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

Week of October 16th

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with their family.  Hopefully the turkeys made it home in one piece and decorated your Thanksgiving table! The kids were so excited to bring them home and show them off.

Today we went out on a leaf hunt and found gorgeous leaves in a variety of fall colours.  The children searched for different types, sizes and colours.  We read a story called "The Leaf Man" and were inspired to make beautiful creations with the leaves we collected.  Some of the leaves from the morning were laminated so we can do leaf rubbing and leaf exploration on Friday.

We have been practising our printing using proper pencil grip and proper letter formation with the jk students.  They are doing a great job with printing their name using an uppercase letter followed by lowercase letters.  Our sk students have been using their knowledge of letter sounds in their free writing.  Today, they wrote about what they are most thankful for.  We noticed that we are very blessed and have so much to be thankful for.  Our goal is to make the students feel confident when writing and to know that it is always okay to make mistakes.

On Monday, we will be starting our letter and "popcorn" word routine.  The blog post on Monday will explain what exactly this routine is and how you can support your child with their learning.  Please continue to check the blog each week for important information regarding our classroom community.

We are excited about our plans to walk to the Beaver Pond on this Friday, October 18th! A gentle reminder that you must have a criminal reference check done in order to assist as a volunteer. So far, the weather looks promising! Please be sure to send your child dressed appropriately for the outing including suitable footwear.  Volunteers are asked to join us right away at the 9AM bell. We will organize ourselves to leave right after attendance and bathroom visits.

Here are some pictures from today:

Week of October 7th

This week we will be talking about Thanksgiving and all the things we are thankful for.  The students came up with a list of things this morning and made a special book for our "book nook".  They were all very excited to share what their Thanksgiving traditions are with the class.  On Wednesday, we will be making a cute decoration for your Thanksgiving table.  We hope you like it!

Tomorrow we will be going to mass at St. Isidore Parish for 10 am.  We will be leaving the school around 9:40 am and taking the bus to the church.  We will return back to school for 11:15 am.  If you have not sent in the permission form, please do so by tomorrow morning.  Your child will not be able to attend without the signed permission form.  Please make sure that both sides of the form are signed.

Friday is a PD Day which means there is no school for the students.  We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Week of September. 30th

Thank you to all who participated and donated to our Orange Shirt Day.  Your donations were much appreciated. We had a sea of orange in our classroom today! 

This morning was very chilly outside and some children were wishing they had warmer clothes.  Because we are outside every morning until 9:30, we are asking that the children dress in layers.  This weather is so hard to dress for so layers are always the way to go!

Last Friday, the children were very interested in learning about Terry Fox.  We watched a few child friendly videos and listened to a song sung by children about Terry's life.  They were all very excited and proud to walk around the school yard after learning about Terry. 

Today we explored letters, talked about the Fall and observed some wonky looking carrots that Mrs. Costello brought in for us.  The jk students are learning how to hold the pencil properly and how to spell and write their name using proper letter formation.  The sk students are working on using their knowledge of letter sounds to sound out simple words.  It is very important to build their confidence and make it a fun activity instead of a dreaded task.  Mrs. T and I always sit with the students and model how to sound out words.  We encourage them to try their best and praise them for their efforts.  As the year progresses, the students become more confident and will attempt to write and sound out words independently.  It's beautiful to see!  If your child is asking you to help with sounding out words, allow them to make mistakes.  If they are constantly being corrected, they lose confidence and are more hesitant to write.  We will be starting our weekly letter and word exploration after Thanksgiving. 

Here are some pictures from today as well as the Terry Fox Walk:

Orange Shirt Day Tomorrow - Monday, September 30th

We are asking all staff and students to wear an orange shirt tomorrow.

To commemorate Orange Shirt Day, the OCSB is assisting in collecting money for the Wabano Center.  The Spirit Box initiative was started by Bryan Delaney of Delaney Law Firm in Ottawa. It is his goal for this initiative to go nationwide and help other Indigenous Communities in Canada. On September 30th, we are encouraging a donation of a quarter (25 cents) from each student and staff member in our school communities.  

