Writing with Purpose - Dear Ginger

When students write with purpose they are far more likely to be engaged, not to mention their written language development strengthens without even realizing it.  We spend our day engaging the students in various writing activities with different purposes.  We label our pictures, write lists, letters, a description of our work, make signs for structures we have built, and so much more.

A special friend has arrived in our class, her name is Ginger!  Ginger is a very cute stuffed bear! We have learned that she has a favourite pass time which is writing letters.  As a class we have written letters to Ginger and received responses.  Now students have the opportunity to visit the letter writing area and write their own letters to Ginger.  The expression on the students faces when they receive mail - a personalized letter back is just precious! Ginger's evenings must be very busy as the mailbox is full at the end of each day with letters asking questions and sharing information about hobbies, interests, wonders, personal experiences and so on.  

We thank those of you who have embraced this opportunity and even taken the time at night to support your child with writing to Ginger.  We hope that this opportunity will continue to help students develop a love of writing!  

Just before the winter break Ginger took a trip to a warmer climate.  The class received emails with pictures which continued to spark their writing enjoyment!  Everyday we were asked "When is Ginger coming home?"  We were able to link our discussions about animals in winter with Ginger, one student (E.Z.) concluded that "Ginger is a party bear".  Bears are supposed to hibernate but Ginger clearly decided to migrate and keep her social life alive with her new friend Barry!!  

    

This past week, Ginger returned to the cold.  Her and Barry made an appearance in our class - students were overjoyed!  Much love was shown and concern for their need to be warm.  Many felt that they needed to make a den for Ginger and Barry to keep warm.  We are excited to see where this will go in the coming weeks.  

Purposeful writing can happen anywhere and anytime...maybe your child would like to write a letter to family members.  How about a shopping list, wish list, a menu for a family dinner. Maybe write a birthday card or a card to someone to brighten their day? We would even love to receive a letter at school!!  

Math Fun

On a daily basis, we have been using ten-frames to help us gain an understanding of numbers as a structure of 5 and 10.  Ten-frames are an arrangement of 10 squares that are organized into two rows - five in each row.  Objects of choice are placed in the squares beginning at the top left corner allowing students to see groups of five and ten.    

Upon entering in the morning, students sign in by placing their mini-self portrait on the ten-frame.  As a class we will count the number of students at school.  Students began by counting each self-portrait individually.  Now many of the students are able to use the knowledge they have gained to see the ten-frame as a unit of 10!  They are realizing that two ten-frames added together make twenty, are counting on, adding and subtracting.  Those students who were/are counting the self-portraits individually are being challenged to shift their thinking and rather mentally manipulate the information.  These ten-frames have meaning to the students because they were excited to figure out how many friends were in our class each day. 

Beginning in January our ten-frames will not only be for signing in but will require students to answer a daily survey question.  Looking forward to seeing all the questions and answers we come up with!

Pizza 123 - Dramatic Play

The dramatic play area is often one of the most visited areas in our classroom.  We love to get creative with the students and co-create the space making it as authentic as possible.  During our conversation about the area we developed a list of possible ideas. Some of the ideas that students came up with were a doctors office, pizza shop, mini classroom, restaurant, toy shop, movie theatre and more.  After voting, the winning idea was to create a pizza shop!  So the planning began.  

Together we brainstormed names for our shop, items that would be found at a pizza shop, potential menu items, and jobs that would be needed to make the pizza shop run smoothly.  Many of the ideas required conversation to further develop and in some cases scale down to be more realistic.  Although we all love sprinkles and chocolate sauce they were not deemed the most practical pizza toppings!  

Through voting and tallying of our results “Pizza 123” was well underway.  We created signs, menus, felt pizza and pizza toppings, gathered beverages and set up the pizza shop with beautiful seating areas.  Order forms were created to take pizza orders and jobs were decided upon.  Students were so eager to begin playing!  Oral language was developing and we heard the shift from “What do you want?” to “Would you like to order some pizza?” or “Can I take your order, please?”  Taking turns and trying out different roles at the pizza shop was very difficult for some and we continue to work on teaching around this. 

  

Pizza 123 was a huge success!  Some SK students wanted to invite friends from other classes to visit (mainly or SK students from last year).  Well, how else do we do this but by writing a letter!!

A group of students took turns writing a letter and then shared it with the rest of the class.  As a class we went to photocopy the letter so we could send it out and welcome new customers.  

However, upon our return to the class we had an unexpected situation….

The health department had made a quick visit and it didn’t go well.  Pizza 123 was ordered to shut down.  Oh no!  The health department found a mess - food on the floor, a sink that was filled with items, pizza toppings all over the counter, milk cartons laying out on the tables.  Students had a mix of confusion, anger, and upset by the caution tape and red sign hanging. 

We discussed that we would need to strategize on Monday ways to reopen and obtain a green pass from the health inspector.  Hopefully this lesson will teach the students that cleaning up matters and taking a shared responsibility for our environment is important - and not only when prompted by an adult.  

We are eager to get back up and running and welcome new customers to Pizza 123!

Exploring Nature

We have reflected many times on how lucky we are to have such a beautiful new school with many great learning spaces.  Our outdoor spaces are just as beautiful!  Unlike many schools we are privileged to have a pond close by which allows for lots of wonder and exploration.  We love to walk over and observe the seasonal changes throughout the year.  Some students draw what they see, while others write down what they see, smell, hear and feel. We even have a few students who are in charge of documenting what we see by taking some pictures.  

Prior to going on our nature walk, we discussed what the signs of Fall were and brainstormed a list of what we may see.  We read some books to gather more ideas about Fall and possibly spark some new wonders.  Once at the pond, students were excited to share what they noticed.  Our students were not the only ones who were curious...the geese came up from the water to pose for some pictures and spent quite a bit of time just looking at us!  Students wondered what the geese were thinking while they watched us!!

Mix it Up - A Look at Colours

Our students express interest in many topics throughout the day.  One of the interests that emerged and remained fairly consistent is a fascination with rainbows and colours.  We decided to take a closer look at colour and colour mixing.  

At first, we became creative while using the primary colours - red, yellow, and blue.  Beautiful paintings were being made and some discussion developed around the need for other colours.  Some children found that other colours were created when paint was accidentally mixed!  Several Sk students gathered around and explained some key points to the Jk students: 

yellow + blue = green

blue + red = purple

red + yellow = orange

We decided to experiment using coloured water. Food colouring and water were mixed to make the primary colours.  Using the primary colours the students helped us to mix some of the colours to see what would happen.  Secondary colours were created!  We now had our very own rainbow made from the original 3 primary colours! 

A curious student asked: what happens if we mix all the primary colours together? "We made black!"

What do you think will happen if we place paper towel over rainbow jars and allow the paper towel to dip in each colour? 

“We will have a rainbow snake!” EF

“The paper towel will soak up water and the colour will go on the paper towel” CW

“Maybe it will be like tie dye” AA

When water is ‘sucked’ up by the paper towel we learned that this is because the water is being absorbed.  Students immediately began using the word absorbed when describing what they were seeing.  As the day went on the students spent quite a bit of time observing and wondering what would happen next with the water and colours.  

What do you think will happen if we placed one side of paper towel in the yellow water and the other side in the empty jar?  What if we placed another piece of paper towel in the blue water and the other end in the empty jar? 

“Maybe something will turn green?” 

Teacher: What do you think will turn green? 

“I don’t know!  There is no water to change colour”

Teacher: Let’s try and see what happens!

Students were fascinated that the water was absorbed into the paper towel and began filling the empty middle jar.  Since water was coming from both the yellow and blue jars the result was green water!  

As we continued to experiment with colour we shared in another experiment.  Using some common household items together with the class we set up the experiment then questioned the students as to what they thought would happen next.  

Baking soda was poured into empty jars.  Then coloured vinegar was slowly poured into each jar at the same time.  The mixture erupted and overflowed - as the coloured liquids began mixing a new colour formed.  We now had some purple forming in the middle of the container.  

We look forward to more colour exploration as the year continues! 

Around the Bend Farm

Rain or shine we were heading to the farm!  Students and fabulous parent volunteers came to school dressed for the rain and were determined to have a wonderful time on our field trip. Although it appeared Mother Nature was not on our side and the rain was coming down hard, we caught a break and it barely rained on us!

It was such a pleasure to watch the students engage in all aspects of the trip.  They enjoyed all of the hands on experiences and learning opportunities provided by the farm.  Some even wished that we could move our school to the farm!  

We visited the green house and had the chance to plant some seeds.  Each student planted a sunflower seed, 2 types of corn, and romaine lettuce.  Then they learned that Marigold flowers are a farmers friend as they help to keep insects away because their leaves taste bitter.  We also learned that despite the green house being white everything inside is green and that is where it gets its name.  Over the course of the week students have been sharing with the class that some plants are growing strong!

Students then had a lesson about bees.  We saw many pictures that illustrated the process of how honey is made, saw some of the clothing and tools used by a beekeeper, followed by a yummy taste of honey.  

