The children continue to be involved in so many learning activities!
Journal writing is a great way for the children to explore their creative writing skills and share experiences with their friends and teachers. As the year progresses, we are noticing more and more details in their pictures, which is indicative of their emergent literacy skills. Writing for this age group starts with curved and straight lines, followed by attempts to create a person (a circle for the body/head, dots for the eyes, semi-circle for the mouth, and lines for the limbs). Next, the children will continue to perfect their drawings of people adding more detail and colour, and as the progression continues, they will add background and foreground objects. Lastly, the children will begin to attempt to write words. Again starting with curved and straight lines, then printing symbols and letters, next words, and lastly a sentence of two. Bravo, les amis !
Our senior students have begun to work on guided reading activities. In small groups of four or five, we have started focussing on the conventions of a book (e.g., title, author, illustrator, front cover, words, sentences, images, directionality). Then, we look at the words and practice reading together. The idea is to expose and appropriately challenge the needs of each child and to ensure that the children can be successful with their learning. One child may be learning that letters make up words, another child may be learning that pictures help us understand text, another child may be ready to read familiar French words. All of these steps are amazing places to be and are all great reasons to celebrate!
Math problem solving and spatial awareness have also been a key area over the past few weeks! This week, these skills were challenged through a stability activity, where the children had to create stable structures using straws, modelling clay, and a pompom. The idea was to work in a small group of two and create a structure that was at least two straws tall and stable enough to hold a pompom on the highest point. We talked about various attributes that make a structure stable. It has to have a wide, flat base and materials that support, the higher the structure gets.
Collaboration was also key in this activity. We discussed our roles of our group members, how to speak respectfully to one another, how people contribute, and the importance of listening to everyone's ideas. It was interesting to see those who had good communication skills, those who had the ability to build, those who were good at observing the situation, and those eager to take risks and give it a go! The small groups were then placed together to create a bigger group dynamic to see how this would change our building ideas and further challenge their collaborative thinking skills. I heard one group say, "We work really well as a team! Maybe we can be a team, even outside!" "We're going to be unstoppable!" said another. Another student was excited to share that a Christmas tree is stable because it has a big base and is really tall.
Next, we moved to making stable structures using blocks. The challenge was to create a structure that was taller than the tallest student. I told them that they were being excellent engineers! With that sad, one girl quickly got up and ran over to the dramatic play centre and grabbed two safety hats, exclaiming, "We need our engineer hats!" Their learning was extended as they engaged in outdoor fort building and forest play! This was such a rich activity that challenged many learning areas.
Here is an article discussing the merits of spatial reasoning and why it is important for early math education:
https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2017/01/29/why-spatial-reasoning-is-crucial-for-early-math-education/
The children have been thoroughly enjoying their new dance routine and are excited about presenting their performance next Friday, February 10th at 11h10 and 13h35 in the gym. The day of the performance, the dance instructors would love for the girls to wear a dress and the boys to wear a white t-shirt and blue jeans. All parents are welcome to come to a performance!
The 100th Day of School is close upon us! We will be celebrating this day on Monday, February 13th, and we will have various small activities throughout the day. Leading up to this day, it would be wonderful if each child could bring in a container with 100 objects in it (e.g., Cheerios, paperclips, crayons, beans, etc...). Please label your child's container, if you wish that it be returned.
On St. Valentine's Day, February 14th, we will have a small classroom celebration. If you wish to send in Valentine's card, please have your child print their name only on the card, indicating who it is from. This really simplifies card giving, because if each card is addressed to a specific child, it can be very stressful for your child. Thank you for your understanding. We have 25 students in our lovely class.
Family Day - February 20th - No School - Enjoy time with your family!
Have a wonderful weekend! Bonne fin de semaine !