Week of October 29th

Our letter of the week is "m" and our word of the week is "am".  The students had a blast this morning with our "What Am I" riddles (see the pictures below).  Together, we sounded out the word "am" using our "a" and "m" sounds.  The sk students did a great job writing their thoughts in their journal.

The students used their problem solving skills and made bridges to hold 5 rats at one time.  It was a great challenge for them and they worked together to come up with great bridge options for our 5 lovely rats!

The kids also made their own version of a scary monster to hang in our haunted house. The classroom is all ready for Halloween!

Last week, we went into Griffin's Grove to observe and collect different coloured leaves.  The students had so much fun looking at the different shapes and types of leaves as well as finding the reddest maple leaves!

On Friday, we were lucky to have Mrs. McEvoy's Grade 3 class come and do reading buddies with us.  The little kids were in awe of the big kids and their reading abilities.  We will continue on a weekly basis to pair up with this class for some reading adventures!



Reminders:

Tuesday, October 30th -
Photo Retake Day and Sibling Photo Day

Wednesday, October 31st -
 Students are invited to wear orange and black.  Please do not send your child with a costume.  We are also asking that you do not send in any treats to share for the children.  We have severe allergies so we do not want anyone to feel left out.

Thursday, November 1st -
We are taking our learning outside for our Outdoor Learning Day.  The students will explore literacy, Math, Art, Science etc outside on our school yard.  Please ensure that your child is dressed appropriately.  We will be outside for a few hours.

Initial Observations - Report Card
In Kindergarten, we do not send a progress report card home at the same time as the rest of the school.  Our initial observations will be coming home on November 14th.  Parent/teacher interviews will be held on November 15th.  More details to follow.

Week of October 22

Our letter of the week is "i, I" and the word of the week is "I". Mrs. T and I are very impressed with how interested and engaged the students are in letters and wanting to sound out words.  The sk students did a great job in their free writing journals today.  They sounded out their thoughts incorporating our word of the week.  See pictures below.

During carpet time, the students were eager to come up and "butter" our popcorn word.  We found 7 in this week's poem about leaves.

Today, we also turned our dramatic play area into a haunted house.  The kids were so excited to put their unique pumpkins on the window to create a pumpkin patch. It turned out so cute!

Reminders:

If you are not happy with the school photo and want a retake, please send the picture back with a note saying that you would like a retake.


Please send a hat and mitts with your child.  The mornings are chilly and we are outside until 9:30.


School Halloween Dance- Friday, October 26th @ 6 pm

Week of October 15th Letter and Word of the Week

Each week, we will be looking at a letter and a word of the week.  The intent is that the letter of the week is for the jk students and the word of the week is for the sk students.  The word of the week is a high frequency word that we call a "popcorn" word.  These popcorn words are words that are found in simple books which are easy to sound out for the children.  We will get a new letter and word every Monday.  Our activities on Monday will involve this letter/word at some of our tabletops.  I would encourage you to check the blog at the beginning of the week so that you can ask your child to point the word out during nightly reading (sk's), practise printing the letter/word with their magic finger, think of words that have the letter sound in them, etc.  Make it fun! 

Our letter of the week is the letter "a".  We learned that this letter makes 2 sounds ("ahh' and it says it's own name "a").  We had lots of fun with the letter a.  All the children with an "a" in their name stood up.  We noticed that most of the kids in the class have an "a" in their name so it must be an important letter!  We also came up with a list of words that have an "a" in them.  

Our word of the week is "a".  We read a poem about pumpkins and the children had fun "buttering" the popcorn word!  We will do this every Monday.  We will read a poem together and keep an eye out for the word of the week.  The children will take turns "buttering" the word of the week.  This means they will colour the word in yellow. See the pictures below from today.

The sk students then went on to write a sentence or a thought using the word "a".  Mrs. T and I were so proud of their work.  See pictures of their work below.

The students also took an interest in our pumpkin exploration.  They enjoyed writing and drawing about the different pumpkins that we had on the table.  Some of the things they wrote about was the pumpkin's size, colour and the difference between the variety of pumpkins.

Reminders:

As the weather gets cooler, please send your child dressed warm enough to be outside for 30 minutes in the morning, 20 minutes at lunch and 15 minutes at the end of the day.  Layers seem to be the best way to dress in this type of weather!

School photos came home today. Please check your child's mailbag.  The pictures are adorable!!!

