This year's theme is "Play for Literacy" (visit the official website at www.abc-canada.org for more information and ideas). Families are encouraged to play board games, card games and word games to practice literacy skills and have fun! Make literacy a part of your child's routine every day. Have them help you with a recipe, sing a song, discuss pictures in the newspaper, or read a favourite story. All it takes is 15 minutes a day to keep everyone's literacy skills sharp!
Don't forget to join us at Carleton Heights for the book sale in the library (Thursday and Friday). Also, I will be sending home a little package with some ideas for enjoying Family Literacy Day. Have fun!
Ms. Cox
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
January 24-28
This week the Kinders are learning about PENGUINS! It's a topic that all children seem to love and enjoy and we can do so many fun and enriching activities around it.
We started today by brainstorming what we already know about penguins. The children came up with quite a list...we already seem to have quite a few 'penguin experts'! Our new circle time name tags (penguins, of course) contain our phone numbers. We'll be trying to memorize them over the next week or two. Please reinforce at home.
Our 'shared reading' is a poem called "Penguin". It's written out on large sentence strips and the children are encouraged to 'touch read' it, find words they know, and echo read with me.
Children will be reading and bringing home the book "A Penguin Adventure". This book focuses on positional words (on, in, above, etc.). The children will also be doing some writing in these books. As always, students are encouraged to spell as much as they can on their own (using the resources around the room and by 'sounding out'), however, when needed, I copy the words for them on a small whiteboard. Kyle, Liam and Davide came up with some very creative sentences! Nicely done. Please watch for this book and enjoy reading it with your child.
The math centre this week focuses on addition and subtraction (using penguin cards and crackers!). Children are encouraged to choose a card, read the equation, copy it in their notebooks and then use the crackers to help them find the answer. It's a challenging activity, but the children are supported along the way. Abasiofon, Tariq and Adrienne worked very hard on their equations today! We will also be ordering penguin cards from 1-10, and counting by 10s to 100. Be sure to ask your child to do this for you at home.
The craft centre was very busy today as Abbey, Jeremie and Sabari were eager to make their own 'penguin headbands'. We will wear these to our 'Penguin Party' on Friday! Adrienne and Davide also enjoyed painting penguins today. They used the penguin outline and the coloured photos of various penguins to decide on their designs. Their 'Macaroni Penguins' were very accurate...nicely done!
In science this week we will continue to focus on caring for, observing and measuring our Paperwhite Narcissus. It's already 6.5cm tall!
We also put a bucket of water outside today and made some predictions about what will happen to it overnight. Most of the class predicted it would freeze (some thought it might 'disappear'). We'll check tomorrow and discuss our observations. We'll add the ice block to our water table for further investigation (and it will serve as a nice iceberg for our penguins!).
Our dramatic play centre has been turned into an 'Antarctica Research Centre' with maps, binoculars, 'Penguin Patrol' hard hats, field journals, penguin books, pictures and 'Junior Researcher' ID badges. The kids are pretty serious about it...!
As always, the children are encouraged to visit areas that interest them...computer centre, class library, listening centre, puzzles, workshop, math games, fridge phonics, white boards, MEC builders, and so on.
PENGUIN PARTY
We will be having a little penguin party on Friday. Please have your child dress in black and white! We will make snow cones, eat freezies, and enjoy penguin crackers. We'll wear our headbands, sing 'I'm a Little Penguin' and move around like penguins! Should be fun!
SHOW AND SHARE
Please do not worry if the Show and Share case doesn't come home on your scheduled day. Sometimes it is forgotten at home, or a child is sick. If you miss your day, it will come again
ASAP.
KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
Please spread the word to friends and families that registration begins January 31st!
ZIPLOCK BAGS
Please remember that your child's agenda, library book and At Home Reading materials are to be kept in the Ziplock bags provided. The bags protect the materials, keep things from falling out and make organizing things easier.Please help your child take care of his/her belongings, as well as those of the school and class. Thanks for your help!
BLIZZARD OF BOOKS
There is a book sale this week in the CH library! Check the newsletter for specific dates and times (I'll try to post them...I don't have the info here at home).
AT HOME READING
Please continue to focus on making connections, using picture clues, asking 'does it make sense', and sounding out. For children who are not ready to read just yet, focus on finding particular letters, ask what sounds the letters make, talk about punctuation, make predictions, and so on. Have fun!
