The Scholastic Book Fair will be continuing in our library this week. The last day to purchase books and other items will be Wednesday, April 29th. The Book Fair will also be open after our concert Wednesday evening.
A big THANK YOU to Mrs. Gordon-Rak for organizing and running the book fair for our school!
Just a friendly reminder... Our class will be performing with Mrs. Ng and Mrs. Du's Kindergarten class at the 'Friends of the Earth' spring concert this coming Wednesday evening. The concert will start at 6:30 pm. Please drop off your child in Room 114 between 6:00 and 6:15 pm.The students will be supervised by Mrs. Ng and other staff members in Room 114 as they wait for their turn to perform in the concert.
If you have any questions/concerns, please contact us. We hope to see everyone at the concert!
For the past few weeks, we have been focusing on number sense concepts in our math lessons and activities. More specifically, we have been learning about how a quantity can be composed in different ways. For e.g., we can make the quantity of 5 in various ways: 1 and 4; 2 and 3; 0 and 5; 1 and 2 and 2; etc. As the students explore and investigate numbers, we often record statements such as: '3 and 2 makes 5 altogether' to show what they found. We often also tell them that mathematicians like to record their ideas using less words so a mathematician would write 3+2=5 instead. By doing so, we are trying to help the students develop an understanding of what the symbols, + =, mean. Home Activities You can help extend your child's learning at home by trying some of these activities:
Have your child notice numbers in the environment. E.g., house numbers, phone numbers, license plates, calendars, prices, etc. Talk with your child about the numbers to help them deepen their understanding. E.g.s, this toy costs $2, and you have $5. Do you have enough money? We're looking for house number 36, and this is house number 22. Do we have to keep walking?
Play board games that use dice. Lots of good practice for recognizing quantities, adding and counting spaces.
Play card games together.
Make up simple action games together and keep score of how many times you are able to do something. You may want to make up a simple recording page so your child gets practice printing numerals. E.g., how many times can we throw and catch the ball without dropping it?
We find that the best learning happens when children are having fun and interacting with an interested adult.
The month of April started with our art workshop. Bonnie came from the McMichael Art Gallery and taught us how to make Inuit style prints using etching foam and markers.
Here is an article that the Junior Kindergarten students in our class wrote about the workshop:
And here are the results of the workshop...
Well done everyone!
A special thank you to the parents and grandparent volunteers who were able to join us! Your assistance was greatly appreciated!
Frieda Wishinsky Visit
This week, the Kindergarten classes had a special visit from author, Frieda Wishinsky. Ms. Wishinsky has written many books including one of our class favourites, You're Mean, Lily Jean.
Ms. Wishinsky shared with us where she gets her ideas for her stories, and she read two of her books to us:
The Opposite of Up and Oonga Boonga.
While Ms. Wishinsky read her book, Oonga Boonga,
Ms. Guerriero helped out by acting like the baby who wouldn't stop crying in the story.
A big thank you to Mrs. Gordan-Rak for arranging Ms. Wishinsky's visit to our school!
Me to We Campaign - Update
We have great news: our school reached its goal to raise enough money to buy 18 goats for families in need overseas!
Well done, Nellie McClung students!! Your contributions will make a difference in the lives of children across the world.
Earth Day is Every Day: 20 Minute Makeover
Yesterday, our school held a 20 minute makeover to mark Earth Day that is coming up on April 22nd.
Councillors Racco and Ferri visited our school and kicked off our event. We all put on plastic gloves and went outside to help clean up our school grounds and neighbourhood. The Kindergarten students were in charge of cleaning up the Kindergarten fenced yard, and they did a great job! There was not a speck of litter left on the ground by the time we were done.
We have also been learning about how to care for our environment in class. One thing we can all do is take care of the plants in our environment. This past week, we planted flower seeds and learned a little about the difference between soil and dirt. We will be learning more about soils, seeds and plants in the coming weeks.
Did you know that 2015 has been declared International Year of Soils by the UN? Here is a short video clip about the importance of soils that may be of interest to you:
Please mark your calendar... Our class will be performing with Ms. Du and Ms. Ng's Kindergarten class at the Spring Concert on Wednesday, April 29th. As we get closer to the concert, more information will be sent home.
Each year, our school publishes a yearbook. Our school yearbooks are a collection of photos capturing highlights of the various activities that have occurred throughout the year in our school. (We have copies of previous yearbooks in our class library, and they are very popular with the students!)
Did you know that the yearbook cover artworkis produced each year by students? All students are invited to submit their yearbook cover artwork ideas: Attention artists! It’s time to use your talent to capture the spirit of Nellie! All students are invited to submit a design to be used as this year’s yearbook cover! The yearbook committee will select a winner.
Submit all entries to Miss. LaRiviere in Room 111.
During Eco Week, the Kindergarten classes heard a presentation by Liz, an environmental instructor. The Senior Kindergarten students worked together with the teacher in small groups to write the article that follows.
Liz's Eco Presentation - March 24, 2015
Written By the Senior Kindergarten Students in Room 110
Today Liz came to our school. She told us about how to keep the environment clean. We learned about the 4 Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Respect. We need to respect the world. We want to reduce, reuse and recycle so we make less garbage.
Lots of plastic garbage goes into the oceans. The animals and fish eat the garbage and get sick. We can take care of the world by using less plastic. Do not use plastic water bottles. Use reusable water bottles. When we go shopping, we can use reusable bags instead of plastic shopping bags.
We have great news! As of April 2nd, our class has raised enough money to buy one goat for a family overseas! We have already started collecting toonies for a second goat - just 21 more toonies needed for the second goat!
Here is a challenge from Ms. Guerriero: if the class raises enough money for a second goat, she will make a $50 donation in order for our class to donate a third goat.
We will be collecting money for the 'Me to We Campaign' until April 10th.
