Excitement in Kindergarten Room

 

There was lots of excitement in the Kindergarten class today. The pumpkin farm was open, with two bales of hay, hats, play dough, lots of pumpkins and gourds, cash register, plastic shopping bags, a barn some farm animals and two small tractors. There were shoppers buying pumpkins and gourds, and measurement was occurring in the centre. Without any prompting, the children were using the cash register to weigh the pumpkins and then telling the shoppers what they had to pay. This is one of the most expensive pumpkins farms in the Niagara Region because the biggest pumpkin cost $100.00!

 

I have included some pictures so you can see what some of the excitement was all about. You need to see the following photos through the eyes of a 3, 4 or 5 year old to really appreciate why there was such excitement and lots of children waiting patiently for their turns.

 

Farmer shirt, hats, and pumpkins are neatly stored on the shelf.

 

A scarecrow and two bales of hay for the children to sit on. I am hoping that as the centre generates more excitement some children will take the initiative to make some additional scarecrows, animals and birds for the centre.

Comments about the hay "it's pricking me! What do the animals do with this?

Do they eat this?" "I wonder how the farmer gets the hay to be square like this"? "I'm glad I'm not an animal because this hay would be terrible to eat or sleep on, I like my bed much better"!

I think it is absolutely amazing there is no mess with the straw. However, we did discuss the importance of not picking at the hay and keeping it neat.

 

A very special thank you to Mrs. M's sister for kindly donating the hay to the classroom.

 

In the background you can see the barn and the children remembered there were some farm animals in the block area, so they added them to the barn.

There is the cash register. Neither the morning or the afternoon group have thought of a name for the Pumpkin Farm but when they do I will let you know. Thank you to everyone who kindly made a donation of play dough, pumpkins, gourds, etc.

 

I hope the photos help you get an idea of why there is excitement in the classroom. This always happens for the first few days when the dramatic play centre has been changed.

 

The next centre the children want is a halloween centre. I have some dress up clothes but if parents will allow us to borrow some others that would be wonderful. The children will be asked to make the decorations for the centre, rather than buying any from the store.



Pumpkin Centre

 

The children are very excited about the Pumpkin Centre. They will have opportunities to make their own scarecrows to add more decorations, they will have opportunities to sell and buy gourds and pumpkins, and apples.

 

The children have requested to have, orange, yellow and brown playdough in order to make other things to sell in the centre.

 

When the centre is finally all set up, I will include pictures for the parents to see.

 

When there are more leaves on the ground, I will ask the children to bring in a variety of colours, which will be placed in the sensory bin.

 

As part of the inquiry for next week the children will share and demonstrate what they know regarding animals in Fall. Some of their wonderings are:

Do all butterflies leave for Mexico? If not where do they go, or what happens to them?

Why do some birds fly away where it is warm and not all the birds?

How can bears sleep all winter and not get very hungry?

What happens to the fish in the Fall?

What are the beavers doing in Fall?

Do squirrels get bigger fur in the Fall?

What do owls do in the Fall?

Do skunks go away for the Fall and where do they go?

What happens to bees in the Fall and the winter?

 

So many "I wonders". I hope we can find out many of the answers. Young children have a very difficult time determining the difference between a question and a comment/statement. However, by offering them an opportunity to share their "wonderings", it is easier for many of them.

Language

 

For your convenience I have been able to attach the jolly phonic sheet for the "i" sound. This is the sound we will be working on all week. On the right hand side of the blog you will see a heading Jolly Phonics. If you click on the address under the Jolly Phonics heading, and click on open the "i" sound sheet will open up. You can then print it out if you want. Each week, I will post the new sound for your convenience.

The following are some of the words we will learn to stretch out the sounds for:

ink, sit, pin, dig, big, rip, lip.

 

The letters and sounds are not introduced in alphabetical order. The first six letters (s, a, t, i, p, n) have been chosen because they make more simple three-letter words than any other six letters.

 

Each sound has a picture and an action which help children remember the letter(s) that represent it.