POSTING COMMENTS
I believe it should now be possible for anyone to post a comment. Just scroll to the bottom of the page where it says 'comments', click on it, type and post! Please let me know if it still isn't working! Thanks for your patience.
Thank you for checking in and staying so involved! Have a wonderful week!
Warmly,
Ms. Cox
We started today by brainstorming what we already know about penguins. The children came up with quite a list...we already seem to have quite a few 'penguin experts'! Our new circle time name tags (penguins, of course) contain our phone numbers. We'll be trying to memorize them over the next week or two. Please reinforce at home.
Our 'shared reading' is a poem called "Penguin". It's written out on large sentence strips and the children are encouraged to 'touch read' it, find words they know, and echo read with me.
Children will be reading and bringing home the book "A Penguin Adventure". This book focuses on positional words (on, in, above, etc.). The children will also be doing some writing in these books. As always, students are encouraged to spell as much as they can on their own (using the resources around the room and by 'sounding out'), however, when needed, I copy the words for them on a small whiteboard. Kyle, Liam and Davide came up with some very creative sentences! Nicely done. Please watch for this book and enjoy reading it with your child.
The math centre this week focuses on addition and subtraction (using penguin cards and crackers!). Children are encouraged to choose a card, read the equation, copy it in their notebooks and then use the crackers to help them find the answer. It's a challenging activity, but the children are supported along the way. Abasiofon, Tariq and Adrienne worked very hard on their equations today! We will also be ordering penguin cards from 1-10, and counting by 10s to 100. Be sure to ask your child to do this for you at home.
The craft centre was very busy today as Abbey, Jeremie and Sabari were eager to make their own 'penguin headbands'. We will wear these to our 'Penguin Party' on Friday! Adrienne and Davide also enjoyed painting penguins today. They used the penguin outline and the coloured photos of various penguins to decide on their designs. Their 'Macaroni Penguins' were very accurate...nicely done!
In science this week we will continue to focus on caring for, observing and measuring our Paperwhite Narcissus. It's already 6.5cm tall!
We also put a bucket of water outside today and made some predictions about what will happen to it overnight. Most of the class predicted it would freeze (some thought it might 'disappear'). We'll check tomorrow and discuss our observations. We'll add the ice block to our water table for further investigation (and it will serve as a nice iceberg for our penguins!).
Our dramatic play centre has been turned into an 'Antarctica Research Centre' with maps, binoculars, 'Penguin Patrol' hard hats, field journals, penguin books, pictures and 'Junior Researcher' ID badges. The kids are pretty serious about it...!
As always, the children are encouraged to visit areas that interest them...computer centre, class library, listening centre, puzzles, workshop, math games, fridge phonics, white boards, MEC builders, and so on.
PENGUIN PARTY
We will be having a little penguin party on Friday. Please have your child dress in black and white! We will make snow cones, eat freezies, and enjoy penguin crackers. We'll wear our headbands, sing 'I'm a Little Penguin' and move around like penguins! Should be fun!
SHOW AND SHARE
Please do not worry if the Show and Share case doesn't come home on your scheduled day. Sometimes it is forgotten at home, or a child is sick. If you miss your day, it will come again
ASAP.
KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
Please spread the word to friends and families that registration begins January 31st!
ZIPLOCK BAGS
Please remember that your child's agenda, library book and At Home Reading materials are to be kept in the Ziplock bags provided. The bags protect the materials, keep things from falling out and make organizing things easier.Please help your child take care of his/her belongings, as well as those of the school and class. Thanks for your help!
BLIZZARD OF BOOKS
There is a book sale this week in the CH library! Check the newsletter for specific dates and times (I'll try to post them...I don't have the info here at home).
AT HOME READING
Please continue to focus on making connections, using picture clues, asking 'does it make sense', and sounding out. For children who are not ready to read just yet, focus on finding particular letters, ask what sounds the letters make, talk about punctuation, make predictions, and so on. Have fun!
POSTING COMMENTS
I believe it should now be possible for anyone to post a comment. Just scroll to the bottom of the page where it says 'comments', click on it, type and post! Please let me know if it still isn't working! Thanks for your patience.
