Friday, May 11, 2018

Week of May 7-11

Dear families,

First and foremost, I would like to wish all the moms a Happy Mother's Day this Sunday! The children have made three very special gifts for you and have been practising two songs to sing to you. I hope you have a wonderful day! This Sunday I'll be with my three children and husband at the Blue Jays Game. Go Jays!

This week in the mornings, the children continued to learn about Healthy Habits and where our food comes from. In the afternoons they are learning about Canadian money.

In Science and Literacy, the children learned where the food we eat grows (under the ground, above the ground, on a tree, in a flower (seeds), on a vine. We learned which parts of plants we eat - all of them! We eat stems such as celery, flowers such as cauliflower and broccoli, lots of fruits, leaves such as lettuce, tubers like potatoes, fungus (mushrooms), root such as carrots, seeds, legumes such as peanuts, and bulbs such as onions and garlic. The children's homework this weekend is to match the plant word with the picture.

We also talked about "every day" foods such as fruits and vegetables ("real food from plants") versus "sometimes" foods such as candy and ice cream. The children completed an "I'm So Healthy" booklet and a "Healthy Habits" food wheel. They helped me spell food of different colours - red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, purple, brown and beige, and white. They also touched and examined seven different grains - millet, wheat, corn, cornmeal, barley, oats, and rice, and learned how they are made into grain-based foods such as bread, pasta, cereal, crackers, etc. We also learned about dairy products (yogurt, cheese, milk, ice cream, butter). The children helped solve healthy food spelling riddles, learned how to draw various healthy fruits and vegetables, and learned that fruit always has seeds inside (so cucumbers and tomatoes are fruits!).

We are also making new plants grow from plant scraps: we are rooting potatoes, a pineapple, a green onion, basil, and celery. The children also planted the sprouts that grew from the seeds they planted in class, and we now have a little "Kinder Garden" outside in the yard. The children are proud to show us their healthy snacks, and they are really enjoying playing in our Pizza Pizza Centre, too, adding healthy toppings to their "pizzas" and counting money!

This week in Numeracy the children learned about the nickel, the dime, the quarter and the loonie, and about why the symbols of the beaver, the Blue Nose, the Caribou/Elk and the loon are on them! They are learning a song to help them remember the values of the coins, and watched a few short documentaries about how coins and "paper" (polymer)money is made. They passed around real money and learned how the shapes, sizes and features help visually impaired people. We will learn about the toonie on Monday, and will do summative work about money values next week.

In Art, they children learned more about Wassily Kandinsky, who was one of the fist abstract expressionist painters. He loved colours and shapes, and believed that art should make you feel emotion just as music does. He made music with paint! The children have made three drawings/paintings inspired by Kandinsky. They are beautiful! The Mother's Day Art is inspired by Kandinsky's "Squares with Concentric Circles" which he painted in 1913. www.wassilykandinsky.net

Thank you so much to Hudson's dad who was our Mystery Reader this week! He read two interesting National Geographic books about Volcanoes and Penguins. Thank you, Ethan, for bringing in your awesome airplane to show how it looked like a bird. We did a Venn Diagram comparing birds and planes. I love it when the children reflect on their classroom learning and bring it home and then back to school!

That's the news for this week! Have a wonderful weekend!

The children did an excellent job at this week's surprise Fire Drill! Good listening!

The words of the week were DID and SOME.

Friday, May 4, 2018

Week of April 30-May 4

Dear families,

On Friday the children took home all their amazing work and learning about birds! Well done! They watched two short documentaries about Blue Jays and learned why they are blue and their characteristics and personalities. They learned about their habitat, diet and young, and completed a flip book. Thank you Alex for sharing your knowledge about sports teams that are named after birds! The kids thought it was funny that Blue Jays steal eggs and nests, just like the Toronto Blue Jays steal bases! The children also learned about the diet, habitat and features of red cardinals and we practised drawing them on dry erase boards. The children also counted and wrote numbers with Angry Birds. We completed our fact books about owls and the seniors did a summative book all about owls. Good job! The juniors coloured an owl and then "camouflaged" it for night time hunting by painting it light black. We also read more fiction and non-fiction books about owls (The Curious Little Owl who says "Why-why" instead of "Who-who" and All About Owls. You can help your child learn how to recognize bird calls on the Audobon app, and there is also an app called "Song Sleuth" that uses your phone's microphone to identify birds by their song.

Our Cosmic Kids yoga adventures were The Dodo Bird, The Owl and the Guard Dog, Rainbow Waterfall, Peace Out Zen Den, and Star Wars for May 4.

The words of the week were THAT and THERE. Please complete the THAT and THERE mini read-and-write booklets for homework. Next week's words will be DID and SOME.

