Blog Archives

February 27-March 3

2/26/2017

HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST WEEK:

Pink Shirt Day - creating a class book about acceptance
Practicing our “kid writing” with Mrs. Butchart
Filling the class bucket and watching part of “March of the Penguins” as a reward (it’s a long movie so we’ll be watching more of it this week).
Making 100 Hats for Monday
Finishing our Tacky the Penguin art/math projects which are now up in the hallway! :)

WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
This week’s Jolly Phonics sound/letters are “j” and “oa” (as in goat). Our class literacy-focused sharing for Read Around the Planet teleconferencing will be at 1pm on Wednesday. We will read the book “Alphabet Jive” as a class. We’re excited to see what the other class has prepared for us as it will be a surprise! In Printing, we will work on capital letters that do not have a “frog jump”: W and X. The students have continued to work on identifying the sounds like hear in a word and are beginning to segment then blend the sounds together to create words (the building blocks of reading and writing!). We will continue to focus on using “kid writing”(phonetic spelling) where students try to print all the prominent sounds they hear in a word. In Math, we will be doing many things focused on 100! Our 100th DAY OF KINDERGARTEN is MONDAY so remember to bring your 100 collection/poster to school. Please help your child organize the objects into groups of 10. This makes sharing and counting the projects much easier (and efficient time-wise). We now have 5 family volunteers for our 100th day activities between 10:30-11:50 am. Thanks so much! In Science, we will continue being Researchers with our ongoing study of penguins.

This week we will begin our “Healthy Living” theme and brainstorm things that keep us healthy. We will first focus on healthy eating habits and nutrition (specifically the 4 food groups, serving sizes, and “Eat a Rainbow” (eating a balanced diet). Next week, we will discuss how to avoid spreading germs (proper hand-washing and personal hygiene) and keeping our bodies safe using the Be Safe! program. The Be Safe! program was developed by the Canadian Red Cross. I recently completed the teacher's training for this program and I am excited to use this up-to-date resource again this year. The program uses child-friendly, age-appropriate resources (music, posters, stories, Trusty the puppet) to focus on developing personal safety, body ownership, and preventing child sexual abuse. These learning outcomes tie directly in with the BC Kindergarten curriculum requirements. I understand this is a very sensitive topic to speak about with young children, if you would like further information about the program please let me know and I can send home a detailed parent information booklet. After 2-3 subsequent lessons, I will send home a brief parent-page that summarizes what was discussed in class. This information will give specific topic points which you can review and reinforce with your child at home.
If you do not want your child to take part in these brief lessons (7-8 x 20-minute lessons), please contact me immediately. If a child does not participate in the classroom lessons, it is expected the family will cover the content on their own at home.

REMINDERS/HOW PARENTS CAN HELP:

We are collecting the following empty boxes and we’d love to start using them A.S.A.P :) :
- shoe boxes (any size is great as no boxes have been brought into the class yet)
- large kleenex boxes
- cereal boxes
Please send a family photo for your child to display on our FAMILY WALL sometime in early March. Your photo will be returned to you at the end of the school year. :)
Ensure your child keeps his/her toys at home (we have plenty of toys in our classroom already)
March Scholastic Book Orders - due March 15th (Scholastic orders are a great way for classroom teachers to earn coupons for purchasing new books for our class library!)

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE:
Monday – 100th Day of Kindergarten! (Bring a 100 collection to share with the class).
- Math Centers with family volunteers from 10:30-11:50am
Tuesday – P.E. with Ms. Hall
Wednesday - 1pm Library book exchange and Read Around the Planet with Mrs. Gorman
Thursday – Pizza Day
Friday - WCT “The House on Pooh Corner” permission form and $12 fee due today
- P.E. with Mrs. Brkovic
- Roots of Empathy visit with Wayne and baby Thomas

UPCOMING EVENTS:
-March 9th - WCT “The House on Pooh Corner” at Pavilion Theatre (bus leaves school around 9:20am)
-March 13th -Purdy’s Chocolate Fundraiser Orders due
-March 16 - Subway lunch and Term 2 Report Cards sent home
-March 2 - March 31 -SPRING BREAK
-April 3rd - Welcome back to School
-April 14th - Good Friday (No school)
-April 17th - Easter Monday (No school)
-April 20th - Celebration of Learning 5:00-6:00pm
-April 24th - Pro-D Day (No School)

