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
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