Next week we will start our numeracy inquiry on Canadian Money. We'll open a Pizza Pizza Restaurant in the Dramatic Play Centre and will learn about Healthy Habits and where our fruit and vegetables come from. Our flowers are growing well and we'll plant them in the Kindergarten next week. We will learn how to grow new food from scraps of old food (potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, herbs, for example)and why we compost our food scraps. We'll also learn about why some food (such as chips, pop and candy) are "sometimes" food and not "every day" food.

Thank you so much to Ethan's mom who was the Mystery Reader this week! Thank you Ethan for letting us borrow your books for a few more days!

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy this lovely Spring weather!

Friday, April 27, 2018

Week of April 23-27

Dear families, I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather!

This week we finished our inquiry on the Earth and learned about how to take care of it. With Ms. Patel, the children learned about the three Rs- recycle, reuse, and reduce! We do a lot of reusing in Kindergarten and also repurpose a lot of home and classroom items (HINT! Mother's and Father's Day Gifts!) We learned about the difference between garbage and recycling. The children also learned about different kinds of pollution and watched a Berenstain Bears video called "Don't Pollute." Together as a class the children decorate a big Earth with tissue paper and wrote their names, pledging to take care or the Earth. The children also painted paper plate Earths. They completed the sentence "To take care of the Earth I can..."

Several seeds have germinated in our "How do Plants Grow" centre. Dante found a maple tree sprout and we planted it in our indoor garden too. I wonder which will grow faster, the sunflowers or the maple tree? The children watched a video of a sprouting seed.

The children continued their inquiry on Birds. They wrote three facts about birds and made a bird face booklet with real feathers. With their Reading Buddies, the children worked on an Owl fact booklet. We also reviewed the numerals 3-9 with Angry Birds work sheets, remembering not to reverse the numerals (for example making a P instead of a 9). The children helped me write what birds CAN (do), HAVE and ARE on chart paper. We also graphed and tallied how many children have seen an owl. We learned about how birds fly and turn, and how airplanes lift off the ground. We watched videos of eagles, ducks and geese flying, and learned about how ducks will bond with people if they see them when they hatch.

Even though it's almost May, please remember that the children play outside for at least one hour a day (usually more) and that they need appropriate clothing. No flip flops please. We also go to the gym when it's available and the kids need running shoes in order to be able to safely participate in activities.

The words of the week were LITTLE and OUT. The homework for this week is to complete the LOOK mini read and write book. I have sent home the new May words and May Bingo. Thank you so much to our volunteers this week! Hudson's, Kate's and Elea's mom helped with Pizza Lunch, and Rielle's dad was the Mystery Reader.

At the Sharing Assembly, the children recited the poem "What the Robin Told" and Kate, Mia and Elea were acknowledged for Co-operation. We will present Elea's certificate at the next Sharing Assembly.

We have also been very busy creating art gifts for Mother's Day and Father's Day. :) Next week we will finish our inquiry on birds and will learn about which parts of plants we eat and Healthy Habits.

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

Friday, April 20, 2018

Week of April 16-20

Dear families,

Spring weather has finally arrived! Hopefully snow pants and hats can be packed away!

This week we continued our inquiries on How Plants Grow and Birds. The children looked at different kinds of seeds and matched seeds to the plants they grow into (sunflower, corn, apple, orange, for example). They watched Sesame Street Franklin and Peep And The Big Wide World videos about how plants grow. They also compared Living and Non-Living things, and explored the differences between, for example, and apple growing on a tree versus an apple that has fallen off a tree. They learned that living things GROW, MOVE, and RESPOND, and watched time-lapse videos of sunflowers follow the sun and tulips open during the day and close at night to demonstrate this. The children learned that plants start from seeds, become sprouts, then seedlings, and then plants which in then produce seeds. They also learned about different kinds of SOILS: clay, sand, and loam, and why plants grow well in loam. The children planted various kinds of seeds in mini greenhouses (plastic strawberry boxes) and we will track their growth. They also made mini greenhouses out of plastic bags and "planted" beans in them, with a damp paper towel for moisture and air in the bag as well. They are also learning about how seeds are planted on their own (by the wind, by animals, by streams and rivers etc.). Maybe you'd like to plant some seeds at home! When the soil warms up you can transplant the seedlings into a pot or into your garden (mid-May). Thank you Kate for showing us the sunflower she is growing at home! We will finish this inquiry next week.

In our inquiry on Birds, the children: did a "Make 5" numeracy activity by making combinations of owls to make 5 (1+_4, 2+3, etc.); learned what owls HAVE, CAN (do), and ARE; guessed what various birds eat and where they live based on their feet and beaks or bills; "put their ducks in a row" by ordering words to make a sentence; they did Cosmic Kids Pigeon and Flamingo Yoga; learned how to draw an Angry Bird and an Owl; wrote and drew a picture about what they can do when feel angry like an angry bird; and completed "Bird Facts" pocket books, in which they had to read sentences about birds and put them either in the "Not a Bird Fact" or "Bird Fact" pocket. Well done! We'll continue our learning about birds next week. We'll learn about why birds sing, how birds fly, and about Blue Jays (go Jays!)!

