News for December 3

News for December 3

We started off this week by learning which hand is the "right" hand and which is the "left" hand. You probably noticed that your child often had a "happy face" stamp on his/her right hand. This was used as a visual clue for the children. We also learned a song to help remember that we use the right hand to shake hands with someone. Here are the words to the song that you can read or sing with your child:

Give them your right hand,

Look them in the eye,

Put a smile on you face,

Then you say "hi" (repeat once)

The students explored 10 alphabet treasure boxes this week. These are containers that hold small objects with names that begin with a particular letter sound. For example, two of the items in the "Dd" box were a small plastic dolphin and a toy drum.

The children used glue and tissue paper to create collages. They experimented with tearing, scrunching and overlapping the coloured tissue.

We focused on the letters U, V and W this week. The children practised the songs, sounds and shapes. We also reviewed the letters and sounds the class has learned so far (13...halfway through the alphabet).

The class discussed the different ways to tell a story. The students talked about how a story can be told through words (orally), through print (reading), through video and through song. We "watched" the story of Frosty the Snowman on DVD and talked about how the video was like a story in a book. Next, we read the story of Frosty as a read aloud book and then realized that the words were actually the lyrics to the song! The children had fun stomping their feet to:

Thumpty, thump, thump,

Thumpty, thump, thump,

Look at Frosty go!

Thumpty, thump, thump,

Thumpty, thump, thump,

Over the hills of snow!

The students had a drawing lesson on how to draw a snowman. After learning the basics and how to look at a snowman to help our brains decide how to draw it (for example, how his head looks like a circle; his scarf like a rectangle), we used our stuffed snowman as a model.

The class began to talk about the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. We read a story about how families celebrate this holiday and began to learn the "dreidel song" (a dreidel is a spinning top with Hebrew letters on the sides).

As always, more information about the books (and DVD) we read this week, can be found at our companion blog at:

http://planet5books.blogspot.com/

Update from Ms. R

The cold weather is here! With that Room 101 has some notes for parents:

* Have velcro shoes for your child to wear at school. These are easy for your child to take on/off independently. These shoes can be kept in your child's cubbie for the duration of the cold weather.

* Please have mittens that your child can take off/on independently. Gloves are tricky as many students lack the dexerity to put gloves on, as are mittens with very tight elastic at the wrist.

* Mittens get lost very easily! Having mitten clips that attach to coat sleeves or mittens on a string that are threaded through the sleeves help keep the mittens with your child's coat.

* Please put your child's name on ALL clothing (mittens, coats, boots, hats). A permanent marker works very well. Even initials are helpful...

As I have said before, I am often alone helping children to get clothing on and off. With 21 children in the morning and 19 in the afternoon, I hope you can see that the above tips will not only make my job easier, but also help your child to feel more independent. Thanks for listening!

News for November 26

News for November 26

This week the students learned how to draw a person. They used what they know about printing capital letters (big line, little line, big curve, little curve) to create "Mat Man". They learned a song about body parts and what the parts are for. Using clipboards and singing the song, the class drew a whole group of "Mat Man" drawings. They also could use the pieces to make the Mat Man figure independently. The words to the song were sent home with students on Friday to practise reading the words at home. This exercise helps students develop their ability to draw people. A video of what the students did can be found at the end of this posting.

The students had an opportunity to write their own little books. Children love to take the little books and write and draw on the blank pages. This reinforces concepts of print and helping the students see themselves as writers and artists.

Students painted using tempera blocks this week. It was wonderful to hear the children talking about what they have learned about colours and colour mixing as they painted. They mixed two of the primary colours (red, yellow, blue) to get secondary colours (orange, green, purple). Some even used what they learned from the "Colour Kittens" book read aloud this week, the fact that when all the colours are mixed together, you get brown. These paintings are now decorating our classroom.

The students are enjoying using their personal clipboards to write and draw during centre time. I've included a photo this week of students using their clipboards in the big blocks centre to create an office.

