Dear families,
Happy weekend!
The words of the week were WOULD and THEY. Thank you to our Mystery Reader this week, Kipling’s mom! The children also enjoyed a visit from author Deborah Kerbel, who wrote the lovely book “Sun Dog.”
In Friday’s mailbag you will find all the children’s learning about insects! We finished this inquiry this week, learning about metamorphosis, hives, bees, beeswax, and honey! The children “made” the cells of a hive using a hexagram block, practiced their symmetry skills by drawing the second half of a butterfly, watched Science Show Kid’s videos on metamorphosis and bees, and watched a “Magic School Bus” episode about bees.
We also read Eric Carle’s lovely book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” practising our retell skills and playing in a Very Hungry Caterpillar centre. The kids also wrote a little book.
This week the children’s sunflowers successfully germinated and sprouted, and the kids brought their egg cups home to plant in your garden or a large pot, in a sunny spot! In our classroom, we also planted a pea from Hope’s snack that had germinated!
Next week we will continue our learning about plants.
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! Go Raptors!
Saturday, May 25, 2019
Friday, May 17, 2019
Week of May 13-17
Dear families,
I hope you are having a wonderful start to your weekend! The weather is beautiful!
This week was another busy one! The words of the week are DID and SOME. We had a wonderful trip to Reptilia, and the children saw so many small and big reptiles! Thank you so much to our parent volunteers: the wonderful moms of Evelyn, Casey and Reina! They did a follow up activity with their reading buddies, drawing turtles and other reptiles.
The children also enjoyed going to the Scholastic Book Fair in the Library.
We have started to learn about how plants grow (after the pistol has been pollinated by the pollen on the stamen and then makes seeds!), and the children have all filled their empty eggs with potting soil and planted a sunflower seed. We are tracking what happens to them each day. We also planted a sunflower seed in a little sealed bag with soil and water (like a mini terrarium). This sunflower seed pollinated quickly! A bpacket of sunflower seeds is in your child's mail bag to plant at home!
We also learned about pollination and bees. The children watched short educational videos about pollinators and parts of flowers, and they are taking a closer look at a real tulip and the pollen on the stamen. Then they are putting a bit of white glue on a diagram of a bee, and then sprinkling "pollen" on the bee's legs. They also did a dot-to-dot number picture of a bee hive.
The children also enjoyed taking apart a big Paper Wasp nest, and looking at the "cells" inside. We also looked at their friends through a view finder to see how insects see, with compound eyes. Then they drew their friends faces many times, just like an insect would see.
The children really enjoyed playing "Hangman" with Mrs. Mosun, guessing the names of different insects. We also compared insects and spiders. The children will finish their Insect Inquiry and folders when we come back next week.
Have a wonderful weekend!
I hope you are having a wonderful start to your weekend! The weather is beautiful!
This week was another busy one! The words of the week are DID and SOME. We had a wonderful trip to Reptilia, and the children saw so many small and big reptiles! Thank you so much to our parent volunteers: the wonderful moms of Evelyn, Casey and Reina! They did a follow up activity with their reading buddies, drawing turtles and other reptiles.
The children also enjoyed going to the Scholastic Book Fair in the Library.
We have started to learn about how plants grow (after the pistol has been pollinated by the pollen on the stamen and then makes seeds!), and the children have all filled their empty eggs with potting soil and planted a sunflower seed. We are tracking what happens to them each day. We also planted a sunflower seed in a little sealed bag with soil and water (like a mini terrarium). This sunflower seed pollinated quickly! A bpacket of sunflower seeds is in your child's mail bag to plant at home!
We also learned about pollination and bees. The children watched short educational videos about pollinators and parts of flowers, and they are taking a closer look at a real tulip and the pollen on the stamen. Then they are putting a bit of white glue on a diagram of a bee, and then sprinkling "pollen" on the bee's legs. They also did a dot-to-dot number picture of a bee hive.
The children also enjoyed taking apart a big Paper Wasp nest, and looking at the "cells" inside. We also looked at their friends through a view finder to see how insects see, with compound eyes. Then they drew their friends faces many times, just like an insect would see.
The children really enjoyed playing "Hangman" with Mrs. Mosun, guessing the names of different insects. We also compared insects and spiders. The children will finish their Insect Inquiry and folders when we come back next week.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, May 10, 2019
Week of May 6-10
Dear families,
Happy Mother's Day! Your children have two special gifts to give you on Sunday :). I hope you have a wonderful day on Sunday! You deserve it!
