Santa's Seconds tomorrow

Thanks to all those who volunteered for tomorrow.   Just a reminder that students can bring in up to $10.  Please include a bag labelled with your child's name and a list including who your child needs to buy for and their interests.  Ages for children might also be helpful. 

Santa's Seconds

Kindergartens and cash can be a tricky combination and that is why I was hoping to get some parent volunteers to help us while we shop at Santa's seconds. We would need approximately an hour or your time  10:30-11:30 on Tuesday December13.   Please email sarah.davies@ocdsb.ca or send a note in the notetote  if you are able to help.  Thanks in advance!!

Measuring our height

Yesterday we compared our height to three trees.  The smallest tree corresponded to the height of the shortest child and the largest tree to the tallest child in our class.  Students then wrote their name on an ornament and taped it to the tree they thought best matched their own height.

Christmas Party

Please join us for our class Christmas Party on Thursday December 22 at 10:30am.  We will entertain you with a few Christmas songs and make a craft or two. 

We are also still looking for some volunteers to send in veggies & dip and juice & cups for the party.  If interested please email me or send a note in your child's notetote. 

Last Weeks Activities

A catch-up post of last weeks activities.  We were working to complete our November activities and begin working on our Christmas, December ones.

Students had a new addition in the block centre-pictures of iconic Canadian monuments and buildings.  They were encouraged to use any of the building toys to recreate the buildings.  Famous buildings and monuments from the world will be added at later point in the year.

We made letters using wooden shapes.

And patterns with moose, ducks and trees.   In creating our patterns we also learned that we can give our patterns' names (e.g. AB or ABB or ABC patterns)

Snowsuit Song

Just a little song to help with getting dressed.  The tune is "Head and Shoulders". 



Sorting Animals

Today, as a large group activity, we sorting pictures of animals.  The categories included "Animals found in Canada" and those which are not found in the Canadian wilderness.  This activity will move to become a science centre students will be able to work on in groups. 

Buddies

As I am sure you have already heard, yesterday we met our Gr.6 buddies for the first time.  Students from Mrs. Storms grade 6 class will be coming to visit us on Day 2.  During this time we will work on reading and math games, art and craft activities or science.  I am certain you will be hearing lots about their buddies as the year progresses.

Counting Pennies

Last week, in keeping with our Canada theme, we counted how many pennies we can hold in our hand.  We also recorded our findings by stamping the same amount of pennies on a sheet. 

November Book Orders

November 17

 Before explaining our literacy activity, I just wanted to take a minute and applaud the kindergartners

for absolutely FABULOUS listening and behaviour during the Remembrance Day assembly.  Not only was it a serious assembly, it was the first assembly of the year for our class.  I could not be more proud of how well they handled it!!!

One of our literacy activities this week involved cutting and sorting letters-those that were in our names and those that weren't.  This activity will continue next week as well. 



Remembrance Day Assembly Friday

Organizers of the school-wide Remembrance Day assembly are asking that students dress in red in support of the troops.  This week we will be making poppies for our class wreath. 

Pictures of Classroom Lost & Found

Sometimes it takes me a moment to find a more efficient solution to a problem.  Here it is...a picture of the lost items in our class.  Just let me know which ones are yours and they will be sent home with your child.  Hopefully this is easier for everyone.  I will periodically post pictures of lost and found clothes. 

 

Poor little kittens have lost their mittens

....amongst other items.  Quite a collection is building in our class...unclaimed mittens, hats and scarves.  Please remember to label each item of outdoor clothing your child wears to school.   If your child is missing a mitten or other outdoor gear, a short description of the item, in a notetote or email, may help to reunite your child with their clothing. 

A visit from Sparky the Fire Dog

Friday morning we had a visit from Sparky, The Fire Dog, local firefighters and, for the kindergartens only, 2 fire trucks.

Our visit began with a story about fire safety. 

We learned that if our clothes caught on fire we were to STOP, DROP AND ROLL (covering our face to keep it safe from fire and sharp objects when rolling).  The firefighters encouraged each of our students to ask Moms and Dads to come up with a meeting spot outside our houses in case of fire.   

We also had the opportunity to see a firefighter in full uniform and mask (also hearing a firefighters voice when wearing a mask and oxygen), hopefully alleviating any fears a child might have when encountering a fire fighter in a real fire. 

But the highlight of the visit was getting to tour a real fire truck.  What fun. 

Don't forget to plan escape routes, meeting spots, and change batteries in the smoke detector with the time change. 

Read Aloud, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

One of our focused read alouds this week was for the book The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

Our pre-reading activity included looking at a group of objects  and the book cover and making predictions (we used the word prediction as a fancy word for guess) about the plot for our story.

Some predictions by the JK students were, "the pumpkin will get dressed up", "the old lady is getting dressed for Halloween"

Subsequent readings of the story invited the students to join in which repetitive parts of the story

"Two shoes go CLOMP, CLOMP,

One pair of pants go WIGGLE, WIGGLE,

One shirt go, SHAKE, SHAKE,

Two gloves go CLAP, CLAP,

One hat go NOD, NOD,

And one scary pumpkin head go BOO, BOO!"

Science Investigations

We spent last week and the beginning of this week investigating, observing and reporting about pumpkins and gourds.  There was plenty of talk about the different textures of the pumpkins and gourds, both inside and out.

Picture Payment Due tomorrow

Picture Money due:  November 3

Retakes:  November 10 (if you would like retakes please let me know)

Happy Birthday, Alexander!

Not only did we celebrate Halloween on the 31st, we also celebrated Alexander's birthday.  Though it was Alexander's birthday, it was the entire class that received a gift.  Alexander donated a book to our classroom library for all of us to enjoy!!  What a great idea-the gift that continues to give.  Thank-you Alexander and family.

Lockdown Practice

Hi Everyone,

Today we had our first lockdown practice.  Just like fire drills we practice lockdowns approximately twice in a year.  During the lockdown students move to a place in the room where they are out of view from windows and doors.  In our classroom we are sitting near the computer.  We are quiet and the lights are turned off until we are given the all clear by school administrators.  I could not have been more proud of my class, they were phenomenal!!   We even had the opportunity to meet our SRO (School Support Officer) police officer who commended us on a job well done. 

JK students took their job during a lockdown very seriously without being frightened.  Way to go JKs!

Our Favourite part of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

We also drew pictures of our favourite part of the story.
Here is a sampling of the responses:
-Letters climbing up the tree
-Letters falling out of the tree
-Mom and Dad letters coming to help the letters after they had fallen
-Letters sneaking out of bed to climb the tree again

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Retelling

We used magnetic letters and a party palm tree to retell the story.    Being able to retell a story is an important skill for all good readers. 

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Trees

Last week we engaged in play at various centres all connected to our weekly read-aloud,  Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. 

While at the Art Centre we made torn paper trunks and hand print leaves to make our own Chicka Boom trees.  The letters of our names climbed the tree...some falling out, "Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom!"

Writing centre

The writing centre opened with our name cards (which include pictures of each student along with their name) and a photocopied sheet upon which we can write the names of our friends.  This is one of the activities that will be added to the writing centre over the year.

Halloween Party

Monday October 31, we will be celebrating Halloween.  Students are invited to dress in simple costumes.  Please remember that spills, rips and tears can occur, as well as lost props for costumes!  Please keep this in mind when sending costumes and accesories to school with you child.  No swords, toy guns or masks please. 

Students will parade to the various primary classrooms to display their costumes. 



Class Parties

Our first class party will be Monday October 31, Halloween.  Please select one of the following special occasions (Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day or End of the year) to send in something for the children to snack on at our classroom party.  Please email  sarah.davies@ocdsb.ca or send a note in your child's notetote, indicating the occasion and what item you would like to send.  Thanks.

Party Sign-up

Morning Class

Occasion	Volunteered Item(s)	Volunteers
Halloween	Fruit Tray
	Veggies & Dip
	Cupcakes
	Cookies
	Juice & Cups
Christmas	Fruit Tray
	Veggies & Dip
	Cupcakes
	Cookies
	Juice & Cups
Valentine’s Day	Fruit Tray
	Veggies & Dip
	Cupcakes
	Cookies
	Juice & Cups
End of the Year	Fruit Tray
	Veggies & Dip
	Cupcakes
	Cookies
	Juice & Cups

Catching Up

The next few posts will be catching everyone up on what we have been doing the past two weeks.  Sorry about the delay in getting these entries online. 

For this shared reading poem we read and chanted the poem for several days.

A Turkey is a funny bird.
Watch him wobble, wobble
All he knows is just one word
Gooble, gobble, gobble!


We discussed the difference between letters and words.  One way I help the students to remember the difference, capitalizing on a favourite meal of many kindergarteners....spaghetti and meatballs.  The spaces between letters within a word are "spaghetti" spaces (skinny), a new word starts at a "meatball" space.  We use popsicle sticks with pom poms to help discover which spaces are,in-fact, meatballs. 

During centre time students were invited to use wikki sticks to put circles around letters in the poem. 

When reading with your child at night see if they can locate letters they know and look for "meatball" spaces too!

Happy Birthday, Ella

Thank-you to Ella and her Mom for the  popcorn treat brought in for the class, in celebration of Ella's birthday. 

Picture Day

Just a reminder that picture day is tomorrow, October 12.
 

Scholastic Book Orders

With this blog entry we begin the monthly Scholastics book orders. Each month a Scholastic Book Order will be sent home with your child. Each order helps earn free books and teaching materials for our classroom; however there is never any obligation to order.  If you do decide to place an order, please ensure that your child’s name is placed on the order sheet and the Payment is made by cheque only (cheques are to be made out to Scholastic Canada Inc). 

October 11

Initials

With this activity we learned how to use glue at the art centre and practiced our fine motor skills by gluing glitter and/ or buttons to our initials. 

Sand Trays

Thursday we introduced a new centre.  "Sand trays"  using their fingers or the eraser end of a pencil students could draw pictures or write names (using our name cards) providing a tactile literacy experience for those kinaesthetic learners. 

The Big Cheese

Our leader of the day is called the "Big Cheese".  They get to hold doors for the class, be at the front of the line, help hand out notetotes at the end of the day!  Every student will get a chance to be the big cheese several times throughout the year.  Revealing of  the big cheese is done in different ways throughout the year.  Pictured below is the "magic name sleeve."  It reveals one letter of the child's name at a time.  This provides a great opportunity to integrate literacy skills.  It draws students' attention to the letters in their name.  If you could overhear our conversations during this time it would sound something like this,  "I have a [H] in my name, but it can't be my name because the [H] is at the end and not at the beginning."