September 22-26

Hello Families,

We danced and danced and danced this week.

This week we preformed our dance showcase to complete our dance residency with 3 Left Feet.   We were so brave and confident as we shared our dance with our families, friends and school community.  It was wonderful to see so many smiling and encouraging faces in the audience.

This week we welcomed the season of Autumn and went on a Nature Walk to look for signs of Fall's arrival.  We saw crunchy leaves, lots of bright coloured leaves in the trees, animal burrows dug in the ground, pine cones and lots and lots of lady bugs.  We are using our observation skills and five senses to describe the changes we see.  We did some journaling about what we love best about the Fall.  

In math we learned how to play a math game- using dice and corresponding numbers on dice to written numbers.  We practiced rolling dice, subtilizing numbers and taking turns.  

We enjoyed visiting the Library, building with large blocks, painting fall trees, crafting with scissors and glue and exploring our new sensory bin- full of beans and fall things.   We also were very excited to play in the new dramatic play centre- the Kinder Hospital.  It has been a lot of fun to pretend to be Doctors, Nurses and patients. We are building our relationships through play- caring for one another, pretending with one another and talking with one another.  We even had a lot of fun taking care of our lovely Educational Assistant - Ms. Grant.  She visited our "Hospital" and received exceptional care from a very eager kindergarten "health team".

On Friday the PM class participated in the school wide "Orange Shirt Day" assembly and learned about how "All Children Matter".   They also met their Big Buddies in Grade 3 and helped to make a big batch of homemade playdoh.  We explored color mixing to create beautiful orange playdoh.  Rolling the doh, cutting it, and shaping it are all ways to strengthen our hand muscles.  All of these play experiences are going to give us super fine motor skills that will transfer into our writing and drawing- how cool is that?!

Here are some pictures from our week:

September 15-19

 

Hello Families,

This was a fabulous week in Kindergarten as we celebrated "International Dot Day!" Dot Day is a global celebration of creativity that is held annually on September 15th. Inspired by Peter H. Reynolds' book The Dot, the day encourages people of all ages to "make their mark" and discover their creative potential, beginning with a single dot.   On Dot Day we created our own dot paintings, practiced drawing circles

and making all kinds of designs out of circles.  Our day became even more exciting as we discovered many, many lady bugs covered in dots at the park.  We were super excited to see that the lady bugs came to celebrate the day with us.

This week we practiced using scissors safely.  We used scissors to make our own "Scissor Salads", cutting up lots of "vegetables" and "fruit" out of different coloured papers.  We learned how to carry our scissors in the classroom and how to use both hands when we are cutting.  You can ask your Kindergartener some things they know about using scissors at school.  We've had lots of opportunities to practice this week.  We used scissors to cut up the letters of our name and build a name puzzle, we sorted "Expected and Unexpected" behaviours at school pictures, and we cut up paper to make mosaic leaves and pumpkins. 

We also were excited to participate in our Dance Residency- 3 Left Feet.  We are working hard with our Dance Instructor to learn a new dance to share at our Showcase next Thursday.  It takes a lot of courage to learn a new dance, but we are doing fantastic.

On Friday the AM Class met their new Big Buddies from the Grade 3 class.  We loved getting to know one another.  The PM class will meet their Buddies next week. We meet with our Big Buddies throughout the year.  We do lots of art, play many games, and participate in learning activities.  

In our centre times we painted, built with lego, played in the water table, made creatures out of playdoh, threw "parties" in the house centre, made giant castles and towers in the block centre and played out in the sunshine.

Here are some pictures from the week:

September 8-12

Hello Families, 

It has been another busy week in Kindergarten as we have continued to settle into our new routines and learn all about what it means to be a good classmate and friend.  This week had a couple of special events- like the Terry Fox Run and Meet the Teacher night.  It was wonderfully exciting to see so many excited Kindergarteners and their families coming for a classroom tour.  The students really enjoyed showing off their new space and I really enjoyed the opportunity to meet so many new families and share a little bit about how our first weeks together have been going.  

