with little boxes (kind of like an ice cube tray that makes tiny ice cubes!). Theybwere amazed at all of shades of colours they could create wi5 just yellow, red and blue. Being translucent (water and food colouring) helps them really see the different shades and. Artery of colour. Using pipettes is also good to develop small motor skills!
In Self-Regulation, the children are learning mindful meditation. We read a great book called “I Am Peace” and listened to “Mindful Meditation for Kids” on the Smartboard. We also did Cosmic Kids Yoga to “Popcorn the Pirate.”
In the Computer Lab with Mrs. Mosun, the kids worked on Starfall, read books on the computer, and did ABCya.
Thank you very much to Shay’s mom who was our Mystery Reader, and to Reina’s mom and Casey’s mom who helped with pizza lunch.
The kids had fun watching the school-wide “Minute to Win It” challenge in the gym. LKS has great school spirit!
This week we will finish our author study and we will start our fun literacy and numeracy unit on Pirates!! Aaarghhh!
The next Scholastic order is due on December 6th. Books make wonderful holiday gifts! Let me know if your order is a gift and I will be sure to hand it directly to you at dismissal so it’s still a surprise!
Have a wonderful week!
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