Dear parents,
It has been an absolute pleasure and delight being a part of your child’s learning journey this past year. Thank you for entrusting them in our care. Also, thank you for all the kind words and thoughtful gifts. We wish you a restful summer holiday and look forward to seeing them in Grade One. Below is the recipe for making Bannock (Baking Powder Biscuits) that we made together last week. We adapted it from the Betty Crocker recipe: Ingredients 2 cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt ¼ cup shortening or butter ¾ cup milk Steps 1. Heat oven to 450°F. In large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in milk until dough leaves side of bowl (dough will be soft and sticky). 2. On lightly floured surface, gently roll dough in flour to coat. Knead lightly 10 times. Roll or pat 1/2 inch thick. Cut with floured 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter. On ungreased cookie sheet, place biscuits about 1 inch apart for crusty sides, touching for soft sides. 3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Serve warm. Continuing our work with lifecycles, students were split into groups based on the creatures they chose: frogs, dragonflies or the rainbow trout. We looked closely at the creature’s unique appearances and learned interesting facts about the creatures. Students drew and labeled the appearance of a creature and then wrote facts that were interesting to them. Students shared: -The eye are so big so they can look and for predators. -I learned about the word tympanum cause I never see a word like that. It’s the ear so animals can hear and bounce away from predators. -When the dragonfly flew on the man’s head it’s good luck. -That they are carnivores like ants and beetles. -They have really good wings. They can see middle front anywhere. -They don’t bend their wings. -They are really fast. Rolling, mixing and blending, students molded and shaped plasticine to create the lifecycle of their creature. Students demonstrated the following outcomes: I can talk about similarities and differences of living things. I can arrange events of a lifecycle in logical order. I can recognize ways animals adapt to different seasons. I can describe a variety of animal homes. I can use plasticine to create three dimensional objects. In math, students were suggested to create a challenging pattern. We started with using wire to create the outline of a fish. Then beads were used to create challenging patterns across the body of the fish. Students were encouraged to create something more than a repeating 2 element pattern. Students demonstrated the following outcomes: I can identify a pattern. I can reproduce a pattern. I can extend a pattern. I can create a pattern. On our field trip students were able to look closely at animal habitats and attend a presentation about lifecycles. Our presenter discussed the differences between vertebrates and invertebrates with artifacts such as: a bird’s wing, eggs and fur from a bear. Then students acted out a story about the lifecycle of a frog narrated by our presenter. Everyone participated with costumes and did a great job following the story. At the end of the trip students shared what they learned:
Just a reminder all library books will need to be returned ASAP for the end of the year and our Kindergarten Celebration of Learning is on Wednesday June 7 from 10:30-11:35 for AM students and 2:30-3:25 for PM students. Lastly, we really appreciate all the volunteers who came out to help us at the zoo and to the all the volunteers who helped us create play dough for Kindergarten students next school year. Hello families, The year is flying by and we are already approaching the end of May. Please note some of the upcoming events on the side of the page and mark them in your calendar! We have been looking closely at different life cycles, specifically around four creatures that live in the wetlands: worm, dragonfly, trout and frog. Ask your child about some of the stages of each animal and the similarities between them. Through creative explorations, we have been re-enacting the different stages using our full bodies in addition to creating them using plasticine. We have chosen an animal of choice that we want to learn more about and drew out the different life cycle and stages. Over the next couple weeks, we will continue to investigate further and become the expert of that animal. We had the opportunity to invite Constable Richard to share about his role as a police officer and community helper. During our reflection, the students shared:
In math, we have been playing around with different numbers under 10 and was posed the question: I rolled 2 dice and when I counted the dots, there were 7 altogether. What could I have rolled on the dice? Students are coming up with different strategies to know how many dots are remaining including using fingers, manipulatives and counting backwards. They are also learning to understand the relationship between numbers and representing their understanding in pictures, numbers and organizing their thoughts. Lastly, we are requesting your help in making play dough. In preparation for our next group of Kindergarten students, we will be a hosting a “Welcome to Kindergarten” event similar to what your child participated in last year.
You may recall that you received a bag of manipulatives, including play dough, which was generously donated by previous K parents. We are requesting your support to welcome our next group of students by helping us make play dough. If you are interested, you can sign up through the link below and send it with your child to school by Monday, May 29th: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/30E0B4DADA62FA1F94-playdough4 Thanks in advance for your support and helping to pay it forward! We speak for the trees! The Lorax When dropping off or picking up your children, please be attentive and watch them around the grassy area and tree near the entrance. We are noticing some students are either hanging from the tree’s branches and potentially damaging the tree or climbing onto the kindergarten deck and walking through the tulip beds along the edges. We want both these plants to be able to grow without being damaged. Please be diligent in supervising your children before and after school and teach them to care for your environment and school property. Thank you for your attention in this! Continuing with our exploration with the wetlands and fish habitat, students were introduced to the 2013 Flood and its effects onto the Bow River. Students were shown a video about what our city has done to restructure the Bow River after the flood. Click here to see the video: Global News Bow River project. From the video we discussed the 2013 Calgary flood, the Bow River bank, use of riprap, fish habitat and the meaning of reactivating an old channel. Students were informed that a fish biologist would come in to answer some questions and wonders. Some questions include: How do they camouflage? What types of fish are in the Bow River? How are they going to make the Bow River deeper? How do you catch fish? How do fish swim in water? What do they eat? Where do fish live? How big are the rocks in the riprap? Did all the animals die in the flood?
Grade 6 students came up with an idea to mark Canada’s Sesquicentennial. All Edgemont students have been voting for what they believe as most unique to Canada from a variety of categories. Students were given an opportunity to participate in a “Dot-mocracy” to vote for which items most symbolizes Canada to them. So far we have looked at: Canadian foods, creatures, famous citizens and celebrations. After the egg experiment, it prompted lots of questions about animals that hatch from eggs. Through the book, An Egg is Quiet, we looked at different types of eggs and compared their appearances including size and colour. Students created their own egg through an art project where they used watercolour paints and salt to create a different texture. Once dried, they rubbed off the salt and drew speckles and lines for cracks. Lastly, they outlined the shape of an egg using acrylic paint and glue for a 3-D effect.
In celebration of Earth Day, we read the book, 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World and brainstormed different ideas to help the world be a better place to live for everyone…everyday! Ask me what I can do to help love the Earth. On Friday, our morning Kindergartens went outside with Grade 3 and 6 students to pick up garbage around the school field. In the afternoon, Kindergartens created some artwork with Grade 6 buddies based off Andy Goldworthy’s art. In preparation, we looked at photos of some of the artwork he created using natural materials and watched these videos where we were inspired by his work! Coming back from spring break, students were eager to visit and observe the fish again. We noticed: -They swim faster. -The fish are bigger. -They are silver. -They are still fry. In our discussion about the Rainbow Trout, students revealed misconceptions between saltwater and freshwater. Through visuals and guiding questions students identified what they knew about saltwater and freshwater:
Using their senses, students compared salt and baking soda as well as freshwater and vinegar. Again, we made predictions and students observed the results when salt was added to freshwater and vinegar and then baking soda to freshwater and vinegar. Students were particularly excited when they saw the vinegar overflow in reaction to the baking soda! Students were given the opportunity during center time to draw what they observed and learned from the experiment. With our practice of predicting and understanding of how saltwater is created, students were given another question: What do you think will happen to an egg when it is put in saltwater and freshwater? Students recorded their predictions through pictures and writing. A few ideas that came up were: -I think it will explode. -I think it will sink. -I think it will float. -I think it will dissolve. -I think it will crack. -I think it will hatch. -I think the water will overflow. -I