 

The action for the "i" sound is pretend to be a mouse by wiggling fingers at end of nose and squeak i,i,i.

 

From September until December, the focus on vowel sounds will be the short vowel sound for (a, e, i, o, u).

 

The "By Heart Word" for this week will be the word,

"can".   Once we have about 10 By Heart Words I will create a sheet of them for parents to download. The By Heart words must be memorized, because these are the most frequent words the children will need when reading and writing.  

 

 

 



Discovery Centre Experience in the Afternoon

 

I love sharing some of the wonderful happenings that occur in the classroom. Often these are unplanned and open up to wonderful learning experiences.

Two boys from the afternoon class, who usually only want to participate at the Construction area, chose to go to the Discovery Centre first.

 

 

While there I noticed there were using the shells, twigs, and shells from the area. Suddenly they both went to the creation centre got scissors, dark blue paper, and some dark blue paper and begun cutting. I stood back and was intrigued by what they were doing. They were not really communicating with each other, just concentrating on constructing and cutting.

 

After awhile, I decided to approach and ask them what they were using the materials for. The one boy explained he was building a house for the beaver, and the other was building the dam. Now the exciting part of questioning each other.

 

"I wonder why beavers build dams?" "Oh, that is easy, it's so their houses won't be flooded by the water", explained the other boy. "I should have built the home until the table because their houses are under the water". "But that makes no sense because then their houses would get flooded".

 

At sharing time the boys shared what they had discovered and made. These two boys drew and then wrote about what they had made. This is how Literacy is integrated into the Kindergarten program.

 

 

The boys decided they want me to get books about Beavers so they can learn more about them. I plan on checking the library at school. However, if anyone has any books about Beavers we would love to borrow them for the afternoon class.

 

 

The morning class is more interested in caterpillars and butterflies. They now know which type of caterpillar turns into a Monarch butterfly and where they go in Fall for the winter. One of the Kindergarten girls told the class she knew they went to Mexico because her Mom and Dad told her. Thanks for teaching us Mom and Dad!

 

The morning class wants to have books about butterflies at the Creation Centre and they want to paint different kinds of butterflies. I can't and won't say "no" to that learning.

 

 

On a Different Note

 

As we are heading into October, I ask parents to save and donate any birthday cards, get well cards and old Calendars that you may have. Calendars have wonderful pictures for the children to use to assist with their paintings, drawings, and sketches. 

Reminder about Friday, it is Crazy Hair Day! I was at the Library after school today and there before my eyes was a book and CD called "Crazy Hair Day!" I will have the children make apicture of themselves and their crazy hair! I will try to take individual pictures of the children for their CD file.

A Little Creature - Excitement

 

 

 

 

There was great excitement in the Kindergarten room today. When the children were eating snack, I noticed there was a big fat caterpillar crawling along the floor. First, I picked it up with a piece of construction paper. Then I remembered I had purchased two bug kits for the children to use, so I placed it inside the container. During large group sharing, I passed the caterpillar around for everyone to look at. After everyone had a few minutes to examine the caterpillar, I asked the children to share with everyone something they had noticed about the caterpillar and any "I wonders" they may have. Here are some of the things they noticed:

 

-he is very fluffy and furry

- he looks a  little prickly

-he has lots of legs, too many to count

-he moves pretty fast

-he likes to crawl all over the jar

-he is black

-oh, I see brown on his tummy, when he is hanging upside down from the top of the jar

-I saw his eyes and they looked yellow

-he has some spikes on his head

-I know those spikes are called antennas

-I know it doesn't have any wings

One of the children explained that we would know if it is a caterpillar because if it spins into a cocoon and then turns into a caterpillar that means it is a caterpillar

 

Some of the children's Wonderings:

I wonder how they get up into the tree?

I wonder if caterpillars stick to trees?

I wonder how it got into the classroom?

I wonder what caterpillars eat?

I wonder if they can dig?

I wonder where they live?

I wonder if they like fruit?

