Weekly Update

Dear Parents,

First off, I want to remind you that tomorrow is Day 5, which is Library for everyone. Please remember to send in last week's book, so your child can select a new one. Several students brought in books on Friday, which I've done my best to keep track of by putting them under their snack bins in the classroom. We'll see how well the system works tomorrow.

Secondly, I have some sad news for our afternoon class: Shivani's family is moving to India and Wednesday will be her last day. Happily, Tuesday is Picture Day, so we'll make sure to send on the class photo. We'll have a small celebration in class on Wednesday afternoon to make sure she knows she'll be missed.

Science continues apace in the classroom, as I continue to work with students individually or in small groups. This student's work struck my funny bone:

Because Mommy is not an insect

Another interesting thing about this image is that several students were very hesitant about drawing insects, so we looked for the shapes they had in their different body parts and used those shapes to help draw the insect they had in mind. This student's bee is a circle and two diamonds. 

We may be done with insects very soon, as students are noticing the season changing and this is hopefully leading us into explorations of different leaves. On Friday, several afternoon students uncovered my pH testing strips so that's another direction we may be off and following as well.

Before I move on, in preparing for Parents' Night last week, we created posters that listed all the learning happening at each centre to help make the learning more visible. I thought I would post the links to those here, so you could review them at your leisure:

Art Centre
Construction Centre
Drama Centre
Reading Centre
Science Centre
Sensory Centre
Snack Centre

We've also been asking students what learning they're seeing at each centre, so if you visit the classroom, you may see stickies quoting students' comments about their own learning around each poster as well.

Regards,

Ms. Goegan

Business Post

Sending Mr. Zippy back and forth daily is key. Today, I sent home a number of items:

1. Our October newsletter. Particularly important is the calendar, with the listings of who our star student is each day. Star students are our special helpers on that day: they lead the line to hold open the door, they use the pointer to help us sing our calendar songs and they get to share a show and tell on their day. In October, our stars are asked to bring in items that begin with the first letter of their name. Here's a link to the letter, if you missed it today: October Newsletter
2. A family calendar with lots of great ideas about ways to share learning with your family. (PM kids will get theirs tomorrow!)
3. A library book, to be returned next Monday. If your child wishes to bring their book back and forth to read at school they may, but we do book exchange every Day 5.

Today was also the due date for our September Scholastic. If you have late orders, you may still send them in, but note that they may not arrive in as timely a fashion. Thanks to Tara (Addy's mom) for co-ordinating this in September.

Thank you as well to those of you who sent in donations to Terry Fox last week. We "read" the pictures of a biography and talked about his legacy on Friday after our walk. I've passed on all monies to Ms. Fenton, but please make sure you label any funds clearly. I asked a student last week about some money that was loose in her Mr. Zippy and she told me it was to get me coffee and a doughnut. (Luckily, I did check in with mom.)

Have a great week, 

Ms. Goegan

How Many Legs?

So our study of bees has kind of gone sideways into insects and then into classifying types of animals, and looking at their homes.

First off, I had students come and draw me a picture of an insect they knew. I got the usual suspects like butterflies (one was a Monarch!), bees, ladybugs and a rather scary looking "biting insect".

I was expecting to see spiders, but I also got snails, an octopus and a horse.

So, I thought, let's work on this whole insect concept.

With small groups today, I read a short book called "How Many Legs?" Some students were able to pick up on the patterned language and predict words, which was great too. We counted the number of legs and learned that an insect always has 6 legs. (Sometimes antennae and pincers look like legs though, which is confusing to students.)

A number also made pictures for me:

 An activity like this combines art, science, math and reading expectations.

We also had a student bring in a nest they found at their cottage earlier this week. As a class, we brainstormed about the types of birds that students knew. We decided that it couldn't be a pigeon or a seagull for sure because they were too large and would crush the nest. 

Today, I printed out a number of pictures showing different types of nests. One student today spent some time at the science centre and was able to match the nest to a picture to help him decide what kind of nest it could be: 

 Finally, we've opened our painting centre. We read this great book, Sophie's Masterpiece, which is about an artist spider who spins a baby blanket out of snowflakes, moonlight and lullabies. It inspired me to think about line, so we've been painting using strings and pipe cleaners instead of paint brushes. I've asked students to think about making a nest or web:

What I love most about this photo is that you can see how focused and intent students are on their work.