This week we read stories and watched short video clips about Terry Fox and learned about his Marathon of Hope.  We counted up our Toonies for Terry and talked all about determination and "never giving up"- even when things are hard.  We were very excited to participate in the Terry Fox Run in our back field and many of us set our own goal about how many laps we could do.  It was a great day to be together, get some exercise and challenge ourselves to "stick with it!" to try to meet our goals.

In the classroom we have continued to learn about our classroom routines. We have been eager to see who will be "Helper of the Day", and who will get to check the weather.  We know how to participate at carpet time and have been practicing putting up our hands, having our own personal space and waiting for our turn.  The Kindergarten students are doing fantastic at these skills as we learn how to become a supportive learning community.  We read stories to encourage conversations about being a good friend and classmate.  We are learning one another's names and practicing how to ask for a turn and how to invite others to join in play or activities.  We also practiced pre-printing lines and shapes on white-boards.  Collecting and using whiteboard materials is quite a process.

This week we visited the Library for the first time and Ms. McLean talked to us all about how to take care of our Library books.  We get to keep our books for a full week and then we can exchange them on our next Library day.  

As always, we spent lots of time exploring new centres, building with materials, creating art and playing together.  We focused this week on using glue sticks and creating torn paper art.  There was also lots and lots of painting.

Coming up next week:

We will be participating in a Dance Residency "Three Left Feet".  Students will be having a showcase that families can attend.  The AM class will have a Showcase performance on Thursday September 25 at 9:00am and the PM class will have a Showcase performance on Thursday September 25 at 12:45pm.

A portrait of Terry Fox made by a Kindergarten Artist

September 2-5

 Hello Families,

It has been an exciting first week of Kindergarten.  This week included staggered entry days and regular kindergarten days- and we have jumped right into our new year.

Our Kindergarten students are doing amazing at learning our new classroom routines.  We are becoming  Kindergarten experts in finding our coat hooks, changing our shoes, looking at our schedule and following the classroom daily plan. 

In the classroom, we have been learning all about what it means to be a good classmate.  We have been learning each others names, practicing inviting others to play, introducing ourselves and participating with our classmates in songs, stories and group activities.  

We read stories about starting school, learned about school and playground expectations and did some drawing and coloring.  We even had a chance to go outside and play in the sunshine once the smoke cleared up.

 

During centre times, we had lots of opportunities to build new friendships while engaging in purposeful play.  Kindergarten students loved "cooking" in the kitchen centre, building in the block centre, looked for jewels in the sand box, read stories in our cozy cube, made "pizza and cookies" at the playdoh center and painted lots and lots and lots of masterpieces, among other things.

Students have been learning about using classroom materials carefully and purposefully and have become sensational in understanding how to work together to clean up at the end of our centre time.  

Some friendly reminders:

- Please label everything that is sent to school (backpacks, lunch kits, water bottles, coats).  Many items look similar and can easily be mixed up.  Labelling items help to ensure that everyone's materials return home with the correct child.

- Please make sure that your child is wearing shoes that they can put on and take off independently.  

Kindergarten is all about building independence and students need to be able to complete their entry and exit routines on their own as there are many children in the classroom.  Being able to complete these routines independently develops confidence.  Practicing skills like putting on shoes and coats, as well as zipping up their backpack at home is also helpful to support your child.

- Library starts next week! Yay!  The AM class will have Library on Thursdays and the PM class will have Library on Tuesdays.  

Next week:

The school Terry Fox Run will take place on Friday, September 12th at 9:00 am. Students are encouraged to bring in Toonies for Terry to support cancer research. If we reach our fundraising goal of $1150, we’ll celebrate the following week with a special “Wear Your Favourite Sports Swag” day! The AM class will participate in a Terry Fox Run on Thursday morning.  

It's been a pleasure getting to know the new Kindergarten students and I look forward to a wonderful year learning, playing and growing together.  I look forward to meeting families at the Meet the Teacher Open House on Thursday, September 11.  

Please feel free to reach out with any questions along the way this year.  My email is kerupert@cbe.ab.ca