I wonder if they know they will change into a butterfly?

I wonder where caterpillars go in the winter?

I wonder when caterpillars turn into butterflies? Is it in the Fall?

How do butterflies know when to leave?

Do they all fly together?

Do all butterflies fly away for winter?

 

I asked the children where we could find the answers to our I wonder questions:

They told me to go to the computer to find out.

One of the boys told me there were some books about caterpillars and butterflies in the classroom and maybe the answers would be in there?

 

I told the children, I would have to let him go into the garden because it was not fair to keep him inside. He would be happy outside. One of the boys told him the caterpillar was like them because they are happy when we can go outside to play too!



 

Dramatic Play Centre

 

I felt it was time for a change in the Dramatic Play Centre. As a large group, the children brainstormed a variety of suggestions, which I recorded on chart paper. Two of the ideas which were most popular were: a Pumpkin Farm and a Halloween Centre. It was decided the Pumpkin Farm will happen first and then the Halloween Centre.

 

Some of the items the children decided we need for the centre are the following:

•  different sizes and colours of pumpkins
• farmer clothes, like straw hats, suspenders, plaid handkerchiefs;
• yellow and orange playdough to make pumpkins, apples;
• baskets
• apples to sell
• straw
• boots
• tractor
• any thing else that parents can think of to help with the pumpkin farm
• aprons

The children will make a sign for the farm. There is a cash register that we can add. I am very excited to see what the children will add to the centre.

 

PS  Anything you add to the centre please make sure your child's name is on it so it can be returned to you!

 

Thank you in advance for your assistance!

Monday Afternoon

 

Monday afternoon the children have library. If your child has not already returned their library book please remember to do so today. When your child returns their library book, they are able to take out another book. Every day 5 is library day for the afternoon children.

The morning children have library on day 10. I always record the day on the Events to Remember section of the blog.

 



Jolly Phonic Sound

 

The sound for this week is the "t" sound. The action for the sound is the children turn their head to the left and then the right saying "t, t, t, t". If your child is an SK stretch out the sounds for some of the following words and see if your child can state the word. For example, ten   t    e    n    and the word is ten. Here are some other words to try:  tag, tan, tall, tap, tell, tent,test, tick, till, tin,top, ton, tug.

 

 

Autumn/Fall

 

 

This week the inquiry for the Kindergarten children will be Autumn/Fall. Some of my "guiding questions" will be:

 

Today is the first full day of Fall, what does that mean?

How do you know it is Fall?

How is Fall different than Summer?

What does the outside world look like in autumn/fall?

Are foods any different in the autumn? How?

What do you like to do in fall?

What are some of your wonderings about fall?

 

I will be recording some of the children's questions and wonderings. As a group we will brainstorm all the places where we can find the answers to my questions and their questions.

 

In the Creation Centre, there will be a large piece of brown paper for the children to create a mural for all the Signs of Autumn! I will ask the children what they want to title of the mural to be and we will vote on the title. If it is nice outside we may go out onto the yard first thing and look around the yard for signs of Autumn.

 

Many of the teacher read alouds this week will be about Autumn.

 

 

 

Discovery Centre

 

This centre has been a fabulous area that has sparked the interests and creative juices of many of the children. In order for their creations to be more meaningful, and celebrated, the children will be encouraged to sketch, draw and write about their creations or discoveries. 



 



 

 



Discovery Centre

All of the rocks, gems (small shiny rocks), small sticks (tree branches), and other natural materials were placed on one of the larger tables in the classroom and labelled as the "Discovery Table". I was interested in seeing what the children would discovery or do with the various materials. 

When a centre is open-ended and the materials are just placed out it is amazing what young children create. Some of the investigations are listed below:

- The materials were used to create a fire pit to roast marshmallows and hot dogs on, when the family goes camping.

- A cave was made and inside the cave with hundreds of bats just laying around upside down and a big brown bear.

