December 2012
Dear Families,
It’s hard to believe December is upon us already! With the busyness of the Christmas
season, we all need to remember that our children need our attention as much now as
ever. Please take time to talk to them about the importance of Christmas, and that we
are preparing our hearts for Jesus’ birth on Christmas day.
November has been quite a busy month here in JK/SK! Here are some highlights of
what we have done:
What we have been working on:
As you may have noticed when you came in for parent observations, our house centre
has now been transformed into a McDonald’s centre with the help of your child. Mrs.
Malleck took a small group and together they worked on making a poster menu to
hang on the wall with many pictures of food that we brainstormed is served at
McDonald’s. We also used our fine motor to place labels on plastic containers for food
items such as cheese, lettuce, and meat so that we could later make some yummy
pretend burgers. Ms. C. had her after school kids come up with prices for the items on
the menu and they placed these on there for everyone who comes in our restaurant to
see.
As you may already know, estimating in math is huge in kindergarten and we have
been working very hard on estimating by using the number line with concrete items in
the room such as, plastic teddy bears, dice and small people. By doing so, children are
using their cognitive skills to make an accurate guess as to how many items are in a
container. They are also becoming more aware of more than, less than and larger
numerals.
We are also beginning to focus on a number of the week to add to our letter of the
week, started with “one” and working our way up. Children have learned a song to
help them write the numeral and we have also made scavenger hunts around the
school where we take a small group and look for that number around the school and
record it on our paper. This is also done with the letter of the week and with a new
shape we may be learning. Children love this activity and we had great results with the
way they practice writing and drawing numbers, letters, and shapes.
Please continue to practice our Jolly Phonics letters/sounds that we have learned so far
(S, A, T, I, N, P, E,C/K,H). Have fun trying to make little words. Students are so excited
to be spelling and reading all on their own!
Rememberance Day was a huge focus within our classroom. We used our fine motor
and eye/hand coordination to colour, cut and glue stems on the poppies we created
for our Rememberance Day assembly that took place earlier on this month in the gym.
We loved being a part of our school community by holding up our poppies for all to
see, while the Grade 1’s read a poem to the entire school. This was a great experience
for us because along with discovering that there isn’t just one way to make a poppy;
we used craft materials such as, tissue paper, small red squares to create mosaics
poppies, and we even added stems to some so that we could hold them up that way
for the assembly. We were a part of an important day that we as Canadians reflect on
each year. A few days following the assembly, a Peace Mobile visited our school in the
gym. We got to participate in many different peace activities run by the grade 8’s,
which included taking a peace walk with snow shoes, making peace symbols out of
play dough and much more. As another symbol of peace, you may have noticed that
your child came home with a friendship pin either attached to their clothes or to their
knapsacks. We used our fine motor skills and our math patterning skills to make
friendship pins and bracelets to give to our friends in the classroom. Some of us made
patterns with the different coloured beads.
Did you know that elephants have so many muscles in their trunks that they can carry
items such as tree logs, soccer balls and they can even be trained to paint themselves
by using their trunks. We have been focusing a lot on the letter “e” and we all know
that “e” is for elephant. The children have had a lot of fun learning about elephants.
Earlier on this week, we created a K W L chart ( what we know, we want to learn and
what we have learned) about elephants. We discovered that elephants like to bath in
water and even in the mud because they live in such warm climates, such as Asia and
Africa. We also discovered that male elephants get a lot bigger than female elephants
and that males continue to grow throughout their whole lives, whereas females stop
growing at the age of 20. Mrs. U’Ren found some pretty cool videos online that we
projected on the wall through our new Bright Links in the room and we saw two
elephants bathing together, we saw one playing soccer at the zoo and as we
mentioned, there was one that painted a picture of himself holding flowers.
Our Bright Links has finally been installed and we are super excited to have it in our
classroom! We have used it to watch videos of elephants as we mentioned above and
to entertain ourselves with educational songs and games.
Parent observations are almost complete and we have had a good experience with all
parents that have come into our classroom! Thank you for taking the time to come in
and observe your child during their school day. It is very important that you know how
your child interacts, plays, and most importantly all the hard work they have done and
all the learning that takes place within the classroom.
As we prepare for the coming of Christmas we have put together a “Countdown to
Christmas” activity chain. We started it in class, however you will need to finish cutting
out and stapling the last chains. We have sent home a note explaining what you need
to do for this activity. Please start it with your child on December 1st! It is our hope that
it will be a fun experience for your children!
Lastly, we would like to mention that we have been working a lot in small groups since
we have the opportunity to with three educators in the classroom. Working in small
groups helps to teach the children a lot better since they are getting more one on one
attention. It also helps us distinguish who is learning at what level.
CRAFT Supplies: please send any extra ribbon, buttons, felt/fabric, coloured string/yarn,
pom poms to school. We will be doing a number of Christmas crafts that require
these supplies. Thanks! Also, please send in any old Christmas cards or
Christmas stickers so that we can add to the writing centre.
Your child is encouraged to write a letter to Santa. Don’t forget to include your
return address because Santa will write back! The volunteers at Canada Post
who support this literacy project encourage all children to write to Santa. Don’t
forget to write early because Santa gets busier as it gets closer to Christmas!
Here is the address→→
Santa Claus
North Pole HOH OHO
Canada
The cold weather has arrived and so have the winter accessories! Please remember to
write your child’s name or initials in everything! With lots of children coming and going
in this class, it’s very easy to have double boots, mitts, hats, etc. and that’s why it’s so
important to label your child’s belongings. When things are properly labelled, I can
quickly return items to their owners. Thank you for your help. It would also be very
helpful to pack an extra pair of socks and mittens in your child’s backpack. To help
encourage children to get ready quickly we will be having “snowsuit races”. The first 4
people ready every time it is time to go out for recess will get a ticket to put their name
in a draw. At the end of each day we will pull a few names out and those children will
win a small prize. If you feel like donating any prizes (i.e. small items from the dollar
store: neat erasers, bubbles, deck of cards, cars, hair elastics, little notebooks, small
animals etc.) that would be greatly appreciated! No food please.
That’s all for now! Have a happy and blessed Christmas. See you back to school safe
and sound after the holidays! The Early Learning Team