Week 4 of Kindergarten!

It is already Day 18 of Kindergarten!

Thank you to everyone who donated to Terry Fox! Our class has had so many donations. I think we might win! 

Just a reminder that Terry Fox run is tomorrow at 1:15 pm. Make sure to send your kids to school with proper shoes and clothes as we will be outside. 

We have started our Letter study. Each student was given a notice for their day to bring something to school. Please check them! So far we have done Ss, Aa, Nn this week. Please practice writing and recognizing these letters at home.

We have also been doing numbers. We have looked at numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. 

Helping others learn how to write the letter Nn on our SmartBoard.

Working together on a puzzle.

 Showing what we know about counting.

 Finding numbers in our snacks. "Look, a 10!"

Counting and studying our worms. 

 We found baby worms! They hatched from the worm eggs we found last week. 

 Having a "picnic" and eating "salad"

 Spotting earth worms...outside

 A big interest in an earth worm found in the soil. 

September Notices

Hi Parents and Guardians!

Homework Folder

A green folder labelled Homework Folder was sent home on Wednesday. As presented to parents on the first day of school, curriculum night and our newsletter these will come home regularly. Please read or do the activity together to help us bridge the gap between home and school. It is, of course, not required but does make a big difference in each student's learning.  They will generally go home on Wednesdays (every week or every other week). They do not need to be returned until Monday. Keep reading and working over the weekend!

This week's activity is reading the 2 poems together. The first poem is titled: 10 Little Pirates. The second poem on the back page is titled: ARE Poem. Both will be or have been introduced during instructional time.

-Work on recognizing each of the numbers in 10 Little Pirates AND what quantity that number represents. For example, gathering 8 marbles for the number 8.

-The A-R-E Poem introduces the word 'are' to students while also making it related to the theme of Pirates for Friday (International Talk Like a Pirate Day).


Alphabet Study

Purple notices were sent home a few days ago about our alphabet study coming up! We are asking parents to help choose an item from home that starts with the first letter of the child's name. For example, Lenny would bring in Lego because Lenny starts with L and so does Lego. Students will be sharing the item with the class. A photo will be taken for our word wall. Students will also be learning about the letter sound, what it looks like and begin to learn how to form the letter (JK) or refine that skill (SK).


Terry Fox
Terry Fox run will take place next Friday at 1:15 pm until recess. Kindergartens will be taken on the walk around the "track" to get their stamps. A donation of $2 for Terry is encouraged for the cause which gets a spot on our Terry Fox train in the main foyer.


Outstanding Forms

Please, if possible, return any forms that are still outstanding for your child. We are in the process of organizing permissions, workshops and trips for the year. Education Fees are due to the office or place them in your child's Communication Bag.

The First Half of September

What have we been up to?

 Driving on a bus.

 Working with others in the sand pit.

 Collecting cherries to make cherry pie!

 Making your first new friend!

 Building our names.

 Making snow on the trees (even though it's way too early!)

Encouraging others to play on our class iPads.

 Being worm scientists and investigating our class worms.

 Showing braveness by holding a worm even when others were afraid. 

Admiring and taking a closer look.

Welcome Back to Kindergarten - September 2014

Welcome Back!

We are now in to Week 3 of school. Everyone is settling in to routines, rules and getting back into school mode!

If you missed us on the first day of Kindergarten (JKs only) or Curriculum Night (September 11), here's some information from our hand out.



Your Kindergarten team this year are:
Room 129 – Ms. Cunningham and Ms Elmira
Room 104 – Ms. Yang (for Mrs. McMullen) and Ms. Campbell

A few tips to make transitioning into school smooth!

Communication Bags

The communication bag is used to send newsletters, school notices, permission forms, notes from the teacher and flyers. Please send them back to school in your child’s backpack every day.

Homework Folder

Each week we will send a homework folder with a short activity to complete. They will be distributed on Wednesdays and should be returned by Monday.

Label EVERYTHING

Please label all belongings with your child's name or initials (i.e. snack, clothing, shoes, backpack, lunch bag, lunch containers, etc.).

Extra Clothes

Please keep a change of clothing (underwear, shirt, pants, and socks) in your child’s backpack. It will be used for all types of accidents including getting wet/dirty outside, spilling lunches etc.

Indoor Shoes

Students are required to leave a pair of Velcro running shoes at school to wear indoors. Your child should be able to take off and put on his/her shoes independently. This helps to keep our classrooms clean and free from dirt and mud.

Outdoor play

Students will be going outside almost every day. Please ensure that your child is dressed appropriately for any kind of weather. Please also keep flip flops, crocs, and dress shoes at home. Safety dictates the necessity of running shoes for fun and active outdoor play.

