Colours and More

We started learning about numbers this week and explored colours.

Our favourite part of the day
On Monday we went outside and learned the number 1.
On Tuesday we learned how to make the number 2 and the letter U.
On Wednesday Sophia had her show and tell and Lexi was the special helper.
On Thursday we went outside and Mahdi was the special helper.
On Friday we went outside and Mrs. MacDonald dressed up.

Our poem this week was about the colours of the rainbow. We remember this by learning about Roy G. Biv.

Roy G. Biv
Roy G. Biv is an odd fellow
But what his name means is
Red Orange Yellow
The G is for Green which as you may know
Comes right in the middle of every rainbow
Next Blue and Indigo more pale than dark
Then V for Violet completes the arc

The children are doing quite well at finding some sight words. They have been looking for "the" "is" "and" we highlight them every day in our poem once they are found. We also highlight and discuss rhyming words.

**At home you can work on rhyming words. For example: "cat--mat", "dad--mad", "night--light"**

By the end of the week I had the whole poem written in black and they could find the colour words.

 Mrs. Roy G. Biv :)

Our art project: Mr. Roy G. Biv

COLOURS!!
We explored colours this week!
First we learned about the primary colours: red, yellow and blue. The children learned that these are the colours we use to make all of the other colours.

Second we learned about the secondary colours: orange, green and purple. We mixed the primary colours to see what they made. Then we did a few art activities: handprints and marble art.

Blue and Red make Purple

Blue and Yellow make Green

Red and Yellow make Orange

Numbers1-3
We started a new unit in math. We will be learning about numbers 1 to 10. For every number we look at the different ways to represent that number as well as the quantity of each number. Have a look at what we have done for each number so far.

Special Guest: Karthikeyan Sengottaian
He is a local artist who specializes in sculptures. He has done several sculptures for various locations in Calgary out of chocolate, wax and ice. His latest accomplishment was a 700lb pumpkin! He came to our class and carved one of our pumpkins. The children loved it!
He explained his process as he worked.

First he takes off the skin to have a fresh and clean surface.

Then he draws a rough outline on the pumpkin.

Next he begins to carve. When carving he does not touch the nose or lips. He just moves inwards for depth perception. All done!

This week was brought to you by: The letters U, V and W

Finally we learned about the letters U, V and W. We practiced writing the uppercase letters and discovered words that start with that sound. When you have a moment practice writing U, V and W as well as what words start with "uuu" (for "umbrella") or "vvv" (for "van") or "wuh" (for "water). 

Don't Forget:

Scholastic due today.

Examples of past presentations for the Multicultural Show and Tell can be found on the table when you drop off or pick up your child. 

Contact me at the school or by email if you have any questions or concerns.

Our First Field Trip and More Pumpkins

Our favourite part of the day

On Monday was Thanksgiving and we had no school. 
On Tuesday we went on a field trip to the Corn Maze.
On Wednesday Amanuel had show and tell and we did centres.
On Thursday we had Senthur's show and tell and we played outside.
On Friday Greyson was the special helper and Lexi did her presentation.

Our first field trip!
We went to the Corn Maze for our first field trip. It was so much fun! There was a petting zoo, tractor ride, corn maze, jumping pillows, playgrounds, pig races and much more. We even got to take home our own pumpkins!

 Very fun slide

 Tractor Ride

 Our Own Pumpkins

 Jumping Pillows

Pig Races! 

The next day we drew a picture of our favorite part of the field trip and made a class book.




What we learned about pumpkins:
On Friday we read over what we thought we knew about pumpkins (orange). Then we discussed the difference between pumpkins and jack o lanterns, we boxed all of the jack o lantern references. Then we added to this by writing down what we learned about pumpkins (purple). They are pumpkin experts now.

Life cycle of a pumpkin
We reviewed the life cycle of a pumpkin and then made a neat pumpkin craft to show what we learned. We really had to work on our fine motor skills by colouring, cutting and gluing. 

Multicultural Show and Tell:

We had some great presentations this week. We learned about Amanuel's culture, India from Senthur and Lexi's family. 

This week was brought to you by: The letter L

Finally we learned about the letter L. We practiced writing the uppercase letter and discovered words that start with that sound. When you have a moment practice writing L as well as what words start with "lll" (for "log"). Another activity could be finding different objects in the house that start with the letters/sounds that we have been learning. 

Don't Forget:

Remember that examples of past presentations can be found on the table when you drop off or pick up your child.

Feel free to contact me anytime with any questions or concerns. I can be reached at the school, by email or just drop in (I am usually around before school). 

Happy Thanksgiving!

This week we continued pumpkins and talked about Thanksgiving. 

Our favourite part of the day

On Monday we danced and read our poem. 
On Tuesday we had calendar and painted. 
On Wednesday Hannah had show and tell and we went outside. 
On Thursday we coloured and had calendar. 
On Friday we had calendar and Greyson's show and tell. 

Parts of the Pumpkin

We talked about the parts of the pumpkin again and completed a worksheet to show what we have learned. These were coloured and taken home. 