Next up on our adventure was a bumpy wagon ride!!

While on a bush walk we learned about some of the special plants that were growing around us like the Trillium Flower, as well as, some of the animals that would be found within the bush.

Our final stop at the farm was to see some baby animals.  They were so cute and we even had the chance to touch some of them.  Some of the animals we saw were: baby chicks, poults (baby turkeys), kids (baby goats), baby lambs, bunnies, baby cows, and baby pigs.

Our trip was a HUGE success and no rain was going to hold us back!
Thank you to the parent volunteers who helped make the day so much fun! 

Celebrating Ms. Chand

We are thrilled to congratulate Ms. Chand on her recent wedding.  We wish her only the best as she begins this new and exciting chapter in her life!    

Our class wanted to celebrate Ms. Chand with a party at school prior to her wedding.  The students performed a dance, gave Ms. Chand a book that they created, and presented her with some gifts.   Thank you to all families for their support and for getting together to purchase a beautiful picture frame, making a donation to Camp Oochigeas, and for the lovely flowers for Ms. Chand.  A special thank you to Mrs. Moore for ALL of your help and organization with putting this celebration together!  

Here are some snapshots from the party:

Books, Books, Books!!

Over the past few months, the majority of our class has become passionately obsessed with making books!  We are loving all the ideas and the motivation to write books and read each others stories.  Our book collection is growing by the day, we have books on Super Heroes, Winter, Spring, Animals, Community Helpers, Hockey, and so much more.

 

The authors in our class decided that we needed to create a bookstore within our classroom - "The Book Academy" is officially under construction!

After we had a discussion on different genres of books the idea of a class book was brought up.  The students became enthusiastic about creating a Healthy Cookbook filled with their favourite recipes.  Two students decided that a letter needed to be sent home to ask for help obtaining their recipe as well to some teachers asking for theirs.  This is an example of authentic and purposeful writing at its best!

We are looking forward to sharing our books with you!

Spring Math Garden

We are welcoming Spring with open arms throughout our classroom!  Here is a student working at the Math Garden.  He selects a popsicle stick that has an addition sentence written on it. Using the two coloured counters he represents the numbers in the sentence to find out the sum.  Some students began using their fingers to help them add.  Once they have come up with the sum, the popsicle stick is placed in the flower pot that represents the number.  As the students continued to practice they were able to answer some of the questions by memory!!  One of our objectives was for students to see that there are different ways to make a number (E.g., 2+2=4, 1+3=4, 4+0=4).  It was a proud moment when we would hear students saying things like "Wait....I can make 6 so many ways!!" E.I.

Can you incorporate this math naturally at home?  

How many veggie sticks do you have: carrot sticks + celery sticks = how many altogether??

Count different shaped pasta, markers, stuffed animals...

Take a picture and send it in, we would love to see how you tried this at home! 

Flat Stanley

      As a class, we have just finished reading a funny book called Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown.  The book is about a young boy named Stanley who is accidentally squished “as flat as a pancake” when a bulletin board falls on him while he is asleep.  Stanley is very, very flat but otherwise fine.  Stanley’s family did not have enough money to send him on a train or plane to visit a friend in California, so they decide to fold him up and put him in a large envelope and mail him.  The story goes on to tell how Stanley discovers some real advantages to being flat, not to mention he becomes a hero!  

This year our class is going to take part in the “Flat Stanley Project”.  This is a worldwide program where people all over the world send their own Flat Stanley out on an adventure.  Currently, there are more than 6000 classes from 88 countries taking part in the Flat Stanley Project.  We are excited to be taking part in such a fun and educational program.  

A unique Flat Stanley which was created by your child was sent home.  Each student is responsible for taking Flat Stanley on an adventure with them.  This can be to an extra curricular activity, sporting event, grandparents houses, movie, family vacation, etc.  A diary page must be filled out for the time together, including some type of newly learned information about the place/people visited.  Please send in the diary page and Flat Stanley after the March Break so that your child may share with the class their adventure.    

     We would love the opportunity to mail our Flat Stanley’s out to various parts of the world.  If you have family or friends that would be willing to participate in this project please let us know and we can provide you with extra diary sheets.  They would need to take a few pictures of Flat Stanley and share some interesting details about the place in which they live.  Details should help us to learn about the part of the world that Stanley is visiting.  We will be keeping track of all the places our Flat Stanley gets to visit. 

     Below is a picture of a chart we created in class.  This chart can be used when talking about the story and recalling the main events.