In the next few weeks, we may be learning more about insects or branching out to look at different animal homes, or perhaps going in a direction I have yet to predict. I have to say that my favourite thing is being inspired by the new ideas and connections that students bring in, so I'm looking forward to continuing to explore.

Starting with Science

Dear Parents,

It's been a busy couple of weeks, as we settle in to our new routine together. Friday marked a huge shift for me, because my afternoon class is now significantly smaller. It's hard to say goodbye to any student, but I'm hopeful that the new class arrangements will work out for everyone concerned.

I'm looking forward to meeting many of you at the Teacher/Parent BBQ on Thursday and giving you the classroom tour. As a prelude to that, I thought I might talk about some of the learning we're already seeing in the classroom.

Last week, a student brought in a wasp's nest that her family found in the backyard.

When we talked about the nest, students were confused about the differences between wasps and bees and there is a fair amount of overlap: both can sting you and are often black and yellow. 

Two major differences came out in our discussion that some of the kids already knew about: bees are less likely to sting and they make honey. 

I used this as a jumping off point to learn more about bees and other insects and brought in some honey comb to share with the class:

In the photo above, you can see a student investigating the honeycomb and some of the tools provided to help: magnifying glasses, plastic shapes to compare the comb with, one of the books about bees we've looked at, and a beeswax candle. 

We noticed that it was arranged in hexagons, just like the wasps nest. 

When you chewed it, there was something left in your mouth after you'd eaten the honey, which was wax. 

So we asked: what other things are made from wax? And other students brought in things like lip balm, a bees wax candle and some face cream. We looked carefully, touched them, smelled them (but didn't taste) and then tried to describe how they felt and looked. 

On Friday, we started to make drawings of some of the other bugs the students knew so we could understand more about insects in general. I'll keep you posted as this investigation continues. 

Sincerely,

Ms. Goegan

Welcome to Kindergarten!

Dear Parents,

Every September is the beginning of a whole new year with new students, new challenges, and new learning opportunities. This year is especially new for me, because I am making a big jump to Kindergarten from teaching Grade 5 and 6. I'm looking forward to getting to know the students by playing and learning together.

Here is a pdf copy of the newletter that I sent home today with Mr. Zippy, along with many other forms to fill out: September Kinderletter

The letter explains our daily routines and expectations and it also gives you a calendar of upcoming events.

I am also happy to have Ms. Fish with us as a student teacher in September and October. She is another person you may hear your child talking about when they come bouncing home from school.

As always, I'm happy to hear from parents with any information, concerns or questions you may have to share. Please feel free to email me though my board address: lisa.goegan AT tdsb.on.ca or call the school office, if you don't run into me in the school yard.

Sincerely,
Lisa Goegan

Yearbook reminder

Dear Parents and Students,

This is just a reminder that photos and info for the yearbook are due today, so please send them along as soon as possible. We're hoping to create a yearbook for the Grade 6's that will reflect students' time at IRC, so your photos will help personalize the project.

In my earlier post, I requested a baby photo, but we understand that not everyone has baby photos per se, so please consider sending in early childhood photos as an alternative. We're also hoping for pictures students might have taken at Mono Cliffs or on other class trips, or at school sporting events, even in previous years.

 The email address to send any photos to is gorcor@rogers.com.

Please let me know if you have questions or concerns about the yearbook process.

Regards,

Lisa

P. S. Most students have filled out the Yearbook profile, but if you haven't, please scroll back and make sure you do send it in as soon as possible.

Yearbook Profile.

In the library this week, students are asked to fill out the following information and email it to lisagoegan at gmail.com, then follow through with their research for their explorer books:

Student Name:

Favourite Song/Musical Artist:

Favourite TV Show/Movie/Video Game:

Favourite Book:

Favourite Subject:

Greatest Hope/Biggest Fear:

Favourite IRC Memory:

Awesome Fact:

Future Plans: