Dear families,
I hope you are having a wonderful start to the March Break!
The letter sound of this week was Yy. The words of the week were SAY and WITH. This week in numeracy we practised letter formation (upper and lower case) with our little dry erase boards.
This week we continued learning about "Things That Move," and folded a paper "birch bark" canoe with our Reading Buddies. We also read, coloured and labelled various modes of transportation and talked about how they move. We did Cosmic Kids Yoga with The Hogwarts Express Train as well!
We continued our book study of Where the Wild Things Are. We watched a short animated version of the book, read the book just looking at the pictures, made up parts of the book ourselves, and talked about the story line, Max, and the other characters in this fabulous story. The children are enjoying painting a "wild thing" of their own, and have finished their puppets of Max and descriptions of when they feel wild like Max. They also practised writing upper and lower case Mm (for Max) and Ww (for wild), and brainstormed lots of descriptive words about Max. We completed a Venn diagram together, comparing the book and the animation.
The children are working on the excellent website "Starfall.com" in the computer lab with Mrs. Mosun.
Thank you so much to Evelyn's dad who was our Mystery Reader this week! Thank you to Dante who shared his copy of "Where The WIld Things Are" with his classmates.
We will be welcoming a new JK student named Charlotte after March Break! Please join me in welcoming Charlotte and her family to our school and community.
That's the news for this week! I hope you have a wonderful holiday and look forward to seeing everyone again on March 18!
Friday, March 8, 2019
Friday, March 1, 2019
Week of February 25 - March 1
Dear families,
March already! I hope you're having a great start to your weekend.
This week the sight words were FROM and UP. The letter sound of the week was Ww. The children brainstormed words starting with Ww and we wrote them on chart paper. One of them was "wifi"!! They even knew the symbol for it! We learned a lot of words that start with Ww this week that tied in well with our new inquiry on Things That Move Us (wheels, wheelchair, walk) and our Book Study of "Where the Wild Things Are," a Caldicott award-winning book that is rich with imagination and ideas.
Continuing our inquiry on Things That Move Us, the children made paper airplanes with their reading buddies, sorted things that move us into categories of AIR, LAND and WATER. The children learned how to draw a wheel, a jet, a bike, a car and a scooter. They coloured a child riding a bike wearing a helmet, and we talked about why it is the law for children to wear helmets. They enjoyed making mini "zoom" books, and learning more about how things move us from place to place.
Exciting news!! As of March 9, children under 12 ride for free on GO Trains!! What a great opportunity over the March Break to take a ride on a GO train and talk about how the train moves people and things! We'll learn more about trains and tracks next week.
On Thursday we went to the library for a special visit by a Story Teller! The children loved it, especially acting out the parts of her books!
We started our book study of Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" on Friday and the children enjoyed creating their own "wild thing" puppet.
I have sent home the 12th word sheet for the SKs to read, trace, and write. In Friday's mail bag you will also find the new March words and Special Person calendar. The show-and-tell item for March is "My Favourite Sport/Game."
Next week is the last week of school before the March Break. If your child will be absent from school next week, please let us know so that we can prepare his/her mailbag.
That's the news for this week! Have a great weekend!
March already! I hope you're having a great start to your weekend.
This week the sight words were FROM and UP. The letter sound of the week was Ww. The children brainstormed words starting with Ww and we wrote them on chart paper. One of them was "wifi"!! They even knew the symbol for it! We learned a lot of words that start with Ww this week that tied in well with our new inquiry on Things That Move Us (wheels, wheelchair, walk) and our Book Study of "Where the Wild Things Are," a Caldicott award-winning book that is rich with imagination and ideas.
Continuing our inquiry on Things That Move Us, the children made paper airplanes with their reading buddies, sorted things that move us into categories of AIR, LAND and WATER. The children learned how to draw a wheel, a jet, a bike, a car and a scooter. They coloured a child riding a bike wearing a helmet, and we talked about why it is the law for children to wear helmets. They enjoyed making mini "zoom" books, and learning more about how things move us from place to place.
Exciting news!! As of March 9, children under 12 ride for free on GO Trains!! What a great opportunity over the March Break to take a ride on a GO train and talk about how the train moves people and things! We'll learn more about trains and tracks next week.
