Science

Let it snow!

 Here are few fun snow related experiments we have done in our class the past few weeks.
The first we brought in some snow from outside. We wondered if it would be nice and clean water or dirty water when it melted?

We made predictions...

Here is the snow when it started melting:

 Turns out even the nice white snow is pretty dirty when melted! We had a discussion about why eating snow isn't a good idea.

Crystal snowflake experiment:

It really made a beautiful snowflake!

Melted snow:

 We made predictions on weather there would be less, as much or more water in the jar after the snow melted.

There was a lot less water than snow!

Les Olympiques!

The class has been really excited about the Olympics this week! We have had the opportunity to watch some live footage of a few events. Thank you to the children who have brought in news papers with information and pictures about the Olympics. We are also keeping track of the Canadian medals won (les médailles) in a graph. Go Canada Go!

Here is a picture of our Olympic wall:

Kindergarten Sight words

Dear Parents,

Here is a list of sight words that we will be working on over the next 2 years in Junior and Senior Kindergarten. We call them "popcorn words" because they keep popping up everywhere. By the end of Kindergarten children should be able to read most of these words by sight. It would be a great benefit to practice these words at home as well as at school. They can search for them in their nightly reading, look for them in their environment, play word games etc. to help them learn the words.

look                   am                   you                for                  here
          said                  come                   up                a                   I
it                    the                     and                 in                     of
           to                       he                      is                that              was
an                   at                        can                dad               do
          go                      like                     love             me             mom
my                no                         play               she               we
          yes                  little

January/February Kindergarten Newsletter

Dear Parent:

             Happy New Year to all! We trust that your Christmas was filled with joy and cheer; a time to reconnect with loved ones and share special family moments together. We would like to extend our best wishes for a happy and healthy 2014.

             Winter has definitely made its presence known. The snow is welcome though…..so many fun things to do in the snow. When weather permits, we will continue to spend time enjoying outdoor play. It is a good way to develop creativity, to encourage group co-operation and to learn constructive use of leisure time. Therefore, it’s very important that your child come to school ready for outdoor play (snowpants, jacket, hat, warm mittens, neckwarmer). The students, by the way, are doing an awesome job getting dressed independently. Your continued efforts at home are paying off big time!

             In January, our theme has been Winter – for obvious reasons! We’ve discussed all the fun things to do in the snow; winter clothing; the seasons; and animals in winter. The students wanted to find out which animals hibernate? In this cold, hibernating sounds like a great idea! We will continue our push with reading readiness for JK and emergent reading for SK. SK students should know at least ten sight words from our popcorn word list. Please let me know if you need another copy! Also, here is an excellent site which will encourage your child’s reading abilities. It’s fun and it’s free! Check out www.starfall.com. Soon, you will be receiving information about the www.razkids.ca reading program. It’s an awesome online site full of ereaders for your child to read or listen to. Each student requires his/her own password to access. This will all be sent home in the very near future.

February is the month of feelings, friendship, and love. It’s the time of year where both adults and children acknowledge those who are near and dear to them. Thank goodness! We’ll need the warm tingling in our hearts to get us through this cold weather! Mr. Groundhog will make an appearance early in the month. Will he see his shadow? Sounds like a great opportunity to graph our predictions! If he doesn’t, Spring will be early.

January’s math continued with geometry at the beginning of the month, switching to patterns for the latter half. We explored patterns in our environment. Investigating patterns helps students make generalizations, develop reasoning strategies, and build a foundation for more complex algebraic thinking. The students identified, extended, reproduced, and created (SK expectation) repeating patterns using a variety of materials, actions, and the Smart board! In February, we’ll return to our unit on numbers. As the students play games and participate in meaningful counting activities, they develop concepts about counting that provide the foundation for future mathematics learning.

At circle time, we have put a big emphasis on the letter sounds. This skill enables students (SK expectation) to sound out words they don’t know. The students are doing a phenomenal job with our morning message! Practising this at home will help to speed up the learning of this skill. Repetition and reinforcement are a necessary part of learning new skills. JKs should be practicing the alphabet letters, writing numbers to 5, recognizing numbers to 10, showing sets to 6. SKs should continue to practice their popcorn words, letter sounds, writing numbers to 10, printing alphabet letters, and recognizing numbers to 20. Please use any opportunity at home to reinforce the skills addressed.

Please note that French songs and vocabulary as well as English songs have been posted on our Blog.

Housekeeping items:

During the next few weeks, the K1 students will go to the library on Monday, January 27th, February 10th, February 24th. Please return books and the library bag on Monday, February 3rd, February 18th, and March 3rd. The K2 students will go to the library on Wednesday January 29th, February 12th, February 26th. Please return books and the library bag on Wednesday, Februray 5th, February 19th, and March 5th.

Report cards will be going home early February.

On February 14^th, the students will be exchanging valentines. To make distribution of valentines easier, on that day, send 31 (K1) or 25 (K2) cards with only your child’s name in the FROM section of the card.

On February 17^th school will be closed for Family Day. We’re hoping that your Family Day holiday allows time for family leisure and fun.

We appreciate your continued support. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at the school or send a message in your child’s notetote.

Happy St. Valentine’s Day!