Weekly News April 26th
I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend as much as I did! I loved the sleeping in part but it was wonderful to see everyone on Tuesday.
After fine arts on Tuesday morning we went for a bit of an alley walk. We went toward the community centre and found some lilacs blossoming in the alley! I was told they smelled like pretty perfume. We walked back to the school via York Avenue and found some lovely tulips growing along the way. We practiced using our describing words to tell about which ones we liked best and why. When we got back to the school we went down to look at the progress that had been made on the new sandbox. While we were down there we played for a bit on the lower playground. I was gifted with a lovely daisy chain on a stick which has hung in the classroom for the rest of the week. Before lunch Melvin came and introduced the feeling of being Kind. In library Miss Julie read us a book about a mole who found that her hole was the best home! Then she taught us a song with counting in French! During centres there has been a lot of fort-building action lately and many students are enjoying using their imaginations to create complex scenarios.
Wednesday morning we set off right away looking for Crofton Lake. We had a lovely walk, along paths we've never taken before, and saw some interesting things - a mommy and baby slug, root formations, fallen trees to climb on. We did eventually find the lake and it was very pretty! Everyone settled down on or near the dock to eat their snack and then draw or write about something they noticed there. We had to rescue one water bottle that tried to swim away and we only had a short time to play after the snack and writing was done, but we all agreed that it was a perfect day to find the lake! Unfortunately, finding our way back to the school took longer than expected. We decided to try and use the trails app on my phone to look for a trail into our woods. We ended up doing a bit of bushwhacking and eventually found a long route around to our woods. We were really excited to find a neat shelter that someone had built in the woods! Some of the students pretended they were in jail! The long way back meant that we missed our lunch recess time but we were pretty beat from all the walking anyway. Mrs. Switzer (grade 1/2 this year) invited us to come and have centres with her in the afternoon. We're not sure what the grade configurations will be for next year but we think it's important to have the K's meet all the potential grade one teachers. Mrs. Switzer's class told us about an experiment they were doing with counting seeds inside fruit and veggies. Afterwards we went out for a play on the upper playground.
Thursday morning we packed up our backpacks and headed for the beach. We took our writing/drawing books again and before we left we talked about using our Kindergarten skills to write the sounds we hear in the words we want to write. Together we wrote "I am at vu bej. It iz fun." (I am at the beach. It is fun.) I was really impressed to see a few students try and add words to their drawings when we were there! On the way we encountered a road crew doing work on the sidewalks. We got to see a digger close-up! While everyone was sitting and eating I read a book - I'm trying to take our literacy outside as much as possible! Many of the students were excited to get up on the pier and go down onto the dock. We threw lots of rocks in the water and found some live crabs and some pieces of dead crabs. Just before we left almost everyone played on an impromptu teeter-totter made from logs! In the afternoon we took some of our inside things (like books, trains, and cars) outside for centres time. Students could choose to be inside in Ms. Mousseau's room or outside with me. It was a lovely afternoon and so nice to see the play happening in a different way.
In Fine Arts on Friday morning Ms. Wood showed everyone how to make paper nesting dolls. Afterwords we packed up our snacks and headed for a play in the woods. The students have grown and matured so much since we started going for walks. It was a lovely, relaxed playtime and we came back to the school refreshed and ready to get some work done. After a bit of math and some catch up time for those who hadn't finished their "W" wonder page about oviparous animals, we had a bit of time for small centres before lunch. I had an appointment in the afternoon so Mr. Richardson came to be the guest teacher.
This week I began reading a class novel during eating times. It's called The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton. I told the students that it is just right for them because they have such great imaginations! It's about three children (Jo, Bessie and Fanny) who move from the town to the country and find that there is a magical woods behind their house. They will have some grand adventures as we continue reading. I'll keep you updated here so you can ask your child about what's happening in the story.
I've done some further investigating with the FreshGrade problems and it seems there were some issues around an update that I failed to install. It may take me a couple of weeks to re-create the posts but I'll try and get everything up to date as soon as possible.
NEXT WEEK - April 29th - May 3rd
Monday - Walk day
Tuesday - Library Day
- Parent-Child Mother Goose - preschool program in the library from 9am - 10am
- Jump Rope for Heart event in the afternoon - feel free to join us!
