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
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