Friday, February 4

Hello families

This week we celebrated Groundhog Day by completing several literacy activities as well as Chinese New Year on February 3. The JKs also finished their "In the Snow" booklets, JKs and SKs worked on their phonics duotangs (almost finished the second set!) and all the children completed snowball names.

The Morning Class met with their Reading Buddies again and started their "Teddy is Ready" booklets.

Next week I will be sending home TDSB permission forms to participate in our Skating Days - please note that the afternoon date has been changed from February 25 to February 24 (our Sharing Assemblies are on the 25th). Permission forms must be completed in order for your child to participate and are due back on Monday, February 14.

Thursday February 10 is the 100th day of school. Please remember to help your child compile 100 small items and bring them to class on February 9th. Lots of fun numeracy activities are planned for that day!

If you will be bringing in treats for the children on Valentines Day please ensure they are nut free.

Thank you to our parent volunteers this week: Our Mystery Readers were Ava's Dad and Tierney's mom; the children had Reading Club help from Maya's mom, and Charlie's mom and William S.'s mom did the white bags. Thank you!

Some children are still arriving to school without indoor shoes -- please ensure they have them in their cubbies by Monday. Children are not permitted to not wear shoes/boots in school; if there is a fire drill they must have footwear. If they do not have indoor shoes, the children wear their boots in class which is not as comfortable and it is harder for them to sit in circle time. Thank you and have a nice weekend!

Mrs. Tyndall

Saturday, January 29

Hello families

The children have been working hard at completing their Set Two Phonics booklets/duotangs and I will send them home when they are complete. I have compiled practice sheets from various programs including Jolly Phonics to reinforce letter sound knowledge and writing skills.

Our morning class was excited to meet their new Reading Buddies from Ms. Shklar's class. This week they will make a book together call "Teddy is Ready" that they can read to each other. The book is about winter clothing and colours.

Cold winter days are here for another few months and the children have been enjoying their time outside using the sleds and shovels. Please label your child's clothing since with so many items in the coat room it is easy to misplace things.

The children have also been practicing their cutting and pasting skills (small motor) by making snowman posters. The JKs also made a little book called "In the Snow" which they can practice reading to you at home. The SKs have been learning rhyming words and made a snowman of words rhyming with "it" and "at". They have also been writing compound words with "snow": snowman, snowball, snowflake, snowsuit, snowstorm, etc. A sure sign that winter is here! :)

This week we went to an assembly to hear a wonderful performance by Storyteller Cheryl Thorton. Our SKs remembered Cheryl from last year! The children listened intently as she told several stories from around the world, and back in class they drew a picture of their favourite story and wrote a caption to go along with it. They are on display on our hall bulletin boards.

In this week's white TDSB bags I sent home a copy of the Snack and Mystery Bag Schedules from March until June. Your child's birthday will coincide with his/her special/snack day. If your child's birthday is in the summer months s/he will celebrate their Special Day in June (see schedule). Please remember that all treats must be labelled nut-free.

In math, we are continuing graphing and sorting activities and the concepts of "most" and "least". We are also continuing to learn new high frequency words, for example "and", "the", "said", "to", "we",|"of","she", "he", "my" , "today", "is", and "day".

Thank you as always to those parents who volunteered in the classroom this week: Maya's brother Jonah was Mystery Reader, Scarlett's mom was also Mystery Reader, and Jamie's mom helped with the white bags and snuggle books.

Permission forms for our skating parties (a.m. Feb 28, p.m. Feb 24) will go home soon. Please remember that the children do require CSA-approved helmets and skates to go on the ice. The children will walk to the rink after attendance and then return to the classroom for the remainder of the day (and then have hot chocolate!).

Thank you as well to parents who attended our Sharing Assembly. The children recited the poem "Snow".

The next Scholastic Order is due February 1.

February 10th is the 100th day of school! I have sent home an information sheet regarding a project your child should complete by February 9 with 100 small objects. Please encourage your children to count their items in tens as well as in single digits.

We will have a Valentine's Party on February 14th. Children can bring in Valentines for each member of their class and we will sort them together. This is an excellent opportunity for your child to practice writing at home. If you don't have a class list please let me know. Please remember that in the afternoon class we have two new students: Daniel Burbach and Hana Zong. If you would like to provide treats/drink boxes for that day please let your grade parents know.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Monday, January 24

Hello Parents

This week we continued with our numbers and Phonics books, and have completed the second set of phonics: C/K, E, H, R, M, and D. Please review the gestures and sounds of these letters at home (a sheet was included in this week's white TDSB bag). The children also started making books called "Teddy is Ready" with their Reading Buddies. The 100th Day of School is fast approaching and we will be doing many fun activities that day. An information sheet regarding this special day will go home next week.

I have booked the Lambton Skating Rink and will send home an information sheet regarding this fun event as well. The morning class is booked on February 28 from 9:15-10:15 a.m., and the afternoon class is booked on February 25 from 12:45-1:45 p.m. Parent volunteers are welcome and your assistance in tying laces would be great. I will make a big pot of hot chocolate for after the party. Please remember that the children are required to wear CSA-approved hockey helmets.

I have completed the Snack and Mystery Bag schedule until the end of the year and will send it to you via email. I will send home a paper copy in you child's Friday white TDSB. Please remind your children to return the bag as well as the green Library bag.

The Junior Kindergarten students will be receiving a Summary Report on Monday, February 14. The Senior Kindergarten students will not be receiving a report this term. Friday, February 18 is a PA Day for Parent-Teacher interviews. I will be requesting interviews to address the progress and needs of specific students. All students will receive a report card in June.

Have a wonderful week - more updates to follow soon!

Mrs. Tyndall

Friday, January 14, 2011

Hello Parents

Another winter week has flown by and the children have been busy learning winter words and continuing with their literacy and numeracy activities.

Both JKs and SKs have been working together on writing the numbers 1-20 correctly with no reversals, the letter sounds R and H, winter vocabulary, and colours. They were also authors of a booklet called "A Penguin Adventure." The JKs have been working on sequencing (putting pictures in the correct order as they would happen) as well as learning how to identify and read the names of colours. The SKs have also completed booklets called "A Made a Frosty Snowman" (which they should practice reading at home), a picture/writing worksheet about what they like/don't like about winter, and a book about mittens. We have also been practicing our poem "Snow" which we will present at the next Sharing Assembly (January 28). The Character Trait for that assembly is "Teamwork." All the children have also finished artwork which is on display on our bulletin boards. The children drew a winter scene, then created the snowstorm effect using marbles in white paint. They look wonderful!

A reminder that children need to wear indoor shoes at school. Crocs or slippers are fine. The floors in the cubby room get wet from the boots etc. and the children need footwear to change into in order to stay comfortable.

Please remember to bring your child's white TDSB bag back every Monday (it goes home on Fridays). All correspondance from school goes in this bag, as well as our weekly Snuggle Reading books. Please also remember to return the Snuggle Books by Friday at the latest.

I am pleased to see that most of the children can dress themselves in their winter clothing and can do up their zippers without assistance. Thank you for your help by encouraging your children to learn to dress independently.

Thank you to our Parent Volunteers this week: Jamie's dad and Tierney's mom were Mystery readers, Maya's mom and Tatum's mom did Reading Club, Spencer's mom and Sydney's mom did the white bags. Thank you so much!

I will be absent on Thursday, January 20, completing the Early Development Instrument questionnaires for our Senior Kindergarten Students. A letter was sent home regarding this project. A supply teacher will teach the children on that day.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sunday, January 9

Hello parents and Happy New Year!

This has been a busy week as we returned to school and to our regular classroom activities and routines. The children have been reviewing their letter sound "R" and their numbers and they have been working hard at sounding out words and writing phonetically as well as using high frequency words. I am very impressed with how much the children are learning (both reading and writing, as well as numeracy activities) and with their excellent efforts and participation during our lessons and classroom discussions/sharing time. What wonderful students!

Our morning class will start Reading Buddies next week with Mrs. Shklar's Grade Three class! We will meet with the Grade 3s weekly and this is always a very rewarding program for the older and younger children alike. Our afternoon class will continue meeting once a week with their Reading Buddies from Mrs. Zappi's class.

Thank you very much to all the parents who brought in their Christmas cards - we will use them next year around holiday time to make new Christmas cards and crafts! Thank you as always to our wonderful Grade Parents Melissa Busch, Kim DeLonghi, Anne Rankin and Vicky Giancos who work so diligently on our volunteer schedules.

Welcome to our new student Daniel and his family! Daniel is in our afternoon class. Farewell to Declan (p.m.) whose family moved to Calgary. We will miss him.

Each week in Friday's white TDSB bag several of your child's work sheets go home for you to see. I do retain work as well for reporting/parent interview purposes, and the children do continue their journals and phonics booklets in class.

This week's poem is called "Snow, Snow" and the children can practice reciting the poem with gestures at home.

Please note our upcoming January/February activities posted to the right of this blog. We will be doing several fun and educational activities on Thursday, February 10. I would like each child to bring in 100 items for our display table and to show to their classmates. These should be small items and the children should count them in groups of ten before putting them in a (preferably clear) container. More information to follow as 100th Day approaches.

Thank you,

Mrs. Tyndall