- Rocks became the head and body of a person, gems for eyes and mouth and a crab apple for the nose, sticks were used for arms and legs and small chestnut shells were used for hands and feet.

- Some of the materials were sorted into rocks, wood, and gems. I explained to this group of children they were Mathematician's because they sorted the materials and explained how they sorted.

It will be interested to see what discoveries and investigations occur today! 


PS   The time of this post is incorrect, it is not 4:00 a.m. it is shortly after 7:00 a.m.

Calendar on Blog

 

 

You are now able to view the class calendar on the blog. If you look on the right side of the blog you will see September Class Calendar. If you click on the icon it will take you to an area where you will see September calendar. Click on it and the calendar will appear. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it has taken me some time to figure out how to attach it the blog.

 

 

I want to thank all the families for attending the Open House. The children were very excited to show you their classroom and many of the centres.

 

 

Also, thank you for the wonderful nature donations. Some of the children were sniffing around and stated,

"our classroom smells of nature". What a wonderful compliment.

We have lots and lots of natural materials in the classroom now, thanks for all the wonderful donations!

 

 



There is an old saying, "ask and you shall receive". Well I asked for pinecones, twigs and rocks and we have received all of the above. The children and I thank everyone for the wonderful donations. These will be added to the new centre "Discovery Centre". I am interested to see what the children are able to discovery about some of these natural materials.

Problem in Construction Area   (Blocks)

 

The construction area is one of the most popular areas in the classroom. The children in the morning and the afternoon group are very busy building and constructing towers, spaceships, cages for wild animals and many other structures.

 

Due to the popularity of the construction area, I noticed there are many times the same children are in this area on a daily basis. So today we discussed the problem and whether or not it was fair or unfair.

 

One of the boys announced "this was unfair". I decided to ask the children if they agreed, it was unfair and the vote was unanimous that it was unfair. I asked the children to explain why it was unfair. One of the girls explained that "it means some of us will never have a turn in the construction area".

 

I took the problem one step further and asked the children if they could think of a solution to the problem? One solution was place paper in the construction area and if someone was there on one day, they had to sign their name and then they did not have a turn the next day. Another solution was put up a chart with Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday on it and put the names of the children who go to the construction area every day.

 

We have decided to use the blank calendar that is in the room and today I wrote 4 of the children's names that were in the construction area. The children wanted me to write four new names on for tomorrow, but I explained I would do it in the morning because someone may change their mind and not want to go to the construction area.

 

Wonderful problem solving by the clever very Kindergarten children!

 

 

 

Please remember the BBQ and Open House tomorrow from 4:30 - 6:00. I hope to see many families at this wonderful event.

 

 

DOT DAY

 

I have just discovered Monday, September 16th is dot day, where thousands of individuals will be participating in dot day. Due to picture day, I will not ask the children to wear something that has dots, but perhaps they can bring a picture of something with dots. We will be reading "The Dot".

After reading the story the children will have a page about "The Magic Dot" where they will be able to take a dot and using markers, they will change it into whatever they want it to become. For example, it may become an astronaut, a field of strawberries, a blanket with lots of dots.

 

Their masterpieces will be hanging up in the classroom!

 



Reminders About This Coming Week!

 

Monday, September 16  Picture day for the morning class and the afternoon class. I hope everyone wears their smile on this day!

 

 

 

Wednesday, September 18  Open House and BBQ. Mr. Hawkey will be cooking. The time is from 4:30 to 6:00. At about 5:20 parents and children will be invited into the classroom, where you will be able to see the variety of centres, find your child's portrait and look for their cutting and pasting sample in the hall.

Donations

 

 

The season is quickly changing, which means that Autumn, Fall is just around the corner. This is a wonderful season where given a variety of materials the children can create and build amazing provocations, if given a variety of natural and found materials. At this time, I am asking for donations of various rocks, pine cones, chestnuts (not opened), acorns, pebbles, small sticks, various pieces of bark, small pumpkins, gourds, and any other natural materials you can find. If anyone has a tree stump that would be an amazing addition to our classroom!
Also, I am asking for donations of various sizes of cardboard and any small wood scraps that the children could glue things onto.

I plan on picking up various materials at Bulk Barn, such as different pasta and seeds to place at the Creation Centre and in the sandbox.

It is too early for the leaves, but in a couple of weeks we will probably go for a walk around the neighbourhood to find our own leaves. 

Discovery/Science Centre

 

At the discovery centre last week I placed a small bouquet of pink flowers that a friend gave to me. I also placed some magnifying glasses, crayons, paper, and books about flowers. The children were encouraged to visit the centre and use the paper and crayons to sketch what they noticed about the flowers. I was amazed how many boys eagerly visited the centre and worked diligently on their sketches. Our windows are nicely decorated with many sketches of sunflowers and the pink flowers.

 

When at the centre, one of the SK boys noticed and commented how there was a book that had the same picture of our flowers. This opened a wonderful discussion because another child commented, "but the pictures in the book you can't feel the petals and leaves, the way we can with the real flowers and leaves". Then another child asked, "I wonder how the picture of our flowers got onto the book"? One of the girls explained, "Mrs. Foote took a picture of it with her ipad, like she takes pictures of us and put it into the book".

 

This lead me to wonder if perhaps it would be beneficial for the children to learn how a book is made. This is something for me to ponder over and perhaps ask the children if that is something they want to learn?

Language

 

The sound for this week will be the short "a" sound. The children are introduced to the sound on Monday. The action for the sound is taking the fingers from one hand and running them up the opposite arm to represent ants crawling up the arm. When stating the sound, "aaaa" the action is performed. Each morning we will review the sound and the action, as well as reviewing the "s" sound and action. Knowing the letters of the alphabet is important, but identifying the sounds is the most important, because the sounds are what good readers use in order to decode the words.

 

Some short "a" words for the SK's to practice are:

 

at, ant, can, nap, cat, lap, ran, ham.

 

 

The By Heart Word for this week is the word "and".

 

 

Shared Reading: Every day next week we will be reading a poem about Sunflower Children. We will be reading a different poem every week. The SK children will bring home a copy of the poem in their Poetry book each Thursday. There will be something for the children to complete for the poem. The first one the children are asked to draw a picture of something that the poem reminds them about. The children have been introduced to the terminology "Doing their very best work". For those children who are not ready for the reading of the poem, I recommend the parent read the poem to the child and have your child point to each word as you read the words. This strategy is important because it is an early assessment of whether a child understands some of the print concepts.

 

During the teacher read-alouds (which happens every day) the comprehension strategy focus will be on predicting. I will ask the children to orally share their thinking of what might happen next in the story. To further their thinking I will ask them why they think this will happen. It is important the children learn to use information from the story to assist them with their predictions and that their predictions make sense and are meaningful. The predicting comprehension strategy will be the focus for at least the next two weeks, but not daily. Many times, our read-alouds are for enjoyment! I want the children to know that reading is lots of fun and enjoyable!

Friday, September 13th

 

Just a reminder to all parents that Friday, September 13th is an Early Release Day, which means there will be no school on Friday, for the afternoon children. 

Mathematics

 

This week the children will be working on numbers. The focus will be naming a number and representing the number by showing how many. I have a variety of math games to assist in this matter. One game is a peg board with the numeral written on the left side and the children represent the number by placing the appropriate number of pegs beside the numeral.

 

 

During large group time, the children will daily practise subitizing by looking at ten frames, and dot plates to figure out the number of dots showing.


Subitizing is a Mathematical Strategy where one instantly recognizes a quantity without counting. For example, if I roll the pair of dice shown here, I instantly recognize that the 4 and 1 without counting.

During large group learning time, I will flash cards that include random dot patterns. The children shout out the number represented by the dots on each card or paper plate. The next challenge will be for the children to volunteer "How they saw each number." For example, if the dot plate or dot card had 3 of one colour and 3 of another, the children may explain I saw 3 red and 3 blue that makes 6, or 2 on top 2 in the middle, and 2 on the bottom. This way the children are not only subitizing, they are also explaining their thinking. This is an important mathematical strategy that prepares young children for the counting on strategy.

