To all our families celebrating Christmas...
Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas! We hope your day is joyful and peaceful.
Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas! We hope your day is joyful and peaceful.
Thursday 25 December 2014
Thursday 18 December 2014
If Your Family Celebrates Hanukkah...
Best wishes for a Happy Hanukkah!
We hope your holidays have started well,
and you are enjoying the celebrations
with family and friends.
Sunday 14 December 2014
What's Been Happening in Room 110?
It has been a while since we last posted to our blog, and you've probably been wondering what has been going on in Room 110? Here are a few highlights from the past 4 to 6 weeks:
JK In-Class Visits & SK Student-Led Conferences
It was great to meet with all the parents for the Progress Reports. The students were all very excited in anticipation of their families visiting the classrooms. We enjoyed watching the students showing their parents their work and showing them around the room. Well done, everyone!
Our Class Pet
As you may of heard, we have a new addition to our class! Leo, the betta fish, is our new class pet.
Way back in October, we let the students know that we would like to have a class pet. Through a survey, most of the students in our class agreed that they would also like to have a pet.
Then we posed the question: What kind of animal would make a good class pet? We brainstormed lots of ideas, and we researched information about some of the animals. For example, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses, turtles and fish.
As we learned about the needs of the different animals, the class came up with a list of criteria that a class pet would have to meet to be suitable for our classroom. Here is some of the criteria:
1. The pet would have to be calm and quiet;
2. The pet would like to be inside; and
3. No one in our class is afraid of the animal.
In the end, we discovered that fish would be the most suitable pet for our class, and that's how we got Leo, our betta fish!
Math: Patterning and Geometry
At home, you can help your child to recognize and describe the patterns that are all around. Your child may find patterns in clothing, in wallpaper, in tiles and in nature. Have your child try to identify the features of the pattern that repeat.
(From Doing Mathematics with Your Child: Kindergarten to Grade 6, A Parent Guide)
Geometry
We have also been working on learning about 2-D shapes. We have been learning to identify, name and describe the features of shapes such as circles, ovals, squares, rectangles, diamonds, rhombuses and triangles.
Just like patterns, we have noticed that shapes are everywhere! You can help your child notice the shapes in his/her environment by playing games like "I Spy...". For example, you could say "I spy something in the kitchen that is a triangle." Or you could focus on the features of the shape by saying, "I spy something in the kitchen that has 3 straight lines and 3 points."
(We'll be sending a 'Shape Detective' page to do at home this coming week. Please look for it in your child's communication bag.)
Cooking in Kindergarten
One of our students wondered if we could eat the seeds that were in our pumpkins at the Pumpkin Scientist Centre. After doing a little research, we found out we could if we roasted them first. So, we roasted the pumpkin seeds and tasted them. Here are the survey results to the question: Do you like the pumpkin seeds?
Of course, we also had to bake some pumpkin pies. Students were invited to help make the pumpkin pies. After reading the recipe, we measured and added the spices and other ingredients. We stirred and mixed everything together and put the pumpkin mix in the pie shells. After the pumpkin pies baked, we tasted them. While many of us liked the pumpkin pie, the pumpkin seeds were more popular.
(This coming week, we'll be doing some more cooking in our class. We plan on making some latkes, baked rather than fried, and some cupcakes.)
Sharon, Bram and Friends Concert
It was a cold day in November when we went to see Sharon, Bram and Friends perform, but inside it was warm and lively. We had fun singing and dancing along with the performers. Here are a couple of photos:
JK In-Class Visits & SK Student-Led Conferences
It was great to meet with all the parents for the Progress Reports. The students were all very excited in anticipation of their families visiting the classrooms. We enjoyed watching the students showing their parents their work and showing them around the room. Well done, everyone!
Our Class Pet
As you may of heard, we have a new addition to our class! Leo, the betta fish, is our new class pet.
Way back in October, we let the students know that we would like to have a class pet. Through a survey, most of the students in our class agreed that they would also like to have a pet.
Then we posed the question: What kind of animal would make a good class pet? We brainstormed lots of ideas, and we researched information about some of the animals. For example, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses, turtles and fish.
As we learned about the needs of the different animals, the class came up with a list of criteria that a class pet would have to meet to be suitable for our classroom. Here is some of the criteria:
1. The pet would have to be calm and quiet;
2. The pet would like to be inside; and
3. No one in our class is afraid of the animal.
In the end, we discovered that fish would be the most suitable pet for our class, and that's how we got Leo, our betta fish!
Math: Patterning and Geometry
In math, we have been noticing, creating, extending and describing repeating patterns using colours, shapes, actions and positional directions. We learned that it is a pattern when we are able to predict what comes next.
We are also using what we learned about patterns to notice the patterns in our number system. For example, if '10' is written as a 1 and a 0, and '20' is a 2 and a 0, then '30' must be a 3 and 0.
Here are some photos of the patterns we made in class:
 |
At home, you can help your child to recognize and describe the patterns that are all around. Your child may find patterns in clothing, in wallpaper, in tiles and in nature. Have your child try to identify the features of the pattern that repeat.
(From Doing Mathematics with Your Child: Kindergarten to Grade 6, A Parent Guide)
Geometry
We have also been working on learning about 2-D shapes. We have been learning to identify, name and describe the features of shapes such as circles, ovals, squares, rectangles, diamonds, rhombuses and triangles.
Just like patterns, we have noticed that shapes are everywhere! You can help your child notice the shapes in his/her environment by playing games like "I Spy...". For example, you could say "I spy something in the kitchen that is a triangle." Or you could focus on the features of the shape by saying, "I spy something in the kitchen that has 3 straight lines and 3 points."
(We'll be sending a 'Shape Detective' page to do at home this coming week. Please look for it in your child's communication bag.)
Cooking in Kindergarten
One of our students wondered if we could eat the seeds that were in our pumpkins at the Pumpkin Scientist Centre. After doing a little research, we found out we could if we roasted them first. So, we roasted the pumpkin seeds and tasted them. Here are the survey results to the question: Do you like the pumpkin seeds?
(This coming week, we'll be doing some more cooking in our class. We plan on making some latkes, baked rather than fried, and some cupcakes.)
Sharon, Bram and Friends Concert
It was a cold day in November when we went to see Sharon, Bram and Friends perform, but inside it was warm and lively. We had fun singing and dancing along with the performers. Here are a couple of photos:
A big thank you to Mrs. B. and Mr. Z. for coming with us to the concert and helping us stay together as a group!
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