M is for MONDRIAN! Children were introduced to one of my favourite artists this week, Piet Mondrian. They couldn't get enough of this art invitation! Kiddos were lined up to have a turn at this new centre and were SO proud of the Mondrian-inspired art they were able to create on their own.
M is for MAP! With M as our letter focus, children designed and mapped their own communities this week. They were so engaged with this activity that we needed to stretch it out over 2 days. Keen to include things such as candy stores, amusement parks and fashion boutiques, our little community planners had no shortage of ideas around what to include within their community.
Look at what we discovered when searching for our homes on Google Earth...
M is for ME and MIRROR! Take a look at these incredible portraits! There's something so magical about how a child chooses to represent themselves.
Inspired by the poem, 5 Little Pumpkins, one of our centre time challenges this week was to build a gate large enough to fit 5 little pumpkins. I love the creative thinking happening here :)
We've now spent time learning about 5 alphabet letters (M, C, H, P and F). As always, please take some time to review and point out these letters at home this weekend. See how many of these letters you can spot in the grocery store! Try playing Eye Spy ("I spy with my little eye, something that begins with the letter..."). Make the letters out of playdough or noodles or blocks! Your child should confidently be able to tell you the name of these letters and identify the sound that each letter makes.
This is Marty the Monster. Ask your child what he likes!
(I'll give you a hint...he likes all things that begin with the letter M.)
Stay warm out there this weekend!
Lots of Love,
Miss Roberts
💛
Here's a note from Mrs. Planden around what the kiddos are working on in math:
We continued our work on sorting this week and the students are really developing a great understanding of how to sort a variety of materials according to various criteria. We learned that some materials can only be sorted one way, while others had unique characteristics that could be sorted multiple different ways. We discussed the most common ways of sorting being size, shape and colour. In addition to that, kids explored other more complex ways of sorting--as an example, the number of holes in buttons. We also introduced the vocabulary word of 'set' being a group of objects with common characteristics.
I gave all the kids 'homework' and asked them to help their families with the unloading of the dishwasher before I see them next, a real-world application of sorting!
We set up a centre for them this week to explore using punches and paper, and challenged them to sort the confetti that they punched out either by the attribute of shape or the attribute of colour.
Next week we will be moving into pattern explorations.
Have a wonderful weekend, and I can't wait to hear about your adventures on Monday!
Mrs. Planden 💜
Classroom Info and Reminders:
1. Did you know that each classroom has its own parent council classroom rep? These wonderful representatives attend all parent council meetings and are happy to pass along important information that may arise from these meetings. If you would like to be kept informed, please email your child's classroom representative and they will add you to their email distribution list. Our morning rep is Katie and her email address is katiegiovando@gmail.com . Our afternoon representative is Alessandra and her email address is alerobertson14@gmail.com
2. Children are welcome to wear their Halloween costumes at school on Thursday, October 29th. We request that you keep weapons and costume accessories at home. Please be reminded that there is to be no sharing of food treats at school.
3. Now that the weather has turned on us, we need your help! Please support your child to be successful at school by encouraging them to begin putting on their winter gear with independence at home. If your child doesn't know how to zip-up their jacket, that would be a great thing to have them practice this weekend :)
4. I have sent home a letter review activity for you to do with your child this weekend as a way for you to get a glimpse into how well your child is understanding our weekly letter concepts. Before offering too much assistance, see if your child is able to complete the activity independently. Are they able to isolate the sound at the beginning of each word or do they need you to say the word/sound for them? Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions :)