The children will also be introduced to ten frames. Ten frames are a manipulative ( mathematical tool) that assist children with subitizing.

Language

 

For this week the children will be introduced to the Jolly Phonic Sound "S s". The action for this sound is to draw a snack shape in the air and repeat the sssss

sound. Some of the words for the SK's to learn for the sound are: sit, sat, sad, set, sip, sun, Sam, sap.  The focus is stretching out the sounds to figure out the word. The children will not be completing a worksheet about the sound. Oral practise each day will be more beneficial for the children. Practicing the action and the sound at home would also be beneficial, especially for the SK children.

 

The By Heart words for this week are:  I and the. Some of the SK children have asked for a Journal to do some writing in. When they went to print some of the "By Heart Words" they were surprised to see there was nothing on the wall. We will be starting over again.

 

In the area of shared reading, our poem for this week will be "Sunflower".

 

 



Great First Day!

 

 

The first day in Kindergarten went very well! The children enjoyed participating in the various learning centres. In the block centre, the children built a big city and some roads for the cars to drive on. Some of the children participating at the craft centre and the writing centre.

 

At the science centre, I place some real sunflowers that were in a vase of water. I was amazed how four children went to the centre and stretched what the sunflower looked like to them. I can tell we will have some amazing artists in the Kindergarten program.

 

 

All the children seemed to get along with each other and some new friendships were made. I am very blessed to have two amazing groups of children. Thank you parents for the wonderful job you have done to guide your children.

 

 

Tomorrow the afternoon children have gym. I will email a schedule for this week of the gym, library and computer days for both the morning and afternoon children. Then beginning next week these dates will be displayed on the blog as am gym or pm gym, etc. You will find these on the right side of the blog on a weekly basis. I usually post things on the blog once a week.

 

 

I am sure the children will sleep well tonight. See everyone tomorrow.

Welcome to Kindergarten 2013 -2014

 

Tomorrow is the first day back for the Kindergarten families and children I had last year and a first for the new families and their children. I hope your child is as excited as I am about a new school year. I have been busy redesigning the classroom and making some changes to the arrangement.

 

 

Just a reminder to ensure your child has a snack bag that consists of one or two small snacks and a drink. This year the children will have a hook inside the classroom to hand their snack bag on. Also, please remember to send your child with a change of clothing in a baggie that is labelled with their name. The change of clothing and indoor shoes will be placed inside their little cubbie at the back of the room.

 

 

The Grade 2/3 classroom has moved across the hall from the Grade 1/2 classroom. This means the Kindergarten children have more hooks to use this year. Each child now has two hooks, which will mean the children will be able to hang up their coats and other materials in the hallway, instead of the back of the classroom.

 

 

Parent Volunteers are welcomed in the Kindergarten classroom. However, I would like to have at least the month of September with the children, before volunteers come into the classroom. This assists both the children and myself to develop a rapport and for the children to become accustomed with the routines. I will post on the blog when volunteers are welcomed. I thank you for your patience in this matter.

 

Arrival Time:  If your child is attending the morning program, the bell rings at 8:50, and the children line up at the side entrance of the school. Some mornings I have yard duty, which means I have to ensure all the children on the yard line up at their door. Then I come to the side door to let the kindergarten children inside.

 

Dismissal time:  Dismissal time for the Kindergarten children is 11:20 for the a.m. program and 3:20 for the p.m. program. If it is a nice day outside (not raining) then the children will be at the back of the school where the playground is located. The children will be dismissed from the playground on nice days. If it is raining outside, the children will be dismissed from the front door of the school.

 

 

 

 

CAN'T WAIT FOR TOMORROW! I AM EXCITED TO SEE EVERYONE! THERE MAY BE A FEW TEARS BUT THESE WILL PASS!!!!