We continued our investigation of sea turtles this week. Throughout our research, we came to learn that 6 out of the 7 species of sea turtles are endangered. We were particularly sad to learn that the reason for this is because of human activity. Students drew pictures to show their understanding of why sea turtles are endangered. On the following day, we did some reflective writing to express how this information makes us feel. Our young kindergarteners are incredibly compassionate and caring. They were deeply affected by this information and are inspired to save the sea turtles! Thanks to one of our particularly passionate students, we already have a Save the Sea Turtle Club underway :)

 "I am shocked. I learned that sea turtles get eaten by humans. Why do people throw so much garbage on the beach? Why do people throw plastic bags in the ocean?"

"I want to save sea turtles. I wouldn't want to be born on the beach with all this garbage." 

 "I really do not like people making turtle shells into jewelry." 

"I feel sad and angry. I don't understand why people are eating sea turtle eggs." 

"I am surprised that sea turtles sometimes eat plastic bags."

"I am going to do a Save the Sea Turtle party."  

I hope your weekends are filled with inspiring conversations about sea turtles! We have some amazing young conservationists and budding biologists on our hands!

Miss Roberts

Have a wonderful long weekend! See you on Tuesday :)

Miss Roberts 

This week in kindergarten we talked about the letter Z. We have now spent time printing and talking about all but 2 letters of the alphabet. Most students are very confident with letter sounds by now and are able to confidently apply what they know when completing writing and reading activities at school. If your child is not yet easily able to identify most letter names and sounds, I would encourage you to practice these at home to build your child's confidence in this area. It is an expectation that students know a majority of letter names and sounds by the end of kindergarten and be able to use them independently to engage in classroom tasks. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or would like some suggestions around how to further support your child at home. 

We started to investigate Sea Turtles this week! Students were fascinated by many of the facts we learned and particularly enjoyed watching videos of baby sea turtles emerging from their nest (it's seriously adorable). Students were asked to represent what they learned in a detailed drawing that they will paint next week. 

Our kindergarteners were extremely excited about the opportunity to make something special for their mothers this week. They worked very hard at their beautiful zinnia flowers and cards for you. May all you mothers be spoiled with love and appreciation on your special day this weekend! You deserve it! 

Classroom Reminders:

1. Sports Day is happening on Thursday, May 18th from 2:00-3:15. As this is an afternoon event, the afternoon students will be participating when they are at school. The students in the morning class are welcome to come and join the fun but will need to be accompanied by an adult. The stations and activities will be taking place on the school field. Thank you so much to all of the parents who offered to volunteer for this exciting event! Please meet us at our classroom at 1:45 so we can divide the students into groups before going outside. It should be a fun day!

2. Friday, May 19th is a Professional Day for teachers. There will be no school for students on this day. 

3. If you have not already done so, please help your child to complete their ocean research questions and return to school this week or next. Thank you for your help with this! 

Have a beautiful weekend! Happy Mother's Day!

Miss Roberts

In honour of Mental Health Week, students in kindergarten learned about ways to keep our minds healthy! We focused on calming strategies and brainstormed a variety of things we can do if we find ourselves feeling frustrated. Here are some of the ideas our amazing kindergarteners came up with (all on their own):

If I feel frustrated, I can...

meditate

go for a walk

lay in my bed and take some deep breaths

spend some time in nature

read a book in my room

ask for alone time

talk about how I am feeling

It is incredibly exciting to see students beginning to implement some of these strategies in their daily lives, such as asking to take a break when they need one, or finding a calm, quiet spot to calm themselves down when they experience something challenging in the classroom. 

Thank you so much for your support with the at-home ocean research projects this week. Students who have brought back their questions have done an outstanding job of sharing their knowledge with their classmates. We are having so much fun learning new things from each other and students are loving the opportunity to play the role of the teacher. Please continue to send these in over the next couple of weeks :)

Students worked through an addition math challenge on Thursday. They used dice to practice adding groups and writing number sentences. These kiddos LOVE math! I stopped them after half an hour, but they could have kept going all day.

Our beautiful weather this week brought about many opportunities to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. Children are such natural explorers. We took time to look closely, observe the beauty of our surroundings and discovered some pretty cool things in our own school yard! Check out these amazing photos, taken by our very own kindergarteners.

Classroom Reminders

1. The warm weather has made our classroom HOT! Our big beautiful windows are lovely, but also bring in a lot of heat. Please make sure your child has a water bottle with them when they come to school to help keep them hydrated throughout the day :)

2. Sports Day is coming! This will be taking place on the afternoon of Thursday, May 18 from 2:00-3:15. We will require 4 or 5 afternoon parents to join us for the festivities and help our kinders make it through all of the stations. If you are interested in being one of our volunteers and have your approved security clearance, please email me (taroberts@cbe.ab.ca) to let me know. Morning students are more than welcome to join us for the afternoon, but will require adult supervision. I will send out further details as I learn more. 

3. If you would like to order anything from Scholastic this month, please return order forms on Monday.

Have a lovely weekend in the sun!

Miss Roberts