This week we continued our inquiry on Insects! We learned facts about the firefly and the praying mantis. We also watched a Binoc episode about mosquitoes and a Magic School Bus episode about insects. We watched a Binoc episode about fireflies, and read Eric Carle's lovely book "The Very Lonely Firefly." The children made firefly and praying mantis puppets. With their reading buddies, the kids read and coloured a little book I made called "Dragonfly, Dragonfly, What do you See?," following the pattern of Eric Carle's beloved book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear." Pattern books (books with repeated words, phrases on each page), are an important step in teaching children to read, and they give children a feeling of success because the patterns are easily followed. The children also made a pattern booklet called "Is it an Insect?" and learned about which creatures eat insects, and what insects eat. They are also learning about where they live and how they build their homes.
We continue to do Mindful Meditation every day during Quiet Time, and this week they did Cosmic Kids Yoga "Fairy Floss" and "Frozen" episodes. They enjoyed holding onto feathers and pompoms to help refocus their minds and be calm.
We have also started to rehearse for the June 21st Sharing Assembly! I think the children are enjoying learning how to and teaching their friends how to say "Hello" in their native language and the language of their ancestors!
Our Mystery Reader this week was Chris' father - thank you! Thank you as well to the moms of Abigail, Emma, twins Estella and Simonne, Kipling and Reina for assisting the children during the Art in Action Artist visit!
The words of the week were THERE and THAT. We are also working on the double letter sounds TH, SH and CH. These double letter sounds occur in many English words.
This Wednesday is our field trip to Reptilia. Please remember to pack two snacks and a litterless lunch.
This Thursday, May 16 is the Scholastic Book Fair in the Library. Don't forget to send money in a plastic baggie with your child's name on it, if you wish your child to purchase a book.
That's the news for this week! I hope you have a lovely weekend and I wish you a WONDERFUL Mother's Day!!
Happy Mother's Day! Your children have two special gifts to give you on Sunday :). I hope you have a wonderful day on Sunday! You deserve it!
This week we continued our inquiry on Insects! We learned facts about the firefly and the praying mantis. We also watched a Binoc episode about mosquitoes and a Magic School Bus episode about insects. We watched a Binoc episode about fireflies, and read Eric Carle's lovely book "The Very Lonely Firefly." The children made firefly and praying mantis puppets. With their reading buddies, the kids read and coloured a little book I made called "Dragonfly, Dragonfly, What do you See?," following the pattern of Eric Carle's beloved book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear." Pattern books (books with repeated words, phrases on each page), are an important step in teaching children to read, and they give children a feeling of success because the patterns are easily followed. The children also made a pattern booklet called "Is it an Insect?" and learned about which creatures eat insects, and what insects eat. They are also learning about where they live and how they build their homes.
We continue to do Mindful Meditation every day during Quiet Time, and this week they did Cosmic Kids Yoga "Fairy Floss" and "Frozen" episodes. They enjoyed holding onto feathers and pompoms to help refocus their minds and be calm.
We have also started to rehearse for the June 21st Sharing Assembly! I think the children are enjoying learning how to and teaching their friends how to say "Hello" in their native language and the language of their ancestors!
Our Mystery Reader this week was Chris' father - thank you! Thank you as well to the moms of Abigail, Emma, twins Estella and Simonne, Kipling and Reina for assisting the children during the Art in Action Artist visit!
The words of the week were THERE and THAT. We are also working on the double letter sounds TH, SH and CH. These double letter sounds occur in many English words.
This Wednesday is our field trip to Reptilia. Please remember to pack two snacks and a litterless lunch.
This Thursday, May 16 is the Scholastic Book Fair in the Library. Don't forget to send money in a plastic baggie with your child's name on it, if you wish your child to purchase a book.
That's the news for this week! I hope you have a lovely weekend and I wish you a WONDERFUL Mother's Day!!
Friday, May 3, 2019
Week of April 29-May 3
Dear families,
May is here! This week we continued our inquiry on INSECTS and the children had a fun time participating in X-FUSION! We also welcomed Ethan, our new JK student!
The words of the week were LITTLE and OUT. Thank you to our volunteers this week: Mila's dad, Elise's dad and Sophie's mom were Mystery Readers, and Mrs. Mosun's daughter Soheila dropped in for a visit, too! Thank you so much to Elise, who taught us a song about insect body parts and brought in a lovely lift-the-flap book about bees! We will learn all about bees later in May. Thank you as well to Ella, who shared her Eric Carle book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." We will learn all about caterpillars and butterflies later in May!
