Monday, May 4, 2020


Welcome to a new week! How are you doing? Your littles are on my mind and in my heart more than ever. I miss them tremendously. I briefly visited our classroom this week and wanted you to see that it's almost just as we left it. I have to admit it was a bit emotional stepping back into our special place after being away from it for so long. It feels empty without your smiles and giggles but made me happy to remember all the amazing things we created together in that space. There's magic in the air. 

Thank you for sharing your SINK or FLOAT experiments with me. It looks like you had a lot of fun with this! Nice work my little scientists!





The pictures of your children staring out their windows made my heart nearly explode. I'm so proud of your sketching skills!







Here are some ideas to try out this week if you choose. Find the simplified summary of activities HERE.
TUESDAY


Today is a special day because it is our LAST letter! WOOO HOOOOO!!!! 
(Please forgive my slight miscalculation last week...oops). Our final letter to focus on is the letter X. Check out the following videos and see if you can think of and draw a few things that have an X in them. 

 Write a sentence that has an X word in it. Make sure your letters are sitting on the lines and you’re checking to see if you have any popcorn words in your sentence.

STARFALL


STORYBOTS


ALPHABET STORIES



BONUS ACTIVITY

 In celebration of completing the ENTIRE alphabet, I am officially crowning you a letter e-X-pert! 


Make a crown and wear it with pride, knowing you’re a total superstar! Design your own or use one of the templates in our new crown folder on Google Drive. Click HERE to see some crown templates to choose from. Find instructions on how to make your crown HERE. Make it your own! Decorate it with jewels, coloured paper, glitter glue…use whatever you can find around your house to make it special and unique. Thank you First Palette for these great crowns and photos!





WEDNESDAY

You are officially a rhyme detective this week! Listen for rhymes in books you read, conversations you hear and shows you watch. Keep a notebook or a clipboard handy at all times to record the rhymes you hear. What do you notice about the letters in rhyming words? Can you underline the parts of each rhyming pair that are the same?


Now time for a Rhyme Hunt! This is a fun activity to get you UP AND MOVING around your house. Parents, you will need to print the rhyming game and cards HERE or draw/write your own rhyming sets. It might be fun for you to set this up the night before or while the kiddos are busy in the yard. 

1. Cut out the square pictures and hide them around your house. If you have a multilevel house, perhaps hide some on each level to get them going up and down the stairs a lot.


2. When you’re ready to play, ask your child find ONE of the hidden rhyming words at a time. Have them run back to you when they have found one and read what it says. Can they find a picture on the game board that rhymes with the word they have found? 

3. Now go find another one! Finding one word at a time will keep them moving, extend the game AND ensure that they are taking their time to find the rhyme for each word. Finding all of the rhyming pairs at the same time might be overwhelming. 
SIGHT WORDS

Here are our sight words for the week:

AND  IS  ME  HE  MY

A note about sight words…the best sight words to focus on are the ones that are most meaningful to your child specifically. My favourite way to develop new sight words is to take them from the books the children are reading. Is there a particular word that your child repeatedly gets stuck on? Make that the focus for the week. Post it everywhere! 

There are a variety of sight word lists now posted in our Literacy Folder. Feel free to work along with the words I post each week or progress through them faster or slower (if that is what your child needs). Follow their lead! We have been presented with a very unique opportunity right now, to offer children the most individualized instruction they have ever received. There is huge potential for growth here! 


FUN IDEAS TO PRACTICE LETTERS AND SIGHT WORDS:

Make them visible! Post them in funny places around the house, including the stairs! I absolutely love this idea and it works like a dream! Simplify or make it more complex for siblings. From colours, shapes, letters and numbers to skip counting and addition…this activity can be modified for any level. Have your child say each word as they step on the stair. This is particularly great for our kinesthetic learners! 

@play_at_home_mummy

Nature words! Can you build the words with loose parts you find outside? 


Sidewalk challk, sight word bingo and playdough are also some of my personal faves. Let's get our kindergarteners making, creating, exploring and building!







Most importantly, make sure to point out these words when your child is reading!



THURSDAY

Today we’re going to learn about our 5 senses. Here are some questions to guide a brief discussion before watching the videos:

Do you know what your 5 senses are?

Why do you think we have senses? 
Are they important?

Which of your 5 senses do you appreciate the most?

What are your favourite things to see, smell, touch, taste and hear?

Watch this video to learn a little bit more about the 5 senses:


Check out this super cute song that is guaranteed to be stuck in your head all day:


Now it’s time to go for an adventure of the senses! Find a park or place to sit in nature. Write down everything you can SEE, HEAR, TOUCH and SMELL. Maybe even bring a picnic and talk about the things you can TASTE. Record your findings on a chart or in a notebook. Perhaps try finding a new nature spot you haven’t been to in a while. The river bank is one of my favourite spots :)




FRIDAY

Are there any experiments you can do that are related to your Passion Project? Art you can create? Models to build? Videos to share? How can you show and share what you know?


 



Your Passion Project could also be a new skill you would like to learn, such as cooking, baking, sewing, gardening, etc.

 Don’t forget to check out some of Ms. Lecocq’s MUSIC activities today.


Give yourself permission to follow your child's lead at this time. Take a breath and do what feels right. 

 Is there anything else you need from me? How can I support you in this time? Keep me posted!

 Sending Love,

 Miss Roberts :)
 






Who doesn't love water beads?!?

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