Wednesday - Photo day
- possible walk day
Thursday - Walk day
- Hot lunch orders due (burgers next Friday May 10)
- Jump Rope for Heart pledges due
Friday - Pro-D - No school for students
After fine arts on Tuesday morning we went for a bit of an alley walk. We went toward the community centre and found some lilacs blossoming in the alley! I was told they smelled like pretty perfume. We walked back to the school via York Avenue and found some lovely tulips growing along the way. We practiced using our describing words to tell about which ones we liked best and why. When we got back to the school we went down to look at the progress that had been made on the new sandbox. While we were down there we played for a bit on the lower playground. I was gifted with a lovely daisy chain on a stick which has hung in the classroom for the rest of the week. Before lunch Melvin came and introduced the feeling of being Kind. In library Miss Julie read us a book about a mole who found that her hole was the best home! Then she taught us a song with counting in French! During centres there has been a lot of fort-building action lately and many students are enjoying using their imaginations to create complex scenarios.
Wednesday morning we set off right away looking for Crofton Lake. We had a lovely walk, along paths we've never taken before, and saw some interesting things - a mommy and baby slug, root formations, fallen trees to climb on. We did eventually find the lake and it was very pretty! Everyone settled down on or near the dock to eat their snack and then draw or write about something they noticed there. We had to rescue one water bottle that tried to swim away and we only had a short time to play after the snack and writing was done, but we all agreed that it was a perfect day to find the lake! Unfortunately, finding our way back to the school took longer than expected. We decided to try and use the trails app on my phone to look for a trail into our woods. We ended up doing a bit of bushwhacking and eventually found a long route around to our woods. We were really excited to find a neat shelter that someone had built in the woods! Some of the students pretended they were in jail! The long way back meant that we missed our lunch recess time but we were pretty beat from all the walking anyway. Mrs. Switzer (grade 1/2 this year) invited us to come and have centres with her in the afternoon. We're not sure what the grade configurations will be for next year but we think it's important to have the K's meet all the potential grade one teachers. Mrs. Switzer's class told us about an experiment they were doing with counting seeds inside fruit and veggies. Afterwards we went out for a play on the upper playground.
Thursday morning we packed up our backpacks and headed for the beach. We took our writing/drawing books again and before we left we talked about using our Kindergarten skills to write the sounds we hear in the words we want to write. Together we wrote "I am at vu bej. It iz fun." (I am at the beach. It is fun.) I was really impressed to see a few students try and add words to their drawings when we were there! On the way we encountered a road crew doing work on the sidewalks. We got to see a digger close-up! While everyone was sitting and eating I read a book - I'm trying to take our literacy outside as much as possible! Many of the students were excited to get up on the pier and go down onto the dock. We threw lots of rocks in the water and found some live crabs and some pieces of dead crabs. Just before we left almost everyone played on an impromptu teeter-totter made from logs! In the afternoon we took some of our inside things (like books, trains, and cars) outside for centres time. Students could choose to be inside in Ms. Mousseau's room or outside with me. It was a lovely afternoon and so nice to see the play happening in a different way.
In Fine Arts on Friday morning Ms. Wood showed everyone how to make paper nesting dolls. Afterwords we packed up our snacks and headed for a play in the woods. The students have grown and matured so much since we started going for walks. It was a lovely, relaxed playtime and we came back to the school refreshed and ready to get some work done. After a bit of math and some catch up time for those who hadn't finished their "W" wonder page about oviparous animals, we had a bit of time for small centres before lunch. I had an appointment in the afternoon so Mr. Richardson came to be the guest teacher.
This week I began reading a class novel during eating times. It's called The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton. I told the students that it is just right for them because they have such great imaginations! It's about three children (Jo, Bessie and Fanny) who move from the town to the country and find that there is a magical woods behind their house. They will have some grand adventures as we continue reading. I'll keep you updated here so you can ask your child about what's happening in the story.
I've done some further investigating with the FreshGrade problems and it seems there were some issues around an update that I failed to install. It may take me a couple of weeks to re-create the posts but I'll try and get everything up to date as soon as possible.
NEXT WEEK - April 29th - May 3rd
Monday - Walk day
Tuesday - Library Day
- Parent-Child Mother Goose - preschool program in the library from 9am - 10am
- Jump Rope for Heart event in the afternoon - feel free to join us!
Wednesday - Photo day
- possible walk day
Thursday - Walk day
- Hot lunch orders due (burgers next Friday May 10)
- Jump Rope for Heart pledges due
Friday - Pro-D - No school for students