Dear families,
We started our unit on penguins this week and the children about their habitat, characteristics, behaviour, and life cycle. The children are really enthusiastic about this topic and we have been doing fun literacy and numeracy activities tied to the theme; the SKs fed the paper bag penguin sight word "fish," the JKs and SKs pretended they were penguins and ate (gold) fish (crackers!) in PINGO, the JKs matched small letters to capital letters with a penguin flip book, and we all started our Penguin Folders (these will go home when we are finished our unit).
The Science Table is now a water table with various absorptive materials. The children are having fun learning about which materials absorb water more readily - different kinds of sponges, chamois, paper towels, cotton balls, and dish cloths.
This month's sharing assembly will be about teamwork. We enjoyed reading "Perfect Snow" by the wonderful author and artist Barbara Reid, and talked about how the children worked together in the story. The children also enjoyed listening to author Frieda Wishnisky in the library. Www.friedawishnisky.com
This week we will continue learning about penguins. We will also finish our snowman art.
Our Kindness Quilts are on the hallway bulletin board. Please take a moment to look at the beautiful and thoughtful work your children have done.
The next Scholastic order is due January 31.
If anyone still has the mystery bag please return it. Thank you!
I hope you have a wonderful week!
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Happy Holidays
Dear families,
Thank you very much for your lovely cards and wonderful gifts. It is my pleasure and privilege to teach your wonderful children each day.
A special thank you to the Jakob's family for taking taking of Bubbles the Beta fish over the holidays, and thank you so much to the parents who made our holiday craft party such a success!
I hope you have a wonderful holiday!
Mrs. Tyndall
Thank you very much for your lovely cards and wonderful gifts. It is my pleasure and privilege to teach your wonderful children each day.
A special thank you to the Jakob's family for taking taking of Bubbles the Beta fish over the holidays, and thank you so much to the parents who made our holiday craft party such a success!
I hope you have a wonderful holiday!
Mrs. Tyndall
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Week of December 16-19
Dear families,
Last week we continued with our holiday-themed activities and also worked/played at five centres: letter/letter sound bingo, magnet letter/number tracing, letter tracing, number bingo and a sight word game.
At this week's Sharing Assembly please bring a Santa or elf hat for your child. I hope to see you then!
With our Reading Buddies we practiced our Holiday words and made our mobiles. This week we sang holiday songs at the piano, did holiday addition and subtraction (SK), dot-to-dot alphabet (JK), did a fun word recognition game on the SmartBoard, and learned about the importance of being kind when we read The Kindness Quilt. We will be making a kindness quilt made of paper in the new year. Look for it on our hallway bulletin board!
On Tuesday it is Career day at LKS - dress for the career you'd like to have.
If you are volunteering for Thursday's Holiday craft party, thank you in advance for your help! I have lots of fun crafts ready to go. If you are doing white bags on Thursday, please come at the beginning of class since there will be a lot if things going home and the children will be putting their crafts in their bags as well.
I hope you have a wonderful week! Thank you for your continued support.
Mrs. Tyndall
Last week we continued with our holiday-themed activities and also worked/played at five centres: letter/letter sound bingo, magnet letter/number tracing, letter tracing, number bingo and a sight word game.
At this week's Sharing Assembly please bring a Santa or elf hat for your child. I hope to see you then!
With our Reading Buddies we practiced our Holiday words and made our mobiles. This week we sang holiday songs at the piano, did holiday addition and subtraction (SK), dot-to-dot alphabet (JK), did a fun word recognition game on the SmartBoard, and learned about the importance of being kind when we read The Kindness Quilt. We will be making a kindness quilt made of paper in the new year. Look for it on our hallway bulletin board!
On Tuesday it is Career day at LKS - dress for the career you'd like to have.
If you are volunteering for Thursday's Holiday craft party, thank you in advance for your help! I have lots of fun crafts ready to go. If you are doing white bags on Thursday, please come at the beginning of class since there will be a lot if things going home and the children will be putting their crafts in their bags as well.
I hope you have a wonderful week! Thank you for your continued support.
Mrs. Tyndall
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Week of December 9-13
Dear families,
It's had to believe that there are only two more school weeks until our Holiday Break. In the classroom we are counting down the days and counting up the days until December 19 (last day of school) and December 25 (Christmas). We are also learning about Hanukkah traditions as well as Kwanzaa.
