News for November 27

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News for November 27

This was a very full week for the children. From geometry, to researching structures around the world, to learning and writing about octopuses, to acting in plays they worked hard and had a lot of fun too!

The class learned about Venn Diagrams and how to use them to compare things. The standard Venn Diagram uses two overlapping circles, creating three spaces. For example, if you compare home and school (as the students did this week ), in the left space you would write things found or done at home but not at school. For example, at home you take a bath, eat dinner and have a bed. In the right hand space you would write things found or done at school and not at home. For example, at school we have recess, a principal and a large gym. In the middle, are things found or done at home AND school. For example, at home and school we eat lunch, read books and play with friends. Did you know that the Venn Diagram is named after the English mathematician John Venn (1834-1923) who first wrote about using it in 1880? That's 135 years ago and we still use this strategy to compare things. 

In math, the students finished the unit on two-dimensional (2D or flat) geometry shapes and began to look at three-dimensional (3D) figures. The children used Venn Diagrams to sort 2D shapes by different attributes (for example, if the shape has right angles or parallel lines). The class also reviewed the concept of congruency. For shapes to be congruent, they must be the same size and the same shape. Later in the week, we reviewed the basic concepts of 3D geometry, with all 3D geometric figures having vertices, edges and faces. 

In writing, the students wrote their first book reports of the year. First they chose one of the five Martha the dog books we read aloud last week. Then they answered a series of questions about the book (for example, "Who was your favourite character? Why?"). 

In our guided reading time, I worked with small groups of children to start doing the research on the structure that they chose last week. Using hard copy encyclopedias and wikipedia on the ipads, the children began to fill out their graphic organizers. These worksheets have questions to guide their research such as, "Where in the world is the structure located?" and "When was the structure built?"

The children continued to rehearse and prepare their Reader's Theatre plays in their groups. This week they collected props and made simple costumes. We managed to film two of the three plays and the audience practised giving constructive criticism (for example, what was done well and what could be done to improve). These videos will be posted next week when the final play is filmed. 

The students sewed the button eyes on their glovetopuses with a needle and thread. Now they have begun to write their first chapter book of the year, using their octopus/glovetopus as the main character. They still have to do all the stages of writing (plan, rough copy, edit, revise, good copy) but they are learning how to divide the story into smaller chunks to create separate chapters.

With the first snowfall happening this week, the children learned about the man Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley who was the first person to take photographs of snow. He dedicated his life to learning about the science and the beauty of the ice crystals that make snowflakes. Did you know that fully-formed snowflakes are in the shape of a hexagon? Aha! Math is everywhere...

The class went to the library to listen to one of the Davisville kindergarten staff members, Ms. Moaven, read aloud a story she wrote in English and in Farsi, called, Who Do You Love the Most?. This story was published in a book in the fall. She read the story aloud and answered questions from the students.

Finally, after reading the book Octopus's Garden, the class listened to the classic Beatles song (and even heard Ringo Starr talk briefly about how the song became a book).

Books read aloud this week:

On the Job With an Architect: Builder of the World by Jake Miller
Everyday Structures From A to Z by Bobbie Kalman

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

Octopus's Garden by Ringo Starr