To all who come to this happy classroom…WELCOME! Here you enter a place of wonder, curiosity and everyday magic. We’re so happy you’re here!
I am filled with joy after having spent the last 2 weeks with your children. I can already tell it’s going to be an incredible year. My heart is bursting with pride over how much effort and thoughtfulness your kiddos have demonstrated throughout our first days together. I feel so fortunate to be a part of this beautiful time in your child’s life.
Our first couple weeks in kindergarten have focused on establishing our routines and coming together as a classroom family. We are learning so much about each other and loving every minute. There have been many giggles and smiles. We’re making an effort to enjoy as much outdoor time as much as possible and finding opportunities each day to take breaks from wearing our masks.
Centre time is an exciting part of our day when children are free to create, explore and investigate the many treasures we have in our room. This is a definite highlight for children and provides many opportunities for collaboration, problem-solving, experimentation and wonder. Here’s a sneak peek into some of our centre time magic…
We even found the time to explore how to represent ourselves through different styles of self-portraits.
Mrs. Planden and I will post here regularly. Come back often to see what we’ve been up to :)
Please note, I’ve made an effort NOT to include any beautiful faces in the photos this week until we receive consent from each of you. If you would like your child to be represented on the blog, please let us know by selecting “YES” on the media consent form that was sent home earlier this week.
Love,
Miss Roberts
Here’s a note from Mrs. Planden as well:
I told the kids when I was in on Tuesday this week that I had woken up with the biggest smile on my face knowing what an amazing day we would have together -- and it did not disappoint!
As you may know, Miss Roberts and I have entered into a job share opportunity in which we will be sharing the teaching. I will be in one day a week, and Tracy will be in for the other four. We will be advising parents through the blog as to when students can expect to have each teacher.
This past Tuesday, we did a whole group math lesson using beads and pipe cleaners. We used these objects to discuss the numbers 0 to 5. Our eventual target is to, "Say the number sequence 1 to 10 forward or backward between any beginning point and any end point." We began this activity with 5 beads, and will add the next 5 beads on Monday. We also had lots of discussions as we were threading the beads onto the pipe cleaners about "more, less, and the same". We compared the colours of beads on everyone's pipe cleaner using these concept words. The learning target we were working on here was to, "Compare and describe sets of objects using words such as more, fewer, as many as, or the same number".
I asked that the kids practice counting from 1-5 forwards, and backwards before I saw them again next week, and would greatly appreciate your support in this! A fun strategy for counting back is just to do a rocket ship count "5,4,3,2,1 BLASTOFF!" or 4,3,2,1 BLASTOFF etc.
I also put out a new centre for the kids to work through individually during centre time which involves matching a set of numerals and dots with a given number of ladybugs. This activity is intended to help to build their number recognition skills as well as their ability to subitize numbers (which essentially just means recognizing at a glance or without counting). On Monday, we will be doing our first math journal entry to go along with the activity.
We are so excited for all the learning ahead. Have a wonderful weekend, and you can let your littles know that they will be seeing me on Monday!
Thanks,
Mrs. Planden
Classroom Info and Reminders
1. Please review and return your child's school forms if you have not already done so. We do remind the children to check their backpacks for forms but a reminder right before drop off may help ensure we receive them :)
2. We need your help! If you have any empty tin cans (without sharp edges), can you please send them in? We are also looking for clear, plastic egg cartons. Thank you!
