Power of Ten Games

In Kindergarten, when we are learning about numbers to ten, we often use power of ten cards or ten frames.  After calendar, we use the big ten frames as flash cards and the kids have to recognize the arrangement of colored squares quickly and jump that many times.  They are getting quicker every day and it also helps as a movement break!  Now that we are getting used to the cards the kids are learning to play games with them.  The first one we learned is called Face Off.  The kids must deal the cards between partners and then each flips one card into the center.  Each child must say their own number as quickly as they can and are allowed to count if necessary.  The child with the largest number gets the cards or we can play that the child with the lowest number gets the cards.  We decide before the game starts, of course!

Gingerbread Fun!

In November, the kids had fun building a gingerbread house with Mrs. Campbell.  Everyone got to take turns and add their own ideas to our creation.  The house then went to The Festival of Trees where the community could take a look and vote on their favorites.  Kindergarten A was so thrilled when Mr. Kopecky came to tell them they had won!  The kids sure enjoyed the treats that came with our certificate!

Building Necklaces

After we had learned lots about patterns, it was time to create something for ourselves.  The kids each made a pattern necklace out of straw beads.  First each child had to plan and color the pattern the way they wanted it to look.  Then they had to create it as independently as possible.  They were very proud of their work!

Patterns, Patterns, Patterns!!

In October and the first part of November the children worked very hard to learn about patterns.  We set up 4 different pattern centers and the kids had a chance to work at each center to practice their patterning skills.  They used I-Pads, beads, play-doh and a variety of other materials and puzzles to create many different patterns.  Hands-on learning activities are always a lot of fun!

Halloween Happenings

Halloween was a very exciting and busy day for us!  We started out the day being scientists and pumpkin detectives.  Each child had their own pumpkin and as scientists we recorded our observations such as color, size and how it felt.  Once that was done the real fun began as we cleaned and carved 23 pumpkins.  Thank goodness we had 4 moms to help us!  In the afternoon, the kids dressed in their costumes and we walked to the Heritage Manor to sing for the residents.  The children performed well and their audience was thrilled to see them!  Enjoy the pictures!

Sorting Centers

After learning about sorting the students needed time to practice this skill.  They had the chance to work at different sorting centers each day for a week.  These centers included, sorting puzzles, shape and magnet sorting, button sorting, sorting games and also using sorting apps on I-Pads.  It is amazing to watch how their minds work when they are using hand-on learning tools!

Cinnamon Toast

We spent a lot of time learning about different types of bears this fall.  One of the poems we read was called Cinnamon Bear and it was about a bear who liked to eat cinnamon toast.  We decided that we would like to eat cinnamon toast too!  Drayson's mom, Holly, came to our room on Friday, October 18th and helped each child to make their own piece of cinnamon toast.  The kids thought it was delicious!!  A new breakfast favorite!  Afterwards we talked about the steps for making cinnamon toast and put the steps in order.  Enjoy the pictures!

Play-Doh Practice

Often, in Kindergarten, we practice making letters and words in lots of different ways.  One of our favorite is with play-doh.  Not only does this engage the students in their learning but it also is a fabulous way to strengthen those fine motor skills which are necessary for holding pencils, crayons and markers.  This was our first try and the kids had a lot of fun!

Playground Fun!

Sometimes at the end of the day, we head out to the Grade 4 and 5 play area as a special treat!  The kids love to try out the big monkey bars and the balance beam.  They are very helpful to each other and always have lots of fun!

A Great New Bunch!

We are off to a great beginning here in Kindergarten A!  The kids have settled into our routines and have made new friends.  It is wonderful to see that they are trying to be kind and helpful to each other.  Hopefully when you ask them what they have done at school, they will tell you lots!  But if not, you can always check out our blog and hopefully that will motivate them to give you the highlights.

Chicken Chef Fun

On June 13th, we had a fantastic field trip to Chicken Chef!  Jaimie met us and showed us around the restaurant.  We learned about all the different jobs that people do who work in a restaurant.  Afterward, everyone got to make and eat their own pizza.  Some of the kids favorite parts of this trip were going in the freezer, seeing the grocery slide, watching the dough come out of the machine that flattens it and of course, making and eating pizza!  Thank you Jaimie and the staff of Chicken Chef.   Now we have created our own restaurant in our classroom and the kids are excited to visit this center as a server, cook or customer!

Picnic in the Park

In June, we held our first ever Picnic in the Park!  Both Kindergarten classes got together with the Grade Two classes to perform on the stage in the park and then have a picnic with our families.  It was a wonderful event and the entertainment was top notch!  All the classes sang spring songs together and then Kindergarten A performed two dances called The Canadian Lancers and Patty Cake Polka, Kindergarten B performed The Hokey Pokey with scarves and the Grade Two classes performed an original dance to You Don't Know You're Beautiful.  We are hoping to make this an annual event!

Bowling

In May, we had the opportunity to go to Up Your Alley and bowl.  The kids had a wonderful time and it was great to see them cheering on their friends!  Enjoy the pictures!

Hair Salon

In May, we turned out house center into a hair salon.  We read books about hair stylists and watched short videos about how to become a hair stylist.  The kids had a great time pretending to be hair stylists, customers and receptionists.  So if you wondered why your child came home with a slightly different style than they came to school with - now you know why!

Teamwork

Wow!  That last snowfall caught us a little by surprise but the kids sure loved it!  We were learning about teamwork and it provided us an excellent opportunity to work together in teams to build snowmen.  The kids had lots of fun and worked very hard together.  In the end there was a whole snow family!

Author's Chair

The kids celebrated the color books they wrote and illustrated by reading them aloud to the class.  Each child had a turn on the chair and received compliments on their book from their classmates.  These color books were written after we read Cat's Colors and followed it's pattern.  I was very proud of how hard they worked, putting lots of details in their artwork and stretching out their words!

Master Measurers

In April, we learned a lot about measuring in lots of different ways.  The kids then had the opportunity to visit four measurement centers to practice measuring length, height, mass and capacity.  The students used links and blocks for measuring length and height, balance and bucket scales for measuring mass and there were also pouring stations at the water table as well as one with special beads, measuring cups and a variety of containers to measure capacity.  There was a lot of excitement and some interesting learning taking place -like the fact that Mrs. Clelland is 93 blocks tall!

A Cool Kindergarten Visitor

We have had a lot of exciting Show and Share items arrive in Kindergarten but this one had everyone's undivided attention!  Dallas' grandma and grandpa, Raymond and Cindy Terry, raise sheep.  One day, Dallas' mom brought one of the little lambs to school for a visit.  It was one that was being bottle fed and the kids absolutely loved how sweet and cuddly it was.  Everyone had a chance to pet it and feel it's fuzzy wool.  They found it fascinating!

Milk Moustaches

During Spirit Week, we took part in many different activities.  We had to find the hidden "Bessie", participate in barking and mooing contests, dance in the gym and wear the milk moustache.  Everyone had a turn to pose wearing a milk moustache and all the pictures are on display on our TV at the school entrance.  The kids love to see themselves!  Enjoy!

Easter Excitement

With Easter falling earlier this year we had to try to fit in some Easter crafts before Spring Break.  On Thursday morning, we invited some parent volunteers to help us and we set up four Easter craft centers.  Mrs. Walker helped the students dye eggs and Mrs. Mykula helped them paint cardstock Easter eggs with condensed milk colored with food coloring, (strange, I know, but it turns out so bright and shiny!)  At my center, the kids created little bunny baskets and at the last center they worked with Mrs. Fedorchuk to make and color Easter pictures.  As usual, it was great to have an adult to assist at each center.  On Friday, the class made Easter Bunny bags and loaded them up with all their crafts as an Easter present to share with their families!

Snowshoeing in the Park

Finally, after a winter full of never ending snow and cold temperatures, we were able to go out and snowshoe.  First, we read "Deep Snow" by Robert Munsch and tried walking in the deep snow down in Legion Park.  The kids learned how hard it was to walk in such deep snow and were puffing and sweating when we were done.  Later, in March, we went back with the help of Mrs. McArthur, and tried it again with snowshoes on.  It took a while to get the hang of it.  There were a few falls and many lost snowshoes, but after we got a few trails made, it was much easier.  The kids enjoyed learning something new and a few thought it was even better than centers!! :)

Colour Creations

When we were learning about mixing primary colours the kids visited colour centers where they had the chance to mix colours in different ways.  At Mrs. Mykula's center the kids used eye droppers and mixed coloured water on diffusing paper.  The results were beautiful!  At Mrs. Gorchynski's center, the kids mixed two primary colours together using fingerpaint.  This was a big hit with most of the kids - a little messy, but so much fun!  At my center, we tried mixing paint in baggies.  It was neat to see the variety of shades that the kids were able to create.  When done, the children could practice printing letters and numbers on their bags!