On Thursday we went to the library for a special visit by a Story Teller! The children loved it, especially acting out the parts of her books!
We started our book study of Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" on Friday and the children enjoyed creating their own "wild thing" puppet.
I have sent home the 12th word sheet for the SKs to read, trace, and write. In Friday's mail bag you will also find the new March words and Special Person calendar. The show-and-tell item for March is "My Favourite Sport/Game."
Next week is the last week of school before the March Break. If your child will be absent from school next week, please let us know so that we can prepare his/her mailbag.
That's the news for this week! Have a great weekend!
Friday, February 22, 2019
Week of February 18-22
Dear families,
I hope you are having a great start to your weekend!
We've had another busy week in Room 166! The words of the week were BY and CAME. The letter sound of the week was Zz.
We started a new inquiry on "Things That Move" such as boats, cars, trucks, strollers, bikes, rockets, planes, etc. The children helped brainstorm ideas about which human-made inventions help us get from place to place, and which have 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and more than 4 wheels. We read a wonderful book called "Let's Go: The Story of Getting From Here to There" which was a history of transportation in Canada.
We talked about how wheels and bikes work and watched a short "How It's Made" (my favourite show!) about how bikes are made. We learned what welding is, too. The children also watched a science video about people stay balanced while riding a bike and why they need to keep moving in order to not fall over.
For a STEM activity, the children worked in teams of 4 or 6 to make something out of recyclable materials that moves people. They made spaceships, boats, a train, a truck and a cars, and took turns explaining to the class how they made it and how it moved. Great cooperative play, everyone! For Earth Day on April 22, I would like the children to make something out of recyclable materials. It can be a vehicle, a toy, a diorama, anything at all, as log as they use recyclable paper or plastic. Once these are done, please have your child bring it in so s/he can present it to the class.
Next week we will categorize our vehicles into LAND, WATER and AIR, and will learn about the parts of a bicycle wheel. We will learn about one new mode of transportation at a time, discovering how they are different and what they all have in common.
The next Scholastic order is due on March 1st. Wednesday is "WEAR PINK" anti-bullying day at LKS. Every day is anti-bullying day! Thank you so much to our Mystery Reader - Mila's mom!
The children enjoyed watching their Reading Buddies perform at this month's Sharing Assembly. We had the iPads this week so they children enjoyed taking turns on them, playing educational games that are TDSB-approved. I have sent home a list of educational games and apps, as well as information about the natural progression of chgildren's writing from scribbles to letters and sentences. It's really amazing to see the progress from JK to SK, from SK to Grade One.
That's the news for this week! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
I hope you are having a great start to your weekend!
We've had another busy week in Room 166! The words of the week were BY and CAME. The letter sound of the week was Zz.
We started a new inquiry on "Things That Move" such as boats, cars, trucks, strollers, bikes, rockets, planes, etc. The children helped brainstorm ideas about which human-made inventions help us get from place to place, and which have 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and more than 4 wheels. We read a wonderful book called "Let's Go: The Story of Getting From Here to There" which was a history of transportation in Canada.
We talked about how wheels and bikes work and watched a short "How It's Made" (my favourite show!) about how bikes are made. We learned what welding is, too. The children also watched a science video about people stay balanced while riding a bike and why they need to keep moving in order to not fall over.
For a STEM activity, the children worked in teams of 4 or 6 to make something out of recyclable materials that moves people. They made spaceships, boats, a train, a truck and a cars, and took turns explaining to the class how they made it and how it moved. Great cooperative play, everyone! For Earth Day on April 22, I would like the children to make something out of recyclable materials. It can be a vehicle, a toy, a diorama, anything at all, as log as they use recyclable paper or plastic. Once these are done, please have your child bring it in so s/he can present it to the class.
Next week we will categorize our vehicles into LAND, WATER and AIR, and will learn about the parts of a bicycle wheel. We will learn about one new mode of transportation at a time, discovering how they are different and what they all have in common.
The next Scholastic order is due on March 1st. Wednesday is "WEAR PINK" anti-bullying day at LKS. Every day is anti-bullying day! Thank you so much to our Mystery Reader - Mila's mom!
