Community partners are an important resource for our class, providing valuable support and enrichment for student learning. Let’s Talk Science is an award-winning organization that creates and delivers programs that engage children in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) activities. The programs, provided by trained post-secondary students and professionals, are hands-on, engaging, aligned with our curriculum, and offered free of charge to schools and students. Our class was very fortunate to have four student volunteers from the University of Guelph visit us last Wednesday. The volunteers presented a workshop called “Bounce and Roll” that guided the children through activities that taught concepts such as the force of friction by investigating the surfaces on which balls roll best. We made predictions, experimented with rolling balls over various carpeted and smooth surfaces, and arrived at conclusions. We rolled the balls across flat surfaces and down ramps to investigate gravity and velocity. We learned about elasticity by testing which balls bounce best. We really appreciated the expertise, skills, materials, and programming offered by our Let’s Talk Science volunteers!
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Community partners are an important resource for our class, providing valuable support and enrichment for student learning. Let’s Talk Science is an award-winning organization that creates and delivers programs that engage children in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) activities. The programs, provided by trained post-secondary students and professionals, are hands-on, engaging, aligned with our curriculum, and offered free of charge to schools and students. Our class was very fortunate to have four student volunteers from the University of Guelph visit us last Wednesday. The volunteers presented a workshop called “Bounce and Roll” that guided the children through activities that taught concepts such as the force of friction by investigating the surfaces on which balls roll best. We made predictions, experimented with rolling balls over various carpeted and smooth surfaces, and arrived at conclusions. We rolled the balls across flat surfaces and down ramps to investigate gravity and velocity. We learned about elasticity by testing which balls bounce best. We really appreciated the expertise, skills, materials, and programming offered by our Let’s Talk Science volunteers!
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This week, we have been working with various manipulatives to create combinations of numbers that together make ten. First, each student assembled a row of ten interlocking cubes. Together, we separated one cube at a time and counted how many had been moved and how many remained. Out loud, we would say, “un plus neuf sont dix (1+9=10)” and write the equation. The children noticed how gradually the number of cubes on one side decreased as the number of cubes on the other side increased. They pointed out patterns in our list of equations and recognized that the equations at the bottom of the list were simply the reverse of the equations at the top. That is, for example, that “deux plus huit (2+8)” is the same as “huit plus deux (8+2).” We emphasized that with each pair of numbers, the total always added up to ten. We continued by adding all our rows of cubes together and counted by tens up to 120. The children noticed how there are two groups of ten in vingt, three in trente, etc. They could see how this pattern continued past 100. Several students astutely noted that when we were counting by tens up to 120, we didn't have to re-count each individual cube, but rather we could use one group of ten and compare the height of this tower with the heights of all the other groups of ten. If a tower was too long or too short, we would know that it did not contain precisely 10 cubes. In a subsequent activity, the children threaded ten beads on a length of plastic lacing and separated one bead at a time, reviewing many of the same concepts. With our base ten number system, the number ten is of great significance. It is very helpful to readily be able to identify combinations of numbers that add up to ten. The activities using interlocking cubes and beads addressed several specific expectations that fall under the “Number Sense and Numeration” strand of the Kindergarten math curriculum. Our students: • demonstrated an understanding of number relationships for numbers from 0 to 10; • investigated and developed strategies for composing and decomposing quantities to 10 using manipulatives; • investigated addition and subtraction through the use of manipulatives; • recognized some quantities without having to count, using strategies such as composing or decomposing numbers, and by subitizing. They also practiced fine motor skills when they used their fingers to connect and disconnect the interlocking cubes and to thread the beads onto the string. Have a great night! We have been having so much fun playing in the snow! Thank you for dressing your child in warm outdoor clothing! Merci ! We continue to explore the forest and are noticing more changes every day. We have noticed that there are no more leaves on the trees and the leaves on the ground have begun to break down. With the first snowfall, we noticed that during the sunny day there was more snow in the forest than in the open field. One of our explorers figured that the branches must keep the sun from shining on the ground in the forest, which makes it harder to melt the snow. Yesterday, we were able to make many snowballs and practiced throwing them against the wall. We tried to see if we could throw them higher and higher. Today, we noticed that it was much colder and we were unable to make snowballs. The snow is sticky when the temperature is close to 0'C but it falls apart when the temperature is much lower. Teamwork and a little bit of trial and error have been used when tobogganing down the school hills. Everyone has developed their own techniques to make them go fast and slow them down. Through songs and games we have been developing our French language skills. Une tuque - winter hat Des mitaines - mittens Des gants - gloves Un manteau - coat Un pantalon de neige - snow pants Une écharpe - scarf Des bottes - boots Our Parent Council committee has been organizing events for upcoming fundraisers. Currently, they are requesting that each class fill a basket with various themes to be auctioned off at a December event. Our class is to fill a basket with baking items (e.g., flour, sugar, chocolate chip cookies, baking pans, whisks, wooden spoons, etc...). If you wish to donate, please send it in with your child in a separate plastic bag. Merci ! Health Hazard! There was a CBC broadcast last week that I wanted to share with you. They were talking about the potential dangers of laundry and dishwasher soap that is condensed and contained in clear plastic pods. Some children have bitten into these brightly coloured pods thinking that they were candy. The liquid squishes out so quickly and can cause major burns to their face, mouth, and hands. They advise keeping these items out of the reach of children. Have a wonderful week, stay warm, and drive safely! We had a lovely visit to the Scottsdale library. Thank you so much to our parent volunteers who assisted with our walk to and from the library. The librarian taught us some songs, toured us around the library, read a book, and prepared a craft for us to do. The children had a lot of fun!