See everyone tomorrow!
-Ms. Gartrell

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February 20-24

2/19/2017

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WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
Reminder that it is a 3.5-day school week due to Thursday being Early Dismissal at 12:30pm for Parent-Teacher interviews and Friday 24th being a Professional-Development Day. I have already been in contact with those families I will be meeting with on Thursday for parent-teacher interviews. If I have not contacted you and you would like to come have a chat, we can set something up for following week or in early March.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST WEEK:

Valentine Heart Scavenger hunt where teams had to unscramble a mystery message
Wonderful class Valentine’s Day celebration: thank you to everyone who donated items for us! In the future, please consult the Sign-Up sheet before sending something with your child as we had quite a bit of extra food that I wasn’t expecting and some ended up sending back with families so it wasn’t wasted :)
Printing Game called “Mystery Letters”. Where Ms. Gartrell gave verbal clues and the kids tried to make the mystery letter (e.g. Big Line down, bump the bottom, Frog Jump up, Little Curve to the middle, Little Line to the bottom. What letter does that make? A capital R!)
Watching a Youtube clip called “Austin’s Butterfly”, learning how to “draw like a scientist” and having a growth mindset by drawing multiple drafts to continue improving. The kids used a photograph to sketch a realistic penguin, then we showed our drawings to our Big Buddies and they gave the kids feedback with 1 or 2 specific details that would improve the drawing.
100-Chart Mystery Numbers - Ms. Gartrell called random numbers for the kids to colour in. When we were finished there was a special picture on the 100-Chart! Ask your child to find out what it was! :)
Vision Screening - a brown envelope was sent home with your child. Please keep in mind this is a very quick assessment of your child’s vision so there may be further suggestions for your family in the envelope.

WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
This week’s Jolly Phonics sound/letters is “ai” (as in snail), which is our first digraph (aka: “blend” - when two or more letters that make one sound). Our class sharing for Read Around the Planet (special event where our class will get to teleconference with a school in Alberta on March 1st!) is focused on literacy. We will practice reading the book “Alphabet Jive” as a class and brainstorm some questions to ask the teleconferencing class. In Printing, we will work on capital letters that do not have a “frog jump”: L, U and V. The students have continued to work on identifying the sounds like hear in a word (beginning, middle, end). They really loved playing the “Word Machine” game on starfall.com. We will also continue to focus on using “inventive spelling” (sometimes we call it “kid writing”) where students try to print all the prominent sounds they hear in a word (e.g. apple = apl). In Math, we will count to 100 by 5s and 10s and continue practicing forming “8”, “9”, “10” properly. In Science, we will continue being Researchers and hunt for answers to the kids inquiry questions. We will draw as a Scientist and refine our penguin sketches with help from our Big Buddies. In Social Studies, we will focus on “Pink Shirt Day” (Weds. Feb 22) and it’s message of TOLERANCE and ACCEPTANCE. We will talk about the importance of these words words and create a class book about what acceptance sounds like, feels like, and looks like.

100th DAY OF KINDERGARTEN –I am desperately needing 2-3 more parent/grandparent volunteers to be able to run the 100th Day math activities I was hoping to (or I will be throwing Plan A out the window :( ). The Math centres will happen between 10:30-11:50 am on the 27th. If you are able, please sign up on the Parent-Volunteer sheet (outside our classroom door) or send me a note in your child's agenda. Thanks for your help! :)

Please complete a 100 collection or poster with your child and send it to school on Monday, February 27th. The project can be as simple or complex as you like. If you happen to be stuck for ideas, Pinterest is a helpful place to look! Please have your child group the objects in groups of 10 and label 10, 20, 30, etc. before bringing the collection to school. I would suggest making a poster display or storing the objects in ziplock bags, an empty egg carton or Tupperware containers, etc.

