Castles and Snowmen

Dear Parents,

Back to the classroom. We've switched up our drama centre again and,
with much hard work, we've created a castle, complete with drawbridge. Our next step may be looking at some pulley and gear mechanisms in order to learn more about different types of simple machines and the ways in which they made medieval life more easier.  In the meantime, there's a lot of storytelling and costume drama about dragons, princesses and knights.

 

The school has recently purchased 6 Ipads for classroom use. We get them about once a week for a double period and this week we set them up as a centre with Starfall and other reading  apps on them for the kids to explore. We've also used them in the past to research aquatic animals, but I'm just beginning to explore the possibilities. What's nice is they now come with earphones so students can have themselves read information on Pebblego, even when they can't decode the language themselves. 

We also use old school methods.

We're practicing counting by two's, which this pattern shows. 

These students are playing a word recognition game with Ms. Moniz

Using crayons to get a texture rub from our snake skin

But the most pictures taken this week have been at our art centre. We're making Snowmen!

And more patterns. 

I'm still looking for 3 volunteers for Scientists in the school the afternoon of the 27th (a Wednesday) Please let me know if you're available/interested. It's always a fun time. 

Sincerely, 

Ms. Goegan

Welcome Back!

Here's your January Newsletter. If you look carefully, you'll see some new activities we've introduced just since being back. A paper copy of the January 2016 newsletter will go home tonight.

Here's a bit more detail about those pictures:
I bought some bags of plastic animals over the break. We spent Monday sorting them alphabetically.

We encouraged the JKs in particular

but some SKs took leadership roles. 

And Tuesday sorting them into groups of vertebrates:

Lots of questions to answer. What kind of animal is a turtle?

We brought in the snow and watched it melt. We also used eye droppers to play with colour mixing (a fine motor activity blended into a science one) and salt to change how the melting happened.

I also brought in a snake skin, but the snow has been the real draw.

That's a boa constrictor's skin in the corner

I brought in a bowling set with numbers and we made a game where one person tried to hit a higher number than the other. 

Playdough also has numbers this week. 

Yesterday, when discussing our drama centre, students' brought up changing it to a dentist's office. So I brought out the dental kit and students have also been making purple teeth out of playdough, drilling and pulling them. (As always, I need to remember to take more photos)

Students also brought up the idea of an amusement park, so I brought out a new construction toy and we had many merry-go-rounds and ferris wheels by the end of the day.

They spin!

I'm hoping that students will be encouraged to explore and experiment further in these veins as a big part of my role is facilitating their experiments and interests. Let me know what questions are coming home as well and come back next week to see what we'll actually turn our drama centre into next.

Sincerely, 

Lisa Goegan

Just one more...

Dear Parents,

Happy Holidays. Please check Mr. Zippy for something that looks a little like this:

Countdown

Dear Parents,

Thank you to everyone who came to our holiday social. It was lovely to see so many of you (and your extended families) in the classroom. It was so interesting to see so many students head straight to their journals to show you the work they're doing in the classroom, but it's key to remember that learning is happening even when it's less visible. In fact, I think the biggest change over the course of the year so far has been students' ability to talk about their thinking and learning.

In the last week before winter break, we've done interesting new work every day (even as the general level of energy is rising). Check out our week:

We had the chance on Monday to participate in some coding lessons in the library. Ms. Greenwood has also blogged about it and she's included links to some of the programs students will be working with that teach fundamentals: irclibrary.blogspot.ca

Coding has to do with sequencing instructions. 

Which direction should the angry bird go first? This program is a lot like "Turtle" from my own childhood.

 On Tuesday, I was absent and students worked on graphing.

Yes, we have no bananas

On Wednesday, several students were working on title pages for their own storybooks: 

We also sorted pompoms for REASONS....secret reasons. 

Today, I introduced a seasonal science experiment you can also try at home. We took 4 candy canes and put them in 4 different liquids to see how quickly they would dissolve. The 4 liquids were vegetable oil, cold water, hot water and vinegar. This fit in nicely with our growing dinosaurs and crystalized christmas tree: we've been looking at absorption and how different substances react in water with a variety of different experiments.

You can see one pink growing dino in water, a growing fish aquarium, a crystal tree and today's candy canes. 

You can see biggest dino is from our dino egg on the left. 

Which one dissolved the fastest? The hot water

Which one dissolved the slowest? The oil. 

See if your child can tell you whether vinegar or cold water was faster. I loved this experiment because everyone was interested and involved. Students kept checking all day to see if the remains of the candy canes were still visible.

All this being said, the excitement is palpable. It's pyjama day and pizza day and also Lydia's special day and daycare students also have an event after school, so we've really jampacked it all into this last day before break. 

This is my last post before the new year, so I hope you have an amazing holiday!

Sincerely, 

Ms. Goegan

My favourite time of the year

It's a kindergarten tradition. 

Every year we bake gingerbread cookies and somehow they run away. 

Honestly, it is my favourite thing ever. 

Students followed clues around the school, looking for the cookies. They read the clues out loud and discussed what they might mean--did a place to run around mean outside or the gym for example? They even made wanted posters describing their cookies. 