think the water will turn yellow. -I think the salt will heat up the water. The following day, students observed the egg being dropped into freshwater. We noticed that the egg sank to the bottom and due to dropping the egg quickly into the jar, a little crack appeared with tiny air bubbles streaming to the top. Being extra careful placing the egg in the saltwater, students observed the egg floating in the saltwater. Students were surprised from their observations! Students recorded the results in their journals, drawing and writing about what they observed. Some things we noticed were: Freshwater: It's still fixed. It's not broken. It's white. When you dropped it in, it made a clink sound. The egg looks bigger. Saltwater: It's cloudy. It float. It's floating because there's more water. When we put the egg in, the water went up. The egg took away some water and pushed the water up top. The salt helps it to float because the salt is lighter than the egg and it pushes the egg uo. Through our discussions and experiments of saltwater and freshwater, students demonstrated the following outcomes:
I can describe the function of salt water and fresh water. I can talk about the difference between cause and effect of saltwater and freshwater. I can use water to explore scientific concepts. I can use my sight to observe changes in my environment. I can use touch explore salt, water and materials. I can count and measure when making salt water. I can guess what will happen. Students learned the following vocabulary: Sink, Float, Salt Water, Fresh Water, Larger, Smaller, Mix, Predict and Dissolve. Swimming has come to an end and we were so impressed with how independent the children were with getting changed by themselves in a short period of time. Thank you for your support with practicing at home and giving them opportunities to be independent! In addition, we are grateful for all the volunteers who helped ensure everything went smoothly. We look forward to taking swim classes with our peers again in Grade One! We reflected on our swimming activity and shared about what we learned or what we found easy and hard. We have started making our self reflections visible and looking back at our work to see if we have met the following criteria:
Students have become more observant with noticing numbers around us. We brainstormed ideas of where we see numbers and later progressed to the question, What numbers are special to you? It was interesting hearing about their unique ideas including:
In addition, students demonstrated their understanding of creating different combinations of numbers through the problem: In your tank, there are 10 fish and snails altogether. How many fish do you have? How many snails do you have? Through this question, students demonstrated the following outcomes:
Spring is fast approaching and this is a friendly reminder that parent conferences take place on Thursday, March 23rd. Registration will take place online and the system goes live on Saturday. We look forward to talking about your child’s progress and sharing some of their work samples with you. We encourage you to bring your child along as they are eager to share their work with you!
The past couple weeks, we have been reading and focusing on different versions of four fairytales:
With the stories being reread, students are building understanding of the characters, setting and sequencing of each story. Students will eventually retell their own version of one fairy tale. Leading up to this, students have been given the opportunity to retell and think about the stories through some new center activities, such as building an element from a story with found objects (bridge, house, gingerbread) and using picture cards to sequence and retell the story to a partner. Along with the centers, students drew and wrote about favourite parts and personal connections to the stories. "What does the story remind you of?" We had Ms. R come visit and read “The Three Little Pigs” and retold the story using loose parts. Students listened and read along the repeated phrases in the story. After Ms. Riffel retold the story with loose parts, students were given the opportunity to do the same with a partner. Students took turns and were successful in making sure they included certain elements in their story: 3 Little Pigs, Wolf and 3 Houses. Students were engaged and helped each other out with the repetitive phrases in the story: “little pig, little pig, let me come in!” After being familiar with all 4 fairy tales, students were given the opportunity to choose their favourite one. In their journals, students were given the choice to draw and write about their favourite part of the story they chose, or the characters and setting. Students were then asked to record or orally communicate the reason they chose the specific fairy tale.
