Retell

We have enjoyed reading lots of classic fables and practising our retells over the last few weeks. Ask your child what their favourite story was. Then have your child retell the story to you. Encourage them to use words such as "first, then, next, after, finally". 

Measurement

 Measuring length and height using non-standard (snap cubes, lego, 2D shapes, waterbottles) and standard units (ruler, measuring tape, meter stick).

Learning about capacity can be so much fun! We learned that capacity is the amount a container can hold without overflowing. We can fill containers using a variety of things such as water, sand, snap cubes, shells, teddy bears, and even macaroni!

Math Learning

A peak at some of the amazing mathematical learning that has been happening in our class this March. We not only experimented with building large 3D structures (top left), but we are learned about symmetry and created these amazing designs with our friends! P.S. can you tell how much we love our new Magna Tiles? 

Remember those boxes we asked you to send in with your child? Take a lot at their amazing transformation. Each student identified a 3D structure in our community, drew and wrote up a plan (blueprint), and built it using a variety of materials. Can you identify the different buildings? 

Literacy Learning

A peak at some of the fun literacy activities we have been enjoying. Student reading and writing has come a long way this year! Ask your child about the above literacy activities, and which one they enjoyed the most.

 Snow, Winter, and Snowflakes!

We had so much fun enjoying and learning about the (limited) snow this winter. Our students had so many wonders that they got to investigate and learn from. Take a look at some of our learning below!

Investigating snow! If you look closely, you can see evidence of the water/snow cycle; 1. snow, 2. slush, 3. water, 4. ? *ask your child what would eventually happen to the water if we left it ouside.  

One of our students discovered the importance of wearing gloves when playing outside in the winter! 

Some more evidence of our learning! Ask your child what they learned about snow, winter and snowflakes.

Did you know that every different? Each one is unique just like us! Ask your child why the number 6 is important when learning about and building a snowflake. 

Colour Inquiry

Our colour inquiry started when we discovered that a lot of our markers were dried out :( We decided to retest them and sort out the dried ones by colour. A few students then suggested placing the markers in some water to revive them. We made predictions about what we thought would happen to the markers if left in the water over night. 

 After discovering that the markers were not revived, but were instead drained entirely of their colour, we decided to come up with a new use for the coloured water.

 Using permanent markers, we used our own "perspective" (view point) to draw a bouquet of flowers that were placed in the middle of the classroom. We then used the coloured water to create beautiful water colour paintings! 

Math Learning

Some of the amazing Geometry activities we enjoyed. Can your child identify some of the 2D and 3D shapes in the above pictures?

Literacy Learning

Some of the literacy centres we have enjoyed. Can your child read some of the "popcorn" words pictured above? Magnet letters on a cookie sheet are a great way to practice spelling and letter/sound recognition. 

The Gingerbread Man Is Loose in Our School!

LATE POST FROM BEFORE THE HOLIDAY BREAK!

 Ms. Krastins delivered a mystery envelope to our classroom. Inside was a note from the Gingerbread Man who had escaped from the kitchen and was now loose in our school! Over a span of 2 weeks, this Gingerbread man left us some great read alouds, writing tasks, building activities, and even challenged us to a scavenger hunt to find him throughout the school! We were so close to catching him, but that trickster got away from us again this year! Ask your child to share what they enjoyed best about the Gingerbread Man's visits to our classroom :)

Literacy Learning - Popcorn words!

Working hard to learn our "popcorn" words. Thank you for your at-home support in helping your child learn their letters, sounds, and words. We have noticed an improvement in the reading, writing, and confidence of many of our kinder learners! 

Can your child read the popcorn words in the pictures? What other words do they know? Some words that they may be able to recognize and/or read include: a, and, day, have, I, is, love, me, we, with, you. Please continue to have your child read on a daily basis, and encourage them to write using pictures and words. Inventive spelling is encouraged, and an important stepping stone!

Math Learning - 2D Shapes

Busy learning about and playing with 2D shapes!

Our Shapes poem! Ask you child to recite the shapes poem to you. 

Our kinder learners worked hard to find and cut triangles, circles, rectangles, and squares out of flyers. What a great way to learn about 2D shapes and strengthen our hand muscles! 

Literacy Learning

Some of the literacy activities that our kinder learners got to enjoy this week. Ask your child what their favourite literacy centre was and why.

Math Learning

A sneak peak at just a few of the amazing patterns that were created by our kinder learners. Can your child identify the pattern rule in each picture?

Literacy Learning

A peek at some of our favourite literacy activities last week. We have been working hard to identify alphabet letters and sounds, as well as our popcorn words. Your child should now be able to recognize and/or read a variety of popcorn words including; I, a, is, the, we, day, have.

We have read a variety of stories about how to be a good friend. We have discussed facial and body language that tells us how others are feeling (i.e., smile means happy, frown means sad, crossed arms and scrunched eyebrows means angry or upset). Can your child identify some of the emotions created on our play dough faces above?

 

Working with Numbers

 

Here is a peek at some of our Number Sense activities we enjoyed last week! Ask your child to describe what they did at each centre pictured.

During our outdoor exploration, some students were discovered that there are numbers in nature! Work with your child to figure out what number is represented in each picture above.

Community Helpers

Our students have decided to turn our drama centre into a Hair Salon/Barbershop. Did you know that hairdressers are community helpers? The Glam Squad Salon offers a variety of services including; hair styling and hair cuts for boys and girls, and manicures. Doesn't Ms. Ramirez look great? 

On Thursday, our students noticed a lot of trucks and constructions workers in our back play yard and had a lot of questions for us. In order to get a closer look and find out what was going on, we decided to take our investigations outside. 

Ask your child about what these "community helpers" are called. Can your child identify any other community helpers in their neighbourhood or family? 

New Class Member!

Ms. Ramirez surprised our students with a new member this week... a HORNWORM! Our students were very excited and couldn't wait to share their "I wonders" about him/her. Some wonders we have: 

"I wonder what he likes to eat".

"I wonder why he is blue". 

"I wonder how he sleeps". 

Students also had the opportunity to hold the Hornworm. Some descriptions we heard: 

"He feels like playdough".

"He feels soft". 

"He looks like candy". 

Stay tuned for more learning about our Hornworm!

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is an important day for all Canadians, including our younger kindergarten learners. After reading a few stories and poems about the poppy and peace, many of our students were more than happy to make their own poppy for our class wreathe. Can you and your child find our class wreathe? (Hint: Peace)

Some of our students were VERY excited to see a REAL soldier in our school hallway!

Remembrance Day made us think about Peace in our own lives. After reading the book 'What does Peace feel like?', our students were able to represent their own ideas of what peace looks like or feels like to them. Our kinder learners had some amazing ideas to share! Here are just a few for you to enjoy. (Q: Ask your child what peace means to them).

Fall Leaf Inquiry

Upon the arrival of Fall, many of our students began bringing in fallen leaves to share.  After a few discussions, we decided to create our 'I wonder...' chart. Each student was able to contribute some of their thinking. Take a peek at our wonderful Fall learning! (Q: Ask your child how we co-created our leaf graph and what we learned from it.)

Focusing on the details! We used a variety of paint colours to recreate our favourite leaves!

In early November, we were very lucky to have Shirley and Paula from Forest Valley visit our class. After reading the story "Leaf Man" with us, the students we set free to gather the leaves necessary to create their own leaf pictures. Here are just a few of the wonderful leaf art hanging in our classroom. (Q: Ask your child what image they created with their leaves)

Math Learning

A quick peek into some of the math learning centers that our kinder students have been working hard on. Ask your child what their favourite learning activity has been so far. Use the pictures to help them think about their learning. Enjoy!

Work with your child to identify the sorting rule in each picture above.