The children enjoyed watching their Reading Buddies perform at this month's Sharing Assembly. We had the iPads this week so they children enjoyed taking turns on them, playing educational games that are TDSB-approved. I have sent home a list of educational games and apps, as well as information about the natural progression of chgildren's writing from scribbles to letters and sentences. It's really amazing to see the progress from JK to SK, from SK to Grade One.
That's the news for this week! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Week of February 11-15
Dear families,
This week was another busy one in Room 166! We celebrated 100 days of school, Valentine's Day, report cards went home, and we had a snow day in between!
The words of the week were HELP and NOT. The letter sound of the week was Zz.
We did a lot of counting to 100 this week and our mascot "Zero the Zebra" was very excited to have a day with two zeros in it! We put "gumballs" in a "gumball machine" with bingo dabbers, counted and then ate 10 groups of 10 different snacks, used Q-tips to dab 10x10 colours, put 100 beads on string, decorated groovy "100" glasses, counted 100 Cheerios, stacked 100 cups, and counted 100 popsicle sticks by 5s. We also filled in missing numbers 1-100 with our Reading Buddies, danced to as fun "100 Day Rap," made pictures of what we would look like and be when we are 100 years old, and did a 100 dot-to-dot activity. I have sent home Bingo cards as a follow up activity you can play at home. Bingo is a great game to reinforce number skills!
Thank you so much to the parents of Evelyn, Casey's mom, and Reina's mom who assisted the children with their 100 Day Party activities! Thank you to Mila's mom who was our Mystery Reader this week!
The children also really enjoyed sorting the valentines they had prepared for their friends and were so excited to take them home and read them. They made pop-up cards for their friends and are completing a dot-art activity as well.
It was a pleasure meeting with those of you who booked parent-teacher interviews. I appreciate the time you take to read your child's reports cards. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to send me an email and book an interview at any time.
I hope you have a wonderful Family Day this weekend. There is nothing the children love better than spending time with you! My own children are all away at university now, but I was always grateful for that extra day together in February, especially when they were little.
Kind regards,
Mrs. Tyndall
This week was another busy one in Room 166! We celebrated 100 days of school, Valentine's Day, report cards went home, and we had a snow day in between!
The words of the week were HELP and NOT. The letter sound of the week was Zz.
We did a lot of counting to 100 this week and our mascot "Zero the Zebra" was very excited to have a day with two zeros in it! We put "gumballs" in a "gumball machine" with bingo dabbers, counted and then ate 10 groups of 10 different snacks, used Q-tips to dab 10x10 colours, put 100 beads on string, decorated groovy "100" glasses, counted 100 Cheerios, stacked 100 cups, and counted 100 popsicle sticks by 5s. We also filled in missing numbers 1-100 with our Reading Buddies, danced to as fun "100 Day Rap," made pictures of what we would look like and be when we are 100 years old, and did a 100 dot-to-dot activity. I have sent home Bingo cards as a follow up activity you can play at home. Bingo is a great game to reinforce number skills!
Thank you so much to the parents of Evelyn, Casey's mom, and Reina's mom who assisted the children with their 100 Day Party activities! Thank you to Mila's mom who was our Mystery Reader this week!
The children also really enjoyed sorting the valentines they had prepared for their friends and were so excited to take them home and read them. They made pop-up cards for their friends and are completing a dot-art activity as well.
It was a pleasure meeting with those of you who booked parent-teacher interviews. I appreciate the time you take to read your child's reports cards. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to send me an email and book an interview at any time.
I hope you have a wonderful Family Day this weekend. There is nothing the children love better than spending time with you! My own children are all away at university now, but I was always grateful for that extra day together in February, especially when they were little.
Kind regards,
Mrs. Tyndall
Friday, February 8, 2019
Week of February 4-8
Dear families,
We have had so many different kinds of weather this week! Rain, freezing rain, snow, wind, sun! The children really enjoyed playing with the little ice rain spheres, and looked at them with their magnifying glasses. They learned that snow flakes are flat and can stick together easily, but ice rain droplets are spherical and can't. We also watched a little video about evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
If the children's mittens, socks and hats get wet, we do dry them in the dryer. Please send in an extra pair of socks for child if you have not already done so. Thank you.
