June 15-19

 Hello Families!

Wow!

I can't believe this year is almost over and we have only one more week together.

This week we watched our beans grow, we read more fairytales, acted out stories and made lots of art.  We also practiced our sight words, practiced our letters, wrote sentences and drew beautiful illustrations. 

This week an Educational Assistant, Ms. Carrie,  brought in some of her spider skins to show us how spiders grow and change- it was soooo cool.  We also made amazing presents for our Dads in honour of Father's Day.  We have also been celebrating summer birthdays! So many things.

Please ensure that you have read our Kindergarten Celebration email.  We are looking forward to all the fun events we will have next week.

Important Dates to Remember:

Library is now over for the year. PLEASE RETURN ALL LIBRARY BOOKS ASAP!

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24           Kindergarten Graduation: AM Class - begins at 9:45am, PM Class -                                                      begins at 1:45pm (information will be emailed this week)

THURSDAY, JUNE 25              Last Day of School for AM students/ Sports Day - Wear Canada                                                            colours (red & white)

THURSDAY, JUNE 25             Report cards are available in your myCBE account online

FRIDAY, JUNE 26                    Last Day of School - PM Kindergarten ONLY!

June 8-12

 
This week in Kindergarten...

We began our week saying good-bye to our ducks and our goose, Johnny Marshmallow. We drew ducks and geese and made a Thank-You book for the farmer who so kindly gave our classes eggs to hatch. Our ducks and Johnny went back to the farm to live their best farm life. 

And then Mrs. Rupert was sick and needed to stay home for a few days! The Kindergarten students were so responsible this week- being extra flexible and so kind to our guest teachers.     

We read the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and solved this math problem in our math journals: The Hungry Caterpillar ate 10 things, what kinds of things did he eat? Students used pictures, numbers and a math sentence to solve their problems. 

Next, we read the story Jack and the Beanstalk. We used our imaginations to think about what we might find at the top of a beanstalk. Students drew a picture and labelled their drawings. We had so many interesting ideas!  

We continued by reading a different version of Jack and the Beanstalk and participating in a "Measure the Room" activity where students used unfix cubes to measure and record different pictures around the room from the story.

The PM class was able have some Big Buddy time this week and did a measurement activity about Bugs. We also learned about different types of bugs and drew about them in our journals.  

This week we also had lots of fun playing in our Ice Cream centre, building all kinds of cool 3D shapes and different  things with connecting toys and making lots and lots of art for our special hallway "Kinder- Garden".  We also had lots of fun playing outside.  The fabulous Ms. Uzma taught a bunch of the students how to play hopscotch- and they were excited to practice a lot.

Important Dates to Remember:

Library is now over for the year. PLEASE RETURN ALL LIBRARY BOOKS!

FRIDAY, JUNE 19                     AM Kindergarten ONLY!

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24           Kindergarten Graduation: AM Class - begins at 9:45am, PM Class -                                                      begins at 1:45pm (information will be emailed this week)

THURSDAY, JUNE 25              Last Day of School for AM students/ Sports Day - Wear Canada                                                            colours (red & white)

FRIDAY, JUNE 26                    Last Day of School - PM Kindergarten ONLY!

June 1-5

 
Hello Families!

I can't believe it is June! How did we get here so quickly?!

What a busy week we had in Kindergarten- again! 

We started the week lots and lots of rain and wind.  Our ducks didn't mind as they were more than thrilled to swim and splash in the puddles left behind.  We ended the week in sunshine- with lots of playing outside and even a picnic.  How crazy is Alberta spring?

This week started "Word of the Day!".  Everyday we are sounding out, reading and writing a new word- or two.  Our words this week have included- we, he, bus, bug, it, go and stop.  We know our letter sounds very well now and are practicing putting them together to read words.  We also practice using our words in sentences.  We understand that sentences are made up of words- and they have to make sense to say something.  We can count how many words are in a sentence and how we can add other words to make our sentences more interesting.  We have continued to learn about vowels and their sounds and have practiced using vowels in our writing.

This week we continued to learn and read about Fairytales.  We read and acted out the story "Three Billy Goats Gruff".  We practiced our retelling skills, our predicting skills and our sequencing skills to engage with the story.  We even made our own story puppets and built bridges using 3D shapes and practiced telling the story to each other.

This week we had a new "Ice Cream" shop open in our Dramatic Play centre. We have been taking orders, exchanging "money", and serving scoops to our "customers".  Our super puzzle masters completed their first 300 piece puzzle this week and we have been enjoying lots of duck and goose time.  We had lots of fun feeding them all kinds of foods this week.  We did an experiment to find out which food was their favourite.  We gave them peas, carrots, lettuce and watermelon.  We found that they LOVE peas! Almost as much as the Goose loves to munch and nibble on kids hair! Ponytails and long hair is definitely Johnny Marshmallows favourite.  Our feathery friends are getting really big and messy! They will be needing more space soon- and a pond and a barn where they can live the perfect duck and goose life.  We'll be saying goodbye to them soon and sending them off to Mrs. Rupert's friend's farm- and they will go with lots of love!