It is starting to get colder outside, but that will not keep us indoors! A large part of our program is spent learning outside, so please remember to dress your child for the weather (e.g., waterproof boots and mittens, splash pants or snow pants, hats and scarves, sweaters, warm coat, extra socks). Please remember to send your picture forms in if you would like to order photos. If you are not happy with the first photo, picture retakes are on November 14th. When sending in money, please remember to send in exact amounts. Unfortunately, it can be quite difficult and time consuming for us to go to the bank. Thank you for your assistance. :) We have sent Kindergarten Interview emails to every family and have taken into consideration the times that you are generally at school. If you did not receive an email or the time provided is not convenient for you, please send us an email (through the contact page) and we will gladly change it. We hope that you had a lovely weekend! Over the past few weeks, we have been using two Halloween storybooks to introduce and reinforce several math and language concepts. There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat is a Halloween twist on the familiar story, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. The children easily anticipated the pattern the book would follow and quickly identified rhyming words in the text. The Big Pumpkin is the story of a witch who plants a pumpkin seed with a plan to make a Halloween pie. When the pumpkin grows too huge to harvest from the vine, la sorcière verte accepts help from un fantôme blanc, un vampire rouge, et une chauve-souris noir who eventually work together to pull the pumpkin off the vine and share the pumpkin pie. Using the two books, we reviewed colours and Halloween vocabulary in French. The children enjoyed the tactile experience of manipulating and placing the magnetic pieces in the correct order while our group retold the stories. Both books are very useful for practicing ordinal numbers i.e. What did the old lady swallow first, second, third, fourth ...? Who pulled on the pumpkin first, second, third ...? (premier, deuxième, troisième ...?). In the photos of the kids in action, you can see that I often invite one of the children to hold the book at the front of the class and “be the teacher” while the story plays on a CD. The children love to be chosen for this job! From my spot on the carpet, I can see that the “readers” have clearly mastered several conventions of print: they hold the book upright, turn pages from front to back, and scan their eyes from left to right. These are excellent pre-reading skills! A couple of weeks ago, we made some delicious pumpkin muffins. We talked about different ways of measuring our ingredients and the importance of following steps. The children examined 1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/2 cup, and 1 cup and we experimented with how many of each would make one cup. Together we helped to add, mix, and pour the ingredients and the batter to bake our muffins. Later that day, we left various ingredients on the table with measuring spoons and cups and watched as the children made their own gooey batter. They had a blast! One of our current centres is making muffins, where the children can place cupcake liners in a muffin tin, use coton balls as the batter, and pompoms and pipe cleaner bits as the sprinkles.
Last week, we have started journal writing, concentrating on creating a well detailed drawing, which is a precursor to creative writing. When you look at a drawing and see many colours, facial expression, a background, more than one object, and specific activities, these are like the nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs in a story. From their drawing some of the students have taken a step further and have printed (in kindergarten printing fashion) their story and read it to a friend or the teacher. Shier students have read it to our dog puppet, Chiot. Kindergarten printing is exploratory where the children use a combination of letters, numbers, words, and/or squiggly lines to create words, sentences, and paragraphs. We listen to the amazing stories that they tell and watch as they use their finger to follow from left to right as they read to us and point to their illustrations. A few students gathered together to help put assemble our new water/sand table. They figured out where to put the nuts and bolts and use the Allen key and wrench to tighten everything up. With the boxes, many of the children worked together to create a large vehicle, which we used to "drive to the farm" and pick some apples. Smaller boxes were also used to design smaller cars. Although we had a rainy day Halloween, the children had so much fun. We started with a parade around the classrooms and a dance in the gym. Thank you to all of the parent volunteers who helped to make this happen! (Photos to come!) We ended with some treats and a Magic School Bus video. Gobo (our classroom puppet) lost his lion last week. The children created "Lost Lion" posters and placed them around the school. Many of the teachers and older students have spotted him around the school, but he has been too quick to get him back to class. I wonder where Léo le Lion will go next? Thank you for remembering to dress your child in layers so they are always prepared for the weather. Merci et bon soir ! IMPORTANT: Welcome to our new SK student! She has moved from Alberta and excited to be in our class. We are so proud of how welcoming our students have been. Bienvenue ! ACORN card orders are due Wednesday, November 5th. You will have received an Acorn order in your child's "Sac de communication". This is a school fundraiser where you may order cards or calendars using your child's artwork. Most of the children created a picture at school. If you would prefer to use another piece of their artwork you may simply glue that piece over top of the one on the form. If you are interested in ordering, please send your money and the completed form in by Wednesday. Merci! Library Walk Form for our walking trip to the Scottsdale Public Library on Friday, November 7th. Tomorrow you should receive a blue form that will allow your child to walk to the library. We have organized a small presentation and tour of the library for the morning of November 7th. This is free of charge. If you are able to walk with us, please check "Yes" on the volunteer ability on the back of the form. You should have received a $9.00 reimbursement from our last trip. The total trip amount was $16.00 and we had initially received school funding to pay for transportation. We were fortunate enough to receive further funding and able to provide each child with a free class trip. |
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