Thank you so much to our volunteers this week! Hudson's mom was the Mystery Reader, and Hudson's dad, Anilee's mom, and Evelyn's mom helped our Scientist-in-the-Classroom Janet teach the children about what Paleontologists, Meteorologists, Astronomers, Chemists and Marine Biologists do. They dug for dinosaur bones and made fossils, measured the weather in different ways, saw constellations in a tent, learned about chemical reactions and if things are water soluble, and learned about the ocean. What a great morning! So much fun and so much learning! Thank you as well to the children who shared their owl stuffies and bird books with the classroom - I love it when the children extend their learning at home and share it with their friends! Next week we will be starting an Inquiry on Earth Day and will learn about how to take care of the Earth.

Thank you for coming to our "Day in the Life" LKS Open House on Thursday evening. The children we so proud showing their classroom and learning to you!

That's the news from Room 166! Have a great weekend!

Friday, April 13, 2018

Week of April 9-13

Dear families,

I hope you are having a nice weekend!

This week we continued our inquiries on the WEATHER and BIRDS. We've had warm sunny days, rain, snow, freezing rain, and very windy days this month! We've also started to see Robins come out and are hearing more and more birds returning from their southern migration.

Ms. Patel has been doing an amazing job teaching the children about weather! By doing hands on experiments, the children learned why it rains, what vapour is, how clouds form, what wind can do, how it rains, how there are different kinds of clouds depending on the weather, what the temperature on a thermometer means, and how freezing rain and snow form. She put warm water in a glass ("the sun warms the water"), plastic wrap on the glass (the atmosphere), and watch as the water evaporates and forms droplets on the plastic wrap. To show how clouds "burst" and then it starts raining, Ms. Patel filled a glass of water half-way, put shaving cream on top (the cloud), then with a pipette put droplets of blue water into the "cloud" until it "burst" and it started to "rain" (the blue droplets fell down from the cloud). The children also learned about how freezing rain occurs by dropping droplets of water on an icy plate and watching how quickly the water formed into ice. They also demonstrated their understanding of three different kinds of clouds with cotton balls (on display in the hall). Well done!

In the afternoons, the children are learning all about birds! They are learning about different kinds of nests, how many eggs birds lay and why (for example, a bald eagle only lays 2 eggs in its huge next because the eaglets are almost full size before they can fly and hunt on their own and take up a lot of space in the nest, whereas Ostriches are land birds, eat mostly insects and don't fly, so so they lay about 10 eggs in their nest since the baby ostriches just need to walk out of the nest to find food and aren't as dependent on their parents). We demonstrated this with the kids pretending to be baby eagles and baby ostriches.

We also observed a bald eagle nest and a bald eagle parent struggling to carry a huge salmon to the eaglets waiting in the nest. The parent let the babies eat first. There is a live camera each year on a bald eagle nest (bald eagles, unlike most birds, don't rebuild their nest each year): search "Live eagle cam" - there is one in Florida. The children drew what they observed in the bald eagle nest. I am also teaching the children how to draw birds starting with the letter "B." Ask them to show you how!

The children participated in sentence making centres "putting their ducks in a row" by arranging words in order to make a sentence, then drawing an accompanying picture, for example DOG I BIG A HAVE becomes "I have a big dog." We are also learning a poem for the Sharing Assembly called "What the Robin Told."

The JKS traced the upper and lower case letters of the alphabet and the numbers 1-65 on "eggs" and the SKs did this independently. Good job! They also learned about how small a hummingbird egg is compared to an Ostrich egg!

By learning about and comparing different birds' feet and beaks or bills, the children are learning how to identify if a bird lives on water or land, and what it eats.

We also read the well-known story "The Little Red Hen." about the hard-working hen who does all the work to plant wheat, weed the field, water the plants, harvest it, thresh it, grind it to flour, and make it into bread, but her friends don't want to help until it comes time to eating the bread! The children acted out the story (reader's theatre) and are exploring a hand-on centre with wheat, flour, bread, and seeds (which they are "threshing"). Mrs. Mosun brought in her bread maker and taught the children the step-by-step recipe and then everyone got a piece of DELICIOUS home made bread when it was done!

This week's Cosmic Kids Yoga was "Flamingo Yoga" and "Pose Universe."

Just a reminder that the next Scholastic Order is due on May 18. The words of the week were WHO and DOWN. In support of the Humboldt hockey players (we didn't discuss what happened, we just talked about friendship and supporting others who need help), the children coloured and cut out paper hockey sticks and we wrote words with the letter or letter sound Hh. For PINK DAY we also talked about respect and how to be a friend. The homework for this week is to complete the read and write booklet "AM."

Thank you so much to Sarah's mo who was our Mystery Reader this week!

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