We have been studying the folktale The Mitten. This week we read three different versions of this beloved folktale and discussed how they were similar and different. We enjoyed re-enacting The Mitten as a whole class and interacting with small table puppets during free play. Ask me to summarize the story for you! We've been learning lots of new action words through The Mitten such as the 'lumbering bear', 'trotting fox', 'snuffling hedgehog' etc. and in Phys Ed, we used our locomotor skills to move like the animals in the story. We became mitten designers and used our knowledge of repeating patterns and geometry to draw and design unique mittens. We are very curious about how animals use camouflage to hide from predators or disguise themselves from their prey, so we coloured and camouflaged our own mittens and hid them around the classroom.
This week we were introduced to our new math problem solving journals. Our problem was How many ways can you make 5? Using double sided counters we poured 5 counters onto the table and then drew the combination in our journals (5+0 = 5, 2+3 = 5, 4+1 = 5 etc.). We are also learning the concept of 'before' in math. For example, what number comes before 4 (3)? What activity is before snack (centres)? This is a difficult concept for many of us. Do you talk about numbers at home? Try to integrate numbers into your daily conversations. Look for numbers in the grocery store, on street signs, menus and houses. Talk about what comes next, what comes before. Chat about how many plates we need for the dinner table or how many cookies will be left after we eat our dessert. As always, make it fun!
0 Comments
This chilly weather got us all thinking about snow and ice. So, this week we began an inquiry into water crystals (snowflakes). This led to a lot of math, science and fine motor learning. We learned that water crystals have six sides or points and that they are symmetrical in design. We practiced our fine motor skills when learning how to draw snowflakes by making an 'x' and putting a vertical line through it. Diagonal lines are difficult to draw and making the 'x' in our snowflakes was good practice for our letter printing. We also had fun making snowmen with snow play-dough, real snow and food colouring and we created wax crayon resist snowflake paintings.
We performed an exciting ice investigation, which went perfectly with our new letter of the week (i). We became scientists, making observations and conducting experiments to find out the fastest way to melt an ice cube. We had many unique and creative ideas come about! We melted the ice by blowing on it, we used our hands and other creative body parts, we popped it in our mouths and some of us decided to use water. Ask me what was the fastest way to melt the ice cubes. Our community investigation this week turned to towers! With T as our letter focus, we had so much fun exploring how to plan, build and create Tall Towers. We looked at photos of famous towers from around the world: these ranged from the Eiffel Tower and Leaning Tower of Pisa to the Bow Tower and Calgary Tower. The kinders were so excited to see and explore pictures of buildings they recognized.
On the following day, we became architects and created Tower Building Design Plans. We experimented with different design ideas and discovered that tall buildings need a strong, stable base. The kinders were proud to bring their design ideas to life. In keeping with our class inquiry into towers we examined a picture of downtown Calgary and we noticed that some towers are tall and some towers are short. Next we used numbers from 1 to 10 to create a city of skyscrapers out of Unifix cubes. After fall break, the kinders spent a lot of time talking about fear and how being scared in a safe environment can be fun. After reading the book 'Go Away, Big Green Monster!', we discussed how if we are able to create monsters in our imaginations, we also have the power to make them go away. They loved reciting the poem '5 Little Pumpkins' and having the classroom light turned off at the very end when they chanted, 'Oooooooh, went the wind and OUT went the light'.
The kinders also learned and retold an oral language story called 'The Squeaky Door'. It's about a little boy who goes to his grandma's house for his very first sleepover. Every time the bedroom door closes, it squeaks and the boy is afraid. We then changed the characters in the story and the fear; we made the story about a little girl going to her grandpa's house for her first sleepover and being afraid of the dark. This story was relatable and engaging for them. Ask your child if he or she can tell it to you. Please check out the photos of some of our October centres! After the Fall Break, the kinders were introduced to the Mystery Letter Bag. In this bag, each week, they will find objects that begin with the sound of the mystery letter. Every week we will learn to sound out, identify and print a new letter. The kinders will be learning the letters in order of the frequency they are used in the English language and in an order that is easiest to make small words such as 'sat', 'tap' or 'pin'. For example, we began with the letter 's' last week and this week we will be learning about the letter 'a'.
Today we explored the school yard to look for signs of fall. We used 4 of our 5 senses. We saw the golden, orange and brown leaves. We smelled, crumpled up, dried leaves. We heard the crunching of dying leaves under our feet. We felt prickly pine cones and brittle leaves. We had a lot of fun exploring outside and learning how to use magnifying glasses to examine nature up close!
We have been learning about community helpers. Last week Constable Scott Hoard, visited us. He explained how his job is to keep the people, animals and property in Marlborough Park safe. He has never had to use his gun in 14 years of service! He uses his words and his 5 senses to help citizens out. The kindergarteners realized that this is something they can practice too. We can use our words to solve problems or ask for help from an adult.
This week, Firefighter Todd came to talk about fire safety. We learned to "Stop, drop and roll!" if our clothing is ever on fire and to "drop and go" if there is ever a fire in our house. We also learned to stay one metre or an arm span away from hot items such as candles, campfires and boiling pots. Our favourite part of his presentation was when he put on his fire safety gear. His mask made him sound just like Darth Vader! The kinders are growing more independent every day! They can open their own snacks using scissors, clean up after themselves, self-direct their play during centres and be responsible for bringing their message folders each day.
We have been working on developing fine motor skills through drawing, using scissors to cut and tweezers to grip objects. The kinders know it's important to cut aways from themselves while keeping their thumbs on top and elbows in. As they practice cutting shapes like squares and circles they are learning to turn the paper NOT the scissors. They are also getting better at using a tripod grasp to hold their pencils when they are colouring and drawing. We have been working on drawing people with all of their body parts. Each morning we play a little game where we have to look at a drawing of a person or 'Mat Man' and figure out what is missing. Some of us need reminders to add a torso or body. Many kinders need to work on recognizing their names . These students would benefit from extra practice. Ask your child to print or spell their name for you. Check out the photos to see some self-portraits and names made with 'loose parts'! We also have some very creative builders in the class. |
KindergartenHere you will find examples of our learning and explorations. Archives
January 2020
Categories |