Dear families,
This week we completed and wrote about our science experiment, worked more on our unit on The Snowy Day, and focused on our sight words on our word wall: I, is, can, and, am, like, me, my. Next week's Popcorn Words will be CAN and SEE.
We also did a lot of practice with tally marks, graphing and counting. We talked about text-to-self connections when we read books, and how stories can relate to our own lives. "The Snowy Day" was a perfect book for this. We also talked about how stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and the children sequenced The Snowy Day. They also coloured and sequenced a little copy of The Snowy Day to take home so that they can read it to you, as well as key pictures from the story to help them with the skill of retelling the story in the correct order. The children also listened to the story with their eyes closed so that they could visualize what was happening. We also talked about making predictions and about their opinions of the story. All important literacy skills moving forward. The children will bring their folders home on Friday. Next week we'll read Munsch's funny classic "Thomas' Snowsuit" and we'll make text-to-text connections together.
We also had fun re-reading "Aliens Love Underpants" then "Aliens in Underpants Save the World." The children helped me write as many words as they could make from the word U-N-D-E-R-P-A-N-T-S which was 45! They also did that activity with letter cards at their centres.
Our "first-thing-in-the-morning" books are now Bob Books. Bob books (Scholastic) are such an excellent series to teach children to read. The kids really like them and feel so accomplished when they can read them and read them to their friends.
On the Smartboard, we focused on beginning sounds, ending sounds, and double consonant sounds. It's terrific how things are really clicking for the children!
The children played at the snowflake centres for the last few days before I changed it to a numeracy centre with small blocks.
The homework for the Juniors is to complete the counting exercise "Frosty Friends" and "It's Winter Weather." The Senior homework is to write the compound words with 'snow.'
Since the weather has been a bit mucky please have an extra pair of mitts or gloves in your child's backpack. When their mittens get wet they don't want to put them on!
Thank you very much to Anderson's mom who helped out in the Computer Lab, and to Olivia's dad who was our Mystery Reader this week.
It's not too early to start counting your child's 100 items for the 100th Day of School which is Friday, February 6. Please have your child put the items in a small water bottle. It's also not too early for your child to start writing Valentine Cards with their name "from" on each one.
On February 9 the Juniors will receive their first report card. Both Juniors and Seniors will receive another report in June. Please read the LKS Bulletin regarding online interview booking.
I hope you have a terrific week!
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Week of January 12-16
Dear families,
I hope you had a wonderful holiday! The children had lots of stories to tell about their adventures and outings.
Last week we got right back into the swing of things with our unit on Winter and our science exploration of water freezing. The weather has cooperated with our inquiry! We guessed/thought ("hypothesized") about which water in which of 4 cups would freeze first (most children guessed correctly that the smallest amount would freeze first), watched ("observed") the water freeze, then discussed/learned ("concluded") that smaller amounts of liquid freeze fastest. We also observed that the water froze first on the top because of the air around it. Good job! Then we did the same experiment in reverse: predicting and observing which would melt first, etc.
This week we are changing the experiment a bit: we put the same amount of water into 4 different sized containers. The children's predictions were interesting. about half thought the widest and lowest container would freeze first (correct), and about half thought the tallest and thinnest container would freeze first (since it looks like more). The rest predicted the two in-between sizes. After our second experiment is done they'll write and draw what they liked/learned and we'll send that home. These experiments are also a nice introduction to our unit on Measurement.
We continued our inquiry/centres on snowflakes: how to draw them, what they look like, how to make them our of paper and playdoh. The children are also completing a booklet on weather and weather words.
We also did our December calendars and "This is me in December" work, which is on display in our classroom.
We are learning three new poems about snow: Snowmen, I slip and I slide, and 5 little snowmen. I changed 5 to 6 to reinforce our number 6 which we focused on in centres last week (since each snowflake has six sides/points).
Our Popcorn Words for last week were can and me. We talk about these words a lot in class and they are on our fabric word wall. If the children can't remember how to spell them, they can take the (velcro-backed) word from the wall and bring it to their table, then put it back under the correct letter space. Each week your child will bring home two new popcorn words (this Friday they brought home CAN and ME). They should go in their yellow Popcorn Word folder. I also sent home a copy of the Popcorn Word Song (tune is "Mary Had a Little Lamb").
Like in to no am a that
Can me yes,
I of the,
Said we he is was go see
And it big my went.
We have "buttered" (i.e. put on our word wall and in our Popcorn folders) the following words: I, am, is, and, can, me. We put yellow marker/highlighter on top of the words. This week we are buttering "like" and "my."
The kids are really enjoying our fun unit on Aliens. They are practising literacy and numeracy skills while heaving fun and reading the funny book "Aliens Love Underpants." For example, we talked about and wrote as many words as we could with the word "underpants" and made it into 6 centres. The kids loved it and were learning a lot of skills without even realizing it. :) They also had fun cutting and gluing parts of aliens together and completing the sentence/writing "If an aliens came to visit I would..."
We also started a Book Look of the lovely Caldicott award-winning book "The Snowy Day," by Ezra Jack Keats. This book is excellent for teaching/learning about Sequence (the order things happen in a story - beginning, middle, end), making text-to-self connections, predicting what will happen next, and retelling the story. The children are making a folder for this little unit and it will go home when they are finished their in-class work.
Thank you so much to Lauren's dad who was Mystery Reader, and to Megan's family who collated this month's Scholastic Book order forms. The Scholastic orders are due by January 31.
The following children will be receiving certificates for Teamwork at our next Sharing Assembly on January 28th (gym - 9:00 a.m.): Dima, Matthew H., and Dylan. Good work! I will not be at school on the 28th because I will be supervising the LKS students in Me to We/Free the Children on a trip to the Daily Bread Food Bank. Mrs. Ede-Smith and Mrs. Paldon will direct the children that day.
Finally, on February 6 it is the 100th Day of School! Please bring in 100 items that fit into a clear water bottle. That way the children learn that 100 grains of rice, for example, look very different from 100 cotton balls in the same container. Please be sure to put the lid back on your water bottle and label it with your child's name.
Your can count and bring in his/her 100 items any day before February 6th. Counting by tens is easiest for the children. Thank you in advance to the parents who are assisting me with our 100th Day of School Celebration from 9:00-10:15 a.m. I will prepare the 6 centres. It will be a fun day!
I hope you have a wonderful week!
I hope you had a wonderful holiday! The children had lots of stories to tell about their adventures and outings.
Last week we got right back into the swing of things with our unit on Winter and our science exploration of water freezing. The weather has cooperated with our inquiry! We guessed/thought ("hypothesized") about which water in which of 4 cups would freeze first (most children guessed correctly that the smallest amount would freeze first), watched ("observed") the water freeze, then discussed/learned ("concluded") that smaller amounts of liquid freeze fastest. We also observed that the water froze first on the top because of the air around it. Good job! Then we did the same experiment in reverse: predicting and observing which would melt first, etc.
This week we are changing the experiment a bit: we put the same amount of water into 4 different sized containers. The children's predictions were interesting. about half thought the widest and lowest container would freeze first (correct), and about half thought the tallest and thinnest container would freeze first (since it looks like more). The rest predicted the two in-between sizes. After our second experiment is done they'll write and draw what they liked/learned and we'll send that home. These experiments are also a nice introduction to our unit on Measurement.
We continued our inquiry/centres on snowflakes: how to draw them, what they look like, how to make them our of paper and playdoh. The children are also completing a booklet on weather and weather words.
We also did our December calendars and "This is me in December" work, which is on display in our classroom.
We are learning three new poems about snow: Snowmen, I slip and I slide, and 5 little snowmen. I changed 5 to 6 to reinforce our number 6 which we focused on in centres last week (since each snowflake has six sides/points).
Our Popcorn Words for last week were can and me. We talk about these words a lot in class and they are on our fabric word wall. If the children can't remember how to spell them, they can take the (velcro-backed) word from the wall and bring it to their table, then put it back under the correct letter space. Each week your child will bring home two new popcorn words (this Friday they brought home CAN and ME). They should go in their yellow Popcorn Word folder. I also sent home a copy of the Popcorn Word Song (tune is "Mary Had a Little Lamb").
Like in to no am a that
Can me yes,
I of the,
Said we he is was go see
And it big my went.
