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

We're back!

Dear Parents,

Even though nothing quite lives up to the excitement that surrounded George, our beloved caterpillar (whom we believe to be currently wintering in Mexico), students in 202 have shown a strong interest in animals and nature this fall.

We've been lucky enough to have two birds' nests at our science centre which come from different types of birds--one of which we're pretty sure is a robin's.

When we looked at different birds though, it was owls that fascinated students. Many of the SKs remembered the barn owl from the Earth Rangers presentation last spring. Henry remembered that they fly silently to swoop down on their prey and Milo talked about their keen sense of sight. We read both fiction and non-fiction books with owls. Students got involved in drawing pictures of owls, writing out facts for a classroom display, and there was some playground swooping as well (though not as silent).

We also have a number of students fascinated by construction and machines. When we went to Baird Park last week, these guys spent all their time in the sandbox, eventually building a tunnel under one side.

We originally went on a shape walk, so Ms. Moniz is asking about the different shapes they notice on the machines. 

We see students building with many different materials and students often add teddy bears to help them tell stories about the structures they create.

A rocketship with its crew

This tower is a circus. You can see a sailboat in the background.

We've also added Lincoln Logs to our sandtable to help feed the construction interest. 

Another key area we've seen construction happening is at the water table. Students built waterfalls and cascades using different levels of cups and experimented to see what happened when you sped it up or slowed it down. When new materials were added, experiments continued.  For instance, when we checked to see whether pumpkins floated or sank, students were fascinated by displacement.

"What happens if we blow through the tube?"

 When students pushed the pumpkin down in the water, they were fascinated to see that water came out of holes higher up in the tub.

When interest in waterfalls waned, we placed some aquatic animals in our water table and this has sparked further interest. So, at student request, our drama centre is becoming a submarine/ocean.  I'll write more about this development next week as I'm able to take pictures. 

Other current classroom obsessions include mapping:

This is a neighbourhood map puzzle. Students are decoding some of the labels on buildings. 

This student is pointing to The Netherlands, which he found on his own 

 Mapping has led to students labelling different areas of our classroom and using our big map book to add to their general store of information. For example, students are very interested in the specific varieties of animals living in different areas. I'm seeing them put together this information in really cool ways, like looking up Brazil after reading about the rainforest and telling me about the animals you can find that map. Or telling me about animals that come from places they have family backgrounds. I definitely need to pick up a new copy of this book as it has been all but destroyed through several months of daily love.

 Surveys are also huge right now. Students have been using them as opportunities to write and count.

As it's continued, students are beginning to write out different types of questions and answers. They often talk about the results in our daily circle at the end of the day. It turns out most students like pizza and ice cream. They are more divided on vampires and owls. 

Many students are also really engaged in our book centre this year and when I read a book they really like, I know I'll see them reenacting it somewhere. For instance: 

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Jon Klassen was a huge hit. His books have a sly sense of humour and play with narrative tension by showing things in the pictures that the characters don't yet know. Students got really excited about the poor decisions Sam and Dave made (They nearly hit the diamonds so many times! It was crazy)

This book lends itself to open-ended discussion. What really happened at the end? Check out the link for a cute video and some fun theories to discuss with your child: http://100scopenotes.com/2014/10/02/6-theories-on-the-ending-of-sam-dave-dig-a-hole/

Creepy Carrots was also a big hit. Students built the moat and fence to contain the carrots in the sandtable and used orange bears as carrots. At the playdough station, many built their own creepy carrots out of playdough as well.

She loved rolling the dough in a cone

Showing me the creepy eyes.

These students tried to make their characters as accurate to the book as possible. 

In general, I'm seeing a lot more storytelling in students' play this year and students seem keen to explain their machines or stories to me when asked. This is a great trend in our classroom because I can see the sequencing and problem solving skills developing.

Even though this must feel like an exhaustive post to you, it's shown me that I need to be more diligent in taking photos to document all the steps of an interest. I look forward to giving you more insights into the classroom.

Looking forward there are a couple of things we could use parent help with:

1. Baking helpers the first week in December
2. People who would be willing to make a batch of play dough to send in every month or couple of weeks (Thank you to William's mom, who's been doing this since the beginning of the year!)
3. Details are being finalized for the Kindergarten Winter Concert right now. I was away Friday, but should know definitive dates very soon. Watch this space.

Sincerely,

Ms. Goegan

George, our caterpillar

Dear Parents,


By now, I'm sure you've heard about George. He came in with Felix earlier this week as a caterpillar and transformed into a chrysalis during our fire drill.

George makes a J.

Newly formed chrysalis

We watched this video together as a class: Caterpillar to Chrysalis to see the pupa dance.

Apparently, there's a way to tell the sex of the butterfly from the chrysalis, so several of our SK's have been really looking carefully at the sac and debating amongst themselves. (Consensus for now is that George may be more properly called Georgina.)

We've had a busy week, exploring the life cycle of butterflies as a result. Felix also brought in some monarch eggs he'd found on milkweed leaves. We've been working hard to make them hatch and learning more about the Monarch as a result.

The letter from Felix's family and an overview of the monarch lifecycle are posted on our science wall.

These milkweed leaves have a couple more caterpillar eggs on them

These students are spending some time investigating those eggs

We cut the eggs out of the old leaves daily and put them on fresh milkweed.

On Friday afternoon, we saw our first new baby caterpillar wriggling about. We're hoping it survives until Monday to grow some more. 

Students have painted these egg cartons with yellow, white, and black, just like monarchs.

 We've been switching the milkweed leaves daily to make sure the eggs have fresh food to eat. Our butterfly garden here at school has some milkweed, so students are learning to identify these plants to help feed our new caterpillars and eggs.

As you learned last week, we've been looking at different parts of plants to learn about how plants grow.

Here a student investigates the roots.

These milkweed seed pods are bringing our plant investigations in line with our seed investigations.

"Look, all the seeds are lined up"

It's hard to keep a single focus in the classroom though, so here are some of the other things going on this week too:

Playing teacher

Exploring materials: students made airplanes, letter shapes, and more conceptual pieces like a "machine for playing music at bad guys, or sometimes good guys too"

Painting on easels while I do journals in the background 

Fishing for the letters in your name

"What letter is this?"

You'll have to read this one upside down.

Fitting together tetris shapes

Cooking in the kitchen

The other big, exciting thing we've started is Reading Buddies. Students in Ms. Oseghale's class are paired with our class for a weekly chance to read together.

I love getting to know families: the reading buddy here is the older brother of a graduated SK

Answering more questions about butterflies

So, that's Week Two in Room 202.  I haven't had a chance to meet with parents formally this year, so, as always, if you have questions (or concerns) about anything in this blog or our classroom, please do contact me via email.

Sincerely, 

Ms. Goegan

P.S. I've been waiting for our schedule to solidify before sending home our newsletter, but you should see that this week as well.