Here are some photos of our time in Kindergarten during the month of September. Morning and afternoon classes are both included. Enjoy :)
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I always enjoy participating in the Terry Fox Run with the children. It's exciting for them to be a part of a whole school activity! Running with them in the fresh air is such a wonderful feeling and seeing their determination to run their best is inspiring. However, the concept behind the Terry Fox Run is a little tricky for some of them to grasp. Prior to our school-wide assembly we watched this video about Terry Fox: We then discussed what we learned from the video and gave the students an opportunity to ask questions. We explained that Terry Fox wanted to raise money for doctors to find a medicine for a disease called cancer. We then listened to/watched this music video by a group of grade three students while we ate our snack (so we would have lots of energy to complete the run): The Terry Fox Run began with an assembly in the gym, followed by running or walking laps around the schoolyard, ending with a licorice treat in our classroom. Here are some photos from the event: We reflected on the run and what we learned about Terry Fox during our community circle. Children always have the option to "pass" during community circle, so you may not see your child's name below. Here are our thoughts:
Happy first day of fall! The children really enjoyed sharing their nature items during our morning community circle. What a collection we had - leaves, pinecones, rocks, a bird's nest, flowers, seeds, a deer's antler, petrified wood, clay, and coal! Many items are being examined at our science center. We also used the leaves and pine cones to make prints using paint. This collage will be hung on our room for the month of October.
The children were asked to think hard about what would be a good name for our class fish. The morning class decided they wanted to name the orange goldfish and the afternoon got to name the orange and white goldfish. Every child who wanted to, suggested a name for our fish. All the names were put in a bowl and one was drawn as the name. In our classroom, we call this technique "Luck of the Draw" (we also have popsicle sticks with our names on them and use "Luck of the Draw" for choosing turns sometimes.) and we all promised not to cry if our name wasn't the one pulled. Introducing...
Superman - the orange goldfish Shy - the orange and white goldfish Just wanted to thank Emma's family and Jayden's family for making play dough for our class this month! The children love, love, love creating and playing at this center!
Noodle NamesFor this activity, children were given a strip of paper with their name already written on it. Their job was to cover the letters with white glue and place coloured noodles on top - creating their name written in noodles. We do this at the start of the year to familiarize children with their names - some kiddos come to kindergarten already printing their names, others are beginning to print their names, and others need practice recognizing their names. This task also gives the adults in the room an opportunity to observe a child's: fine motor skills, their understanding of left to right progression, possible sensory aversions, and letter formation knowledge. Name Sorting, Counting Letters, and Class GraphOn Friday each child was given squares of paper with the letters in their names written on them. Their job was to use these letters to build their name. Some children were able to do this without looking at their written name, others needed the support of having their written name in front of them. Both is fine, children all come in to kindergarten at different places on their literacy journey :)
Next, we glued these letters on a page to spell our names. We then counted how many letters are in our names and tried our best to print the number from looking at the ones written on the board. Today we will create a class name graph which will be displayed in our bootroom. Photos to come soon... When the children arrived at school on Friday they were welcomed by all of their people creations made at staggered entry. I have noticed the children coming over to the bulletin board to look for themselves and then to look at their friends over the past two days of school. Thank you parents for helping your little ones on this activity! We began our first day of school much like we begin everyday of school... with a community circle. This activity helps build a sense of community throughout the year and really helps us get to know one another in a safe environment. We sit in a circle on the carpet and pass around the "talking monkey" - when you have the monkey then it is your turn to talk. During community circle we are practising the very important skill of "active listening". The children learn to have a quiet mouth, hands, and feet; have their eyes on the speaker; and listen with their ears and hearts. If someone does not want to share, they simply say, "pass" and pass the talking monkey on to the next person. We want everyone to feel comfortable and know that children will share when they are ready. For the first day of school, we introduced ourselves and then told the class our favourite food. Next, we read "The Kissing Hand" by Audrey Penn. This is one of my favourite books about school and I tend to read it every year as the children enjoy it and can identify with Chester (the little raccoon who is feeling afraid to go to school for the first time).
After reading the story, I asked the class if they had seen Chester as he had been in the room during staggered entry, but now I could not find him. Then we discovered a note Chester had left us! He was off exploring the school and wanted us to come find him. His clues led us to the library, the office, the gymnasium, the washrooms, and then back to our classroom where we found him sitting in the quiet chair. We each gave Chester a hug so he wouldn't be scared to go to school anymore. |
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