October 23-27

 

This week started off with a HUGE buzz of excitement with students eager to share their "Me Bags".  Although many had a turn to share with their classmates, there are still a few "Me Bags" that have not been shared yet.  I have reassured the students that they will share their special bags at the beginning of next week.  It can be sooooo hard to wait sometimes, but we have been practicing being "patient".  Our word of the week this week was "Patience" and we learned all about how it means "to wait in a calm way".  We learned and practiced lots of new strategies to help us be patient this week and we are definitely seeing our patience grow and grow.

It was perfect that our word was "Patience" this week as we learned all about the letter "P".  We learned how to make upper case and lower case "Pp" and the sound that it makes in words.  We also learned a new poem/fingerplay "5 Little Pumpkins".  We worked in teams to build our own fence that could hold 5 pumpkins using various materials in the classroom.  We needed to have patience and perseverance as we tested our designs.  We also read and acted out the story "The Very Busy Spider" and students were able to move in different ways like all of the farmyard animals in the story- waddling, galloping, strutting, jumping.  We always love to play "Kinder Theatre".  We will be bringing home our Letter Duotangs with our new poem and letter song next week.  If you have not yet sent back the letter book, please do:). We want to add new pages in our books to share at home.  

In math we practiced number formation and how to write and represent the numbers 4 and 5.  We continue to practice our subitizing skills and even played a new game called "Mystery Number".  Practicing making our numbers on whiteboards is a fantastic way to try and try again as we learn how to make our numbers look clear and concise.

This week brought our first school snowfall, and provided the opportunity to practice putting on and taking off our winter gear.  In Kindergarten we are working towards independence, and many friends needed lots of time and encouragement to get themselves ready to go home.  Thank you families for your patience as we practice this skill by waiting for us as we sometimes come out later than usual.  Yikes! We're doing the best we can and we will get faster.  Practicing putting on some items at home (especially snowpants) is super helpful.  Also, please label your child's warm gear/items and if something comes home that doesn't belong to your child- please just send it back so we can try to find the rightful owner.

In centres this week Kindergarten students were able to be Scientists- mixing colours and ingredients to make "fizzy potions".  Students played in a water station making "Spooky Brews", and built obstacle courses with stepping stones and balance beam pieces to develop gross motor skills and cooperation- along with having fun moving their bodies.   

Lastly, our AM class met their Big Buddies this week and created a Spider craft together.  We love having our Big Buddies come visit.  The PM class will get to see their Big Buddies next week.

Next week:  Students are invited to wear a costume if they choose on Tuesday for Halloween.  Please refer to the School Message sent out earlier this week for additional information.  

Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns and stay warm this weekend!

Here are some pictures from our week!

October 16-20

 Hello Families!

It was a very busy week in Kindergarten this week as we dove into our "All About Me" unit.  Our word of the week was "Unique" and we learned all about what it means to be "One of a Kind".  Mrs. Rupert shared her special "Me Bag" with a few special treasures inside.  Students were very excited to brainstorm ideas of what they can put in their own "Me Bag" to share with the class.  Please help your Kindergartener to find a few special things or pictures (or drawings) to go in their bag to share with their classmates next week as we celebrate all the ways we are different and unique.

We spent time reading stories that focused on our own special qualities and features and had time to do drawings and share our ideas in our journals.  Students are working towards adding details to their drawings, making sure their ideas match their illustrations and making connections between their lives and the stories and conversations we are having in class.   

We also began learning about letters and the sounds they make.  We learned how to print and uppercase and lowercase "A" and we learned that A is a vowel that makes 2 sounds.  Students were eager to bring home their new Letter books to share their letter and the song that we learned about it.  We will continue to put new letter pages and poems in the Letter Books to send home throughout the week for students to share their learning and to support sharing letter learning at home.  Please help students by keeping their letter books in their backpacks, or sending them back to school daily- so we have them available when we need add our new pages:)

Here's a link to our "A" song: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1xmriwh2T8

In math, we have continued to practice writing numbers and representing numbers in different ways.  We have continued to work in our Math Journals showing our numbers on a ten frame, as a digit, and through pictures.  We have also been practicing our subitizing skills.  Students are becoming amazingly quick at recognizing numbers fast when they are represented as dots on a dice or on a ten frame.  

