October Newsletter and other classroom news.

Dear Parents,

Tomorrow is Library!

The October Newsletter went home in Mr. Zippy today along with our weekly poem. Thank you for remembering the folder!

I felt like the photocopier was unclear, so I thought I'd post the newsletter here for you and clarify our Show and Share beginning in October.

October Newsletter

Each month has a special theme and each student is the special student for a day, although I've had to double up to make sure everyone got a turn this round. (Depending on how busy this makes us, I may change things around for November.)

October's theme is "objects that begin with the same sound as my first name".  Since my name begins with an "L", I could, for example, bring in a lime, or a stuffed lizard, or a piece of Lego. Bonus points for objects that spur on our learning or creative energies in other ways. Since we'll be honing in on Alphabet books in October, this is right in key.

We started a little early with Alphabet books. This Ocean ABC was a hit today in class.

We would love to read favourite ABC books that you have at home. Please feel free to send books in with a note in Mr. Zippy. We'll do our best to take good care and return them when students are done. 

What else is up in 202?

Our science table is up and running. We have many pine cones and leaves and some decorative gourds to contemplate.We also have meal worms. Many thanks to Emma's mom for the donation. We'll have an opportunity to observe their whole life cycle in coming weeks. 

Mealworms are fascinating to observe.

 We also have a new light table. I used the Scholastic dividends to buy this for the classroom and look forward to all sorts of learning possibilities. I think the leaves we've gathered will look amazing against the light.

Students contemplate their geometric rocketship.

Science, in Kindergarten, is all about generating questions or "Inquiry". Collecting objects and providing opportunities to observe, explore and play are the first steps, but generating questions is key. If students come home with interesting questions, feel free to help them bring these ideas back into the classroom.

Today, we had an unusual object come in that students were quite excited about. I'm not sure whether it is a crocodile or alligator, but it did spark a lot of questions. Interestingly, last year a similar object provoked more existential questions (Why did it die? was particularly tough to answer). This year's students are busy counting its teeth. (37 on the bottom, in case you're interested.)

This inquiry could go off in a number of different directions. We could continue counting and comparing different animals' teeth. We could try to look at the type of teeth it has and what that could tell us about its diet. We could simply build up our vocabulary for describing and comparing different animals and ask, How is an alligator different from a squirrel?  a salamander? a crocodile?

In any case, when students start asking the questions, learning is particularly rich.

Sincerely,

Lisa Goegan