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:
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.
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