We speculated about why they might have run away and how to get them to come back. My favourite suggestion was Felix's... that we be tricky like the fox that caught the gingerbread man in the story and pretend we were another class. 

Luckily, by the end of the day they were safe in Mr. Zippies and home to you. 

The book Gingerbread Friends by Jan Brett and Sophie's description of her missing cookie

Sincerely, 

Ms. Goegan

Leading with Pictures

Dear Parents, 

I look forward to seeing you on Friday for the Holiday Social. We'll have hot chocolate in the classroom and hope you'll bring some healthy snacks to share. 

This week we've been focused on making our antlers for the concert, mixing gingerbread cookies, and practicing the poems and songs we'll perform. You'll see the results of all of that soon enough, so I wanted to focus in on our drama centre's transformation this week. 

A few weeks ago, we read a Magic School bus book that really fired up student imaginations about life under the sea. We voted and, as a class, decided that a submarine/aquarium would best suit our needs.

Drawing some fish to fill our tank with crayons on the table and playing with seashells at the side.

Looking at maps of the oceans to decide where the submarine should go

The Water Table is also sea themed. Students have been enjoying the coral reef and glass bottomed boat in particular

 Because we've been very focused on painting at our art centre, we felt like adding a sensory component to the drama centre would help keep students engaged. Blue play dough, with sea shells and fish stamps as provocations to play, are on the table.  The photo below also shows some contrast between how the centre looked last week and this one.

Students made buttons for the submarine console. In the back, you can see some of the fish in the background aquarium and the blue playdough. 

Because we were talking about pollution's effects on coral reefs, I introduced students to the idea of pH and we did some water testing together using litmus strips at first, and red cabbage on a second day. The red cabbage is particularly neat because, when you add acids and bases to your water, it will go back and forth between pink and blue. 

Purple with pink!

A couple of different groups testing at the same time. (In the background, Oscar's dad is reading to a group of students)

We also talked about testing the water in swimming pools and how, in oceans, you want creatures to live, but not in swimming pools. I'm not sure how many details were absorbed, but it did lead to one of my favourite responses ever when we were unpacking it all at the end of the day. 

Me: What made the water turn different colours?

Emma: Science! (with a magical hand gesture)

And, since that was such a hit and because the science table has been so quiet lately, I've been trying to beef up traffic with some experiments. So we've hatched a dinosaur egg and measured the changing size of a porous plastic dinosaur. Both of these experiments were about how the size of an object can change when it absorbs water. More experiments will follow as time permits. 

In anticipation of making cookies, we were lucky to have Heather (William's mom) make us some scented play dough (as well as coming in to help mix gingerbread). The dark one smells like coffee and the lighter one smells like Vanilla. 

(Having a second parent to make play dough for us would be lovely, btw. Thank you, Heather!)

Notice the 2 different patterns. Math is everywhere.

The gingerbread dough is currently defrosting and I'll be rolling and baking at home. I find that it's tricky to get the cookies nicely done at school, especially given our time constraints, but I will be returning the finished cookies to school in order to be decorated on Tuesday afternoon with Noah's mom. In terms of decoration, nice matters less than authentic, but it's good to have a solid base to work on.

In other corners of the classroom:

These builders were very proud of their super tall structure. They talked at length about how the wider base helped keep the structure stable and how the sand came through the holes.

 I also broke out the marble run, which was a big hit. (I'm noticing students negotiate shared play with a wider group of peers when I bring out new toys.)

On Tuesday, an anti-bullying puppet play stopped through and students were happy colouring the hand outs afterwards and talking about their favourite parts. Drawing is a frequently requested activity, especially once journals are done. Many students have favourite themes they return to: families at the park, puppies, and ninjas all make frequent appearances.

What other news?

The library trip mentioned in the calendar is being rescheduled. I'll update when I have a new date. 

Also I've mentioned RAZ kids to a couple of parents this week, who were looking for more reading to do at home with students. Students gain points for reading levelled books online. It's most appropriate for students who already know alphabet sounds and are beginning to sound out words, so this is mostly for SKs. The Grade 1-3 classes have subscribed and have some extra spaces, if you're interested in me adding you on. 

Once more, looking forward to seeing you on Friday!

Sincerely, 

Ms. Goegan

December Newsletter

Dear Parents,

Here's your December Newsletter.  In it you'll find out more about our drama centre's "Under the Sea" focus and some updates about events in December. Students' special days are listed and we're beginning Show and Share, so the monthly theme is explained.

December is a busy month, with lots planned.

I'm hoping you'll make it to the Social on December 11. Students are very much looking forward to both performing for you and having you spend time with them in the classroom. We're hoping to provide hot chocolate and if anyone is able to bring in healthy snacks (fruit, veggies, cheese and crackers), please let us know.

If you do come, please consider bringing a donation for our food drive or our mitten tree as well.

This week, we will be doing some traditional baking to kick off December as well. Making gingerbread men has been a bit of an IRC kindergarten tradition. William's mom has volunteered to come in on Tuesday afternoon and Mr. Costa (a 202 parent alumnus) will be joining us on Friday afternoon as well, to help students bake and decorate their cookies. Many hands make light work, so if you would also like to help us on one of these afternoons, we'd love to see you. Please let me know via email.

Sincerely,

Ms. Goegan