Update from Ms. R

We had a great time back at school this week. We've started a unit on building and structures and learned "The Hammer Song". A copy of the words to this song were sent home with your child on Friday. Please remember to have your child sing this song (and read along) to you.

News for March 25

News for March 25

After getting settled back into the rules and routine of school after being away for a week, the students were their usual busy selves. We began the week talking about the signs of spring (e.g., leaf buds, seeing robins), but that was struck down by the abundant snow we received this week!

We started a unit on building and structures. The students focused on traditional building tools (e.g., hammmer, saw) and, using toy versions, learned what they are for and how they are used. We learned to read, sing and do the actions for the words to "The Hammer Song" (a copy of the words to this song were sent home with your child on Friday). A popular activity was experimenting with Jenga blocks. This is actually a strategy game using small, identical rectangular prism shaped blocks made of wood. Some children played the traditional game and others took on my challenge to find all the different ways to stack the blocks as high as possible.

Our read aloud books this week were chosen to link with building and buildings. "Tools" discussed how humans use different kinds of devices to help them do different jobs. "Iggy Peck Architect" was a funny favourite with the class as the main character Iggy liked to build with all sorts of different materials (as your child about the tower he built out of diapers!).

As always, more information about the books read aloud in class can be found on our companion blog:

http://planet5books.blogspot.com/

All the students are now regularly writing words in their journals. Since the students now know all the sounds of the letters of the alphabet (and several consonant blends) it is very rewarding for them (and me!) to be able to write the letters for words they choose. SK students are writing sentences and trying to remember to put a ". ! or?" at the end of their sentences.

The children continue to enjoy the stories of Corduroy (AM) and the snowman (PM) that are written during the toys' visits to student homes. Thank you to all the families for continuing to support this family literacy activity.

In math, the class answered and discussed the survey questions "Do you have a pet?" and "Do you have a sister?" The latter question took several days as there was much confusion as to exactly what a sister was! The students learned a new game called "The Math Game" (a version of the traditional game of "Buzz"). This game reinforces different ways of counting as well as, following the rules of the game and of fair play.

The afternoon class said good bye to our Special Needs Assistant, Mr. Mo. He is off on a new adventure and everyone in the PM class will miss him.

Update from Ms. R

The students this week learned a poem called "Me". A copy of this poem was sent home with your child on Friday.

I would like to wish all the families a safe and happy March Break!

News for March 11

News for March 11

This week, the class spent a lot of time talking and reading about people are different and how to accept yourself for who you are.

The children learned to read a poem called "Me". (A copy of this poem was sent home with your child on Friday for her/him to read to you.) We read several books (and watched a video!) about characters who think they will be happier if they changed something about themselves. However, in each case, in the end they realize that they are special and happy just the way they are. As usual, more information about the books we read each week can be found at our sister blog at http://planet5books.blogspot.com.

The students are enjoying learning about the adventures of Corduroy the bear (AM class) and Frosty the snowman (PM class) as they make their rounds to the children's homes. Right now these FamilyLiteracy Bags have gone with about half of the students in the classes.

The children each wrote a short story about his/her sock puppet. They taped a photo of themselves with the puppet and wrote about the puppet's name and what they liked to do. This is a good exercise in story writing as the child has to create a character. These stories are now on display in the hallway outside our classroom.

Last week, the students showed some interest in making flags. So this week we had a centre where children could make flags. Some of the students had an idea to take them outside to put on top of their castles in the snow!

We also talked more about the map of Canada. The students worked on several different puzzles illustrating Canada.

In math, the class continued to participate in daily surveys. This week, I asked the class to suggest questions to ask the class. We learned that most children like chocolate, about half the class like transformers, everyone likes to play and nobody can drive a real car!

Students in the afternoon class created a movie theatre experience in the big blocks centre (see photo).

Update from Ms. R

This week the students wrote the instructions on how to make a sock puppet. These instructions were sent home with your child on Friday. Please have your child read these instructions with you. Each child also took home the sock puppet that he/she created.

Remember....the March Break holiday runs from March 14 to March 18. Classes resume on Monday, March 21.

News for March 4

News for March 4

This week we made sock puppets and did many activities with them.

Each student made a sock puppet by choosing buttons for eyes, yarn for the hair and giving the puppet a name. The children used the puppets to sing songs and to read together. As a class, we wrote out instructions on how to make a sock puppet. They were introduced to the four common words used in procedural writing: first, next, then and last. We also videotaped a movie that can be found at the end of this posting.

The children wrote in their journals a few times this week. The senior kindergarten students now are writing 4 plus word sentences. Most junior kindergarten students are writing at least one new word each time. We also learned the sounds and letter combinations for "ch" and "oo".

In math, we started the unit on data management. In kindergarten, the children are introduced to this method of information gathering, through answering questions by putting a marker on a graph. In our class, the students learned to retrieve a magnet with the first letter of their names and put it on the whiteboard graph in the appropriate place. We learned that most of the children in our class like pretzels, most like to eat candy, most know how to skate and everyone is in kindergarten!

The students had a chance to experiment with some new magnets and magnifying devices as part of our "I wonder" kit that our class has.






The students are having a lot of fun taking turns taking Corduroy the bear (morning class) and Frosty the snowman (afternoon class) home to visit with his/her family. Each morning, the journal is read aloud to the class and everyone looks at the picture that was drawn. Usually the star student takes the special bag home but, if there is an illness and a child misses a day of school, then we will keep the order of students, but your child may get it a few days after she/he was star student.

We read lots of books about monkeys this week. It started out by reading aloud books featuring sock monkeys (as a link to how we make toys out of socks) and then I kept finding books with monkeys as the main character. These books facilitated our discussions about imagination. The class knows that the imagination is located in the brain and we experimented with closing our eyes and "looking" at things using their mind's eye. As usual, more information about our read aloud books can be found at our sister blog at: http://planet5news.blogspot.com/.

Introducing.....our sock puppets! Here is a video of the students using the puppets they made this week.