Based on the book, My Map Book by Sara Fanelli, we created our own “Map of my Heart.” We looked deep into our hearts and identified what was important to us and what it is that we love. We used a map as a visual representation and explained why these items were so special. First, we drew different images and labeled our picture by sounding out the words, next we carefully outlined using a Sharpie, then we painted each section using watercolour paints. Lastly, we carefully cut out the hearts. Through this activity, the students demonstrated the following: I can... -share and talk about my interests and what makes me unique -speak in a clear voice to share my ideas and information -listen to experiences and feeling shared by others -value and appreciate my classmate’s unique characteristics, interest, gifts and talents -represent my understanding in words and pictures -experiment with print and begin to sound out words independently -enhance my fine motor skills by drawing, outlining images, painting and carefully cutting out a heart -experiment with lines, colour and shape when creating my map to express my ideas Special thanks to our gym teacher, Ms. Vahaaho and French teacher, Madame Duteau for organizing the Winter Carnaval. Students had a wonderful time rotating between 5 different stations including: Broomball, Human Curling, Dog Sled Races, Snowball Relay and Scorpion Tag. In addition to staying active and having fun, the students developed perseverance, team work and a willingness to take risks. Ask your child about their favorite station! This is a friendly reminder that there is NO SCHOOL from February 16-20th. We look forward to seeing your child and hearing about their long weekend when they return on February 21st! Over the last two weeks, students practiced decomposing numbers. We started with playing a whole group game in the Panorama Room, called The Atom Game. Students started by walking around and listened for the teacher to say “Atom __” and a number. Which ever number was called, the students had to get into groups of that number. Students practiced asking to be part of a group as well as including others and problem solving to create the certain number group. Following, students modeled the different ways to group 5 by moving students into hoola hoops. Working together, students thought of the different combinations to create 5. Students were then encouraged to think of many different ways to group 5 using macoronni. After showing their knowledge with manipulatives, students had to transfer their knowledge by recording it pictorially and then with numerals. Students met the following expectations from the Program of Studies: Specific Learner Expectations Mathematics Strand: Number General Outcome Develop Number Sense Specific Outcomes -Say the number 1 -10 by 1s. -Relate a numeral, 1to 10, to its respective quantity. -Represent and describe numbers 2 to 10, concretely and pictorially. -Compare quantities 1 to 10, using one to one correspondence. With the focus of I am Unique, students listened to the story “Is It Hard? Is It Easy?” by Mary McBurney Green. After brainstorming lots of ideas, students transferred their ideas of what is easy and what is hard into their journals. As a class, we discussed the two holidays that recently passed. We looked at the traditions of Lunar New Year and Robbie Burns Day. We listened to the story of The Chinese Zodiac and students were given the opportunity during centers to retell the story using puppets. We were fortunate to have Mrs. Howes and Ms. Doduk bring in artifacts, photos and special attire to discuss Robbie Burns day. Some students were given the opportunity to model the attire! As another holiday approaches, we welcome students to bring in Valentine cards to share with their peers. We encourage students to independently practice writing their own names using an upper case for the first letter and lower case for the rest. If your child chooses to bring in Valentine cards, they will need a class set of 18 cards. Please note this is an optional activity. Our library procedure has been changed, where students are becoming more independent. Students have the opportunity to exchange their books during center time with their big buddies every Tuesday and Thursday. They are welcome to exchange their books when they wish to. Ideally your child will keep their book for about a week. To develop good reading habits and comprehension, students are encouraged to reread the book a few times. Encourage your child to retell the story using pictures and ask them questions they can make personal connections to. It has been a busy past couple weeks! The students have been looking deeper into the habitat and adaptations of their animal (turtle, beaver or rabbit) based on their group. In between, we have been visiting the mystery tank that has been sitting in the learning commons. This past week when we went to visit it, we noticed that there were some changes! We discovered that there are fish eggs floating at the top and enclosed in a cage. We are anticipating when they will hatch and will be visiting the Learning Commons regularly to document our findings. Connecting our animal habitats to the fishes, we started digging deeper into wetlands. We looked at fiction and non-fiction books to help us with our environment sketches and students had the chance to explore with watercolour pencil crayons! The students did such a great job carefully colouring and painting over their art work. Ask your child what plants and animals they might see in a wetland environment. This past week, we also had Leah Donald come into the classroom and show us how to do some felting! After looking at the animal habitats, we created wetland backgrounds. A tremendous thank you to the parent volunteers who helped make this event such a great success. The students worked diligently placing on the pieces of wool to create their picture. Ask your child about the process and what is required for wet felting. Hint: Her website has step by step photos of the process! Click for Art Felt Studio website We have been waiting patiently and anticipating some changes to our amaryllis! This past week, we noticed that the turtle’s amaryllis has bloomed! We continue to make careful observations and wonderings as the amaryllis grows. Library Book update: The students have been practicing going down as a class to sign out books once every 6 days. Students will now have the opportunity to go down with our Grade 4 buddies on Tuesdays and Thursdays to choose and sign out a new book once they return their book.