The children experimented with bead stringing, new wooden puzzles, wood pieces and mixing white playdoh with coloured playdoh.

We learned the names, sounds, shapes and songs for the letters U and V.

Update from Ms. R

A great big THANK YOU to all the families that came by Room 101 this week to meet with me. I had a wonderful time talking about all the great things that your daughters and sons do in our classroom.

Multicultural Night will be held on November 25 from 5:30 to 7:00. It is a potluck dinner, where families each bring a food dish to share. A letter about this event was sent home this week.

News for November 18

News for November 18

We only had 4 days together this week but that never stops the students in Room 101!

We continue to talk about colours. The students worked with playdoh to review the primary colours: red, blue and yellow. They had the opportunity to make the secondary colours: orange, green and purple. It was wonderful to see the faces of the children as they each mixed together two colours to make a brand new colour. We learned:

red + yellow = orange

yellow + blue = green

blue + red = purple

The students put their colours on a piece of cardboard to dry.

The children used glue sticks to glue coloured squares on yellow paper. Some made pictures with the squares (e.g., a flower, a calendar) and some made repeating patterns.

We read two books about animals and colours. In one story an elephant (and in the other story, a chameleon) uses colour to change his appearance but learns that he is happier being just the way he is. Details of the books we read each week can be found on our class books blog at:

http://planet5books.blogspot.com/

The afternoon class said a heartfelt "good bye" to the special needs assistant, Denise. Denise was a great help to all the students in the class. We made a big thank you card for her and we will miss her.

The students learned the songs and sounds of the letters H and L. The children focused on alphabet puzzles to review letter names and matching capital and lower case letters.

The class talked about why it is important to brush your teeth twice a day. We learned a new song, "You Brush Your Teeth" which also reviews counting to 10 using your fingers.

...What did Ms. R hide in the container of playdoh?

Update from Ms. R

Report cards for the senior kindergarten students go home on Monday. Interviews for all parents are scheduled for this week. A confirmation of the date and time of your interview will be sent home on Monday. Please wait outside Room 101. I will try my best to stay on schedule!

Important Dates:

November 15 - Report cards for senior kindergarten students go home.
November 16 to 19 - Parent/teacher interviews
November 19 - P. A. Day - no classes on this day
November 25 - Multicultural Night (details to follow)
November 30 - school photo re-takes
December 15 - Holiday Concert (Kindergarten, 6:00 to 6:45; Grades 1-6, 7:00 to 8:00)
December 20 to January 2 - Winter Holidays

News for November 12

News for November 12

This week the classes talked about peace as part of our discussion of Remembrance Day. The students learned about the poppy flower as a symbol for this day and how it says "peace" without using words. We read "The Peace Book" that reminded us that peace comes in many forms. Kindness to others, thinking about loved ones and sharing, are all ways of peaceful living. The children also learned a song called "Deep Peace" and practised the American sign language signs that go along with the lyrics:

Deep peace of the running waves to you,
Deep peace of the shining stars to you,
Deep peace of the flowing wind to you,
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.

We started a unit on colours this week. The children used what they know about colour to help them practise the math concept of "sorting" as well as the words "same" and "different". The students sorted all different kinds of objects by colour. We also started to write our class book for November based on colours. Their favourite colours were written on chart paper and then each student practised "touch reading" (touching the words as he/she says them) his/her sentence.

The students practiced the capital letters M and N. Junior students used the magnet boards and the senior students wrote in their workbooks. We also started to talk about the capital letter H.

The classes worked hard to create new name cards. We use these name cards as an attendance activity at the beginning of the day. The children practised their capital letters and keeping the letters the same size.

As always, the details of the books we read together this week can be found at:

http://planet5books.blogspot.com




This is a photo of our gym teacher, Mr. Hinrichsen, helping students put gym equipment away.








Here is a video of students feeding our pet fish, Alpha, Beta and George: