Week of October 5=9

This week in Kindergarten...

The letter of the week this week was the letter M. We read a story called Monkey's Miserable Monday and found pictures in the story that began with the letter M. We practiced making the M sound. We also brainstormed words that begin with the letter M and counted how many syllables there were in them. We practiced printing both capital and lower case Ms. Ask me a word that begins with the letter M!

We read the stories From Head to Toe by Eric Carle and I'm Gonna Like Me by Jamie Lee Curtis. Kindergarten then worked on drawing ourselves using Mat Man. We practiced on whiteboards first, making sure we used different shapes to get all our body parts. We worked on making sure our arms and legs have two sides. We worked on adding details to our drawings to make them more exciting. Then we drew ourselves on paper and traced our work with sharpie. The afternoon class painted a background to put our people on them. Next week, the morning class will paint their backgrounds. A picture will follow when we have completed our amazing artwork! Stay tuned!

Next we read the story Chika Chika 123 and practiced printing the number 3 using this rhyme: "Around the tree, around the tree, that is how you make a 3!" We represented the number 3 using the numeral, pictures, tally marks and a 10 frame. We also began practicing subitizing numbers to 3 playing a game with dots.  

On Friday, the afternoon class read a story called Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks. We had a conversation about what we are thankful for and then drew pictures and coloured what we are thankful for in our visual journals. 

Important Dates to Remember:

***TUESDAYS: Library Day for AM students - PLEASE RETURN YOUR BOOK!

***THURSDAYS: Library Day for PM students - PLEASE RETURN YOUR BOOK!

MONDAY, OCTOBER 12: Happy Thanksgiving! No School 

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16: AM Kindergarten ONLY! 

MONDAY, OCTOBER 19: PD Day - No School 

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29: Halloween at MTS. More information to follow. 

Week of September 28-October 2

 This week in Kindergarten...

We began our week by learning about the letter "F" and the sound it makes. We read a story called Fifi Ferret's Flute and listened for all the words that began with the letter F. We practiced making capital and lower case letter Fs on our mini whiteboards before using our fine motor journals. Ask me what sound F makes and what some words are that begin with the letter F. 

Next, we learned about the meaning behind Orange Shirt Day. The AM class went to an assembly hosted by the Grade 3 students. We also watched a couple of short videos from CBC Kids that helped build our understanding about Orange Shirt Day. Kindergarten students helped to create people for the beautiful art piece outside our gym for the assembly.

We continued our learning about numbers by representing the number two in a variety of ways. We showed how to make two using our fingers and through noticing pairs such as socks, legs and arms. We practiced making the number two on whiteboards and then represented the number two using the numeral, drawing pictures, tally marks and a 10 frame. 

F is for FALL. We read a non-fiction called Fall to explore the season and the changes we see in the fall. We practiced having a conversation with a peer about the different things we notice in the fall. In  our visual journals, we drew pictures and coloured as many things as we were able to about things we see in the fall. Ask me about what I know about fall!

Important Dates to Remember:

***TUESDAYS: Library Day for AM students - PLEASE RETURN YOUR BOOK!

***THURSDAYS: Library Day for PM students - PLEASE RETURN YOUR BOOK!

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7: Picture Day

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9: PM Kindergarten ONLY!

MONDAY, OCTOBER 12: Happy Thanksgiving! No School 

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16: AM Kindergarten ONLY! 

MONDAY, OCTOBER 19: PD Day - No School 

Week of September 21-24

This week in Kindergarten...

It was an exciting week in Kindergarten as we began learning about the letter "T." We read a story called When Tilly Turtle Came to Tea, practiced looking for pictures in the story that begin with the letter T and used our fine motor journals for the first time to make upper and lower case Ts. Ask me what sound a T makes!

We continued our work on the letter T by learning about what happens to trees in the fall by reading a non-fiction story called Colourful Leaves. We practiced our fine motor skills by drawing a tree trunk and then used a new tool, white glue and tissue paper, to make fall trees in our visual journals. 

Wednesday was our annual Terry Fox Run. We looked through a story about Terry Fox and watched a short video from CBC Kids to learn more about him and why he is important. The AM Kindergarten students ran with the entire school around our field. Even though it was pretty chilly, and a long distance, they were amazing! The PM Kindergarten students ran with a Grade 4 buddy student from Mrs. Phelan's class around the baseball diamond. They had so much fun with their Grade 4 buddy!

On Thursday, we began representing numbers in Math. We started with the number one by reading the story How to Count to 1. It was a big hit! In our math journals, we represented the number one using the numeral, a picture, a tally mark and a 10 frame. 

We would also like to welcome Miss Petrie to our Kindergarten classroom while Mrs. Rupert is away for the next little while. 

Important Dates to Remember:

***TUESDAYS: Library Day for AM students - PLEASE RETURN YOUR BOOK!

***THURSDAYS: Library Day for PM students - PLEASE RETURN YOUR BOOK!

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25: PD Day - No School

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29: Orange Shirt Day at School

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30: National Day for Truth and Reconcillation - No School

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2: AM Kindergarten ONLY!

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7: Picture Day

Week of September 14-18

 This week in Kindergarten...

We began our week with continuing to practice routines and school rules by learning about expected and unexpected behaviour. We read the story David Goes to School and talked about things that David does in the story that is "unexpected" and what we can do to show "expected" behaviour. We then continued our practice using gluesticks by doing a picture sort in our visual journals of things that are expected and unexpected.

We celebrated Dot Day by reading the story The Dot by Peter H Reynolds. In our visual journals we drew different things we could make from a dot. Ask me what I drew! We also used different mediums to colour large dots red to contribute to a whole school art project. Each grade was given a different colour to make dots. When it is completed, we will share a photo in our blog. 

Next we read some stories about food and entered into our Kindergarten Kitchen to become chefs! We introduced our new school tool - scissors! We learned the rules about scissors and how to use scissors to make scissor salad to feed our customers, Waffles and Chestnut! They were soooo hungry! 

We also read stories about being ourselves and being unique. We practiced using our scissors again by cutting out our names and gluing them into our visual journals. A good thing to practice at home is recognizing our names, as well as learning to write our names. 

For the afternoon class, it was our turn to become Kindergarten Scientists to complete our apple taste test. We used our senses to touch, smell and taste 3 different kinds of apples. We charted which ones we liked and didn't like in our visual journals. We then coloured an apple to make a class graph. Ask me which apple was my favourite.

Important Dates to Remember:

TUESDAYS: Library Day for AM students - PLEASE RETURN YOUR BOOK!

THURSDAYS: Library Day for PM students - PLEASE RETURN YOUR BOOK!

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24: Open House from 5:00-6:30pm

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25: PD Day - No School

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30: National Day for Truth and Reconcilation - No School

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2: AM Kindergarten ONLY!

Here are a few more pictures from our week:

Week of September 8-11

 
This week in Kindergarten...

What a busy week in Kindergarten! We have been continuing to work on our daily classroom routines such as finding our coathook, where we put our shoes and walking in a line. We also began playing on the playground this week! Ask me where my meeting spot is when the teacher blows the whistle. 

Kindergartens read the story Too Much Glue and practiced using our new tool - glue! We ripped paper and glued it onto either a leaf or an apple which worked on fine motor skills, as well as how to use our gluesticks.  We learned about how our fingers have tons of tiny muscles- and ripping paper is a great way to build those tiny muscles that will help us develop our printing and drawing skills.

We also read the story Our Class is a Family and talked about how we can treat each other in our classroom families. Our students had some amazing ideas to contribute to our class promise such as sharing, being kind and respectful, as well as being brave in our learning! We then made classroom promise bracelets with beads and pipe cleaners. 

The AM class had their first turn at our Friday schedule. Fridays are long for kinders, especially at the beginning of the year, but they did a great job! We had an assembly, went to phys ed to play a game with Mr. V and had Apple Day! We had an apple taste test, created some apple crafts and made an apple graph. Ask me which was my favourite kind of apple. Our PM friends will be enjoying Apple Day next week when they come on Friday.

Kindergarten also had our very FIRST trip to the Library this week. Our AM class will have library every TUESDAY. Our PM class will have library every THURSDAY. Please make sure you return your child returns their book each week on their library day to ensure they get a new one. 

Important Dates to Remember:

TUESDAYS: Library Day for AM students

THURSDAYS: Library Day for PM students

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18: PM Kindergarten ONLY

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24: Open House (more information to come)

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25: PD Day - No School

Here are some pictures from our week together:

Welcome to Kindergarten!

 
Hello Kindergarten Families,

We are so excited to begin a new year of learning together.  Mrs.Bitz and Mrs. Rupert will be sharing this blog space to keep families updated about all of the wonderful learning and growing that is happening in our classrooms throughout the year.   It will be updated weekly and is a wonderful way to talk with your child about what they have been doing at school.

This was an exciting first week of Kindergarten.  We did such a fantastic job meeting our teachers and classmates, touring the school, learning new routines and making friends.  We started our week with an "Apple Hunt" around the school.  We found "apples" in lots of important places like the Library, the Office, the Gym, the Music Room and our own classroom.  We met special people who work in our school and practiced getting around the building together- especially learning about where the bathrooms are located and which doors of the school we come in and go out.

We spent lots of time in both Kindergarten classrooms, exploring centres, painting, listening to stories and playing with new friends.  We also went to our first gym classes and music classes.  Next week will visit the Library and also have some time at the park (weather permitting).

Please remember to label your child's belongings- especially coats, shoes,  backpacks, snack bags and water bottles.  It is so helpful as we are getting settled into our classrooms and routines- as many items can look similar and be forgotten or misplaced throughout the day.

Also, please have a conversation with your child about getting picked up afterschool.  We have informed children that if they do not see you at pick time, they need to stay with the teacher.  Please emphasize this point with your child.  Creating a pick up spot where they can look for you consistently is helpful.  Letting them know who is coming to get them is also extremely helpful.  We attempt to make eye contact with parents as children are leaving, however, we are still getting to know all of our new families and pick up people.  While we do this, we appreciate your patience.  We will continue to work on our dismissal routines and we are confident everything will be running smoothly soon.

Important Dates to Remember:

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7: No School

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11: AM Kindergarten ONLY

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18: PM Kindergarten ONLY

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24: Open House (more information to come)

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25: PD Day - No School