Swimming update: Thank you to all the parents who have returned and completed the swimming forms in a timely manner. In preparation for swimming lessons, please have your child practice independently undressing/dressing themselves before/after showers. In addition, we are still seeking parent volunteers to help make the swimming process run smoothly. If you did not check off the volunteer box on the form but are interested in volunteering, please e-mail your child’s teacher. Please note the following dates/times for swimming: Morning Kindergarten: Feb 28, March 2, 7, 9, 14 9:30-10:00: Mrs. Ang + Mrs. Howes (1/2) 10:00-10:30: Ms. Choi + Mrs. Howes (1/2) Afternoon Kindergarten: Mar 1, 3, 6, 8, 10 1:45-2:15: Mrs. Howes + Mrs. Ang (1/2) 2:15-2:45: Ms. Choi + Mrs. Ang (1/2) Cheers to a New Year! Much to our surprise, we came back from winter break to a sprouted amaryllis. This week we looked closely at our amaryllises planted in December and did work around estimating, comparing and measuring. Students were given the chance to measuring using nonstandard units such as with unifex cubes. Using measurement vocabulary such as “taller than” and “shorter than”, students compared the plant to objects in the class. Students were given the opportunity to estimate the height of the plant prior to measuring and estimate the plant growth seen later on the week. From the Alberta Program of Studies for Kindergarten, students addressed the following learning outcomes through this activity. Mathematics Measurement General Outcome: Use direct and indirect measurement to solve problems Specific Outcome: use direct comparison to compare two objects based on a single attribute, such as length(height). We have a new addition to our learning commons space. Students observed and thought about what it was and what it could be used for. Some student ideas that came out from our discussion was: -“An aquarium” -“For any wonderful fishes" -“For hermit crabs” -“Maybe it’s a vaccumm that zips and turns it into a present (green hose)” -“It looks like a fish tank. Because there are pipes and pipes are in fish tanks and big and glass.” -“I think a fish tank and all those tiny holes in the tank that are silver are for the fish to get their food from. After our discussion, students drew, wrote and talked about what they thought the tank would be used for. Next week, we will be having an in class field trip. We will have the pleasure of ArtFelt Studio visit our classroom and show us how to create our own piece of wet felting art. We will need help from parent volunteers to roll out the felt with our students. This will take place on January 16, 17 and 18. If you are interested please sign up at one of the following links: AM: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/30E0B4DADA62FA1F94-amparent1 PM:www.SignUpGenius.com/go/30E0B4DADA62FA1F94-pmparent2 To build strength in our students hands for better fine motor and to encourage creativity and imagination through play, we are also looking for parent volunteers to help our class prepare play doh. If you are interested in making play doh for the class, click on the following link to sign up, where you will also find the ingredients and instructions. www.SignUpGenius.com/go/30E0B4DADA62FA1F94-playdough3 Hello parents, Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the Kindergarten/Grade One concert this past Thursday evening. The students did a wonderful job performing and we hope you enjoyed the event! Special thanks to our talented music teacher, Mrs. Lang for all her hard work with helping to organize another successful concert! Some of the highlights from the past week include: -We have a new sign in process where we answer a question and write our name. We are working on starting our name with a capital letter followed by lower case letters. You can help your child by practicing printing their name at home. Many of them are starting to recognize and spell their friend’s names as well! -We have been reading different versions of popular stories including Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, and this past week, The Gingerbread Man was introduced. We have been drawing and sharing about our favourite part of the story. Many of us have become great story tellers and the new puppet centre has become a popular centres with draws a big audience! -Playing and exploring shapes helps