Snow Dough

In February, we had so much fun creating snow dough sculptures with the help of Isla's mom, Mrs. Mykula.  First we mixed the dough and worked it until it was soft and squishy.  Then everyone created their own wonderful sculptures!  There were birds, nests, snakes, quads, snowmen, bears, ladybugs and more...  The sculptures were then baked in the oven for the rest of the day.  On Friday, Kailey's mom, Mrs. McArthur, came to help us paint our sculptures.  The kids worked very hard and were so careful.  Enjoy the pictures of our artwork!

Dinner Party

In February, we filled up our compliment chart for the second time this school year.  The children collect compliments when they are working hard, being respectful, responsible, kind, helpful, etc and for each compliment they fill in a circle on our peacock chart.  When it is full, we celebrate!  This time we celebrated with dinner from Ava's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Walker, who brought pizza or chicken nuggets and fries for everybody from Chicken Chef.  It was an exciting day in Kindergarten!

Caps for Sale

Another monkey story that we read was Caps for Sale.  In this story a peddler is trying to sell his caps but the caps get stolen by naughty little monkeys.  This was a funny story to watch the children perform!

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Last week we had lots of fun acting out Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.  The kids created monkey hats and become monkeys.  We have some very dramatic students in Kindergarten A.  It was quite a show!

Shape Centers

This week at school, during math time, the kids took part in shape centers.  We had a different shape activity at each table and the kids got to spend one day at each center.  At the yellow table the children used the ipads to work on shape activities, at the blue table they used shape stamps and paint to create shape pictures and patterns, at the red table they used play-doh to create shapes and at the green table they had to use their imaginations to create shape pictures using foam shapes.  This worked very well and the kids enjoyed themselves!

Off Broadway

Last week, after retelling "The Mitten" to our friends from Kindergarten B, we also thought it would be fun to act out the story.  The kids each chose a character from the story and acted out that part.  We used a huge white blanket as the mitten and Mrs. Clelland was the narrator.  The kids had such a wonderful time being actors and actresses that we had to act it out more than once!  Stay tuned as next week we are going to try "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed"!

The Mitten

Last week we read "The Mitten" by Jan Brett and then we practiced retelling this story.  The kids sewed together a white mitten just like in the story and then made the animals from the story.  After practicing retelling the story using the props, we invited the students from Kindergarten B over to listen to our stories.  It was so much fun to perform for an audience! 

Jest Stix

Today was an exciting day for Kindergarten A!  During gym class, we got to meet Isaac and learn how to use jest stix or juggling sticks.  We have used scarves in class before to try juggling but this was something more exciting!  The kids learned and practiced some easy tricks and were disappointed when the class ended.  Isaac makes and sells these juggling sticks and he has left order forms in the office if anyone is interested.  Enjoy the photos!

Morning Activities

Now that we are back from Christmas Holidays, we are learning and practicing our literacy centers.  In Kindergarten A, we call these Morning Activities or Morning Centers.  The kids love this because it is like having play time twice!  They don't even realize the important things they are learning and practicing!  Once the students understand what to do at each center, I will use this time to do guided reading with small groups while the others work at centers.  On Monday - Thursday, I get to pick their literacy center but on Friday it is their choice day.  There are 28 different centers altogether so no one ever gets bored! 

Go Fish

As we learn about numbers the kids have been using ten frames a great deal.  They are practicing recognizing numbers by how they look when filled in on a grid with ten squares.  We work on each number, more and less as well as equal numbers.  When playing Go Fish with ten frames the kids are trying to match their numbers by asking others for the numbers they need.  If they are unsure, they just count the squares!  (Sometimes the trickiest part is holding onto all the cards without showing their friends!)