Ask Your Child Questions…

Asking open-ended questions can be an effective way to encourage conversation. These questions help children share how they accomplished something, what happened, why things came out the way they did, and how they felt. When asked open-ended questions, children can choose to say whatever they’re thinking, and these questions often lead to interesting conversations.

Some questions you could ask:

Tell me about…?
I wonder…?
In what way…?
What would happen if…?
What do you notice...?
What do you think...?
What if...?
What would you do…?
How did that happen…?
How can you...or...How can we...?
Explain to me....

Big Ideas in Kindergarten

Social Development - Children are connected to others and contribute to their world.
Emotional Development - Children have a strong sense of identity and well-being.
Language - Children are effective communicators.
Mathematics - Young children have a conceptual understanding of mathematics and of mathematical thinking and reasoning.
Science and Technology - Children are curious and connect prior knowledge to new contexts in order to understand the world around them.
Health and Physical Activity - Children make healthy choices and develop physical skills.
The Arts - Young children have an innate openness to artistic activities.

Inquiry Focus

As outlined in the Full Day Kindergarten Program, there are four elements of the child's inquiry process these are: Engagement, Exploration, Investigation and Communication. These elements are integrated into our Big Ideas. Students’ interests may be developed and expanded in many areas.

Assessment and Evaluation

Your child’s progress will be assessed using a variety of assessment strategies that will help inform our teaching and improve their learning.

-student portfolios
-conferencing
-observations & anecdotal notes
-photos, videos, audio recordings
-self-reflection
-DRA

Caterpillars and Butterflies

In the last few weeks we have been sharing Mr Leung's caterpillar display.  We read books, made clay caterpillars, watched videos, wrote notes and observed as the caterpillars were undergoing transformations.

We learned so much just by watching and asking questions to our caterpillar experts in Mr Leung's class!

Here are just a few of the pictures from our adventure:

Looking at cocoons for the first time (We learned later that they are not called cocoons but are chrysalis because these were butterfly caterpillars not moth caterpillars) .  Our class noticed they looked like little sticks that were brown and maybe hard to the touch. 

We were alerted on day 5 of the caterpillars being inside their chrysalis that some have hatched.  The new butterflies are drying their wings.  

Students hard at work writing to a family member about what they know. 

Exploring different states of chrysalis. 

Observing all of the hatched butterflies for the first time. 

Anticipating the release! 

Painting hydrangeas

 Today we experimented with different materials, processes and techniques to create unique visual art.  We studied beautiful pink hydrangeas and used sponges and different shades of paint to create our masterpieces!

May & June Newsletter

What’s happening in Kindergarten…

Inquiry – Our inquiry focus this month will continue to be plants, planting and changes in the natural environment as spring arrives.  We will be observing different types of plants and seeds in our classroom, experimenting with planting and noticing changes in our playground. 

Personal/Social/Emotional Development – We will learn about community helpers and discuss their roles (e.g. Doctors, Veterinarians, Mail carriers, teachers).  Students will begin to recognize places and buildings within their community and talk about their functions (e.g. arena, hospital, grocery stores, post office).

Math – Our math focus will be ordinal numbers (e.g. first, second, third) and composing and decomposing numbers to 10.

Language – We will focus on words that rhyme and begin and end with the same sounds.  Our study of non-fiction will focus on the features found in a non-fiction text such as photographs, captions, labels, and glossary.  We will explore the role of authors and photographers in creating non-fiction texts.   

Save the Date!

Both Kindergarten classes will be participating in a school wide “Author’s Day” on June 20^th.  Parents and families will be invited to listen to their student read and share their stories.  More detailed information will follow!

Dress for the Weather!

Students require a separate pair of rain boots or running shoes to wear outdoors and a pair of running shoes for inside the classroom.  As the weather warms, please send in ball caps or sun hats for sun protection while outside!  Please apply sunscreen at home in the morning, we do not apply it at school.

Spare Clothes

Please ensure that your child has a full change of clothes in the backpack or at school.  Accidents happen and we don’t want to interrupt your day to bring spare clothes to school!

Veterinarian Visit

Both Kindergarten classrooms enjoyed a very interesting and informative visit from Vet Dr. Eva and Vet Tech Sarah, along with Lady the Dog!  The students enjoyed listening to Lady’s heartbeat, learning about healthy ears and teeth and proper grooming.

Important Dates

May 3^rd – Roywood’s Yard Sale

May 13^th – Officer Neil visits

May 19^th – Victoria Day (No School)

June 6^th – PA Day (No School)

June 14^th – Fun Fair!

June 20^th – Author’s Day & Open House

June 26^th – Report Cards go home

June 27^th – Last Day of Classes for Students