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE:
Monday – P.E. with Mrs. Brkovic (rescheduled due to Friday Pro-D Day)
Tuesday – Visit from Mrs. Buchart (school literacy coordinator)
              - P.E. with Ms. Hall
Wednesday - Pink Shirt Day (wear a pink shirt to encourage tolerance, acceptance and kindness -aka: Anti-bully day)
                 – Library
                  - Roots of Empathy visit with Wayne (rescheduled due to Friday Pro-D Day)
Thursday – Early Dismissal @ 12:30pm for Parent-Teacher Interviews
Friday - Pro-D Day (No School)

REMINDERS/HOW PARENTS CAN HELP:

2-3 more adult volunteers are needed for 100th Day Math Centers (sign-up sheet is on hallway bulletin board)
Complete and return WCT House at Pooh Corner permission form and $12 fee by March 3rd
The class is collecting the following to use in February/early March:
- children-sized shoe boxes (adult-sized boxes are bit too large)
- Cereal boxes (regular sized, “Jumbo/family size” is too large)
Work on making a 100 collection at home. Bring the completed project back Feb. 27th (with your child’s name CLEARLY written on it).
Students need to STAY OFF THE SNOW/ICE PILES and OUT OF PUDDLES, to use sidewalks and crosswalks (NOT WALK THROUGH PARKING LOTS), and to leave ALL SNOW ON THE GROUND (no throwing snowballs) BEFORE, DURING, or AFTER SCHOOL

UPCOMING EVENTS:

February 27th - 100th Day of Kindergarten
March 1st - Read Around the Planet
March 9th - House at Pooh Corner - Western Canada Theatre matinee! Fee for cost of ticket and bussing is $12.
March 16th -Term 2 Report Cards sent home
March 20-March 31 - Spring Break (No School)
April 3rd - School re-opens

See you tomorrow!
-Ms. Gartrell

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February 13-17

2/12/2017

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I hope you all have a wonderful Family Day and long weekend. I certainly enjoyed some time in the snow this weekend by going skiing for the first time in nearly two decades! I am aware a few families have requested to have email updates, rather than blog updates; so I will begin that this week.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST WEEK:

Another visit from Baby Thomas - who now sits up, rolls over and is making lots of noise!
Conducting hands-on experiments to experience how penguins stay warm (oily feathers, blubber, huddling)
Printing our very best “R”s, “M”s “N”s in our HWT workbooks (and impressing the “Picky Printing Princess” -aka: Ms. Gartrell wearing a tiara ;D)
Sustaining our quiet Read-to-Self time for 8 minutes! (That was 2 minute improvement from last week)
“Overflowing” each Busy Bee’s bucket by writing a Valentine for him/her
Working on an ongoing penguin art project
Reading non-fiction penguin books and answering some of our inquiry questions

WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
We have an exciting 4-day week with Valentine’s celebrations, another visit from our school Literacy Coordinator, Mrs. Buchart to talk about how to retell stories, Kindergarten Vision Screening and a visit from Wayne on Friday.

Remember to bring your Valentine’s “mailbox” bag and any Valentines cards on Tuesday. We will deliver valentine cards just before lunch or later in the afternoon. The students are welcome to wear red or pink. After eating lunch, the primary students will have an option to go out to the playground or attend the school dance from 12:15-12:45pm. We will have our class Valentine’s celebration just before lunch. Thanks to those families who signed up to bring a treat for our Valentines party!

This week’s Jolly Phonics letter is Bb (we will work on differentiating between Dd and Bb). In Printing, we will continue working on more “frog jump capital letters”: H and K. We will also continue practicing forming “8”, “9”, “10” properly. The students have been working on identifying the initial letter sound they hear. We will focus on using “inventive spelling” (sometimes we call it “kid writing”) where students try to print all the prominent sounds they hear in a word (e.g. apple = apl). In Math, we will begin counting to 100 by 5s (as the kids are quite capable by 10s :D) and have some fun with Valentine's-themed number recognition activity. In Science, we will continue being Researchers and hunt for answers to the kids inquiry questions. We will also draw penguins like real Scientists and learn about how to refine our sketches with help from our Big Buddies.