The Show-and-Tell item for May is "My Favourite Animal." When it is your child's special day, please encourage them to learn what their favourite animal eats, where it lives, and what it looks like. For example, Reina told us all about camels! Mrs. Mosun followed this up by a lesson in the computer lab about camels!
The children enjoyed reading the wonderful Eric Carle story "The Grouchy Ladybug, and they learned about the life cycle of a lady bug, and made a ladybug booklet. They are also learning a song called "Entomologist, are learning how to draw insects, and are learning about the body parts of insects (and how they are different than spiders!). There are a lot of (real and plastic) insects in our Science Centre. By looking through special eye glasses, the children are learning how bugs see their world with their compound lenses.
The children also completed a writing and drawing exercise called "It really BUGS me when..."
The next scholastic order is due May 16. Also on May 16 is our class visit to the Scholastic Book Fair in the library! If you would like your child to purchase a book(s), please put the money in a plastic zip-locked bag with their name on it. Thank you! Our Artist visit is next week! We are going on a field trip to Reptilia the week after next! Lots of exciting things are happening this month!
Next week we will continue our learning about INSECTS and will also learn about which animals eat them, which is...... REPTILES! Perfect timing to learn about reptiles before we go on our trip!
Finally, congratulations to Monty and Evelyn who received TDSB certificates for Co-operation! Well done!
I hope you have a lovely weekend.
May is here! This week we continued our inquiry on INSECTS and the children had a fun time participating in X-FUSION! We also welcomed Ethan, our new JK student!
The words of the week were LITTLE and OUT. Thank you to our volunteers this week: Mila's dad, Elise's dad and Sophie's mom were Mystery Readers, and Mrs. Mosun's daughter Soheila dropped in for a visit, too! Thank you so much to Elise, who taught us a song about insect body parts and brought in a lovely lift-the-flap book about bees! We will learn all about bees later in May. Thank you as well to Ella, who shared her Eric Carle book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." We will learn all about caterpillars and butterflies later in May!
The Show-and-Tell item for May is "My Favourite Animal." When it is your child's special day, please encourage them to learn what their favourite animal eats, where it lives, and what it looks like. For example, Reina told us all about camels! Mrs. Mosun followed this up by a lesson in the computer lab about camels!
The children enjoyed reading the wonderful Eric Carle story "The Grouchy Ladybug, and they learned about the life cycle of a lady bug, and made a ladybug booklet. They are also learning a song called "Entomologist, are learning how to draw insects, and are learning about the body parts of insects (and how they are different than spiders!). There are a lot of (real and plastic) insects in our Science Centre. By looking through special eye glasses, the children are learning how bugs see their world with their compound lenses.
The children also completed a writing and drawing exercise called "It really BUGS me when..."
The next scholastic order is due May 16. Also on May 16 is our class visit to the Scholastic Book Fair in the library! If you would like your child to purchase a book(s), please put the money in a plastic zip-locked bag with their name on it. Thank you! Our Artist visit is next week! We are going on a field trip to Reptilia the week after next! Lots of exciting things are happening this month!
Next week we will continue our learning about INSECTS and will also learn about which animals eat them, which is...... REPTILES! Perfect timing to learn about reptiles before we go on our trip!
Finally, congratulations to Monty and Evelyn who received TDSB certificates for Co-operation! Well done!
I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Friday, April 26, 2019
Week of April 22-26
Dear families,
I hope you are having a great start to your weekend!
This week we focused on learning how to take care of the Earth, and started our inquiry on Insects. The words of the week were PRETTY and HOW. A big Thank You to our parent volunteers this week: Reina's mom and Estella and Simonne's mom helped with today's Pizza Lunch; and our Mystery Reader was Anilee's aunt. The children's 2- and 3-D Shapes Folder went home in today's mailbag. The kids will love showing you what they learned about the shapes around us!
For our Inquiry on Taking Care of Our Earth, the children looked at the numbers in the triangles on plastic containers. They learned that they need to rinse out plastic containers (for example their yogurt containers) before putting them in the recycling bin. They also painted a picture of the Earth and took their wonderful recycled materials projects home. They were so good! Thank you for helping your children with this important lesson. They are enjoying playing in our Reused Gingerbread House which we are using as a cottage now. They also learned where Water comes from, learned a song called R-A-I-N-Y to match our wet weather this week, and learned some water words. We talked about and wrote about how to take care of the Earth, for example going to Farmer's Markets and using reusable bags to shop (we looked at a bag that was made from plastic bottles!), using LED lights, saying "No, thank you" to plastic straws" and using metal or paper straws instead, only using one paper serviette, and more! They are good eco-warriors!