The Snuggle Books that go home in Friday's mail bags will stop this Friday. I would appreciate it if you have misplaced a book (a note would have been sent home) to double check one more time. If you still can't find the book, the fine is 3.00. If you are unsure of the title, I have a record in my classroom. A very special thank you to the parents who have done all the white bags and snuggle books this term. I know you are all busy and the time commitment that you have given is much appreciated. The children and I are very fortunate to have this kind of support. Thank you again to all the parents who volunteer their time on a regular basis.
Now that the weather is getting colder with more and more chance of snow, it is important that the children are dressed warmly for outdoor play. Names on clothes would really help as well to find the right owner if something gets lost. I have a bag with several lost articles in the cubby room waiting to find their home! It is amazing when I hold up lost articles and no one claims them - sometimes the children don't remember what is theirs.
With our Grade 2/3 Reading Buddies we read Holiday books and made Santa/Rudolph mobiles. The Grade 8 Reading Buddies continue to help the children on their path to reading and the children themselves are "reading buddies" to each other at the start of each day. "If you can read it, you can write it!" I'm really seeing excellent progress which is wonderful. The children are very proud of themselves, and so am I!
We have made a beads/bell countdown to December 25 which went home in Friday`s mail bag. Each night before your child goes to sleep, s/he moves one bead over towards the bell. When all the beads have been moved over, it's December 25 and they can ring the bell!
The SKs read and followed simple written instructions about Holiday themed items to draw (by colour and number i.e. "Draw two red and white candy canes, one big and one small"). The JKs are learning their colour words and coloured in reindeer lights. All the children completed a booklet called, "Christmas is..." Their fine motor skills (small movement - writing, tracing, colouring, cutting, etc.) are really coming along. We are also learning several holiday words and the children are enjoying the "Write a Letter to Santa/Write a Holiday Card" Centre. I think their favourite part is putting the cards in the classroom mailbox!
We also did a graphing exercise about the kinds of items the children wanted most from Santa, and compared Morning and Afternoon Classes (more, same, less, the most, the least).
The last of the Scholastic orders are on their way. If anyone ordered a Crayola Treasure Adventures game for the Nintendo DS or a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles book please let me know.
This week we will continue talking, reading and writing about the upcoming holidays and we will also make keepsake ornaments made from a mixture of cinnamon, applesauce and white glue. They will smell delicious! Let me know if you would like the recipe.
We will also be talking (as we do regularly) about Kindness and Caring (December's TDSB Character Trait), and we will be reading "The Kindness Quilt."
For our JK parents, here are some tips to accelerate your child's reading progress:
Play with letters, words, and sounds! Having fun with language helps your child learn to crack the code of reading. The tips below offer some fun ways you can help your child become a happy and confident reader. Try a new tip each week. See what works best for your child.
Talk to your child. Ask your child to talk about his day at school. Encourage him to explain something they did, or a game he played during indoor/outdoor play.
Say silly tongue twisters. Sing songs, read rhyming books, and say silly tongue twisters. These help kids become sensitive to the sounds in words.
Read it and experience it. Connect what your child reads with what happens in life. If reading a book about animals, relate it to your last trip to the zoo.
Use your child's name. Point out the link between letters and sounds. Say, "John, the word jump begins with the same sound as your name. John, jump. And they both begin with the same letter, J."
Play with puppets. Play language games with puppets. Have the puppet say, "My name is Mark. I like words that rhyme with my name. Does park rhyme with Mark? Does ball rhyme with Mark?"
Trace and say letters. Have your child use a finger to trace a letter while saying the letter's sound. Do this on paper, in sand, or on a plate of sugar.
Write it down. Have paper and pencils available for your child to use for writing. Working together, write a sentence or two about something special. Encourage her to use the letters and sounds she's learning about in school.
Play sound games. Practice blending sounds into words. Ask "Can you guess what this word is? m - o - p." Hold each sound longer than normal.
Read it again and again. Go ahead and read your child's favorite book for the 100th time! As you read, pause and ask your child about what is going on in the book.
Talk about letters and sounds. Help your child learn the names of the letters and the sounds the letters make. Turn it into a game! "I'm thinking of a letter and it makes the sound mmmmmm."
Most important of all, enjoy this special time with your child.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Tyndall
It's had to believe that there are only two more school weeks until our Holiday Break. In the classroom we are counting down the days and counting up the days until December 19 (last day of school) and December 25 (Christmas). We are also learning about Hanukkah traditions as well as Kwanzaa.
The Snuggle Books that go home in Friday's mail bags will stop this Friday. I would appreciate it if you have misplaced a book (a note would have been sent home) to double check one more time. If you still can't find the book, the fine is 3.00. If you are unsure of the title, I have a record in my classroom. A very special thank you to the parents who have done all the white bags and snuggle books this term. I know you are all busy and the time commitment that you have given is much appreciated. The children and I are very fortunate to have this kind of support. Thank you again to all the parents who volunteer their time on a regular basis.