The words of the week were WE and FIND. The letter sound of the week was Vv. We also reviewed the letter sound Jj and Bb, and wrote several words together with those letters/letter sounds. We also did some reading on the Smartboard - reading words with the middle sounds of A, E, I, O and U.
We finished our book study of The Snowy Day this week. With their reading buddies, the children compared themselves to the main character in the story (Peter), and completed and reading/colouring/gluing/sorting activity that demonstrated a text-self connection. Our reading buddies also helped the children sound out many words that can be made with the letter sounds we have learned so far - a copy of this list will go home in today's mail bag.
This week we also celebrated Chinese Lunar New Year! We watched a video about Chinese New Year and the lunar calendar, and the children coloured and cut out Chinese New Year cards. Thank you Edward for sharing your Chinese New Year collection with us!
The children's self-regulation skills are really improving! Each day we have about 20 minutes of guided mindful meditation time. If you would like to practice this at home with your child, the websites we use are https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4oS680-Dnw&t=2689s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk_qU7l-fcU.
As we approach the 100th day of school, we have been doing a lot of counting! We have been counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s. When your child is counting, please help him of her by ensuring s/he is moving each object to the side as they count. This helps them understand one-to-one correspondence between objects and numbers. The children enjoyed counting various objects together at their tables, working together to count 100 by grouping them in bundles of 10. the children have also been playing numeracy games in the computer lab with Mrs. Mosun.
The 100th Day of School is this Monday and we will be having a fun day! Thank you in advance to the parent volunteers who are helping out on Monday! If your child would like to dress like someone who is 100 years old, that would be fun! No worries, though! I have sent a letter home with some ideas.
Valentine's Day is next Thursday and some of the children have already brought in Valentine cards for their classmates. The earlier they bring them in, the better, so that all the children have adequate time to place them correctly in their friend's valentine bags.
The Mystery Reader this week was Shayan's mom - thank you!
That's the news for this week! I hope you have a nice weekend!
We have had so many different kinds of weather this week! Rain, freezing rain, snow, wind, sun! The children really enjoyed playing with the little ice rain spheres, and looked at them with their magnifying glasses. They learned that snow flakes are flat and can stick together easily, but ice rain droplets are spherical and can't. We also watched a little video about evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
If the children's mittens, socks and hats get wet, we do dry them in the dryer. Please send in an extra pair of socks for child if you have not already done so. Thank you.
The words of the week were WE and FIND. The letter sound of the week was Vv. We also reviewed the letter sound Jj and Bb, and wrote several words together with those letters/letter sounds. We also did some reading on the Smartboard - reading words with the middle sounds of A, E, I, O and U.
We finished our book study of The Snowy Day this week. With their reading buddies, the children compared themselves to the main character in the story (Peter), and completed and reading/colouring/gluing/sorting activity that demonstrated a text-self connection. Our reading buddies also helped the children sound out many words that can be made with the letter sounds we have learned so far - a copy of this list will go home in today's mail bag.
This week we also celebrated Chinese Lunar New Year! We watched a video about Chinese New Year and the lunar calendar, and the children coloured and cut out Chinese New Year cards. Thank you Edward for sharing your Chinese New Year collection with us!
The children's self-regulation skills are really improving! Each day we have about 20 minutes of guided mindful meditation time. If you would like to practice this at home with your child, the websites we use are https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4oS680-Dnw&t=2689s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk_qU7l-fcU.
As we approach the 100th day of school, we have been doing a lot of counting! We have been counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s. When your child is counting, please help him of her by ensuring s/he is moving each object to the side as they count. This helps them understand one-to-one correspondence between objects and numbers. The children enjoyed counting various objects together at their tables, working together to count 100 by grouping them in bundles of 10. the children have also been playing numeracy games in the computer lab with Mrs. Mosun.
The 100th Day of School is this Monday and we will be having a fun day! Thank you in advance to the parent volunteers who are helping out on Monday! If your child would like to dress like someone who is 100 years old, that would be fun! No worries, though! I have sent a letter home with some ideas.
Valentine's Day is next Thursday and some of the children have already brought in Valentine cards for their classmates. The earlier they bring them in, the better, so that all the children have adequate time to place them correctly in their friend's valentine bags.
The Mystery Reader this week was Shayan's mom - thank you!
That's the news for this week! I hope you have a nice weekend!
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