To start off our inquiry on Insects, the children told me what they knew already. Then they learned about parts of an insect, and learned that spiders are not insects! We have lots of fiction and non-fiction books in our classroom library, and our Science Centre is now an insect exploring centre, with life-size and huge models of various insects. We will be learning where insects live, what they look like, how they move, why some of them bite us, and what they eat (as well as what eats them!). The first insect we learned about was everybody's favourite - the Dragonfly! We learned lots of fun dragonfly facts and made a dragonfly out of paper and reused plastic.
We had an impromptu inquiry on immigration, thanks to the wonderful book one of the children took our of the library. We learned that we are all immigrants and we learned the difference between MOVING to a new place in the same country, and IMMIGRATING to a new country. Some of the children shared their stories of immigration. I sent home an email earlier today asking for feedback about which languages the children's ancestors spoke at home. This is for our Sharing Assembly on June 21. Please respond to my email by May 1st so we can start practicing for the assembly. Thank you!
The children are also learning about Signs of Spring and made a poem on a pop-out egg about Spring. Their work is on display in our hallway.
The children did a great job at our surprise fire drill!
Next week we welcome a new student named Ethan. Welcome to LKS, Ethan and family! We look forward to meeting you!
The Kindergarten classes will be going on an all-day field trip to REPTILIA on May 15, leaving LKS at 9 a.m. and leaving Reptilia at 2 p.m.. We will need 3 volunteers for each class. Once the permission form is sent home (next week), please indicate whether you would like to volunteer. Preference will be given to parents who have not had an opportunity to volunteer before. Thank you!
That's the news from our classroom this week! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
I hope you are having a great start to your weekend!
This week we focused on learning how to take care of the Earth, and started our inquiry on Insects. The words of the week were PRETTY and HOW. A big Thank You to our parent volunteers this week: Reina's mom and Estella and Simonne's mom helped with today's Pizza Lunch; and our Mystery Reader was Anilee's aunt. The children's 2- and 3-D Shapes Folder went home in today's mailbag. The kids will love showing you what they learned about the shapes around us!
For our Inquiry on Taking Care of Our Earth, the children looked at the numbers in the triangles on plastic containers. They learned that they need to rinse out plastic containers (for example their yogurt containers) before putting them in the recycling bin. They also painted a picture of the Earth and took their wonderful recycled materials projects home. They were so good! Thank you for helping your children with this important lesson. They are enjoying playing in our Reused Gingerbread House which we are using as a cottage now. They also learned where Water comes from, learned a song called R-A-I-N-Y to match our wet weather this week, and learned some water words. We talked about and wrote about how to take care of the Earth, for example going to Farmer's Markets and using reusable bags to shop (we looked at a bag that was made from plastic bottles!), using LED lights, saying "No, thank you" to plastic straws" and using metal or paper straws instead, only using one paper serviette, and more! They are good eco-warriors!
To start off our inquiry on Insects, the children told me what they knew already. Then they learned about parts of an insect, and learned that spiders are not insects! We have lots of fiction and non-fiction books in our classroom library, and our Science Centre is now an insect exploring centre, with life-size and huge models of various insects. We will be learning where insects live, what they look like, how they move, why some of them bite us, and what they eat (as well as what eats them!). The first insect we learned about was everybody's favourite - the Dragonfly! We learned lots of fun dragonfly facts and made a dragonfly out of paper and reused plastic.
We had an impromptu inquiry on immigration, thanks to the wonderful book one of the children took our of the library. We learned that we are all immigrants and we learned the difference between MOVING to a new place in the same country, and IMMIGRATING to a new country. Some of the children shared their stories of immigration. I sent home an email earlier today asking for feedback about which languages the children's ancestors spoke at home. This is for our Sharing Assembly on June 21. Please respond to my email by May 1st so we can start practicing for the assembly. Thank you!
The children are also learning about Signs of Spring and made a poem on a pop-out egg about Spring. Their work is on display in our hallway.
The children did a great job at our surprise fire drill!
Next week we welcome a new student named Ethan. Welcome to LKS, Ethan and family! We look forward to meeting you!
The Kindergarten classes will be going on an all-day field trip to REPTILIA on May 15, leaving LKS at 9 a.m. and leaving Reptilia at 2 p.m.. We will need 3 volunteers for each class. Once the permission form is sent home (next week), please indicate whether you would like to volunteer. Preference will be given to parents who have not had an opportunity to volunteer before. Thank you!
That's the news from our classroom this week! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
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