June Curriculum Newsletter

Hello Families,

Here is the link for our June Curriculum Newsletter:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12qG1z-5x6YJdLmWze3Ylow7ccUYHCYVOVvfFB7zhUo8/edit#slide=id.g25494b4c5db_0_7

June 24-27

 Hello Families!

It was the big final week of Kindergarten and we packed our week with some amazing activities as we said farewell to be Kindergarteners and embraced the awesomeness of being a Grade 1 student!  Our word of the week was "bittersweet"- which this week was.  We were sad to say goodbye to our little classroom family, but excited for the future and all of the joy that will come with new friends and new experiences.

We began our week completing our class mural for our celebration.  We worked very hard on all adding our own special touches and filling our speech bubble with our own words about what we learned this year.  

We had the opportunity to participate in Field Day with the rest of the school- trying tug of war, drawing with chalk, completing obstacle courses and making ginormous bubbles.  

We practiced a lot for our celebration this week, and all had a chance to practice talking into the microphone- and when our Graduation day came, we were ready.  I was so proud of the Kindergarteners and how they sang so beautifully together.  They were so excited to share this day with their families and friends.   We were so lucky that one of our Big Buddies surprised us with a visit to read a story about Graduating Kindergarten.  We loved listening to her read and give us some good advice about moving up to a new grade.  We have loved our buddies so much this year and the time they spent with us.

The students were also so eager to bring home their scrapbooks we have been working in all year.  We spent time this week adding last pictures, as well as going back to see where they had begun.  All of the students were shocked at how far they have come with their writing, drawings and idea sharing.  The growth that happens in Kindergarten really is remarkable.

At the end of the week we tried to squeeze in some picnics, silly and favourite stories and songs, an experiment, a messy science centre and lots and lots of group times to share stories and memories.  One of the students made me a marshmallow man and it "lead" carpet time with me this week.  The kids couldn't stop laughing- and neither could I.  So silly Mrs. Rupert.

I was also so fortunate to have such helpful students, as they offered to help with sorting and scrubbing and getting my classroom ready for the next group of Kindergarten students.  They have all assured me that they will come and help the "new little kids" whenever I need them.  

Before I post the last few photos of our week, I just wanted to say a HUGE "Thank-You" to all of the families this year for the support and love they have shared with me.  Thank you for your words, encouragement and kindness.  I have loved teaching your children.  They have filled my days with lots of joy and I enjoyed coming to see them and learn alongside them this year.  We have explored and adventured together and I know they will go on to do great things.  They have kind hearts, strong brains and helpful hands- and I wish them all the best in Grade 1.  I will miss them so very much.  So bittersweet indeed!

Have a fantastic summer! 

June 17-21

 Hello Families,

It was our last full week of Kindergarten and we have been busy!

We started our week with a special treat- a professional lacrosse player from the Calgary Roughnecks team came to our school to teach us some really cool lacrosse tricks.  We learned how to scoop, spin and throw our lacrosse balls.  

Our word of the week was "Community".  We continued to learn all about how communities are places where "people live, work and play" together.  We were able to identify different places in McKenzie Towne along with different community helpers that may work in our community.  We read lots of stories about communities and community helpers this week.   We all worked together to build our own community using recycled materials and lots and lots of boxes.  We added our homes to the community as well as cars, buses and stop signs.  It was a lot of fun and a lot of work to put our community together- but when we all did it together it worked out beautifully.  You can ask your Kindergartener what they built to add to our town.  

This week we also spent lots of time preparing for our Kindergarten Celebration- practicing our songs and dances- as well as working on a phenomenal masterpiece of art to share. This week we also had the opportunity to go for a visit to Grade 1.  We met some of the Grade 1 teachers, toured the classroom and learned a little bit about what Grade 1 will be like next year.  

For our centre times we have been building, playing in our towne, exploring new math manipulative and shape blocks, playing house, building train tracks that stretch down the hallway, and going outside!

Lastly, the AM Kindergarten students came to school on Friday- which was "Summer Solstice".  We learned that Summer Solstice is the beginning of the summer time and it is the day that the sun is in the sky for the longest amount of time all year.  We talked about how Indigenous People in Alberta would loo to the land and nature for signs that the seasons were changing. We went outside for our own nature walk to look for signs of summer- and the amount of mosquitos were one of the signs (so if your child came home really itchy- I do apologize). 

The students have been very interested in the yellow dandelions and fluffy dandelions all over our school yard.  We learned about a dandelions life cycle and then collected a bunch to bring inside.  We worked together to transform our dandelions into natural paint hues and painted some summer solstice pictures with them.  There was lots of great questions, wonderings, predictions and exploration.  

Here are some pictures of our week:

June 11-14

 Hello Families,

Another busy week in Kindergarten has flown by!
This week was full of excitement as we began to practice for our Kindergarten Graduation-Celebration!  

It was also beyond exciting to find out this week that our Lil' Greenie Pumpkin plant is growing a baby pumpkin! There were lots of cheers for Lil' Greenie and lots of encouragement to "Grow Greenie Grow".  The Kindergarten students have been so helpful watering our plant, adding flowers to enrich the soil and making sure that Mrs. Rupert has the plant light on, or the blinds wide open to give Greenie lots of sunshine.