Thank you for checking in and staying so involved! Have a wonderful week!
Warmly,
Ms. Cox
Monday, January 17, 2011
Week of January 17-21
This week, we will be continuing our investigation of winter and snow. Children will be taking turns 'touch reading' the story "In the Winter" (it is written out on large sentence strips and they will also be bringing home their own copies to share with you). When children 'touch read' they touch each word with a pointer as they say it. This helps them understand that each sentence is made up of a number of words. It also encourages correct directionality (left to right) , proper word order and the tracking of print. The reading strategies that we are focusing on currently are using picture clues and the beginning sounds of words.
Our 'shared reading' or 'big book' this week is called "The Snow". We are focusing on making connections (text to text, text to self and text to the world) and identifying sight words.
Writing activities include recording winter words, writing about our favourite winter sports and, of course, practicing our first and last names.
We will be working on subtraction as a large group, as well as in our small groups. Some will use manipulatives (snowmen counters ) to figure out the solutions, others will do it on their fingers, and some in their heads! Please be sure to try some at home.
Our artwork this week is a painted 'blizzard' on canvas...Markus, Adrienne, Jeremie and Abasiofon finished theirs today and they look amazing!
We have a few science experiments on the go, as well. Ask your son or daughter about the Paperwhite Narcissus (thanks to Mrs. Erola) we planted on Thursday! The kids were very excited to plant the bulb and they loved the 'puck' that magically turned into soil when we added warm water! Lots of 'mucking about' by everyone! We then drew what we observed, discussed what plants need in order to live and figured out where the best spot to put our growing flower would be. Watch for photos...coming soon. This week we will also be investigating whether snow is clean, or not....
AT HOME READING
Thanks so much to everyone for getting our At Home Reading Program off to such a great start. The repetitive nature of the books promotes reading success, which in turn, builds confidence in our young readers. Keep it up and keep it fun!
SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDERS
Book order forms were sent home today and are due back by Friday, January 21st.
LOCK DOWN
A pink note explaining board 'lockdown' procedure/practise was also sent home today. Our class will miss the school-wide morning drill, but we will have our own practise so all the children are comfortable and know what to do. I explained it in simple terms without going into detail about 'why' a lock down might occur (to avoid any unnecessary anxiety).
SHOW AND SHARE
Our January Show and Share continues to be a big hit! The kids love listening to the clues and trying to figure out what is in the box. We are now learning how to 'tally' the number of guesses. Today, Kyle guessed Abbey's 'surprise' after the first clue! Nice work, Kyle (and great clue, Abbey!).
SUPPLIES
Our class is getting very low on Ziploc freezer bags (we use a lot!). If you are able to send in another box, it would be much-appreciated. Thank you.
POSTING RESPONSES
Please add your comments to the blog site! As always, I am eager to hear from all of our parents, grandparents, caregivers and friends. And, we're always looking for new ideas (crafts, great books, science experiments), too. Please join in.
Have a great week!
Our 'shared reading' or 'big book' this week is called "The Snow". We are focusing on making connections (text to text, text to self and text to the world) and identifying sight words.
Writing activities include recording winter words, writing about our favourite winter sports and, of course, practicing our first and last names.
We will be working on subtraction as a large group, as well as in our small groups. Some will use manipulatives (snowmen counters ) to figure out the solutions, others will do it on their fingers, and some in their heads! Please be sure to try some at home.
Our artwork this week is a painted 'blizzard' on canvas...Markus, Adrienne, Jeremie and Abasiofon finished theirs today and they look amazing!
We have a few science experiments on the go, as well. Ask your son or daughter about the Paperwhite Narcissus (thanks to Mrs. Erola) we planted on Thursday! The kids were very excited to plant the bulb and they loved the 'puck' that magically turned into soil when we added warm water! Lots of 'mucking about' by everyone! We then drew what we observed, discussed what plants need in order to live and figured out where the best spot to put our growing flower would be. Watch for photos...coming soon. This week we will also be investigating whether snow is clean, or not....
AT HOME READING
Thanks so much to everyone for getting our At Home Reading Program off to such a great start. The repetitive nature of the books promotes reading success, which in turn, builds confidence in our young readers. Keep it up and keep it fun!
SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDERS
Book order forms were sent home today and are due back by Friday, January 21st.