Now that the weather is getting colder with more and more chance of snow, it is important that the children are dressed warmly for outdoor play. Names on clothes would really help as well to find the right owner if something gets lost. I have a bag with several lost articles in the cubby room waiting to find their home! It is amazing when I hold up lost articles and no one claims them - sometimes the children don't remember what is theirs.
With our Grade 2/3 Reading Buddies we read Holiday books and made Santa/Rudolph mobiles. The Grade 8 Reading Buddies continue to help the children on their path to reading and the children themselves are "reading buddies" to each other at the start of each day. "If you can read it, you can write it!" I'm really seeing excellent progress which is wonderful. The children are very proud of themselves, and so am I!
We have made a beads/bell countdown to December 25 which went home in Friday`s mail bag. Each night before your child goes to sleep, s/he moves one bead over towards the bell. When all the beads have been moved over, it's December 25 and they can ring the bell!
The SKs read and followed simple written instructions about Holiday themed items to draw (by colour and number i.e. "Draw two red and white candy canes, one big and one small"). The JKs are learning their colour words and coloured in reindeer lights. All the children completed a booklet called, "Christmas is..." Their fine motor skills (small movement - writing, tracing, colouring, cutting, etc.) are really coming along. We are also learning several holiday words and the children are enjoying the "Write a Letter to Santa/Write a Holiday Card" Centre. I think their favourite part is putting the cards in the classroom mailbox!
We also did a graphing exercise about the kinds of items the children wanted most from Santa, and compared Morning and Afternoon Classes (more, same, less, the most, the least).
The last of the Scholastic orders are on their way. If anyone ordered a Crayola Treasure Adventures game for the Nintendo DS or a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles book please let me know.
This week we will continue talking, reading and writing about the upcoming holidays and we will also make keepsake ornaments made from a mixture of cinnamon, applesauce and white glue. They will smell delicious! Let me know if you would like the recipe.
We will also be talking (as we do regularly) about Kindness and Caring (December's TDSB Character Trait), and we will be reading "The Kindness Quilt."
For our JK parents, here are some tips to accelerate your child's reading progress:
Play with letters, words, and sounds! Having fun with language helps your child learn to crack the code of reading. The tips below offer some fun ways you can help your child become a happy and confident reader. Try a new tip each week. See what works best for your child.
Talk to your child. Ask your child to talk about his day at school. Encourage him to explain something they did, or a game he played during indoor/outdoor play.
Say silly tongue twisters. Sing songs, read rhyming books, and say silly tongue twisters. These help kids become sensitive to the sounds in words.
Read it and experience it. Connect what your child reads with what happens in life. If reading a book about animals, relate it to your last trip to the zoo.
Use your child's name. Point out the link between letters and sounds. Say, "John, the word jump begins with the same sound as your name. John, jump. And they both begin with the same letter, J."
Play with puppets. Play language games with puppets. Have the puppet say, "My name is Mark. I like words that rhyme with my name. Does park rhyme with Mark? Does ball rhyme with Mark?"
Trace and say letters. Have your child use a finger to trace a letter while saying the letter's sound. Do this on paper, in sand, or on a plate of sugar.
Write it down. Have paper and pencils available for your child to use for writing. Working together, write a sentence or two about something special. Encourage her to use the letters and sounds she's learning about in school.
Play sound games. Practice blending sounds into words. Ask "Can you guess what this word is? m - o - p." Hold each sound longer than normal.
Read it again and again. Go ahead and read your child's favorite book for the 100th time! As you read, pause and ask your child about what is going on in the book.
Talk about letters and sounds. Help your child learn the names of the letters and the sounds the letters make. Turn it into a game! "I'm thinking of a letter and it makes the sound mmmmmm."
Most important of all, enjoy this special time with your child.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Tyndall
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Week of December 2-6
Dear families,
As the holidays draw near the children are becoming more excited with all the festivities both at home and at school. I never tire of watching the holiday season through my students' eyes. The innocence and wonder of a four and five year old at this time of the year is truly a beautiful thing to behold. I feel very fortunate to be part of their world as we delve into holiday festivities here at school. The classroom decorations look wonderful! A special thank you to my wonderful Co-Op student Emma (who helps in the afternoon class 2-3 days/week) who helped decorate our classroom.
We will be doing a Santa countdown with patterned beads, including days of the week and weekends. Ask your child how many days until December 25! I am sure s/he will be able to tell you since we are counting by ones and twos and tens and every possible way we can until that magic number! This is an excellent way to reinforce number recognition and numerical order.
I am busy preparing for the Craft Party on December 19th and I am also setting up a "post office" so the children can write Christmas post cards to their friends and family. They love doing this and I simply use recycled cards from previous years which I have cut in half i.e. they write on the back of the picture, like a post card. Please save your old Christmas/holiday cards and kindly send them to our class so that we can "recycle" them in our class for next year's holiday season. They also make wonderful crafts. I welcome any kind of used cards - birthday, mother's day, father's day, etc. The children love to write/make cards and it is good writing and reading practice! The children also love opportunities to show how much they love their family and cards are perfect for this.
This week we finished our unit on Fairy Tales and a lot of reading, writing and learning came from the three stories we studied. The children also did a lot of retelling, sequencing and patterning activities based on the stories, which is good practice for Grade 1 and beyond. This week children learned about healthy ("real") foods from Little Red Riding Hood who you may recall was bringing food to her sick grandmother, and we talked about which foods would make grandma better by looking at simple grocery flyer. The children then each got a flyer of their own and cut healthy foods (and flowers too just like in the story) for Gramma, which they then put into paper baskets and in then their literature pockets along with all their other wonderful work. In their Literature Pocket for this story, along with a simple version of the story, is a little book with no words at all. This is excellent for re-telling, as are the little puppets they made; it is an important comprehension skill going forward as they learn now only how to read using their phonetic knowledge but are able to understand what they have read. Prediction, summarizing and retelling are important aspects of literacy. We also read two modern and funny versions of Little Red Riding Hood which the children enjoyed. Interestingly, the children liked the original Charles Perrault story the best! Maybe because it was a little bit scary but had a happy ending...
Our Word Wall is filling up with high frequency/sight words and I am impressed by how many the children know already! The children can refer to this wall when they are creating stories or need to know how to spell a word.
In the Little Red Hen literature pocket that went home on Friday, there was a sheet with story-related words to cut out, from which the SKs can make sentences based on the story (again, retelling and sentence structure).
We continued our numeracy lesson on patterns and sequencing this week; the JKs made patterns with two colours, the SKs with three.
Our Holiday Sharing Assembly will be on December 19. The children should wear a Santa or Elf hat please for this special assembly. I hope you will be able to join us!
Thank you to Lilia's mom and Megan's dad who were our wonderful Mystery Readers this week. Thank you to Lexa's mom who did the morning white bags and Brady's mom who did the afternoon white bags. Thank you also to our Grade Parents who prepare the volunteer calendars for each month. Thank you again for all your time.
JK homework this week is to complete the "Number Poem Book." The little rhymes help them learn how to form their numbers. Don't worry if your child's early number writing has some backwards numbers - this is normal as the children learn how to form them (always top to bottom, and left to right except for 6, 8 and 9!). It takes a lot of practice! SK homework is to practice their numbers 1-31 and beyond (lots of patterns!) and to continue work on their phonics duotang. We completed our November calendar in class and I am pleased with the children's neat number writing!
LKS parent volunteers have very kindly prepared donation baskets for needy families in the Stonegate community. The donation baskets will be in my classroom by the back door, along with a description of the items needed by our class's families.
Morning Class: Family #11
Single mother with 2 year old girl
Needs: Wipes, gift certificates to any store, food vouchers, household items such as dish soap, detergent, fabric softener, children's books, clothing size 3, socks, gloves, puzzles
Afternoon Class: Family #14
Single mother of 4 year old girl
Needs: Food vouchers, scarf and glove set for mother, household items, dish towels, detergent, non-perishable food items, child loves cats, clothing size 6.
Thank you for your generous support of a family in need this holiday season.
Please take a moment to read/sing the poetry/song sheets I send home with your child every week. The children love to perform them and this is a wonderful opportunity to sit and read together!
I would once again like to say how very much I enjoyed meeting you at the interviews. Thank you for coming. On Friday, December 6 I will be at a media literacy training session and there will be a supply teacher.
Enjoy this magical time with your children. It passes all too quickly and the next thing you know they are grown up! I know this from my own children and I remember very well when they were in Kindergarten...
Thank you for your continued support,
Mrs. Tyndall
As the holidays draw near the children are becoming more excited with all the festivities both at home and at school. I never tire of watching the holiday season through my students' eyes. The innocence and wonder of a four and five year old at this time of the year is truly a beautiful thing to behold. I feel very fortunate to be part of their world as we delve into holiday festivities here at school. The classroom decorations look wonderful! A special thank you to my wonderful Co-Op student Emma (who helps in the afternoon class 2-3 days/week) who helped decorate our classroom.