Our word of the week was "Alliteration"- which is when lots of words in a sentence begin with the same sound.  We loved listening to, and trying out lots of tongue twisters this week- and we even made one of our own.  We liked bringing our tongue twisters to the Library to see if Ms. McLean could say them all.

In math, we explored 3D shapes this week.  We did a 3D shape test to investigate different shapes and whether they could roll, stack or slide.  We examined all of the shapes and noted how they were similar and how they were different.  We used words like "smooth, pointy, corners and round".  We were able to identify 3D shapes in our classroom, outside and all over the school this week.

In Social Studies, we began talking about "Our Community" and were able to identify places and things we see in the community of McKenzie Towne.  We know that a community is "where people live, work and play".  We talked about different places people may live in the community and then drew our own homes.  Next week we are going to be building our own community using recycled materials and lots of creativity.  If you have any extra cardboard boxes (shoebox size or smaller), or carboard tubes/papertowel rolls we would love to take them off your hands.  

In centres this week we planted wildflowers, painted pictures, explored new math manipulatives, built castles and playgrounds for stuffies, had a picnic, served ice cream at our pretend ice cream centre, built the world longest toy train track, made 3D shapes out of clay and played board games with our Big Buddies.

Some updates from McKenzie Towne School:

Global Citizenship Fundraiser

On Thursday June 20, the Grade Three students at our school will be hosting a Global Citizenship fundraiser in support of the Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth, which supports newly arrived immigrants and refugees.

They will be selling various student handmade items for $2. There will also be lemonade and fudge bites available for purchase.

If you would like your child to participate, please send money with them and we will help them select their items to purchase.

Thank you for all of your support!

 

Jersey Day

In support of the Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs, we are encouraging students and staff to wear their jerseys on playoff days (June 13, 18, 21, 24).

If you don't have an Oilers Jersey, any jersey will do.

Let's cheer on our Canadian Team!!

Here are some pictures from our week:

June 3-7

 The sun is shining and June has arrived.   As we changed our classroom calendar from May to June and put up special events of the month, there was something very strange about putting up "Last Day of School" at the end of the month.  I don't think any of us can really believe that the year has gone so fast.  It's going to be a busy month and we are going to pack in as much learning, fun and friendship as we can before our summer break.   Our word of the week was "Determination!" and we are all determined to end our year in Kindergarten by doing our best and trying new things.

We read the story "Jabari Jumps" and "Mr. Strong" this week- and in both stories the characters needed to have determination to try something new.  They made a decision and they "went for it".  We have also been doing this in the classroom as we have attempted new things- like reading words together, spelling new words, writing sentences using punctuation and using our number sense skills to solve mystery math problems. The AM class also used our determination and muscles to do a special science experiment on friday morning. You'll have to ask your child what we made- it was scrumptious.

In Literacy we noticed just how many words we can actually already read.  We looked at lots of signs and logos and environmental print and we were so excited to see we could identify and "read" so much.  We also spent time writing in our journals and reading our last fairytale- "Goldilocks and the Three Bears".  We loved acting out the story doing "Kinder Theatre".  For phonics we have continued to learn about beginning and end sounds, rhyming words and alliteration.  

In math, we started to learn all about 3D shapes.  We learned the difference between 2D and 3D shapes, and explored what makes 3D solids different from one another.  We have been noticing 3D shapes in our classroom now and can label them.  We also learned how to play a new game called "Mystery Cup"- it combines subitizing skills with numbers 1-10 and mental math.  

We also learned about "Land Acknowledgements" and why they are important.  As a class we created our own Land Acknowledgement- sharing where our families are from, why we love nature and the land, and how we promise to take care of it.  The Kindergarten students had so many wonderful ideas to share and did a fantastic job listening to one another.

At center times we had fun playing in our new Ice Cream Shoppe centre, building with all types of materials, exploring capacity concepts at the water table, painting with fluffy paint, taking care of baby dolls, building forts and playing all kinds of new tag games at the park.

Rock Collection  

Students will be completing a special project next week which requires rocks!!! If you have time over the weekend, please have your child find two small rocks to bring to school next week (not too big)! We are looking for each student to have one about the size of a toonie and one the size of a loonie. (One can be slightly bigger than the other). Please  send your rocks to school in a labelled bag by Wednesday. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Here are some other updates from the school:

On Thursday June 20, the Grade Three students at our school will be hosting a Global Citizenship fundraiser in support of the Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth, which supports newly arrived immigrants and refugees. They will be selling various student handmade items for $2. There will also be lemonade and fudge bites available for purchase. If you would like your child to participate, please send money with them and we will help them select their items to purchase. Thank you for all of your support!

The Grade Three Team

It has been great to see all of the students walking or riding to school on Thursdays (and other days of the week).  Every Thursday is a Walk or Ride day, and we are encouraging all students to get to school in an active way.  We are doing this because it is: good for the environment, good for our bodies, and it's fun! 

Mark van Sluys

PE Teacher

Here are some pictures from our week: