Mrs. Wacker's Kindergarten Class

 Hello Kindergarten Families, It was great to have a full week of Kindergarten!  Our learning from this week:   We were scientists and observed our natural environment outside the school. We used our senses to explore various sounds, sights, touchpoints and smells of the outdoors. Then we drew in our journals about nature and used the colours we saw to guide our choices.     We had an Assembly for Remembrance Day. Through books and conversations, we learned about the symbolism of the popp y and the concept of peace, which we drew about in our journals.  We also showed gratitude to our  Veterans by making  Poppy Postcards to say thank you to them which I will deliver to a legion this weekend.    We sorted objects in math using different rules (size, shape, colour.) Ask your child about sorting and encourage them to use a rule to sort objects at home or outdoors. We opened our medical centre this week.  The children worked collaborati...

 Happy Halloween Kindergarten Families,  It is great to be back at school.  We  welcomed students back this week in our new smaller groups and reviewed our class routines. We did our P.E. together and time to play with our friends from each of the classrooms. Our learning from this week : We played a mystery object game, where we had to ask questions.  This helped us think about attributes such as heavy and light, hard and soft, materials type and colour. Through great questions, the children guess it was a pumpkin We predicted whether a pumpkin would sink or float in water and recorded our observations in our journals. Ask your child how we tested our predictions and what we discovered.  To help us get in the Halloween Spirit, we read an Aaron Reynolds story, Creepy Pair of Underwear  and created some monster pictures using mixed media (paint shapes with cut-art details.)    Please practice cutting at home with your child. Ideas include: cut...

 Hello Kindergarten parents, We introduced Mrs. Kinnear to our class this week.  Welcome! We explored our science concepts on types of environments and senses to think about the LAND we live on.  Last week we learned about the indigenous roots of this area.  We contrasted pictures of native prairie and of today's farm environments.  We used our examining skills to look at real photos and help us identify living/non-living, as well as, natural/man-made components. We used these concepts to inspire our 'farm environment painting' which we made for our art card project.  In this project, we learned about the horizon line separating the sky and the land as well as practiced painting skills including proper grip, following guide lines and using broad back and forth and up and down strokes to make a smooth background.  On the second day, we used stamping techniques to add objects found in farm environments.  This week we also met our grade 3/4 buddies....

 Hello Kindergarten Families, We took the opportunity to go outside several times this week for PD, science and for our community walk.   We have been practicing using our senses to make observations about our outdoor environment and the change of seasons to fall. At Home :   You can support your child’s learning at home by talking about and comparing the objects in their home environment. Identify colours, compare size and describe shape.  Ie. “Look at the   trees on our front lawn.  The red one is taller than the yellow one.” Learning intentions in Math: I can sort a set of objects by size, colour and shape.  We looked at the attributes of objects using plastic animal figures, marker lids, and even students in the class. We have been practicing sharing our “sorting rule” and describing which attribute they sorted by.  Ex.  “I sorted by colour.  These bears are green, these ones are red and these ones are yellow.” Learning Intentions ...

 Hello Kindergarten Families, In literacy we started constructing our Sound Wall, to help us see how we use our mouths to make different phonemes (Sounds like /t/ like tiger or /sh/ like sheep.) We have also been working on using horizontal and vertical lines to make Uppercase Letters: L, E, F, H, T, I.  We have been working hard to remember to form letters from top to bottom and from left to right.  This is really important for children to become efficient and accurate printers.   We have also been working on our science skills, looking closely at materials at our nature centre.  We have been thinking about: shape, colour, texture, size and quality (old/new, rotten/fresh, whole/partial etc.) Our nature centre as some living plants, specimens from a forest environment and earlier this week some snails from Mrs. Wacker's garden.  This centre also has magnifying glasses to help us look closely.  We read the famous book, "The Dot", by Peter Reynolds,...

 Dear Kindergarten Families,  We had a busy week filled assemblies, outdoor time and lots of learning. The children are becoming more comfortable with our morning entry.  Please ensure you check, empty and return folder each day.  This is where you put notes about changes in pickups (preferred over emails/verbal messages.) Please ensure your child has a backpack that fits their folder and a large library book. Please do not fold folders.  Plastic School-Home Communication folder We have learned about different types of and how letters represent the sounds we make.  This week we have started our UFLI (University of Florida) literacy program. After reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, we used sidewalk chalk to practice making lines, shapes and letters outside! We made our own coconut trees in our Learning Journals, then we learned how to use our letter stamps to re-enact the story.  At Home: Talk about different lines that you can see.  Straight, curvy,...