A huge hello to my all special Kindergarten students and their parents. I am slowly in the process of updating my website and hope to use this as a way to share learning experiences with all of you.
Today I have begun by adding a new page to this sight called Online Literacy Resources. These are some websites that you can access to enjoy stories or work on early reading skills. As time goes on I will add to the list, and if you find any others online that your child particular enjoys please let me know and I will share it on the page as well.
Today I have begun by adding a new page to this sight called Online Literacy Resources. These are some websites that you can access to enjoy stories or work on early reading skills. As time goes on I will add to the list, and if you find any others online that your child particular enjoys please let me know and I will share it on the page as well.
I can't believe we are well into November! Halloween has come and gone and what fun we had. We carved a pumpkin, followed a recipe to make witches brew, and had a big parade to show our costumes to the other classes. And what Halloween party would be complete without a game of freeze dance!
October 17
This week has been a busy one as we began our formal introduction to Literacy Blocks. This model allows children to work on different aspects of reading and writing in a structured way that still allows them to have choices over their own learning. In Kindergarten we have centers that allow for children to work independently in small groups, while one group works with me on specific skills. Some examples of this group work in our first term include building letters (with blocks, play doh, or beach rocks for example), learning to write the names of friends by practicing on white boards, or practicing printing letters of the alphabet or words for a 'write the room' activity where children move around the room and record letters or words on their clipboards. The students have really enjoyed these activities, and soon we will be following the same model with number activities. |
Oct 10
Today we had a visit from the Fire Dept. In addition to talking to the children about fire safety (2 ways out and a meeting place in particular) they brought some pencils, booklets and treats to send home with everyone. There will be an open house on Saturday between 2-4 so children can get to see the fire fighting equipment up close-and I hear there will be a candy bar as well!
Today we had a visit from the Fire Dept. In addition to talking to the children about fire safety (2 ways out and a meeting place in particular) they brought some pencils, booklets and treats to send home with everyone. There will be an open house on Saturday between 2-4 so children can get to see the fire fighting equipment up close-and I hear there will be a candy bar as well!
October 9
Earlier this week we wrapped up our studies in little critters! We had created 3 habitats for various animals that we could find in the woods and studied them up close. Wiggly worms, slimy snails and active ants were all added to the mix. We spent a lot of time talking about how we knew those animals were living, and the things they needed to survive.
September 27
The Terry Fox walk was a great success! Thank you so much for all your support to make it run smoothly.
We have had a busy week here in our classroom. We began exploring sorting and patterning. Patterning can be tricky to catch onto for young children, but we got lots of practice using teddy bears and dinosaurs to create AB patterns! Once we are comfortablel with these we will move on to creating repeating patterns with three elements. You can easily practice this at home by looking for patterns all around you-in furniture, curtains or bedspreads you can often see pictures or colours that repeat.
We also talked about sorting rules, and played a game where I sorted the children into groups like long sleeves/no long sleeves and they had to guess the sorting rule. Then we practiced sorting various items by size, colour and shape. At home you can play a similar game by sorting laundry, shoes, even when putting away cutlery. Talking about how things are grouped together is great practice for sorting. Other hightlights of this week were whiteboard work where we practiced our letters and the words blue and red, as well as the letters we have been learning (A, B and L).
September 16th
Today we began our work with the letter Aa. A can be a tricky one because it can make both a short sound (like apple) and a long sound (like apron). We made our Auntie Apples and talked about the sounds the letter makes, as well as reviewing the sound made by the letter Bb.
On Friday past we began to learn about living and non-living things. We gathered up our magnifying glasses and headed outside to look for living things around us. We had plenty of good discussion around what makes something "alive".
Today we headed outside again, clipboards in hand, and drew some of the things that we found. Flowers, spiders, ants were just some of the things we discovered in the grass and under rocks. Tomorrow we will look more closely at our discoveries!
September 16th
Today we began our work with the letter Aa. A can be a tricky one because it can make both a short sound (like apple) and a long sound (like apron). We made our Auntie Apples and talked about the sounds the letter makes, as well as reviewing the sound made by the letter Bb.
On Friday past we began to learn about living and non-living things. We gathered up our magnifying glasses and headed outside to look for living things around us. We had plenty of good discussion around what makes something "alive".
Today we headed outside again, clipboards in hand, and drew some of the things that we found. Flowers, spiders, ants were just some of the things we discovered in the grass and under rocks. Tomorrow we will look more closely at our discoveries!
September 10th
It's been a busy week here in the Kindergarten classroom, but it's been a great one. We are slowly learning school routines-they can take a lot of time to establish, but it's well worth the time once they are learned and practiced every day!
This week we are learning about the letter Bb. We have made our B.B. Bunny puppets and practiced our Bs on the white boards. We have had lots of practice making the B sound as well. You can practice this at home with your child by looking around your house and talking about whether common objects begin with the 'buh' sound. This week we will also be learning about the number zero-that can be a super fun and silly concept to practice (how many elephants are in the kitchen??).