with our spatial awareness. We have been working on creating hexagons using different pattern blocks. We can then count and identify how many shapes we used. Puzzles are a great way to help with spatial awareness and being able to visualize how pieces fit together. An e-mail was sent out yesterday informing you of the upcoming week. We are seeking some help through: Supplying ingredients: AM Ingredient Sign-up: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/30E0B4DADA62FA1F94-ingredients PM Ingredient Sign-up: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/30E0B4DADA62FA1F94-pmingredients Parent Volunteers: (*Must have a police record clearance) AM Volunteer Sign-up: www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b4dada62fa1f94-amparent PM Volunteer Sign-up: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/30E0B4DADA62FA1F94-pmparent1 Thank you for your support! We are sharing an article that was received through CBE Early Learning: A recent Hanen article (2016) provides tips for parents who ask how they can help their children learn English as a second language. Tips include: 1. Children learn best during interactions with responsive caregivers 2. Children learn words for things that interest them 3. Children learn what they hear most often 4. Flashcards are not the answer! 5. Variety is key 6. Vocabulary and grammar go hand-in-hand
Hi parents, The Winter Concert letter was sent out through the school synervoice, please see attached the letter! Thanks, The K Team
Over the last few weeks, we have been focusing on picture details and backgrounds. Reading a variety of books, we examined how the details and backgrounds gave us information to help us comprehend the story. After looking at a variety of pictures, students thought about and shared where they thought certain pictures was a good fit on continuum. We discussed what made a good picture and decided details was most important to help tell a story, writing and labeling to help understand the pictures and colours to make it appealing. With a diverse group of Kindergartens, we discussed the importance of growing our writing and drawing to move forth on the continuum. As our Winter concert is upon us, we have been practicing a song and a poem in preparation. Please help your child rehearse for their grand performance! I’ve Got Peace Like a River I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my heart. I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my heart. I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got joy like a fountain in my heart. I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got joy like a fountain in my heart. I’ve got love like an ocean, I’ve got love like an ocean, I’ve got love like an ocean in my heart. I’ve got love like an ocean, I’ve got love like an ocean, I’ve got love like an ocean in my heart. I’ve got peace like river, I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got love like an ocean in my heart. I’ve got peace like river, I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got love like an ocean in my heart. A Wintry Night Seven Feet of Snow Sitting here looking out the window Dark clouds are gathering overhead Hoping school will let out early That’s what the weatherman said We’re waiting for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 feet of snow We’re hoping for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 feet of snow We’re praying for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 feet of snow Cause when it snows we’re all a-glow can’t wait to go outside and throw a bunch of snow! What’s that I see outside the window? (window) These snowy flakes frosty white (frosty white!) Don’t think we’ll have school tomorrow It’s supposed to snow all night! (Woohoo! Yeah!) We’re waiting for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 feet of snow We’re hoping for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 feet of snow We’re praying for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 feet of snow Cause when it snows we always know we’ll need a tow out of the snow, (a lot of dough!), when it blows it’s quite a show yes even though it’s 10 below; We’re a-glow can’t wait to go outside and throw a bunch of snow! Seven feet of snow, YO! How are we connected to colour? Please take a look at our exploration in colour and art inspired by Lea Anderson.
Our apologies for the late update! We have been focusing on our Twitter to provide regular updates and it should now be linked to this blog (click on "TWITTER" tab to view). A letter was sent home several weeks ago with instructions so you can follow us on our Kindergarten journey. Thank you to every one who showered us with beautiful stuff for the classroom! The students were so excited to share their items to the class. We talked about juicy words we would use to describe the items and we used our senses to look closely at the objects. As children looked closely, some items triggered memories or personal stories of similar items that they have at home or encountered. The afternoon class started sorting the items into different categories. While working in small groups, there were so many brilliant ideas as to how they could sort. Oral communication is a big focus in our Kindergarten classroom and students had to work in small groups to discuss and collaborate their ideas of how to sort their items as a team. Some ideas included, “All the nature items go here, this is string, paper, metal items.” In addition to sorting by objects, some sorted by shape while others sorted by colour. “All the colourful items will go in the middle.” When a certain item had 2 colours, one student shared, “We should put it in the pink group because most of it is pink.” We are excited to continue sorting next week with both the morning and afternoon group. During centre time, students enjoyed going through the bin of beautiful stuff and having a closer look. Other students continued to sort! Talk to your child about different ways they can sort their bin of toys, books, clothes etc. at home. Have your child help sort and put away the utensils and dishes. Create a game where you sort a group of objects and they have to guess the sorting rule. We are excited to create a collaborative alphabet wall using the items brought in from home. If you are interested in volunteering on Thursday, November, 17th please click on the link below: AM Parents: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b4dada62fa1f94-beautiful PM Parents: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/30E0B4DADA62FA1F94-pmparent On Remembrance Day, we want to take the time to honor those who fought in the war to allow our country to have peace. The students were given poppies as a symbol of peace and we had a moment of silence on Thursday to show our respect. This past week, our conversation has been focused on the idea of Peace. We read The Peace book by Todd Parr and reflected on what peace means to them. Some ideas include, “Peace is playing eating healthy food. Peace is reading my favourite book. Peace is doing yoga.” We drew in our journals and included 3 details and 5 colours to show what peace means to us. Some of us are starting to become sound scientist and independently sounding out the words! We also played charades by acting out some peaceful poses and had students guess our action. Here is a link to the The Peace Book, read by the author and illustrator, Todd Parr. The past couple weeks students continued to explore with colours, lines and shapes. After looking at the lines used in a variety of letters students were given a chance to create patterns with a variety of manipulatives in the shape of a letter, which then led to drawing a pattern in the shape of a letter. Continuing to explore lines students were given opportunities to practice making lines with a dice game in a large group and in small groups. Inspired by nature and the work of Lea Anderson, students created designs with intentional lines, shapes, colours and patterns. Students were given the opportunity to go on a nature walk to carefully observe the lines and patterns seen in nature. With the art cards painted from last week, students had to work together and reason how to sort the cards in small groups. With the art cards sorted into colour families, students will move towards creating lines and shapes inspired by nature onto their art cards created from last week. They were then given time in small and large groups to converse about their observations noticed with provided natural artefacts in the class.
Take your child for a walk into the Edegemont ravine or into your backyard and closely observe the patterns, shapes and lines seen in nature. Welcome to our Kindergarten blog! Thanks for your patience as we finally have it up and running. We will be updating this blog biweekly and will be sharing about what we have been doing in the classroom. The past month has been busy as we have been transitioning into our Kindergarten classroom. We have been making new friends, familiarizing ourselves with routines and exploring the different centers in our room. Ask me what animal group I belong to! We have had a variety of opportunities to experiment with colour mixing and using different tools, such as paintbrushes and q-tips to paint with. Ask me what the three primary colours are. We’ve enjoyed exploring what happens when we mix two primary colours together or when we add some white. We will continue looking closely at colours we see around us including colours that remind us of our season, autumn. Thank you for sending your child to school with a healthy snack for their growing bodies. We ask that you do not send juice boxes to school as they typically don’t get finished and can get messy when spilled. Instead, please send your child with a water bottle as they can drink it throughout the day. Thank you your support! |
Upcoming Events:
May 31: PM Full Day Zoo Fieldtrip (8:55am-3:25pm) **NO SCHOOL FOR AM STUDENTS! June 5: Library books due June 6: Bike to School Day June 7: Celebration of Learning AM: 10:30-11:35am PM: 2:30-3:25pm AuthorMrs. Jacqueline Ang Archives
May 2017
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