WEEK OF October. 21st - Important -Please read!

Today we started our word and letter exploration.  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".  We are working on building their confidence and independence.  They did a fantastic job today and we are so proud of their work! See pictures of their work below.

We also explored a variety of pumpkins today.  There were small, medium and large pumpkins on display.  The students became scientists by exploring them using magnifying glasses.  They drew detailed pictures and described their work with words.  The walls in the classroom are filled with these bright and gorgeous pictures!

The students experimented with different tools at the art table today and had a blast.  We put out sticks, twigs and paint and they got creative.  Many students painted Halloween pictures and Fall pictures.  They are all really cute!

Every Friday, we will be meeting up with our Grade 2 reading buddies from Ms. Clouthier's class.  Last week the kids LOVED sitting with their buddies and listening to them read.  There were many familiar faces and even a few siblings in the class!

Thank you to all the parents who volunteered on our walk to the Beaver Pond.  We really appreciate all the support from volunteers.  Without you, field trips would not be possible. The kids had a great time and were excited to come back and look at the treasures they found on the walk.

Reminders:

Photo Retake Day - Nov 6
Halloween Dance -Fri. Oct 25th from 6-8 pm