We have "buttered" (i.e. put on our word wall and in our Popcorn folders) the following words: I, am, is, and, can, me. We put yellow marker/highlighter on top of the words. This week we are buttering "like" and "my."
The kids are really enjoying our fun unit on Aliens. They are practising literacy and numeracy skills while heaving fun and reading the funny book "Aliens Love Underpants." For example, we talked about and wrote as many words as we could with the word "underpants" and made it into 6 centres. The kids loved it and were learning a lot of skills without even realizing it. :) They also had fun cutting and gluing parts of aliens together and completing the sentence/writing "If an aliens came to visit I would..."
We also started a Book Look of the lovely Caldicott award-winning book "The Snowy Day," by Ezra Jack Keats. This book is excellent for teaching/learning about Sequence (the order things happen in a story - beginning, middle, end), making text-to-self connections, predicting what will happen next, and retelling the story. The children are making a folder for this little unit and it will go home when they are finished their in-class work.
Thank you so much to Lauren's dad who was Mystery Reader, and to Megan's family who collated this month's Scholastic Book order forms. The Scholastic orders are due by January 31.
The following children will be receiving certificates for Teamwork at our next Sharing Assembly on January 28th (gym - 9:00 a.m.): Dima, Matthew H., and Dylan. Good work! I will not be at school on the 28th because I will be supervising the LKS students in Me to We/Free the Children on a trip to the Daily Bread Food Bank. Mrs. Ede-Smith and Mrs. Paldon will direct the children that day.
Finally, on February 6 it is the 100th Day of School! Please bring in 100 items that fit into a clear water bottle. That way the children learn that 100 grains of rice, for example, look very different from 100 cotton balls in the same container. Please be sure to put the lid back on your water bottle and label it with your child's name.
Your can count and bring in his/her 100 items any day before February 6th. Counting by tens is easiest for the children. Thank you in advance to the parents who are assisting me with our 100th Day of School Celebration from 9:00-10:15 a.m. I will prepare the 6 centres. It will be a fun day!
I hope you have a wonderful week!
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Happy Holidays!
Dear families,
I hope you are enjoying the first day of your winter holiday!
Thank you so very much for the wonderful gifts - you are very kind!
This week was all about the holidays; we read Deanna Jump's story "The Christmas Grumps" (a very simple version of The Grinch story) and wrote how to make a grumpy grin on the back of our art. The children helped me make word web inquiries about Santa, Snowflakes and The Grinch. We compared The Grinch book vs. the movie and the Grinch vs. Santa using Venn diagrams. The children did a tally and graph about candy canes, started a winter word wall which we'll continue working on when we return from the break, practised reading our words ending in t, n, and r (see the Ho Ho endings sheet), and learned how to make paper snowflakes. All the children's December work went home in their green folders along with some crafts they made and their Eric Carle art.
Thank you to our parent volunteers this week: Chloe's mom was our Mystery Reader and read "Where the Wild Things Are and "The Night Before Christmas." Martel's mom helped in the Computer Lab, and we had lots of help for our Holiday Craft Party from the moms of Martel, Claire, Izzie, Anderson, Lauren, Christopher, and Megan. The crafts were terrific and the kids had a great time making them! Thank you so much for your time and energy! Thank you also to Chloe for donating the book "The Gruffalo Child" to our classroom library.
We practised writing our popcorn words "I" and "am" on our mini dry-erase boards. The two new popcorn words are "is and "and." They should go in your child's popcorn word folder at home. Some parents have asked me where to get these. I bought our class set through www.reallygoodstuff.com.
On Friday the whole school sang carols in the gym, accompanied by Mr. Samotowka on trumpet and Mr. Norton on flugel horn.
When we come back from the break we will do inquiries on measurement, signs of winter, snowflakes, winter weather, and, just for fun, an Alien Invasion!
I hope you have a fun and happy holiday with family and friends, and I look forward to seeing everyone again on January 5th!
Mrs. Tyndall
I hope you are enjoying the first day of your winter holiday!
Thank you so very much for the wonderful gifts - you are very kind!