During our centre times we made apple prints, built amazing creations out of blocks, took care of our toy babies in the house centre and learned how to play our first partner math game with dice.

Next week we will likely have some colder weather, but we may still have the opportunities to go outside for fresh air and exercise.  Please send your child in clothing appropriate for the weather, and please help make sure all student's gear and materials are labelled so we can make sure it does not get mixed up. Please encourage your child as they practice putting on warm outside clothing independently.  Some items can be tricky to get on just right (finger gloves, zippers), and may need a little extra practice over the next few weeks-  we are all about trying and learning and persevering as we develop new skills in taking good care of ourselves in Kindergarten.

Here are some fantastic photos of our last week:

October 10-13

 Hello Families!  

The weather sure has changed this week! We've stayed cozy and dry inside most of the week, watching the changing of the seasons from the comfort of our classroom- while we have been learning, playing, and creating together.

Our word of the week was "Friendship".  We read stories about friendship and talked about ways to be a kind friend.  We even made our own "Friendship soup" adding all kinds of ingredients that make up good friendships.  You can ask your Kindergartener what ingredient they added to our soup.  We did writing about friends in our journals this week, using details in our illustrations to share information about who we like to play with and our favourite things to do with our friends.

We read stories with lots of rhymes this week and we have been practicing identifying words that rhyme and words that do not.  We have also been playing the "Listening game" to develop "Phonemic Awareness".  We are listening to all kinds of words to notice the first and last sounds and are very proud of ourselves when we can "hear" the sounds together.

We read the story "Leaf Man" this week and  created our very own Leaf Creatures.  We used nature materials that we have brought in over the last few weeks to plan and make our own work of art.  We spent time explore our nature materials, sorting and describing leaves, talking about how different items felt, and seeing what shapes we could make with them.  We also found 2 lady bugs in our piles of treasures.  They have been named and cared for all week.  It was incredible to see what students came up with for their Leaf Man picture- our classroom is turning into quite the gallery.  

In math, we have been working on our number journals, learning how to write and represent numbers.  We have been learning how to show numbers on a ten frame, and we have been practicing the skill of "subitizing" (using our eyes to recognize dots/numbers quickly and automatically).  We continue to show great perseverance while we practice writing our numbers as digits.  It can be tricky or hard to try new things- especially when they look "funny" at first- but we keep on trying- and we can do it!

In our center times we have been developing our fine motor skills using little lego, playing board games like "Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel" and "Shark Bite" that require lots of hand-eye coordination, and using scissors and glue to make all kinds of open-ended art.  Students have been writing small Halloween and Fall books at the writing centre, painting with pine cones and searching for jewels in the bean bin.  The builders have been exploring with lots of boxes and tubes to create city scapes.  They morning group of students have been building cities for the afternoon kids to explore- and then the afternoon kids have been adding on for the morning kids to see the next day.  There have been many incredible designs that have continued to grow and grow all week long.  The excitement to see what has been built and "left behind" by the "other class" has been lots of fun this week.  

This Friday was also SUPER amazing because the PM class had a chance to meet and spend time with their own Grade 4 Big Buddy.  The AM class will be meeting their Big Buddy this upcoming week.  The Big Buddies (students from Grade 4) will be coming to do activities, play alongside us, and read with us throughout the year. 

Next week, we will be starting "All about Me" and students will be bringing home a little activity to participate in.  It should only take a few minutes to do at home, and then students will be able to share a little bit about themselves at school.  It is called a "Me Bag" and it will be going home in student's backpacks on Monday.  It will have instructions with it, but please reach out if you have any other questions about it.

As always, thank you for all of your support in your child's learning! 

Here are some pictures of our week!