We learned about holidays around the world. I found a great resource by Rachelle Smith. The children enjoyed learning about all of these different places and completing the pages. We learned about England, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Australia, Greenland, Mexico, Israel (Hanukkah), United States (Kwanzaa) and Canada.
We had our Winter Concert. The children had a fantastic time and did a wonderful job! They sang "Frosty the Snowman" and songs from France, Sri Lanka and Croatia. They ended the concert by acting out Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by: Eric Litwin".
We read the Polar Express and the next day had a pajama party while watching the movie. The children received a ticket and a bell at the end. They really enjoyed this story.
One of the centres completed in December was matching mittens. Some of the girls decided to alphabetise these and create a path. The girls had so much fun!
On the last day of school we decorated gingerbread men, completed various centres and had a great day!
This week we started back at Kindergarten and had so much work to do. We started learning about shapes and nutrition.
Our favourite part of the day:
On Monday we had snack and went outside.
On Tuesday we had centres and the librarian was here.
On Wednesday we had centres and went outside.
On Thursday we did calendar and read a story.
On Friday we learned about Uncle Upton and had show and tell.
2D Shapes Exploration:
We started our math unit on shapes. This week the focus was on learning the similarities and differences between 2D shapes. We explored shapes that they knew in a new way.
The first day they tried to fill a circle with cubes.
They soon discovered that they couldn't make a completely round circle with the squares. When asked why they understood that squares had edges and circles were round so it would never work. Then they used the cubes to make squares and rectangles. This was possible due to the edging.
Finally they attempted to make triangles out of the cubes. They were frustrated right away because they knew that it wouldn't work. They could make most of the triangle but were unable to make the bottom part work.
Another day the children were placed in groups and had to use different shapes (pattern blocks) to fill triangles and hexagons. They enjoyed this exploration. Some figured it out right away and used a variety of shapes. Some used the same shapes. Others tried to make all of the shapes work but soon realised that some shapes did not contain the right type of edges needed. They will use this knowledge next week to come up with a graph describing each of the shapes.
Nutrition:
We have started discussing the different food groups and what is healthy to eat. We have even started learning some fruits and vegetables in French. The children are enjoying the games and centres that we have.
Build a Healthy Plate centre. This is where they learn correct portions and what types of foods go in what group.I bought a nutrition packet from Teachers Pay Teachers by: Alessia Albanese It has many wonderful centre ideas. Here are some of the ones that the children have been working on.
One Potato, Two Potato... (counting after a number)
Shake it Up! (blends)
Add 'Em Up, Apples! (Adding two groups)
The First Bite (beginning sounds)
Coloured Pasta Sorting (Sort by shape or colour)
I got the recipe online (it smells like vinegar still)
Animated Literacy:
We have begun the animated literacy program. This is a great program used to teach phonics, graphemes and reading to children. I am excited to start this with the children. Each session begins with review, activating prior knowledge, hearing a story, learning the sound and gesture and putting it into practice. Each sound comes with a special character. This week the children learned about Polly Panda who paints purple P's and Uncle Upton who is an umpire that hangs upside down. Each day that we have animated literacy a handout is sent home showing the character, the sound and the song. Please go over this handout with your child to review. They can colour the picture and then circle the special sound within the song at the bottom. At the end of the day on Friday I showed the children that with these two sounds we can start to form words. With these two sounds we made the words up and pup. They were very excited!
Social Studies Puzzle Pieces:
We are now done with the multicultural show and tells. To replace this we are starting puzzle pieces. Each puzzle piece will pertain to an objective of the social studies curriculum. There will be 9 pieces altogether and will form a puzzle about your child by the end of the year. This puzzle will be displayed at the graduation in June. So far a yellow piece has been sent home to describe their name and a purple piece was sent home to describe their interests. Examples can be found on the whiteboard. If you have any questions please contact me.
This week was brought to you by: The letters C, O and S
We have completed the uppercase letter portion of the Handwriting Without Tears program and have begun learning lowercase letters. This week we began with "magic c" then moved into o and s. The students tend to like the "magic c" letters. When you have a moment practice writing c, o and s as well as what words start with "cuh" (for "can"), "aw" (for "ostrich") and "sss" (for "sub"). The letter "s" is especially difficult due to the curves and change in direction. Please practice this letter with your child because it will become easier with review. Another activity could be finding different objects in the house that start with the letters/sounds that we have been learning.
Don't Forget:
On cold days please make sure to send hats and mittens. Also, on days where there is snow or it is slushy please send boots and snow pants. Thank you!
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).
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