Events for Next Week

 

Just a reminder that Friday, May 30th is a very busy and exciting day for the students and the families. First in the Kindergarten classroom we will have Scientist in the Classroom for both the morning and afternoon groups. Due to this special event the students will not be going out to play. A very special thank you to our Parent Involvement Committee for covering the cost of this for all the students. This is a wonderful experience and fabulous learning with hands on experiences. The students will be learning about 'Bugs'. Also I want to thank all the parent volunteers for sharing their precious time with the students.

 

May 30th is also the celebration of Meadowvale's 60th Anniversary. The time of the event is from 4:00 to 7:00. It will be wonderful to see everyone and especially parents and students who attended the school years ago or a few years ago. It will be wonderful to share the treasured memories. 

Dramatic Play Centre

 

The students have decided to change the dramatic play centre from the Vet Shop to the birthday centre. The students in the centre wear party hats and make birthday cards for the customers. The cards are decorated with stickers, stamps and illustrations. This centre promotes writing in many ways. So if your child comes home with a birthday card and you think, "it's not my child's birthday". It is their special day to someone in the Birthday Centre because they have taken the time to make a card for someone and to celebrate a birthday. The students are very excited about this centre.

Special Events for the Week

 

Tuesday, May 20th the Art Gallery will be coming into the Kindergarten Classroom both for the morning group of students and the afternoon students. Although the students have been offered many opportunities to paint in the classroom, I felt that they should have the experience of learning with a professional. Therefore, I have chosen a painting experience for the students and since we had the Vet Shop, I chose for them to paint a picture of a fish. I also felt every student would be more successful if the pet was an easy one for them. There will be no cost to the parents at this time since the Parent Involvement Committee has graciously volunteered to cover the cost of the Art Gallery for the whole school. A very special THANK YOU to the Committee!

Math

 

I have little cards that are ten frames with some of the squares in the ten frame coloured in. The students sit in a large circle and I give each student two or three little cards faced down in front of them. When I call the students name they turn over one card and then subitize the number on the card. All the students love the game and often request we play it. This little game has assisted all the children to develop their subitizing skills.

 

 

There are some SK students who are ready for math problem solving. Approximately twice a month I meet with those students independently and they work on the problem. Sometimes I scribe (write) their thinking for them when they orally tell me how they solved the problem. However, many of them are able to show their mathematical thinking by making pictures and writing number. It is very interesting to see how their little brains come up with the answer in so many different ways.



Language

 

The jolly phonic sound for this week is the "r" sound. Some of the words we will practise stretching out are: rad, rap, rat, ran, rib, rid, rim, rip, rub, run, rug, red. This is only a three minute mini lesson. The main objective is to give the students practise how seeing how words are formed and how we stretch out the sounds in order to make a word.

 

 

During the teacher read aloud the focus will be on the "problem" of the story and the "solution". As a group the students are asked to orally share what they believe is the problem in the story and how the problem was solved. Sometimes the students are asked to share what they would do to solve the problem.

 

 

All the By Heart Words are now on the board. Sometimes we play a game where a volunteer chooses a word they know and they are then asked to spell the word. All the students love this game. The JK's often ask an SK to help them by the game gives them practise to spell the word because many of the JK's are able to successfully identify most of the letters of the alphabet. 

Language

 

This week the jolly phonic sound is the 'Ff' sound. I wish to remind all the parents, especially the SK parents to have your child practise identifying the letter and the sound. Some of the words we will practise with the sound are: fish, fan, fun, fat, for, fill, fit, fed, fog, fox.

 

 

The By Heart words are: her and this. After next week we will be finished with all the By Heart Words. The students are really good at finding the word on the By Heart Chart. I want to thank the parents who practise these words with their child. These are the most common words the students come across in the reading and their writing.

 

In the area of comprehension the students will be asked to identify the problem in the story and the solution. This will mainly occur when I read a story aloud to the students. 

Dramatic Play Centre

 

The student's have voted to have the Dramatic Play Centre changed from the grocery store to the Vet Shop. Next week they will have an opportunity to make a sign for the shop. They are welcomed to bring one of their stuffies from home to have in the shop.

 

I placed some white shirts (so they can be the vet), a doctor's kit, with medicine, needle, thermometer, stethoscope and other materials. I was also able to place in the centre a stuffed turtle, fish, and dog.

 

On Friday we discussed why we have Vet's and the students had an opportunity to share all their background knowledge about Vets. Then the discussion reflected upon why people take their animals to a Vet and what happens when you take your animal to the Vet. It will be interesting to see if their are able to put what they know about a Vet Shop and implement that knowledge into their play. Accomplishing this skill reinforces the real learning for the students.