It's hard to believe we are half-way through October already! I'm still working away on adding pages, links and more information to the blog. Thanks for your patience. I am looking forward to saving lots of paper each week, so please get into the habit of checking the blog each Monday. I will do my best to have my weekly post done before each Monday morning. :)
HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST WEEK:
We continued working with the "s" and "a" sounds (practiced printing these upper and lower-case letters, sang songs, brainstormed and drew pictures of things that started with the "s" and "a" sounds). The students working on letter recognition by identifying the letters in their names (out of sequence) then rearranging them back in the correct order. The kids had another visit from "Zero the Hero" on Wednesday - our 20th day of school. Zero brought them 20 different shapes. The kids helped sort them by colour, type, and size. We also made a class book about circles. Each child illustrated a page by turning a circle into something new; for example, a bouncy ball, a smiling face, a fuzzy cat. We read "Brown Bear Brown Bear" multiple times (it was quite a favourite because the kids could read it aloud all on their own!) and created our own colouring books that followed the same rhyming pattern but with colours and shapes rather than colours and animals (Brown Circle, Brown Circle what do you see? I see a Red Square looking at me). We also had our weekly Roots of Empathy visit with Mr. Wayne Tresierra. Wayne and the kids talked about emotions and how babies and children react to emotions. The students and I have talked each day about "Whole Body Listening". Our "Listening Larry" poster reminds us what Whole Body Listening looks/sounds/feels like:
Eyes - look at the person talking to you
Ears - both ears are ready to hear
Mouth - quiet (no talking, humming or making noises)
Hands - both quiet in lap or by your sides
Feet - both quiet on the floor (side-sit or criss-cross legs)
Body - faces the speaker (not laying down)
Brain - thinking about what is being said
Heart - caring about what is being said and those people around us who are also trying to listen
WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS WEEK?
It's going to be a short, but busy week! We will focus on the letter "t" (upper and lower case). We will work on identifying the letters of the alphabet with another class-favourite book, "Chica Chica Boom Boom". Our coconut tree art-work is almost finished and will be displayed in our classroom ASAP. In Math, we will focus on identifying, and sequence the numbers 1-10. We will read "Ten Apples Up on Top", act out some "addition stories" (e.g. if Craig has 3 apples and Lily has 2 apples. How many apples are there all together) and making a class book. As you can see, I love reading books and making class big books. I find the most popular books in our class library are the ones the students have made themselves! We will keep discussing our Whole Body Listening and our Traffic Light Behaviour expectations each day too!
REMINDERS:
UPCOMING EVENTS:
See you Monday!
Ms. Gartrell
HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST WEEK:
We continued working with the "s" and "a" sounds (practiced printing these upper and lower-case letters, sang songs, brainstormed and drew pictures of things that started with the "s" and "a" sounds). The students working on letter recognition by identifying the letters in their names (out of sequence) then rearranging them back in the correct order. The kids had another visit from "Zero the Hero" on Wednesday - our 20th day of school. Zero brought them 20 different shapes. The kids helped sort them by colour, type, and size. We also made a class book about circles. Each child illustrated a page by turning a circle into something new; for example, a bouncy ball, a smiling face, a fuzzy cat. We read "Brown Bear Brown Bear" multiple times (it was quite a favourite because the kids could read it aloud all on their own!) and created our own colouring books that followed the same rhyming pattern but with colours and shapes rather than colours and animals (Brown Circle, Brown Circle what do you see? I see a Red Square looking at me). We also had our weekly Roots of Empathy visit with Mr. Wayne Tresierra. Wayne and the kids talked about emotions and how babies and children react to emotions. The students and I have talked each day about "Whole Body Listening". Our "Listening Larry" poster reminds us what Whole Body Listening looks/sounds/feels like:
Eyes - look at the person talking to you
Ears - both ears are ready to hear
Mouth - quiet (no talking, humming or making noises)
Hands - both quiet in lap or by your sides
Feet - both quiet on the floor (side-sit or criss-cross legs)
Body - faces the speaker (not laying down)
Brain - thinking about what is being said
Heart - caring about what is being said and those people around us who are also trying to listen
WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS WEEK?
It's going to be a short, but busy week! We will focus on the letter "t" (upper and lower case). We will work on identifying the letters of the alphabet with another class-favourite book, "Chica Chica Boom Boom". Our coconut tree art-work is almost finished and will be displayed in our classroom ASAP. In Math, we will focus on identifying, and sequence the numbers 1-10. We will read "Ten Apples Up on Top", act out some "addition stories" (e.g. if Craig has 3 apples and Lily has 2 apples. How many apples are there all together) and making a class book. As you can see, I love reading books and making class big books. I find the most popular books in our class library are the ones the students have made themselves! We will keep discussing our Whole Body Listening and our Traffic Light Behaviour expectations each day too!
REMINDERS:
- Library is Monday - please return library books in your child's plastic book bag (this protects books from spills, tears, etc.)
- Ms. Gartrell has a specialist appointment in Kelowna on Tuesday, 20th so Mrs. Dhaliwal will be our substitute teacher
- Early Dismissal at 12:30pm on Wednesday 21st AND Thursday 22 for Family/Teacher. Mrs. Gustafon will be dismissing the children on Wednesday as our regular P.E, block has changed due to early dismissal. Parent-Teacher interview sign-up sheets are posted near the main office. Please feel free to sign up for a 15 minutes session. Also, it's wonderful if you can bring your child with you so he/she can show you what we have been up to Kindergarten. :) If the available times do not work for you please let me know and we can arrange something else
- FRIDAY, OCT. 23- no school due to a Professional Development Day
UPCOMING EVENTS:
- Monday, October 26th - Our first field trip to...Young Peoples Concert at Sagebrush Theatre. We will be loading the busses shortly after the 8:30am bell, so please arrive to school on time.
- Friday, October 30th - Halloween at School. More info will be posted next week
See you Monday!
Ms. Gartrell