KINDERGARTEN St. Gertrude School Room 103 NEWS March 2016 Ms. Barran & Mrs. Santos' Classroom Newsletter February Festivities Lent is for Loving The month of February provided us with many opportunities to learn and talk about celebrations, traditions, and events. We started off the month by learning about Groundhog Day. We learned about the origins of Groundhog Day through books and information on the internet. The children watched non-fiction videos about groundhogs and learned about their physical traits and habitats. This special day also prompted us to take a closer look at weather, the seasons, the sun, and shadows. Students had fun making shadow puppets on our Smartboard screen as well as investigating their shadows during outdoor playtime. Through observation, they learned that light from the sun is needed in order to make a shadow appear outside. Students made their own representations of the groundhog's habitat using materials from our 'creation station.' As a school community, we celebrated the end of Ordinary Time with Mardi Gras (Pancake Tuesday). To get into the Mardi Gras spirit, we made masks, dressed in purple, green, and gold, and participated in a Dance-a-thon in the gymnasium. Afterwards, we enjoyed a delicious pancake feast provided by our Parent Council. The February festivities continued as we prepared for Valentine's Day. During the first half of the month, students busied themselves making cards for their friends and loved ones. Paper hearts were put out in the Creation Station so that the children could address them to whomever they pleased. What a great way to practise authentic writing skills! After the Family Day long weekend, all students were eager to orally retell stories about their family events. Some even chose to write and illustrate their recounts on paper. We are excited to see more and more of our students 'stretching out' words to include all the letter sounds they hear in each word. Our writing is really coming along! These friends are investigating shadows using the light from our projector. Mardi Gras was followed by Ash Wednesday, which marked the beginning of the Lenten Season. We participated in a school-wide liturgy in the gym and students received ashes on their foreheads. In class, we discussed how we can turn away from sin and be more like Jesus. As part of our Lenten Project to be more like Jesus, we read a book called How Full is Your Bucket? This book reminded us to do kind things for one another. Students have been encouraged to perform acts of kindness at home and at school. We continue to log our acts of kindness on our class 'bucket' at school. Thank you to those families who were able to join us at St. Francis Xavier Parish for our Lenten Mass. It was our class' first out-of-school excursion. We are so proud of how respectfully our students behaved in church, and how reverently they sang and prayed. The mass was a wonderful opportunity for our students to see how we can come together as a community to celebrate our faith. Happy Mardi Gras! Ms. Barran & Mrs. Santos’ Classroom Newsletter Page 2 Our Shape Exploration How tall can you build your rectangular prism? In Math, students have demonstrated an interest in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes. This interest began in the Building Centre, as students discovered that they could build three-dimensional structures using the straws and connectors. It wasn't long before students realized that they could manipulate the straws and connectors into cubes, rectangular prisms, and even triangular prisms. During small group instruction time, students have been taking a closer look at 3-D figures and documenting their properties. They even used their writing skills to make posters to describe the characteristics of each 3-D figure. At the Building Centre, students have been making towers and other structures using three-dimensional building blocks. Students have been eager to have photographs taken of their structures. Many of them have chosen to write about their structures, identifying the threedimensional figures their structure contains. Using the Smartboard to play a shape matching game. More information about shapes has been obtained through many shape books read in class. Dayle Ann Dodds' book, The Shape of Things , has become a class favourite, as it helped students broaden their awareness of the shapes surrounding them in their environment. Students have been using the interactive Smartboard to play games that match two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes to the reallife object of the same shape. At the paint centre, students have been using 3-D blocks to create colourful shape prints. What a fun way to further investigate the relationship between two-dimensional shapes and three dimensional figures. Colour and Shape Bingo has also been a fun way to help reinforce the properties of two-dimensional shapes. Using 3-D figures to make shape prints. This friend figured out how to make a triangular prism. Ms. Barran & Mrs. Santos' Classroom Newsletter Page 3 Photo Gallery... Beautiful Valentines! Making groundhog puppets. Such a sweet message! Having fun in the snow! Is that a rectangular prism I see? Thank you to Ms. Vesz from the Dairy Farmers of Ontario for teaching us all about dairy farming. "I made a cube!" Ms. Barran & Mrs. Santos’ Classroom Newsletter Page 4 Photo Gallery... This friend is using a flip book as a resource Responding to our 'tower building challenge.' to help spell the names of 3-D figures. Not only could they name all the 3-D figures used in their tower, but they could tell us properties of each shape! These friends sorted all the manipulatives by colour. These friends are enjoying the snow while it lasts! Indoor dancing fun! Ms. Barran & Mrs. Santos’ Classroom Newsletter Page 5 Notes and Reminders... Congratulations to Maryani, Mayzen, and Nicolas, who will be recognized at this month's school-wide virtue assembly. Throughout the month of February, Maryani, Mayzen, and Nicolas demonstrated the virtue of respect by treating others with love and kindness. We thank these friends for helping to make our classroom a safe, fun, and happy place to learn and grow. We will be focusing on the virtue of kindness throughout the month of March. Thank you to all parents who volunteered to help supervise at the church for our Lenten Mass. Your time, patience, kindness, and leadership were greatly appreciated! Thank you to all those who have been sending in your child's paper circles with their Lenten acts of kindness written on them. We are making them visible in the classroom, so please keep them coming! Thank you to all who were able to contribute to our Mardi Gras fundraiser. As a school-wide Lenten initiative, we will be collecting monetary donations and gently used clothing to help Syrian refugees. We thank you in advance for your incredible generosity. Throughout March and April, we will be discussing ways of caring for the earth. We will be observing Earth Hour at school by turning off the lights and any other electronic devices for at least one hour. You can help reinforce the concept of energy conservation by taking part in this initiative at home on Saturday, March 19th from 8:30-9:30pm. There will be no school from March 14-March 18th, 2016. Enjoy your March Break! There will also be no school on March 25th and March 28th, 2016 . Wishing you all a blessed Easter! Thank you so much for your continued support and cooperation. Sincerely, Ms. Barran & Mrs. Santos Our February Virtues Winners