5 Little Pumpkins

We have been reading the poem "5 Little Pumpkins" for the past two weeks. The children enjoy this poem and can read it all by themselves. We started learning about rhyming words and what a title is. 

Arts & Crafts

We have done many projects both during and after school this week to decorate our classroom.

Three texture pumpkins (tissue paper, paint and coloured rice)

Our very own turkeys

Fall leaves

Construction paper turkeys

Multicultural Show and Tell:

We had some great presentations this week. We learned about Hannah's family and Canada from Greyson. 

I am thankful for...

On Friday we discussed what we were thankful for and made a picture to take home. They turned out quite well. 

We also made a special gift for our parents. 

Letters and Sounds
I began working with some students on learning letters and sounds. This is an idea on how to learn some sounds. Find things in your home or around you that start with that sound/letter. You can always group and then sort them into different sounds as well. Make a game out of it even when driving in your car. See who can name the most words that start with a sound. These are examples for letter C "cuh" and M "mmm".

 Cc: camel, cookie, camera, corn and cat

 Mm: mug, mailbox, mop, mouse, mirror and milk

This week was brought to you by: The letters H and K

Finally we learned about the letters H and K. We practiced writing the uppercase letters and discovered words that start with that sound. When you have a moment practice writing H and K as well as what words start with "hah" (for "hat") or "kuh" (for "kite"). Another activity could be finding different objects in the house that start with the letters/sounds that we have been learning. 

Don't Forget:

Remember that examples of past presentations can be found on the table when you drop off or pick up your child.

We are going to the Corn Maze on Tuesday so please send a bag lunch and dress your child in warm clothes.

Feel free to contact me anytime with any questions or concerns. I can be reached at the school, by email or just drop in (I am usually around before school). 

Pumpkin: Fruit or Vegetable?

This week we started a brand new unit on pumpkins. The children were very excited!

Our favourite part of the day
On Monday we played inside and went outside. 
On Tuesday we learned about pumpkins and went outside. 
On Wednesday we had centres and went outside. 
On Thursday we went to the park and we measured our pumpkin. 
On Friday we saw if a pumpkin could float and Ms. Manruka had show and tell. 

Life Cycle of a Pumpkin

We started our unit on pumpkins by learning about the life cycle. The pumpkin's life cycle begins as a seed. The seed then grows into a sprout. The sprout grows into a vine. Flowers grow on the vine and soon a green pumpkin grows there as well. The green pumpkin grows and turns orange over time. Then we get the seed from the orange pumpkin and start all over again. 

Parts of the Pumpkin

We started to learn about the parts of the pumpkin as well. We talk about the outside of the pumpkin and then cut it in half and discussed all of the parts. 

After we compared and contrasted a pumpkin with an apple. We talked about what was the same and what was different.

I was impressed by how much they knew and many got it without any hints.

Seeds!

We took the seeds from the pumpkin, after discussing the parts, and cleaned them up. We put them on a tray, added some oil and salt and then baked them for about an hour until they were golden brown. We told the children that these seeds were ok to eat and everyone tried it. Many children loved them and had third helpings. It was a very tasty treat.

YUMMY!

 Pumpkin Investigating

Just like last week with the apples, we investigated a pumpkin. We talked about colour, height, weight and length. 

Sink and Float

We talked about sinking and floating and did an experiment. The children were excited to see that some fruits and vegetables sink while others float. Have a look at our chart:

They were thrilled to discover that pumpkins....FLOAT!!

Fruits and Vegetables

While looking at the parts of a pumpkin and apple we discovered that they were the same with a stem, leaves and seeds. This brought up the topic of what makes it a fruit or a vegetable. They learned that it is a fruit if: 1) it has seeds 2) it grows on a tree, vine, bush or cane. They found this very interesting. 

After our sink and float activity we washed all of the fruit and vegetables and cut them up to see if they had seeds. We talked about whether they were fruits or vegetables. They were surprised to discover that bell peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers are all fruit. They already knew that celery, carrots and potatoes were vegetables but we discussed that it was because they grew in the ground and did not have seeds. 

They got to taste the different fruits and vegetables. Some children discovered that they liked some that they didn't like before. 

Multicultural Show and Tell

We started our Multicultural Show and Tell's this week! The teachers were the presenters. It was very cool to see where they all came from. 

Former Yugoslavia

Saskatchewan

Sri Lanka

This week was brought to you by: The letters M and N

Finally we learned about the letters M and N. We practiced writing the uppercase letters and discovered words that start with that sound. When you have a moment practice writing M and N as well as what words start with "mmm" (for "mom") or "nnn" (for "net"). Another activity could be finding different objects in the house that start with the letters/sounds that we have been learning. 

Just Because...
Last week two of our students were doing some fine motor practice and without assistance made patterns. We were so impressed!

Don't Forget:

Remember that examples of past presentations can be found on the table when you drop off or pick up your child.

If you want to volunteer for our upcoming field trip please let one of the teachers know.

Feel free to contact me anytime with any questions or concerns. I can be reached at the school, by email or just drop in (I am usually around before school).