Friday, September 24, 2010

Update from Ms. R

It was wonderful meeting all the families on Thursday night. The BBQ and Curriculum Night was a great success! If you are able, donations of kleenex, hand sanitizer, napkins, crackers and/or donations to the class budget would be greatly appreciated.

A Note About Birthdays

We love to celebrate birthdays in Room 101! If your child is celebrating a birthday, please make sure to send enough treats for everyone in the class (AM= 21 students; PM = 19 students). Having muffins, cookies or cupcakes, as well as, napkins makes serving everyone much easier. If your child celebrates a birthday during the summer months, we will celebrate these birthdays in the month of June.

Important Dates:

September 27 - Terry Fox Run (9:30 AM and 1:45 PM)
September 29 - Photo Day
October 28 - Kindergarten Trip to Around the Bend Farm (details to follow)

News for September 24







News for September 24


This week the students reviewed the story "Swimmy" by Leo Lionni and created an art response to reflect the message in the story. Every student made a small, red fish
and these were put together to make a large fish with the main character, Swimmy the fish as the "eye" of the big fish, just like in the book. We learned that we can do anything if we work together.

Every student drew a picture to go on the class bulletin board for September. There is a separate display for the morning (AM)/afternoon (PM) classes. This display will change monthly.

Each class made a book based on the book, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?". The students made one page each to contribute to the book. They wrote their names and taped down a photo to complete each page. The class book, "Kindergarten, kindergarten, what do you see?" was read aloud and has become a favourite book choice in the reading corner. To read more about this book, and the other books featured this week at our companion blog http://planet5books.blogspot.com/.

The children played with letter magnets, playdoh extruders and "life skill" boards, where they practiced tying shoelaces, zipping zippers, buttoning buttons, snapping snaps and fastening buckles.

We also learned a new song, "Swimming, Swimming, In the Swimming Pool" where, as the song progresses, the actions are done with fewer and fewer words sung.

The students are now getting to know the names of everyone in the class. We played the "Name Game" (a rolling ball game).

Friday, September 17, 2010

Update from Ms. R

Many families still need to complete and return the information forms handed out last week. Thanks to all the families that have already handed these completed forms in.

* Remember, Thursday, September 23 is our school's Welcome Back BBQ and Curriculum night!
This week, forms were sent home to order food. You MUST order food in advance. This way the planning committee orders only what is needed and there is no waste. Please remember to send in your forms to avoid disappointment.

A request from Ms. R As the weather changes and your child will be wearing boots to school, please plan to have a pair of shoes to leave at school. (Students are not allowed to walk in sock feet at school). Please have velcro shoes. Please. Often I am alone when the children arrive and it is difficult to stop to do up 20 pairs of shoelaces! Thanks for your understanding.

News for September 17










News for September 17

The children have settled in nicely to the routines of Room 101 as we finished our 9th day of being friends together.
There were some new centres open this week. The sand table is always a favourite with students. Scooping and pouring sand with different utensils is a great way for children to study cause and effect.
A new toy called "Straws and Connectors" was a big hit. Students worked individually and in groups to create amazing structures, as they experimented with different ways to connect the straws together.
The children did a fine motor art activity as they glued coloured paper shapes on construction paper.
I had a chance to conference with each child to talk to them about counting. They each had an opportunity to orally count as high as they could. Then I looked at their grasp of 1:1 correspondence as they counted small wooden blocks.
By now, half of the students in each class has had the chance to be "star student". In the daily message the class helps me sound out the words and figure out what letters should be written down. We are concentrating on the first sounds in words.
The class learned some new songs this week. "Bingo", "Clap Your Hands Together" and a new favourite, "Slippery Fish". We also played an indoor rolling ball game to help us learn all the names of the students.
During out outdoor play time, the students played with balls and hula hoops. Many students made up their own games. One clever one was to have several students hold up hoops in a row, while another student tries to throw a ball through all the hoops.
We had a fire drill this week and all of our practising paid off! The students left the classroom in a quick and orderly fashion to find our special spot of the field.
Remember to learn about the books we read together this week at our companion blog:

Friday, September 10, 2010

Update from Ms. R

Well, it's been a great week in kindergarten! Meeting and getting to know the students has been a lot of fun. I will be posting photos and the news every week. I usually post the photos on Friday evening and finish writing the post on Saturday.

Please remember to complete the student information package forms and return them as soon as possible.

Important Dates:

Sept. 23 - Welcome Back BBQ and Curriculum Night (5:30 -7:30)
Oct. 11 - Thanksgiving Day - no classes on this day

News for September 10


News for September 10

Well, the first week of school is over. The children were very quick to learn the rules and routines of the classroom and have settled in nicely.

We have three fish as our class pets. The orange golf ball goldfish is named "Alpha", the white/orange/black shubunkin goldfish is named "Beta" and the algae-eater (or plecosaurus) is named "George".

The students learned our "Hello" song, "Good bye" song and a song to learn the days of the week. In math, we had fun reviewing counting forward and backward to five through songs and fingerplay poems ("One Little Jellybean" and "Five Little Monkeys").

Each day, we write a daily message together and read and reread the sentences. This month we search for letters that match the first letter of the star student's name. The star student then takes home the daily message to read with his/her family.

The children got used to the idea of going to centres in our classroom. That is, they have a free choice time to participate in various activities. This week they played in the house centre, reading corner, big blocks, drama/dress-up, snack table, puzzles, play-doh and art table. At the art table the students experimented with crayons, markers, pencil crayons and chalk.

Every day one student is chosen to be the "star student" for the day. This child is the line leader and my helper for the day. Every child gets a chance to be the star student on a rotating basis. Right now, we are working on putting the star students names on our class word wall.

A book is read aloud to the students everyday. If you would like to see which books we read every week, along with my comments, please visit our companion blog at:

http://planet5books.blogspot.com/

Try to visit the site with your child and have him/her talk to you about the stories we read together every week.







Saturday, September 4, 2010

How to Help Your Child Learn to Read

One of the things that families often ask is, "How can I help my child learn to read?"
The first, and easiest thing to do, is to read with them! There is no substitute for reading with your child each and every day. A child who has had 3 books read aloud to him/her everyday, comes into junior kindergarten with over 4,000 books read aloud to them! But it's not too late to start. Make a routine of reading with your child after school or at bedtime. Children tend to choose the same books over and over and that's okay. If you have a routine of reading three books before bed, for example, two could be the child's choice and one is the parent choice. That way, you can introduce different books (maybe even your favourites from your childhood) that might not intially appeal to your child. You may be surprised at which books become your child's favourites.