We will be doing a Santa countdown with patterned beads, including days of the week and weekends. Ask your child how many days until December 25! I am sure s/he will be able to tell you since we are counting by ones and twos and tens and every possible way we can until that magic number! This is an excellent way to reinforce number recognition and numerical order.
I am busy preparing for the Craft Party on December 19th and I am also setting up a "post office" so the children can write Christmas post cards to their friends and family. They love doing this and I simply use recycled cards from previous years which I have cut in half i.e. they write on the back of the picture, like a post card. Please save your old Christmas/holiday cards and kindly send them to our class so that we can "recycle" them in our class for next year's holiday season. They also make wonderful crafts. I welcome any kind of used cards - birthday, mother's day, father's day, etc. The children love to write/make cards and it is good writing and reading practice! The children also love opportunities to show how much they love their family and cards are perfect for this.
This week we finished our unit on Fairy Tales and a lot of reading, writing and learning came from the three stories we studied. The children also did a lot of retelling, sequencing and patterning activities based on the stories, which is good practice for Grade 1 and beyond. This week children learned about healthy ("real") foods from Little Red Riding Hood who you may recall was bringing food to her sick grandmother, and we talked about which foods would make grandma better by looking at simple grocery flyer. The children then each got a flyer of their own and cut healthy foods (and flowers too just like in the story) for Gramma, which they then put into paper baskets and in then their literature pockets along with all their other wonderful work. In their Literature Pocket for this story, along with a simple version of the story, is a little book with no words at all. This is excellent for re-telling, as are the little puppets they made; it is an important comprehension skill going forward as they learn now only how to read using their phonetic knowledge but are able to understand what they have read. Prediction, summarizing and retelling are important aspects of literacy. We also read two modern and funny versions of Little Red Riding Hood which the children enjoyed. Interestingly, the children liked the original Charles Perrault story the best! Maybe because it was a little bit scary but had a happy ending...
Our Word Wall is filling up with high frequency/sight words and I am impressed by how many the children know already! The children can refer to this wall when they are creating stories or need to know how to spell a word.
In the Little Red Hen literature pocket that went home on Friday, there was a sheet with story-related words to cut out, from which the SKs can make sentences based on the story (again, retelling and sentence structure).
We continued our numeracy lesson on patterns and sequencing this week; the JKs made patterns with two colours, the SKs with three.
Our Holiday Sharing Assembly will be on December 19. The children should wear a Santa or Elf hat please for this special assembly. I hope you will be able to join us!
Thank you to Lilia's mom and Megan's dad who were our wonderful Mystery Readers this week. Thank you to Lexa's mom who did the morning white bags and Brady's mom who did the afternoon white bags. Thank you also to our Grade Parents who prepare the volunteer calendars for each month. Thank you again for all your time.
JK homework this week is to complete the "Number Poem Book." The little rhymes help them learn how to form their numbers. Don't worry if your child's early number writing has some backwards numbers - this is normal as the children learn how to form them (always top to bottom, and left to right except for 6, 8 and 9!). It takes a lot of practice! SK homework is to practice their numbers 1-31 and beyond (lots of patterns!) and to continue work on their phonics duotang. We completed our November calendar in class and I am pleased with the children's neat number writing!
LKS parent volunteers have very kindly prepared donation baskets for needy families in the Stonegate community. The donation baskets will be in my classroom by the back door, along with a description of the items needed by our class's families.
Morning Class: Family #11
Single mother with 2 year old girl
Needs: Wipes, gift certificates to any store, food vouchers, household items such as dish soap, detergent, fabric softener, children's books, clothing size 3, socks, gloves, puzzles
Afternoon Class: Family #14
Single mother of 4 year old girl
Needs: Food vouchers, scarf and glove set for mother, household items, dish towels, detergent, non-perishable food items, child loves cats, clothing size 6.
Thank you for your generous support of a family in need this holiday season.
Please take a moment to read/sing the poetry/song sheets I send home with your child every week. The children love to perform them and this is a wonderful opportunity to sit and read together!
I would once again like to say how very much I enjoyed meeting you at the interviews. Thank you for coming. On Friday, December 6 I will be at a media literacy training session and there will be a supply teacher.
Enjoy this magical time with your children. It passes all too quickly and the next thing you know they are grown up! I know this from my own children and I remember very well when they were in Kindergarten...
Thank you for your continued support,
Mrs. Tyndall
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