Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Hello Kindergarten Families!

Thank you for sharing the incredible small-world set-ups and stories that filled your homes last week. I am so proud of you for taking on this important kindergarten work! Check out these amazing creations:



 


I really loved seeing the diversity in how children chose to represent their stories with pictures and words.






Here's our schedule of suggested activities for this week. Enjoy the activities in whatever way works best for you and your family. 
TUESDAY


Our new letter this week is Q. Are you getting the hang of this yet? You know the routine by now. Only a few more letters to go! Head to Starfall and then YouTube for our weekly Storybots and Squiggles letter videos. Please help your child to understand this tricky sound that is similar to a k and a w stuck together /kw/ and teach them that a u always follows a Q :)
One of the most interesting things I can think of that begins with Q is a Queen Bee. 

Did you know…

A bee becomes a queen bee thanks to the efforts of the existing worker bees in the hive. A young larva (newly hatched baby insect) is fed special food called "royal jelly" by the worker bees. Royal jelly is richer than the food given to worker larvae, and is necessary for the larva to develop into a fertile queen bee. (Taken from https://sciencing.com/bee-become-queen-bee-5200755.html)

Watch the following videos to learn some interesting facts about bees! Bonus points if you can figure out what the Queen Bee’s job is!




If you're up for it, head on over to Art Hub to learn how to draw a realistic-looking bee.




WEDNESDAY

Our new sight words for this week are…

IT   TO   IN   AT   ON

Here are some fun new ways to practice your Popcorn Words this week:

Can you create the words out of playdough or other loose parts around your house? 
(This is great for learning to read AND write these words. Win-win!)



 


Play sight-word BINGO! Feel free to print off the game board HERE or create your own at home.


Make a match! Print 2 copies of the sight word cards and play a memory game. Each player takes turns flipping 2 cards to try and get a match. 


Write the words outside with sidewalk chalk. Hop over each word and say it as you jump on it.

 Bring some water outside and paint the words on the sidewalk or on a rock.


Make a salt (or sugar or sand) tray and use a brush or your finger to write the words.
I absolutely love seeing these ideas come to life in your homes! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful photos with me.




In addition to practicing your sight words this week, I have a 
READING CHALLENGE 
for you!

One of the amazing features of Raz-Kids is the ability to record your child reading a book. This recording is then sent to me and I get to hear a snapshot of the amazing reading happening at your home. 

Today we are going to practice our fluency skills! Children need to experience what it feels like to read a book with ease and expression, without having to pause as they figure out each word. They do this by re-reading the same text, numerous times over the course of a few days/weeks. With each reading, they become more confident, expressive and fluent. This is a big more complicated with online texts (and doesn’t earn you extra stars), but is still a very important skill. 

So over the course of this week, I would like your child to choose a favourite text they have enjoyed reading on Raz-Kids and have them practice reading it numerous times. When they feel confident they are able to read it fluently (and maybe even with a bit of expression), have them record themselves reading it. 


When you are in the Level Up section and reading a book, you will see the red audio recording symbol above the book. If you can't see it, click the white triangle and it will pop up. Simply click record when you start reading and make sure you click all the way through the book. If the recording is more than 30 seconds, it will automatically be sent to me so I can hear it. I look forward to hearing all of my little readers! 

Be sure to check the messages section at the bottom of the main screen from time to time to see if you have any messages from me! There will be a red dot on the messages symbol if there is a new message. 


THURSDAY


I need your help to investigate an important question I’ve been wondering about… 

Is it spring yet?

The calendar says so, but I’m not so sure. Read the stories below and create a checklist of all the signs of spring you can think of. Then head outside to see what you can see! 


Click the link to watch the stories about spring:

If you are prompted to log-in, you will need to access the stories by going through LearnAlberta. Click on the link below (username: LA06  Password: 4105). Click on BookFlix and then search for SPRING.




 


Can you guess what this is??

FRIDAY

It’s passion project day, aka choice day! This is the time for your child to learn about what THEY would like to learn about. If they are loving their current topic, keep it going! Research! Record your findings! Ask new questions! Make a book! Create some art! Film an instructional video to teach others about what you’ve learned! These are all simply ideas of course. Ask your child how they would like to share their knowledge. If your child has lost interest in their initial topic, start a new one!

Our little researchers, hard at work!

 Planting Seeds


Digging Up Dinosaur Bones

Monet! 


 


My goal is for children to become ACTIVE participants in their learning and to develop a deep sense of wonder about the world. There is so much magic out there to explore!


As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions about your child’s learning or if there are any additional resources or activities I can provide for you. Please know I am working through your emails and updates as fast as I possibly can. If you haven’t heard back from me yet, I promise my response is on its way shortly.

I’ve added a couple bonus goodies to our Google Drive folder. There is an Upper and Lower Case letter matching ice cream activity and some fun scavenger hunts you might want to check out :) I've also added a CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) reading activity that might be fun. If you choose to try this activity, I would print the words and pictures, hide the words around the house and then have your child search for them, run back and then find the matching picture. Or play it BINGO style.

 Missing you all so very much!

 Love,
Miss Roberts 💖
 We can finally do some outdoor water play! Yaay!
(Literally throw any favourite toys into some coloured water. This is an underwater Minecraft world 😆)



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