The Scholastic orders arrived today and were sent home with your child.  Please check the mailbags! 

Here are some pictures of the day:

Week of October 8th

We hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving with family and friends.  We have been spoiled by the summer-like weather over the past 2 days.  The kids have had a blast digging in the sand and building castles!  Let's hope it stays a little while longer!

Today, we read a book about friendship and decided to paint portraits of our classmates.  They turned out absolutely adorable!  We have been talking about the different zones of regulation and our feelings.  This is very useful when the students are faced with conflicts between peers.  We are talking about using our words instead of hands and sharing our feelings when someone does something that makes us feel sad or angry etc.

This afternoon, we were invited to a presentation by Earth Rangers where the children got to learn about different animals.  They brought live animals such as an owl, skunk and turtle for the kids to see.  The students had a blast!

We have been looking at numbers and letters in our learning environments and continue to practise letter sounds through songs and games.  Please continue to review letters and numbers at home, Keep it simple and fun!  We will be starting our letter and word of the week over the next few weeks so be sure to check the blog each week.

A big thank you to all the volunteers who signed up for our Playdoh Club.  A schedule and recipe was sent home today in your child's mailbag.  A separate blog post will be added with the schedule and recipe for easy access.

Here are some pictures from today:

Playdoh Club Schedule and Recipe

Easy Playdoh Recipe

2 cups of white flour

½ cup of salt

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp cream of tartar

Up to 1 ½ cups of boiling water

Add slowly and check the consistency.  When it is the way you like it, let it cool and knead it until it’s smooth!

If you would like to make it coloured, add the food colouring to the water after it’s boiled.

Playdoh Club Schedule

October 22 – Claudia C. (Leo)	March 4 - Ashleigh W.
October 29 - Adrian M. (Domenic)	March 18 - Jana M.
November 5 - Stacey B. (Decklan)	March 25 - Joyce L.
November 12- Angie W. (Allison)	April 1 - Ivy Y.
November 19 - Nelly G. (Sofia)	April 8 - Sara B.
November 26 - Eric S. (Elizabeth)	April 15 - Claudia C.
December 3 - Ashleigh W. (Evan)	April 22 – Adrian M.
December 10 - Jana M. (Quinn)	April 29 - Stacey B.
December 17 - Joyce L. (Amelia)	May 6 - Angie W.
January 7 - Ivy Y. (Alex)	May 13 - Nelly G.
January 14 - Sara B. (Micah)	May 21 - Eric S.
January 21 - Claudia L.	May 27 - Ashleigh W.
January 28 – Adrian M.	June 3 - Jana M.
February 4 - Stacey B.	June 10 - Joyce L.
February 11 - Angie W.	June 17 – Ivy Y. and Sara B.
February 19 - Nelly G.
February 25 - Eric S.

Thank you for participating in Playdoh Club!  It will be put to good use!!!

Week of October 1st

Can you believe that it is already October??!!!  The month of September few right by!  The children are settled into our routines and have had fun exploring our classroom.

Today, we talked about Thanksgiving and what it means to give thanks.  The children made their own "giving thanks" booklets as well as made love notes for family and friends.  Since September, Mrs T and I have noticed a big interest in writing and drawing.  We are THRILLED!!!

We have been talking about the Fall and all the things that change during this season. Everyone is waiting patiently for the leaves to change colour and fall from the trees.  We will be going into Griffin's Grove to collect leaves once this change happens.  The children explored a different medium today and created leaves using plasticine.  They did an amazing job!

The students also played with nuts, bolts and other loose parts to make letters and various creations.  They were eager to find a letter in their name and trace over it with the loose parts.  Incorporating letters and numbers in a fun way is a great way to teach literacy/numeracy without the children realizing it!

We also started our "Giving Thanks" tree which will be located in the main foyer.  If you are in the school, be sure to check it out.

On Thursday, the children will be coming home with a Thanksgiving craft that will be a perfect centerpiece for your Thanksgiving dinner.  We hope you enjoy it!

Reminders:

Wednesday, October 3 - Terry Fox Walk

The kinders will be taking part in the Terry Fox Walk in the morning.  Please ensure that your child is dressed appropriately for the outdoors.  We will be staying on school property for our walk.  If you would like to make a donation, please see the post from last week on the ways to contribute.  Thank you for your support.

Thursday, October 4 - Family Pizza and Movie Night - 5:30 pm

Friday, October 5 - PD Day.  No school for the children


Here are some pictures from today: