February is Here!

Our favourite part of the day:

On Monday we learned new shapes and had calendar.

On Tuesday the librarian came and we learned the letter T.

On Wednesday we learned about the continents and did pin poking.

On Thursday we learned the letter S and we exercised.

On Friday we had listening centre and we started our Shape Museum.

3D Shapes:
We continued learning about 3D Shapes this week. The children are enjoying it and are starting to find shapes in everything. I introduced them to the actual shape piece by piece while comparing and contrasting the various shapes.

Once they were introduced to all nine shapes I showed them the nomenclature activity to go with it.

Next I showed them a shape sort where they had to sort various objects into each of the shapes.

*I got the nomenclature and shape sort from Montessori For Everyone

Finally we started organizing our "Shape Museum." The students were asked to bring in an object that we could sort into one of the shape groups. This makes the learning their own and they feel special when we discuss their object. Please remember to send an object for the Shape Museum if you haven't already.

Power of 10:
Last week I attended a professional development day where I learned about the Power of 10 program. It was created in British Columbia and is designed around 10 frames. It is a wonderful program that you can check out here: Power of 10

This week we talked about 1,2,3 and 10. Then we discussed 6 on Thursday to go with the date. We learned the different ways to make 6 and created story problems and equations for each.

For example: 

4+2=6 

2+4=6 

6-4=2 

6-2=4

Each equation can make 3 other equations just by moving numbers around.

We played some games with these cards and will continue to use this program for the remainder of the year. It teaches subitizing, counting, numbers, addition and subtraction.

Olympics:
We have been learning about the Olympics both during Kindergarten and daycare hours. The children have learned about flags, the rings and the continents. They have created medals, flags and torches. Starting on Monday we are going to keep a tally chart of 5 teams and the medals that they earn. On Wednesday we will also be having our very own mini Olympics. Start watching them at home if you can.

Geography: Learning the Continents:
I introduced the students to the continents of the world. We talked about each continent and who knew that was from there. As an extension we began tracing and pin poking North America. We will trace and pin poke each of the continents to make a world map when we are done. It is one of their favourite centres at the moment.

Centres:
I introduced a new way to do centres this week. I created six specific centres that the children had to attend within the week as well as opened some of the play centres such as drama and listening. Then I gave each child a passport and they had to mark down when they were at one of the six specific centres. They enjoys the responsibility and it stopped any fighting over who got to participate in what centre. A friend of mine gave me the idea and it has worked wonders! Here is the passport:

The new Valentine's centres are:

"Fair Share Treats" 

The students had to split up the cookies to show odd or even if things were fair or not. 

"Share-a-Spin"

The students worked in pairs and each spun a wheel then added up the numbers.

"To Sum It All Up..."

The students used the erasers as counters, added it up and then placed the card in the correct group.

*The Valentine Centres are by Alessia Albanese

Dancing Like Crazy:
We continued dancing. The students are starting to become more comfortable and are using more movements. They are listening more to the rhythm and the songs. Now when the song changes from just music to a familiar dance they get into formation and complete the actions. For example they form two lines to do the "Cha Cha Slide" or get into a circle for the "Chicken Dance." It is a fun part of the day.

"Bossy E":
I started teaching some of the students about the "bossy e". We took normal CVC words and added the bossy e. Due to the popsicle stick they were able to move the e around. They would bop the vowel and say "Say your name!" to remember to say the vowel name. For example: cap becomes cape. The children loved this activity and wanted to keep playing over and over.

*This activity was made by Mrs. Pollard

After the game we read "Chicken Soup with Rice and Mice". They could read some of the words and liked all of the new ones.

Animated Literacy:

Over the past two weeks we have learned about S, T, R and D in Animated Literacy. we reviewed A and X and created the word ax. We took the time last week to draw an ax and write a sentence. The children did a wonderful job! Here is an example:

The new characters were Sadie Seal who likes to surf, Timmy Tiger who likes to tickle, Rosie Raccoon who likes to rope and ride Rhino Ralph and Daisy Dragon who likes to Dance. Please go over the handouts that have been sent home with your child to review the sounds and letters. They can colour the picture and then circle the special sound within the song at the bottom. 

This week was brought to you by: The letters u, i, e, and l

This week we practiced writing more lowercase letters. When you have a moment practice writing u, i, e and l as well as what words start with "uh" (for "up"), "i" (for "igloo"), "eh" (for "egg") and "luh" (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:

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).