Here's some information regarding Orange Shirt Day:

Today in our Catholic Schools, we are invited to wear an orange shirt to honour the children who survived Residential Schools and remember those that didn’t. Every Child Matters is the important message of today. 

Orange Shirt Day grew out of Phyllis Webstad’s story of having her shiny new orange shirt taken away from her on her very first day of Residential School. This date was chosen because it is the time of year in which children were taken from their home to residential schools. Moving forward, it is an opportunity to reflect and act on the importance of showing kindness to others as we begin a new school year.

Week of September 23rd

This week is looking like a busy week ahead!  Here are some important dates:

Wednesday, September 25th - Picture Day
Friday, September 27th - Terry Fox Walk
Monday, September 30th - Orange Shirt Day

This is the first week for our milk and pizza program.  The kids who ordered milk were very excited to get their milk from the bucket! Tomorrow will be the first pizza day for those who pre-ordered. Pizza day will be every Tuesday. Just a reminder to please send in cutlery with your child if their lunch requires it.  We do not have spoons or forks in the classroom.

Today we had 3 children all with the exact same pair of boots.  Please label their boots in order to avoid mix ups.  Due to the cooler temperatures in the morning, many students are coming with hoodies and coats.  During our late morning outdoor learning, many students take off their coats/sweaters and forget about them.  Many are not labeled and the children do not always claim them.  Please put a label on everything!

We read a book today about being an individual and unique.  The children made special rock "fish" to represent how vibrant and fantastic they are.  Once they put the finishing touches on them, we will bring our creations outside and place them in special places for others to find and keep.  Our hopes are to make others feel happy when they find our beautiful and unique fish.

We also talked about the season of Fall and discussed all the changes we see in this season.  The children made Fall pictures and books.  We also observed gourds and pumpkins using our 5 senses and pretended that we were scientists.  The children really enjoyed discussing the similarities and differences between the mini pumpkins and squash.



Here are some pictures from today:

Week of September 16th

Week 3 has started off great!  We had a busy day observing sunflowers, exploring numbers and using our imagination and creativity to make mini books after hearing a story about numbers.  The students have settled into the classroom nicely and are learning the rules and routines.  For the month of September, Mrs. T and I will be focusing on these rules and routines with the students. 

The students continue to explore the classroom and get to know each other.  It is so nice to see the new friendships being made.  Our sk students have been eager to take on a leadership role and have been amazing with the new jk students in the classroom.

Many thanks to all the parents who came to Program Night last week.  It was so nice to meet and reconnect with you.  If you were unable to attend, a package of information was sent home with your child last Friday.  

Book orders were sent home today in your child's mailbag.  If you wish to place an order, please do so by September 23rd.  You can place your order online (under teacher's name: Andrea Rocco) or send in a cheque made out to Scholastic Canada Ltd.  

On Friday, September 27th, we will be participating in the Terry Fox Walk.  The Kindergarten students will remain on school property and walk in the backyard.  We will be sending home more information this week with regards to donating for this worthy cause.

School lunch programs will be starting up during the week of September 23rd.  These include milk and pizza and were all pre-ordered online.  

We will also begin to visit the learning commons in the upcoming week.  The students will listen to a story read by Mrs, Baker each week and will have a chance to look at books in the learning commons.  These books will not be taken out. We are hoping to check out books in January once we have become comfortable and familiar with the library rules and routines.

Reminders:

Twitter - If you are interested in signing up for Twitter, please send Mrs. T your twitter handle so she can add you to our classroom group.  Mrs. T posts pictures of the students and their work daily.

Blog: Our classroom blog is usually updated every Monday evening/ Tuesday morning. You can sign up on the home screen to get notifications when a new post is made.  (roccokinder.blogspot.com)

Spare Clothing- Please ensure that your child has a spare set of clothing.  Accidents happen often in Kindergarten!  A spare set of clothing should include pants, a shirt, socks and underwear.  If your child has had an accident, we will ask them to change and put their soiled clothing in a bag.  The soiled clothing will be sent home that day.

Please send in a family photo so we can hang it up in our "Safe Space" .  This children love to look at their photo when they are missing their family.  We promise to return the photo at the end of the year.