This week was all about the holidays; we read Deanna Jump's story "The Christmas Grumps" (a very simple version of The Grinch story) and wrote how to make a grumpy grin on the back of our art. The children helped me make word web inquiries about Santa, Snowflakes and The Grinch. We compared The Grinch book vs. the movie and the Grinch vs. Santa using Venn diagrams. The children did a tally and graph about candy canes, started a winter word wall which we'll continue working on when we return from the break, practised reading our words ending in t, n, and r (see the Ho Ho endings sheet), and learned how to make paper snowflakes. All the children's December work went home in their green folders along with some crafts they made and their Eric Carle art.
Thank you to our parent volunteers this week: Chloe's mom was our Mystery Reader and read "Where the Wild Things Are and "The Night Before Christmas." Martel's mom helped in the Computer Lab, and we had lots of help for our Holiday Craft Party from the moms of Martel, Claire, Izzie, Anderson, Lauren, Christopher, and Megan. The crafts were terrific and the kids had a great time making them! Thank you so much for your time and energy! Thank you also to Chloe for donating the book "The Gruffalo Child" to our classroom library.
We practised writing our popcorn words "I" and "am" on our mini dry-erase boards. The two new popcorn words are "is and "and." They should go in your child's popcorn word folder at home. Some parents have asked me where to get these. I bought our class set through www.reallygoodstuff.com.
On Friday the whole school sang carols in the gym, accompanied by Mr. Samotowka on trumpet and Mr. Norton on flugel horn.
When we come back from the break we will do inquiries on measurement, signs of winter, snowflakes, winter weather, and, just for fun, an Alien Invasion!
I hope you have a fun and happy holiday with family and friends, and I look forward to seeing everyone again on January 5th!
Mrs. Tyndall
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Week of December 15-19
Dear families,
First, a thank you to our parent volunteers this week: Martel's mom who helped in the Computer Lab and with Pizza Lunch; Jake's mom who was Mystery Reader; Olivia's mom who helped with Pizza Lunch.
This week we did two fun and interesting inquiries -- on Santa, and on Snowflakes. We made web charts, explored at the Snowflake Centre where the children designed snowflakes with various objects and three mirrors, and played at our mini North Pole Centre. We'll continue our inquiry on the properties of snow and build that into a long indoor/outdoor inquiry about Winter when we return from our holidays. On a snowy day the children brought out black pieces of construction paper and caught and observed snowflakes. You can do this at home too!
The Juniors focused on their first two "Popcorn Words" I and AM. The Seniors know these words and review sight words throughout the year. These two words are in your child's yellow Popcorn Folder that went home in Friday's white bag. Each Friday they will receive two more words to put in the folder and practise at home. The Juniors and Seniors also did a fun crayon resist activity with sight words I wrote in white crayon under holiday lights they painted with watercolour. The words "magically" appeared when the children painted the light bulbs. You can do this activity at home with a white crayon - it's easy! The kids can do it too. Watercolour paint works best.
The children divided up into groups and worked very well together on putting together a large and small Santa puzzle. Puzzles are wonderful for cooperation, verbal skills, and developing spacial skills.
The kids also made wrapping paper by painting only on the top half of a large sheet of paper. When they were finished, they folded the bottom half up, pressed on it, and pulled it back to reveal a mirror image of their design. They would love to wrap a gift with this paper at home with you.
For next week's art project, please bring in 5 small twigs. They should be small enough that they can fit in a ziplock baggie. Thank you!
We continued practising our Popcorn Word Song (to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb):
Like in to no am a that
Can me yes
I of the
Said we he is it go see
And it big my went
We "butter" the popcorn words that we are focusing on during the week by highlighting them in yellow. I and AM are buttered. Next week we'll "butter" IS and AND. You can do this at home too with the song sheet I sent home. I will also continue to send home the other songs and poems we do in class so that your child can practise them at home. This reinforces reading skills learned in class.
This month's Sharing Assembly was about Kindness and Caring. Congratulations to all the kids who did a wonderful job singing the song "Peace" and to Lauren, Adam and Matthew C. who demonstrate kindness and caring to others each day in our classroom. I am very proud of you.
The children also read and coloured a counting book about Kwaanzaa, and learned about Hannukah while painting a popsicle star of David ornament (which was also a great little opportunity to teach how two triangles can make the star).
This week we also read nine Christmas words and then drew pictures of them. It really helps the children when I show them step by step how to draw things using basic shapes. It's really impressive how they can do it themselves after a little lesson!
The Seniors also did several sight word games such as Roll and Write (matching numbers with sight words) and Spot the Dog (beginning and ending sounds). We have been talking a lot about beginning and ending sounds as another way and skill to decipher words. We have also been talking about and reading rhyming words on the Smart Board which is another handy skill (making connections: "I know that ending because it rhymes with ___").
Finally, each day we have been reading and re-reading and studying the book "Happy Holidays" on the Smart Board, looking for sight words, using our "eagle eyes" to use pictures to help us read the words, and s-t-r-e-t-c-h-I-n-g words out to help us read them. We also look for patterns in the story (repetition). The kids are doing so well! I gave them their own copies to read and colour and had them read it to me as well.
The December folders will go home with all their wonderful work on Friday.
The children have been enjoying singing carols with me at the piano. I'm a bit rusty but they don't seem to notice! We'll continue singing carols next week. If your child is taking music lessons and has a piece they would like to play for the class, please let me know! The kids would love to hear them.
This Thursday morning is our Holiday Craft Party. A big thank you in advance to the parents who are helping with that and who are bringing in craft materials.
I hope you are having a nice weekend!
First, a thank you to our parent volunteers this week: Martel's mom who helped in the Computer Lab and with Pizza Lunch; Jake's mom who was Mystery Reader; Olivia's mom who helped with Pizza Lunch.
This week we did two fun and interesting inquiries -- on Santa, and on Snowflakes. We made web charts, explored at the Snowflake Centre where the children designed snowflakes with various objects and three mirrors, and played at our mini North Pole Centre. We'll continue our inquiry on the properties of snow and build that into a long indoor/outdoor inquiry about Winter when we return from our holidays. On a snowy day the children brought out black pieces of construction paper and caught and observed snowflakes. You can do this at home too!
The Juniors focused on their first two "Popcorn Words" I and AM. The Seniors know these words and review sight words throughout the year. These two words are in your child's yellow Popcorn Folder that went home in Friday's white bag. Each Friday they will receive two more words to put in the folder and practise at home. The Juniors and Seniors also did a fun crayon resist activity with sight words I wrote in white crayon under holiday lights they painted with watercolour. The words "magically" appeared when the children painted the light bulbs. You can do this activity at home with a white crayon - it's easy! The kids can do it too. Watercolour paint works best.
The children divided up into groups and worked very well together on putting together a large and small Santa puzzle. Puzzles are wonderful for cooperation, verbal skills, and developing spacial skills.
The kids also made wrapping paper by painting only on the top half of a large sheet of paper. When they were finished, they folded the bottom half up, pressed on it, and pulled it back to reveal a mirror image of their design. They would love to wrap a gift with this paper at home with you.
For next week's art project, please bring in 5 small twigs. They should be small enough that they can fit in a ziplock baggie. Thank you!
We continued practising our Popcorn Word Song (to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb):
Like in to no am a that
Can me yes
I of the
Said we he is it go see
And it big my went
We "butter" the popcorn words that we are focusing on during the week by highlighting them in yellow. I and AM are buttered. Next week we'll "butter" IS and AND. You can do this at home too with the song sheet I sent home. I will also continue to send home the other songs and poems we do in class so that your child can practise them at home. This reinforces reading skills learned in class.
This month's Sharing Assembly was about Kindness and Caring. Congratulations to all the kids who did a wonderful job singing the song "Peace" and to Lauren, Adam and Matthew C. who demonstrate kindness and caring to others each day in our classroom. I am very proud of you.
The children also read and coloured a counting book about Kwaanzaa, and learned about Hannukah while painting a popsicle star of David ornament (which was also a great little opportunity to teach how two triangles can make the star).
This week we also read nine Christmas words and then drew pictures of them. It really helps the children when I show them step by step how to draw things using basic shapes. It's really impressive how they can do it themselves after a little lesson!
The Seniors also did several sight word games such as Roll and Write (matching numbers with sight words) and Spot the Dog (beginning and ending sounds). We have been talking a lot about beginning and ending sounds as another way and skill to decipher words. We have also been talking about and reading rhyming words on the Smart Board which is another handy skill (making connections: "I know that ending because it rhymes with ___").
Finally, each day we have been reading and re-reading and studying the book "Happy Holidays" on the Smart Board, looking for sight words, using our "eagle eyes" to use pictures to help us read the words, and s-t-r-e-t-c-h-I-n-g words out to help us read them. We also look for patterns in the story (repetition). The kids are doing so well! I gave them their own copies to read and colour and had them read it to me as well.
The December folders will go home with all their wonderful work on Friday.
The children have been enjoying singing carols with me at the piano. I'm a bit rusty but they don't seem to notice! We'll continue singing carols next week. If your child is taking music lessons and has a piece they would like to play for the class, please let me know! The kids would love to hear them.
This Thursday morning is our Holiday Craft Party. A big thank you in advance to the parents who are helping with that and who are bringing in craft materials.
I hope you are having a nice weekend!
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Week of December 8-12
Dear families,
I hope you are having a lovely weekend.
On December 1st your child brought home "Countdown to Santa" beads (unless s/he was absent, in which case they brought them home the day they were present). Their Reading Buddies helped them make this. Each night before your child goes to sleep, s/he moves one bead over. Green beads are for weekdays, red for weekends. When the last bead is moved over, that means it is December 25 and they ring the attached bell. You can also cross off the days on your calendar at home.
The children had a terrific time at the Robert Munsch play on Wednesday and it was terrific to hear them exclaim, "That's Mortimer!" or "That's Down the Drain" because they remembered the books we read before the production. Technically speaking, we are trying to teach the children to make connections from texts to themselves, to the world, to other texts, etc. Back in the classroom they wrote and drew about their favourite part of the play. Thank you so much to Izzie's, Martel's and Christopher's moms who accompanied us on our trip. Thank you as well to Elizabeth's mom who was our Mystery Reader this week.
At our upcoming Sharing Assembly on Friday, December 12, Adam, Lauren, and Matthew C. will be receiving certificates for demonstrating Kindness and Caring in our classroom.
During the next few weeks until the holidays, we will be doing a lot of holiday-themed inquiries. We have also started a mini inquiry on snowflakes, using three mirrors and various clear and blue materials. The children are enjoying our new Holiday Card Writing Centre. After the holidays are over and you have taken your decorations down, please send in your old card 1/2s (with the message side removed) so that the children can make new cards from them next year. Thank you! We are also learning new December-themed words, a list of which I am sending home. Our Reading Buddies are helping the children read and write a book about Santa Claus.
December 10th is Spirit Day to support Free the Children. Please read the LKS Bulletin for further information.
See you on Monday!
I hope you are having a lovely weekend.
On December 1st your child brought home "Countdown to Santa" beads (unless s/he was absent, in which case they brought them home the day they were present). Their Reading Buddies helped them make this. Each night before your child goes to sleep, s/he moves one bead over. Green beads are for weekdays, red for weekends. When the last bead is moved over, that means it is December 25 and they ring the attached bell. You can also cross off the days on your calendar at home.
The children had a terrific time at the Robert Munsch play on Wednesday and it was terrific to hear them exclaim, "That's Mortimer!" or "That's Down the Drain" because they remembered the books we read before the production. Technically speaking, we are trying to teach the children to make connections from texts to themselves, to the world, to other texts, etc. Back in the classroom they wrote and drew about their favourite part of the play. Thank you so much to Izzie's, Martel's and Christopher's moms who accompanied us on our trip. Thank you as well to Elizabeth's mom who was our Mystery Reader this week.
At our upcoming Sharing Assembly on Friday, December 12, Adam, Lauren, and Matthew C. will be receiving certificates for demonstrating Kindness and Caring in our classroom.
During the next few weeks until the holidays, we will be doing a lot of holiday-themed inquiries. We have also started a mini inquiry on snowflakes, using three mirrors and various clear and blue materials. The children are enjoying our new Holiday Card Writing Centre. After the holidays are over and you have taken your decorations down, please send in your old card 1/2s (with the message side removed) so that the children can make new cards from them next year. Thank you! We are also learning new December-themed words, a list of which I am sending home. Our Reading Buddies are helping the children read and write a book about Santa Claus.
December 10th is Spirit Day to support Free the Children. Please read the LKS Bulletin for further information.
See you on Monday!
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