The AM class did some research and writing about bugs this week- and created their own bug illustrations with labels.

The Kindergarteners have had their last library book exchange this week.  Please enjoy the books and then send them back by the end of next week so they can be returned to the Fabulous Ms. McLean as she's getting everything ready for the summer clean up and preparation for the Fall.  She works so hard to keep our Library spectacular!

Here are some pictures of our week:

May 25-29

 Hello Families!

It was another sunny and bright week in Kindergarten.  We worked on a our giant hallway mural, hosted a 3D shape museum, acted out a fairytale story and the PM class visited the Farmyard!

 
We have continued to love having our ducklings and goose in the classroom- although we are noticing just how big they are getting- and how much room they are starting to need.  Our feathered friends enjoyed their first swimming lesson this week.  We watched the swim, dive and slide into their own little pool this week.  We watched how they can preen themselves and make themselves water-proof.  We observed how they use their webbed feet to paddle and how they have see-through eyelids- just like thier own built-in googles.  We also fed them lots of new foods- like spinach, bananas, peas and carrots.  We found out they like peas more than carrots- and Johnny Marshmallow REALLY doesn't like bananas.

This week we read the story and acted out the story "The Three Little Pigs" and talked about characters and events that happen in stories.  We also worked on our ability to sequence events.  We took on a building challenge with 3D shapes as well- attempting to build a "stable house" that would protect our own 3 Little Pigs from the big bad wolf (Mrs. Rupert's Blow Dryer).  We needed to work with a team and a bucket of shapes to plan, build, test and problem solve.  It was exciting to see how our houses held up to all of the "huffing and puffing".

We also hosted our own 3D shape museum this week in the big hallway of the school.  Thank you to families for helping thier Kindergartener to remember to bring in a 3D shape.  We sorted our items and labeled them correctly and then displayed them proudly.  We practiced our speaking skills and using our new math vocabulary to take other classes and students through our museum.  We had visitors from grade 1-3 come for tours with their teachers and we did an excellent job sharing our learning.

On Friday, we LOVED our day at the Farmyard.  There was lots of excitement about the bus (of course), petting animals, riding slides, bouncing on the bouncers, riding on the train and being together.  It was fantastic and I know the kids all returned very happy- and very tired from a great time.

Next week is our last time to choose a new book from the Library and then we will be returning all of the books for the year.  

Here are some pictures from our week:

May 19-22

 It was "Farm Week 1" in our classroom! All week we were in awe over our littlest hatchlings- 4 baby ducklings joined our crew this week.  They are so small - especially when compared to our goose and chicks. We did so many farm related activities and learned so much along the way.

We read lots of books about farms and farm animals- we heard a funny story called "Click Clack Moo- Cows that can type".  We also read "Giggle, Giggle Quack".  Both stories were fiction books and we made lots of predictions about what was going to happen with the silly animals and the poor farmer.  We spent a lot of time practicing rhyming this week as well- we made up silly farm sentences using rhyming words- like "The big pig wore a wig" and "the fat cat sat on a mat with a rat".  Making up silly rhymes together is an excellent way to practicing rhyming- and rhyming skills are so important when it comes to reading and writing.

We continued to learn about 3D shapes this week. We talked about what they are called and where we might see them in the classroom and at home.  We had a building challenge this week using 3D shapes.  The Kindergarteners were asked to work with a variety of shapes and materials to design and build their own farm.  Then we photographed and printed pictures of our designs.  The Kindergarten students then worked on their designs by labelling their pictures.  They had to problem solve, work together and think of things like "where should the barn go?" and "how will the animals stay on the farm? Do they need a fence? A shelter?"  They came up with some fantastic designs.

In the classroom we have continued to have lots of time interacting with our feathery friends.  We have been learning about how they change, what they eat, what features they have to help them adapt- like webbed feet or talons, beaks or bills.  We have been seeing a change in our chickens as they have been growing combs on their heads and can fly a little bit.  Our goose Johnny Marshmallow came outside to run around and we saw that he can follow us.  Our ducklings have been "preening" and we know they are using their bill to help make their bodies waterproof.  We love holding them, watching them and noticing all of the changes that are happening from day to day. We are so kind and gentle and caring towards the animals.

This week was especially exciting as the AM class went on their farm field trip.  In preparation for our trip we read stories about going to the farm, talked all about what we could do there and even pretended to take a bus ride together.  This helped us understand the activity and also learn some of the rules and expectations of the bus and farm.   We had a beautiful sunny day and lots of fun was had- although everyone looked very tired when we returned:) The PM class will have their field trip next Friday - and we are hoping for another beautiful day.  A huge thank you to all of the parents who volunteered to come along and help for the day.  We couldn't have done it without you.  You are so appreciated! 

Next week we will also be having a classroom "3D shape museum day"- the Kindergarten students will be asked to look around thier house to try to find and bring in a few 3D shapes to display for the day.  I'll send more information in the next few days.  

Here are some additional pictures of our week: