The children had an exciting first week back. They were very happy to see their school friends again. The kids are doing well with independently settling into morning routines and putting on their own snow-gear! Reminder that snowboots must be carried down from the front door and left outside on the hallway boot racks.
All Parkcrest students are being asked to STAY OFF THE SNOW PILES adjacent to our parking lots and the edges of the field and to LEAVE ALL SNOW ON THE GROUND (no throwing snowballs before, during or after school). The snow piles are very icy and slippery. This is a serious safety concern and children who are not able to play safely outside will be sent to sit at the office for the remainder of lunch/recess. Please remind your child about these safety rules and off-limits areas. Thanks for reinforcing this at home, we appreciate your cooperation :)
HIGHLIGHT FROM LAST WEEK (before the winter holidays began!):
WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
This week our letter is “Oo” (a vowel that makes 2 sounds). The kids are beginning to sound out and print 3-4 letter words on their own! We will continue printing “Starting Corner Capital” letters (H, K, L, U, V) in our Handwriting Without Tears workbooks this week. We are also going to begin matching our first AND last names in our attendance chart each morning (without the assistance of photos)!
We will continue to investigate about winter (properties of snow/ice, symmetrical snowflakes) this week. In Math Centers, we will focus on the concept of opposites, printing numbers correctly, sequencing numbers past 10, and adding sums up to 12 with a new dice game.
Star Student of the Week (where one child is in the “spotlight” for the whole week and gets to share his/her special things/books/memories with the class) will begin this week. I will be introducing and modelling this fun activity for the kids.. On Friday, one child will get to bring home the Star Student Bag (similar to the What Is It? sharing bag, but with a butterfly pattern). Due to privacy policies, I cannot post the Star Student order on our class blog/emails. If it is your child’s turn to be the Star Student he/she will have brought home the Star Student bag on FRIDAY. Please carefully read the info. sheets in the bag and the class journal as soon as your child brings home the bag. The Star Student will have the weekend to fill in his/her Star Student memory book page and plan what he/she will bring to school to share with the class on Monday. The Star Student also gets to look after our class stuffed animal for the week and journal about what they did together. The class stuffie and journal can be brought back to school on Friday morning. In order for all children to have their special week before the end of the school year, we need to ensure the bag, journal, and stuffie are all returned to school and ready to go home with the next child every Friday.
REMINDERS/HOW PARENTS CAN HELP:
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE:
Monday –
Tuesday – Roots of Empathy visit with Baby Maisie and Wayne
Wednesday – Library with Mrs. Bond
- P.E. with Mrs. Brkovic
Thursday – P.E. with Mrs. Brkovic
Friday - P.E. with Mrs. Brkovic
UPCOMING EVENTS:
See you tomorrow!
-Ms. Gartrell :)
All Parkcrest students are being asked to STAY OFF THE SNOW PILES adjacent to our parking lots and the edges of the field and to LEAVE ALL SNOW ON THE GROUND (no throwing snowballs before, during or after school). The snow piles are very icy and slippery. This is a serious safety concern and children who are not able to play safely outside will be sent to sit at the office for the remainder of lunch/recess. Please remind your child about these safety rules and off-limits areas. Thanks for reinforcing this at home, we appreciate your cooperation :)
HIGHLIGHT FROM LAST WEEK (before the winter holidays began!):
- Playing “Guess the Missing Letter” with phonics beanbags and ABC flashcards
- Playing a musical number recognition game for New Years
- Playing the “Frog Jump Mystery Letter” printing game with Ms. Sarrasin’s gr. 2/3 class
- Celebrating our 70th day of school by watching a “Numberjacks” video Zero the Hero sent for us
- Reading stories about snow and acting out the lifecycle of a snowflake
- Being scientists and observing which will melt the fastest - fluffy snow, packed snow or ice (the kindies were so keen we even spoke about matter and molecular structure of liquids and solids! Aka: “big kid science” ;D )
WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
This week our letter is “Oo” (a vowel that makes 2 sounds). The kids are beginning to sound out and print 3-4 letter words on their own! We will continue printing “Starting Corner Capital” letters (H, K, L, U, V) in our Handwriting Without Tears workbooks this week. We are also going to begin matching our first AND last names in our attendance chart each morning (without the assistance of photos)!
We will continue to investigate about winter (properties of snow/ice, symmetrical snowflakes) this week. In Math Centers, we will focus on the concept of opposites, printing numbers correctly, sequencing numbers past 10, and adding sums up to 12 with a new dice game.
Star Student of the Week (where one child is in the “spotlight” for the whole week and gets to share his/her special things/books/memories with the class) will begin this week. I will be introducing and modelling this fun activity for the kids.. On Friday, one child will get to bring home the Star Student Bag (similar to the What Is It? sharing bag, but with a butterfly pattern). Due to privacy policies, I cannot post the Star Student order on our class blog/emails. If it is your child’s turn to be the Star Student he/she will have brought home the Star Student bag on FRIDAY. Please carefully read the info. sheets in the bag and the class journal as soon as your child brings home the bag. The Star Student will have the weekend to fill in his/her Star Student memory book page and plan what he/she will bring to school to share with the class on Monday. The Star Student also gets to look after our class stuffed animal for the week and journal about what they did together. The class stuffie and journal can be brought back to school on Friday morning. In order for all children to have their special week before the end of the school year, we need to ensure the bag, journal, and stuffie are all returned to school and ready to go home with the next child every Friday.
REMINDERS/HOW PARENTS CAN HELP:
- Dress appropriate for the cold weather - it is crucial children have ALL the necessary snow-gear as our recess and lunch times have all been “outside days” so far (numerous students have had to borrow the extra snowpants and gloves I have at school)
- Please be sure to send back a change of clothes for your child (especially as we sent clothing home to wash over the Christmas break)
- Return completed Winter Break Reading Bear charts for a prize (no time restriction on this, just return whenever they are full :D)
- I am continuing to encouraging parents to drop their child off at the classroom door as the students are gaining self-independence
- Sign and return your child’s report card envelope if you haven’t already done so
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE:
Monday –
Tuesday – Roots of Empathy visit with Baby Maisie and Wayne
Wednesday – Library with Mrs. Bond
- P.E. with Mrs. Brkovic
Thursday – P.E. with Mrs. Brkovic
Friday - P.E. with Mrs. Brkovic
UPCOMING EVENTS:
- January 17th - Sr. Froggy’s Hot Lunch
- January 20-27: Family Literacy Week (info. about special events will be shared at a later date)
- January 20-27: Heap the Honda - Our school will be collecting gently used and new children's books for the Heap the Honda event.
See you tomorrow!
-Ms. Gartrell :)