We learned about the letter A this week and dove into all things AIRPLANES! One of my very favourite things about teaching kindergarten is being able to let the ideas, passions and interests of the children guide a great deal of the work that we do. Through conversations, stories and observation of their play over the past couple of weeks, I noticed children becoming really interested in airplanes. It didn't take long before students began asking if we could create an airplane center in our classroom. 

Working together, we brainstormed everything we would need to make our idea come to life. We read books to help us with our research and scoured the classroom for materials we could use. Afternoon students even had an opportunity to explore the school basement for supplies! 

 

 "This is our final boarding call. The plane will depart in 10 seconds."

 

"One ticket to Yew Nork City please."

(Yes, that's what she called it 😊)

Tickets in hand, en route to Madagascar, Hawaii and Paris!

 "Wait, we need to fix the plane before take-off."

 "Anyone want some snacks?"

The magic of this kind of play is that students are reading and writing for authentic, real-world purposes (creating boarding passes, passports, signs, etc.) without even being asked to do so. They are counting, measuring, solving problems, building and creating...all with incredible enthusiasm and excitement. The learning truly takes on a life of its own. This was SO MUCH FUN!

Children also enjoyed experimenting and exploring a new art medium this week...plasticine!

 

After some preliminary explorations, we decided to use the plasticine to make airplanes. We looked at diagrams to determine the essential parts of an airplane and students got right to work creating their own. They were so proud of what they created.

 

 

As always, please take a look at Mrs. Seddon's blog (mrs-seddonyyc.blogspot.ca) to find out what the students worked on in math on Monday this week.

Classroom Information and Reminders

1. Thank you to all who were able to come and join us for the Halloween Hey Day! Just a reminder that children are asked not to wear their costumes to school on Halloween.

2. We're going to the Fire Station! Afternoon students will be walking to our local fire station on Thursday, November 1. Please review the email that was sent out for further information and ensure your child is properly dressed for an outdoor walk on that day. The morning class will likely be going for their tour of the fire station on the following week. We are still waiting to hear back about a confirmed date and time. Stay tuned! 

Have a beautiful weekend! 

Miss Roberts :)

Our investigation into what it means to be part of a community continues! This week's letter focus was T and we learned about many different forms of transportation. Children were VERY excited about choosing a method of transportation to observe and draw. We used special shiny artist paper, designed just for coloring with markers. Our observational drawing skills are becoming amaaaazing! Needless to say, our kiddos were very proud of themselves this week and their teacher was beaming too :)

 

 

 

The scents of the Mr. Sketch markers and the guesses around which colour made each smell was a big part of this art experience :)

 

The following day, we practiced our scissor skills by cutting out our incredible artwork. We are learning that the only way to learn something new is to practice! Mistakes are how we learn! 

 

 Look at this concentration...

A very important part of each and every day at kindergarten is our center time. It is essential that children have opportunities to play, experiment and explore concepts they are learning about and interested in. This time in our day is absolutely magical. Students independently choose their activities, work through challenges, explore writing for authentic purposes, build confidence in themselves by solving problems, explore their creativity and solidify their understanding of concepts we are focusing on. Here's a sneak peek into some of the things happening during our center time this week:

We were builders, planning and constructing towers...

What is the tallest tower you can create? 

Our record for the week was 77 cm! 

 

We created signs for our community...

 

We were community developers, building race tracks and parkades...

 

We were city planners, sketching buildings...

We were scientists, exploring colour mixing and potion-making...

...and all of this beautiful learning happened through our play 💖

Classroom Information and Reminders

1. We had our first visit to the library! We will visit Ms. O in the library one day each week. The MORNING class will go to the library every Wednesday. The AFTERNOON class will go to the library every Thursday. Please ensure your child returns their library book on or before their library day.

2. Children worked very hard to demonstrate their understanding of the letters we have learned so far in a little review activity this week. I will be sending these home on Tuesday. Please take a look at how your child is understanding the letter concepts we have focused on so far. Do not hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I'm always here to help!

3. Scholastic book orders are due back by Tuesday.

4. Halloween Hey Day is on Thursday, October 25 from 6:00pm - 7:30pm We hope you can make it! Due to this school-wide Halloween celebration, children are asked not to dress-up at school on Halloween.

5. Next Friday, October 26 is a Professional Day for teachers. There will be no school for morning OR afternoon students on that day. 

6. Check out Mrs. Seddon's blog (mrs-seddonyyc.blogspot.ca) for info on what our kindergarteners were working on in math this week!

Enjoy this beautiful weekend! 

Miss Roberts :)

We had such a magical week together! Our letter focus was C and we came up with a TON of things that begin with this letter, including the very city and country where we live! A few of our little ones decided to create some amazing Calgary Tower artwork during center time. We're officially artists now!

 

We spent the majority of our time this week investigating what it means to be part of a community. We used Google Earth to explore our own community from a new and unique perspective and talked about the many different kinds of communities we are a part of. We learned about the importance of signs (both street signs and labels on household items) to help keep us safe within our communities and searched for signs we could find in and around our school. 

 

 

To help us gain a deeper understanding of the concept of community, we decided to create one of our own! Children got right to work making plans around what our miniature community would need. 

The following day, children had the opportunity to bring their plans to life! We started by having each child choose where they would like their home to be, ensuring careful selection based on proximity to water and other homes. We quickly realized we would need a way of getting around the community, places to find food in our community and stores to provide us with important supplies. The problem-solving, respectful dialogue and incredible ideas that were shared during this activity were absolutely phenomenal. We learned to work as a team, collaborate to find solutions, and compromise when our ideas differed from our friends. This was a truly beautiful day.

 

 

 

 

We were so proud of our completed communities!

Classroom Information and Reminders

1. Students have been challenged to look for signs around the community. Perhaps you and your child can go for a sign-hunt this weekend! 

2. We have now spent time focusing on 3 alphabet letters. Find things around the house that begin with P, H and C and see if your child is able to sort the items by their initial letter sound. Try playing Eye Spy, searching for things that begin with certain letter sounds (Eye spy with my little eye, something that starts with the letter ___ ).

3. Our school is collecting gently-used clothing items in support of Jacket Racket. We will be collecting clean winter jackets, snow pants, hats, mitts and fleece jackets at our school from now until October 22nd. Donations can be dropped off in the large bin outside of the main office.

4. PICTURE DAY IS MONDAY, October 15! Bring your smiles :) 

5. From time to time, there are odd jobs (cutting/gluing type things, Scholastic catalogues, etc.), I would love your support with! If you are open to helping out with such things at home, please let me know (taroberts@cbe.ab.ca).  

Have an amazing weekend everyone! I'll see you on Tuesday!

Miss Roberts :)

Did I mention our community had gigantic crocodiles?!