LOCK DOWN
A pink note explaining board 'lockdown' procedure/practise was also sent home today. Our class will miss the school-wide morning drill, but we will have our own practise so all the children are comfortable and know what to do. I explained it in simple terms without going into detail about 'why' a lock down might occur (to avoid any unnecessary anxiety).
SHOW AND SHARE
Our January Show and Share continues to be a big hit! The kids love listening to the clues and trying to figure out what is in the box. We are now learning how to 'tally' the number of guesses. Today, Kyle guessed Abbey's 'surprise' after the first clue! Nice work, Kyle (and great clue, Abbey!).
SUPPLIES
Our class is getting very low on Ziploc freezer bags (we use a lot!). If you are able to send in another box, it would be much-appreciated. Thank you.
POSTING RESPONSES
Please add your comments to the blog site! As always, I am eager to hear from all of our parents, grandparents, caregivers and friends. And, we're always looking for new ideas (crafts, great books, science experiments), too. Please join in.
Have a great week!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Welcome to the new SK Blog!
As mentioned in December, I have decided to use this blog rather than a printed monthly newsletter as one method of communicating with families. My hope is to update the blog each week with a summary of the topics being covered, titles of books, descriptions of activities, suggestions for home, upcoming dates, Show and Share, special events and other 'happenings and hoopla'! I will include photos of student work, but I will NOT post photos of the students. I am new to 'blogging' so this is a work in progress and will evolve as I learn to navigate the many features! I am really looking forward to sharing our news with you and I hope that you will find the blog helpful and informative.
Warmly,
Ms. Cox
Week of January 10-14th
Welcome back and Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had an enjoyable holiday. The children have slipped comfortably back into our classroom routines (not always easy after a long break) and have started 2011 with energy and enthusiasm!
For the next few weeks our focus will centre on snowmen, snow and winter. This week, we are reading a mini-book titled "Let's Make a Snowman!". Please read it with your child when he brings it home and have him find words that he knows (we've been working on the sight words 'the' and 'and'). The children are also working on addition problems. Some are learning how to say the equation or 'sentence' (ex. "2 plus 2 equals 4") whereas others are ready for more of a challenge. Meet your child where they are and reinforce with simple addition activities at home. We will also be making paper bag snowmen puppets (focusing on cutting on the lines, colouring carefully and gluing with precision...fine motor skill development!). Students will also be learning winter-related vocabulary and recording new words in their journals. Our Shared Reading (big book) this week is "Snowman" and we are focusing on the sight words 'a, and, the'. We are also learning some new songs with actions!
As always, there are a variety of centres available once students have completed their small group work. This week, they may choose from 'snowman sponge painting', the measurement sort box (heavy or light?), Mr. Tayler's Repair Shop (dramatic play), musical instrument centre (with a focus on playing forte or piano---loudly or softly), the sand table, the MEC builders and a retelling of "There was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow" (children use the props to retell this popular story).
SHOW AND SHARE
Our January Show and Share is off to a great start thanks to Kyle's super clues...it took us 3 guesses to figure out it was a pencil! Clever clues, Kyle and great reading! Tomorrow we will start tallying our guesses. Please follow the schedule and watch for the 'Surprise Box'!
NO SCHOOL JANUARY 14th
Please remember that there is NO SCHOOL on Friday. This is a Professional Activity Day for teachers to work on report cards.
TRAVELLING BOOKS
As you have probably noticed by now, the children are very keen readers and writers! Enthusiasm, fun and lots of praise are key to early literacy development. One way I encourage our young learners is to take their work and compile it into different books. They LOVE seeing their work in a book! It makes them feel proud and special. And, most importantly, it helps them see themselves as readers and writers. Please continue enjoying these books with your child---they work hard on them and they love to share them with you.
OUTDOOR PLAY
Please remember to send snow pants, hat and mittens every day. It is cold, but sunny in our yard!
SCHOOL FEES
I still have a few parents who have not submitted the $35 fees. Please make the cheque payable to Carleton Heights Public School. Thanks in advance for your attention to this!
AT HOME READING PROGRAM
Our At Home Reading program has started up again and the kids are excited! The program was a huge hit last year and received a lot of positive feedback from parents. As I mentioned, this is just one part of your child's literacy development. Continuing to read a variety of high-quality, high-interest fiction and non-fiction is crucial. The pattern books that are used in this program help children develop confidence and sight-word recognition. They are not meant to replace all the great books out there! Please remember to return the book, duotang and Ziploc bag every THURSDAY.
Thanks again for your continued support and have a great week!
MAKING CONNECTIONS
One final note...we are focusing on 'making connections' to what we read. Connections can be 'text to text', 'text to self', or 'text to world'. Please help your child think about what they've read by asking them what it reminds them of. Some questions to ask include: What does this story remind you of? Has this ever happened to you? How do you think the character is feeling? What would you do? Essentially, we want to move beyond a simple retelling and into more thoughtful and analytical responses. The best way to do this is talk, talk, talk and model, model, model! Have fun!
Warmly,
Ms. Cox
Week of January 10-14th
Welcome back and Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had an enjoyable holiday. The children have slipped comfortably back into our classroom routines (not always easy after a long break) and have started 2011 with energy and enthusiasm!
For the next few weeks our focus will centre on snowmen, snow and winter. This week, we are reading a mini-book titled "Let's Make a Snowman!". Please read it with your child when he brings it home and have him find words that he knows (we've been working on the sight words 'the' and 'and'). The children are also working on addition problems. Some are learning how to say the equation or 'sentence' (ex. "2 plus 2 equals 4") whereas others are ready for more of a challenge. Meet your child where they are and reinforce with simple addition activities at home. We will also be making paper bag snowmen puppets (focusing on cutting on the lines, colouring carefully and gluing with precision...fine motor skill development!). Students will also be learning winter-related vocabulary and recording new words in their journals. Our Shared Reading (big book) this week is "Snowman" and we are focusing on the sight words 'a, and, the'. We are also learning some new songs with actions!
As always, there are a variety of centres available once students have completed their small group work. This week, they may choose from 'snowman sponge painting', the measurement sort box (heavy or light?), Mr. Tayler's Repair Shop (dramatic play), musical instrument centre (with a focus on playing forte or piano---loudly or softly), the sand table, the MEC builders and a retelling of "There was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow" (children use the props to retell this popular story).
SHOW AND SHARE
Our January Show and Share is off to a great start thanks to Kyle's super clues...it took us 3 guesses to figure out it was a pencil! Clever clues, Kyle and great reading! Tomorrow we will start tallying our guesses. Please follow the schedule and watch for the 'Surprise Box'!
NO SCHOOL JANUARY 14th
Please remember that there is NO SCHOOL on Friday. This is a Professional Activity Day for teachers to work on report cards.
TRAVELLING BOOKS
As you have probably noticed by now, the children are very keen readers and writers! Enthusiasm, fun and lots of praise are key to early literacy development. One way I encourage our young learners is to take their work and compile it into different books. They LOVE seeing their work in a book! It makes them feel proud and special. And, most importantly, it helps them see themselves as readers and writers. Please continue enjoying these books with your child---they work hard on them and they love to share them with you.
OUTDOOR PLAY
Please remember to send snow pants, hat and mittens every day. It is cold, but sunny in our yard!
SCHOOL FEES
I still have a few parents who have not submitted the $35 fees. Please make the cheque payable to Carleton Heights Public School. Thanks in advance for your attention to this!
AT HOME READING PROGRAM
Our At Home Reading program has started up again and the kids are excited! The program was a huge hit last year and received a lot of positive feedback from parents. As I mentioned, this is just one part of your child's literacy development. Continuing to read a variety of high-quality, high-interest fiction and non-fiction is crucial. The pattern books that are used in this program help children develop confidence and sight-word recognition. They are not meant to replace all the great books out there! Please remember to return the book, duotang and Ziploc bag every THURSDAY.
Thanks again for your continued support and have a great week!
MAKING CONNECTIONS
One final note...we are focusing on 'making connections' to what we read. Connections can be 'text to text', 'text to self', or 'text to world'. Please help your child think about what they've read by asking them what it reminds them of. Some questions to ask include: What does this story remind you of? Has this ever happened to you? How do you think the character is feeling? What would you do? Essentially, we want to move beyond a simple retelling and into more thoughtful and analytical responses. The best way to do this is talk, talk, talk and model, model, model! Have fun!
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