Week of November 26-30

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!