100th DAY OF KINDERGARTEN –I am needing 2-3 more parent/grandparent volunteers to be able to run the 100th Day math activities I was hoping to. The Math centres will happen between 10:30-11:50 am on the 27th. If you are able, please sign up on the Parent-Volunteer sheet (outside our classroom door) or send me a note in your child's agenda. Thanks for your help! :)

Please complete a 100 collection or poster with your child and send it to school on Monday, February 27th. The project can be as simple or complex as you like. If you happen to be stuck for ideas, Pinterest is a helpful place to look! Please have your child group the objects in groups of 10 and label 10, 20, 30, etc. before bringing the collection to school. I would suggest making a poster display or storing the objects in ziplock bags, an empty egg carton or Tupperware containers, etc.

REMINDERS/HOW PARENTS CAN HELP:

2-3 more adult volunteers are needed for 100th Day Math Centers (sign-up sheet is on hallway bulletin board)
The class is collecting the following to use in February/early March:
- children-sized shoe boxes (adult-sized boxes are bit too large)
- Cereal boxes (regular sized, “Jumbo/family size” is too large)
Work on making a 100 collection at home. Bring the completed project back Feb. 27th (with your child’s name CLEARLY written on it).
Students need to STAY OFF THE SNOW PILES (no playing “King of the Hill” and trying to push others off, etc.), to use sidewalks and crosswalks (NOT WALK THROUGH PARKING LOTS), and to leave ALL SNOW ON THE GROUND (no throwing snowballs) BEFORE, DURING, or AFTER SCHOOL
Friendly reminder if your child arrives late (after 8:30am), you must sign him/her in at the office and our secretary will hand your child a popsicle stick (this stick is given to the teacher so we know the student has been accounted for in the computer attendance system).

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE:
Monday – Family Day (No School)
Tuesday – Valentine’s Day (cookie-grams, dance in gym 12:15-12:45, class Valentines party)
- P.E. with Ms. Hall
Wednesday – Library
Thursday – Kindergarten Vision Screening around 9:00am (please be on time for school or your child may miss his/her screening)
Friday - P.E. with Mrs. Brkovic
- Roots of Empathy visit with Wayne

UPCOMING EVENTS:

February 22nd - Pink Shirt Day (wear a pink shirt to encourage tolerance, acceptance and kindness -aka: Anti-bully day)
February 23rd - Early Dismissal @ 12:30pm (I will be contacting those families I would like to have a Parent-Teacher interview with)
February 24th - Pro-D Day (No school)
February 27th - 100th Day of Kindergarten
March 1st - Read Around the Planet with Mrs. Gorman (a special event where our class will get to teleconference with another school in Canada. We will be focusing on sharing a literacy activity)
March 9th - House at Pooh Corner - Western Canada Theatre matinee! Specific details are still being worked out, but I wanted to give families as much notice as possible as there will be a cost for the ticket and bussing - my estimate is $12-15.

See you Tuesday!
-Ms. Gartrell

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February 6-10

2/5/2017

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST WEEK:

Reading books about Groundhog day and graphing our predictions
Printing our very best “P”, “R” and 8’s in our Handwriting Without Tears workbooks (HWT)
Beginning to use our “Stamina Book Bags” for quiet Read-to-Self time each day (Mrs. Buchart came into our class to help us with Read-to-Self expectations)
Writing a Valentine for each Busy Bee about what each of us appreciate/like/think he/she is good at
Working on an ongoing penguin art project
Finding answers to some of our penguin “Wonder Wall” questions

WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
Wow, more snow and more nasty germs going around our classroom and school! Please remember that if your child is sick, he/she needs to stay at home to recover and prevent the spread of germs. Also be sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather each day.

This week’s Jolly Phonics letter is Ff. In Printing, we will continue working on more “frog jump capital letters”: R, N, M. We will also practice printing “8” and “9”. In Math, we will continue to work on the concept of opposites, patterning and have a visit on Thursday from Zero the Hero for our 90th day! We will also continue learning about penguins, particularly about their habitat and how they stay warm. We are not quite ready to begin a new learning theme about Healthy Living & Healthy Hearts (positive/caring relationships, family, nutrition, exercise, parts of the body), so we will pick up on this in a few weeks.

REMINDERS/HOW PARENTS CAN HELP:

Read the pink paper newsletter that was sent home Friday, February 3rd for info. about Valentine’s Day and 100th Day (I have posted the same info. at the end of this blog post as well)
Sign-up sheets for Valentine’s Treats and 100th Day Math Centers are on our hallway bulletin board
Work on making a Valentine’s card mail-bag at home with the materials your child brought home Friday, Feb. 3rd. Bring the completed bag back Feb. 14th (with your child’s name CLEARLY written on it).
Students need to STAY OFF THE SNOW PILES (no playing “King of the Hill” and trying to push others off, etc.), to use sidewalks and crosswalks (NOT WALK THROUGH PARKING LOTS), and to leave ALL SNOW ON THE GROUND (no throwing snowballs) BEFORE, DURING, or AFTER SCHOOL
Friendly reminder if your child arrives late (after 8:30am), you must sign him/her in at the office and our secretary will hand your child a popsicle stick (this stick is given to the teacher so we know the student has been accounted for in the computer attendance system).

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE:
Monday –
Tuesday – P.E. with Ms. Hall
Wednesday – Library
-Roots of Empathy with Wayne (rescheduled from last week)
Thursday – 90th Day of Kindergarten!
Friday - P.E. with Mrs. Brkovic
- Roots of Empathy visit with Baby Thomas!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

February 13th - Family Day (NO SCHOOL)-February 14th -Valentine's Day, Valentine’s Dance in the gym (12:15-12:45pm), Cookie-grams delivered (more info. on pink paper newsletter sent home Friday 3rd)
February 16th - Kindergarten Vision Screening (see white newsletter that was sent home Friday 3rd)
February 22nd - Pink Shirt Day (wear a pink shirt to encourage tolerance, acceptance and kindness -aka: Anti-bully day)
February 23rd - Early Dismissal @ 12:30pm (I will be contacting those families I would like to have a Parent-Teacher interview with)
February 24th - Pro-D Day (No school)
February 27th - 100th Day of Kindergarten (more info. In Friday’s paper newsletter)

See you Monday.
-Ms. Gartrell
_________________________________________________________________________
* The info below is the same as the pink paper newsletter that was sent home Friday, Feb. 3*

FEBRUARY 14th VALENTINE'S DAY – will be celebrated in our classroom on Tuesday, Feb. 14th. Students are welcome to wear pink or red. Parents are asked to work with their child to create a Valentine's “mailbox” to bring to school with his/her Valentines. The children will be provided with a brown paper lunch bag and a “heart animal” to colour, cut, and glue on their lunch bag (assembly directions will be included). Please ensure your child's name is clearly printed on the bag so everyone can read it when we deliver cards in the afternoon. The bag will be sent home on Tuesday, February 14th, full of valentines for your child to open with you at home.

We strive to be an inclusive and caring classroom; therefore, if your child is giving out Valentines please include ALL the children. A class list of names is found on the pink paper newsletter (for privacy reasons, I do not publish students’ names online).

We would love to celebrate Valentine's day with some healthy snacks (please remember we promote healthy living and eating habits in our classroom, if candy is given out by students it will be brought home in the Valentine's bags). A sign-up sheet for snacks and non-food items (napkins, paper plates) is posted on the bulletin board outside our classroom. This will help make sure we aren’t wasting food or eating too much and getting tummy aches! :) Thanks so much!

100th DAY OF KINDERGARTEN – Students are encouraged to create a collection of 100 with anything they like (preferably objects that are easy to transport to and from school). Some favourite collections are 100 pasta noodles, coins, toothpicks, stickers, cereal, or beads. Please have your child group the objects in groups of 10 and label 10, 20, 30, etc. before bringing the
collection to school. I would suggest making a poster display or storing the objects in ziplock bags, an empty egg carton or tupperware containers, etc. Students can bring their collections to school on the 25th when we will have a fun-filled day of 100 activities and games.

I will be looking for 4 or 5 parent/grandparent volunteers to help out with 100 day activities between 10:30-11:50 am on the 27th. If you are able, please sign up on the Parent-Volunteer sheet (outside our classroom door) or send me a note in your child's agenda. Thanks for your help! :)

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