Dear Parents, 

I wanted to give you an early post to give you a sense of the new year's classroom dynamic. One of the first questions I always get is how we manage students in the classroom and the main answer I give is that the space is organized to accommodate them. Here's a photo I took today showing about half our students in situ: From left, 4 are playing in our house centre, 2 are playing at the sand table, 6 are having snacks and 4 are playing at our water table. 

We also have our play dough centre open, where students are beginning to use their imagination and experiences, some in expected ways, others a bit further afield. 

Many snakes

An old fashioned lock

This is a manta ray.

The manta ray interests me in particular, because this student was looking at a map book where a manta ray was pictured. Some of our other students have also been fascinated at looking at the different types of whales, so this may be an avenue for the class to explore. This is how curriculum goes in kindergarten: we build off of student interests and fascinations to learn about the world. 

For my part, I'm trying to foster an interest in plants and seeds in order to get us started on the life cycle of plants. We've started off the year by looking at seeds. Yesterday we took apart some tomatoes and tomatillos. Today, we talked in the morning about what seeds are: many students were unclear about what seeds were for, but we eventually got to a group understanding that seeds go in the ground and become the plants that they come from. Our conversation got more students interested in looking at the seeds and today, we took apart a pepper, pomegranate and an apple. 

Tweezers are also an excellent fine motor tool

 Today, we also had our first investigation of the year. Students started linking chain links together and got very excited about how long it was getting, so we did some measuring to see just how long it really was. 

First, we stetched out the chain as long as it could go.

Then we checked how many kindergarteners long the chain was.

On one side, there were ten students and on the other there were eight (one side definitely had more SKs).  These sorts of investigations are rich learning opportunities because they get students involved in the problem solving process.

So there's a brief introduction to 202. I look forward to keeping you updated through the blog this year because I feel like it's a great way to give you insights into classroom learning. Hope you're having a great first week.

Sincerely,

Ms. Goegan

Welcome (back) to Room 202!

Dear Parents,

I spent all today preparing the classroom for our first day. You wouldn't think there'd be so much to do when I'm in the same room I was last year, but we're always working to fine-tune our process. I'm excited to be working with Maria Moniz again this year and to see many familiar faces on Tuesday. It's also exciting to see what new elements will come into the mix with our new JKs, so welcome to all.

Last year, I updated this blog about once a week with pictures and discussion about the learning in our classroom. Scroll through if you want to see some of that. I hope to do the same this year, but, before we start, wanted to highlight a couple of things.

Firstly, we have two students with anaphylactic reactions in our classroom this year, so we need to be diligent about peanuts and not sharing food. I still hope to cook with students this year and have opportunities to celebrate together, but safety has to be our first concern. Parents often ask me if they can bring in treats for the class to share to celebrate birthdays and a good alternative is sending in something that can go home with students to families can make those decisions for themselves. We need to be aware of allergies, but also religious choices and other food sensitivities. Non food related treats, like stickers, are also a great idea.

Secondly, if you'd like to be involved with volunteering in the classroom, I'd urge you to begin the paperwork process for a police check as soon as possible. Please speak to the main office to start the ball rolling. If you'd like to support our classroom's learning, reading this blog is a great start because it allows you to respond to the interests students are expressing in the classroom. For example, when our students became interested in doctors,  we had material flowing in to add to our dramatic play area and a family member who worked in radiology brought in bones and talked to the class about x-rays. Engaging a community means that we can access these sorts of resources which would otherwise remain obscure (and it's exciting for me too).

Finally, if you've any questions, please don't hesitate to find me in the yard, call the school to leave a message, or email me @ lisa.goegan (@tdsb.on.ca). Getting used to a new routine can be challenging for Kinder students and parents and I strive to be thoughtful in my practice.

Hope you had a great summer!

Sincerely,

Ms. Goegan

P.S. I had the opportunity to go to the Amazon this summer and I hope to share some of my experiences and learning with students. Since I don't have any pictures of students to share yet, here are some of my own:

Bringing the inside out

Dear Parents,

As the year winds to a close and the weather is beginning to feel more like summer, it's hard to say in the classroom. Getting outside is always important to our program and allows us opportunities for exploration that wouldn't happen in a classroom, but it's important to make sure that students still have choices. I wanted to show you some of the ways we brought classroom activities to the outdoors last week.

Playdough map of imaginary park: "But not a playground, it's more like Algonquin"

Add caption

There's books to read in the shade

Using bingo dabbers and markers to paint

The watertable has been very popular. There's a track around the edge that diverts water back into the main reservoir that students are interested in damming.

You've also got kickball 

Students created a tunnel with their legs for the cars to go through

Ms. Moniz hitches a ride on the taxi. 

I also wanted to talk about the recent drum performance we had, which was easily one of the top ten performances I've attended as a teacher. This eco-drum collective made drums and percussion instruments out of recycled materials and talked about the importance of reducing waste. Students were dancing and clapping along to music. The older brothers of 3 students were chosen as volunteers, so our class felt like we had a stake in the proceedings as well. I had thought I'd gotten more pictures of their dancing in spot than I did, and it's hard to see just how into it they were from the pictures I did get, but I'm sure you've already heard at least a little about this.

 

 Finally, students have been very excited about using pegboards to create geometric shapes and pictures. I love this photo series simply because it shows you the diverse ways students feel about having their picture taken, even when they ask to have their picture taken.

This will likely be one of my last blog posts for this year. I've enjoyed learning and growing with your kids so much and I look forward to seeing them continue to explore next year, whether they're with me or in the broader school community. 

Sincerely, 

Ms. Goegan

Notes and addendums

Dear Parents, 

I'd like to remind you that the Volunteer Appreciation potluck is on Monday at 3:00 pm

For our Teddy Bear Picnic on June 23rd, we've already received many offers of sweet baked goods so I think we're good on that front. If anyone would like to make sandwiches instead, it might be good to have more savoury options to share as well.

And the library is closing up the circulation computer for the end of they year, so please ensure library books are returned. I will also close our levelled reading program this Monday. Do not expect a new levelled book, but do continue to read at home with your child. It's so helpful to their love of learning. 

A more student centred post will follow over the weekend, with lots of pictures. We had a great drum performance yesterday  (I thought I had their url, but I'll link them in my follow up post). We also had a great day outside and I wanted to show you how we're bringing our activities and learning outside the classroom. 

Have a great weekend, 

Ms. Goegan

Airplanes

Dear Parents,

We're hard at work planning the Teddy Bear Picnic for June 23rd (Rain Date: June 24th). We hope you'll join us and that the afternoon will be an opportunity to spend time together as a cohort, eating and playing and celebrating the hard work that both you and the students have put into this year. Expect to see a potluck request and a little more detail on what this will look like very soon (this week!), as we nail down final details.

On that front, if you've been involved in the classroom this year, please be aware of the volunteer potluck in the gym on Monday June 15th, from 3:00 pm  to 4:00 pm. And do come! I plan to bake something special for it in order to help honour all the amazing support you've given our classroom this year.

We're also looking forward to next year, with the new JK parent welcome evening on Tuesday. This is also the final parent council meeting of the year and a good opportunity to set yourself up for being involved in the school community.

At the same time,  learning continues in the classroom. We've taken down the tent and have revived our drama centre area. Students decided to turn it into an airplane. We decorated an outline of the airplane for the outside:

 Made dials and controls for the pilot:

 Then set up the chairs like an airplane. Students have been taking turns being pilots, passengers, and serving each other food like flight attendants.

We've also set up a "security gate" to pass through and have been working hard on making passports and tickets. These are allowing us many opportunities to write authentically and to talk about different purposes for reading and writing.

 In other areas of the classroom, we've also been looking at airplane design. What types of materials and shapes will help a plane fly farther?

Students have been measuring and testing their creations.

We've also seen a resurgence of interest in mapping as a result of this drama centre. Students are looking at the world map and deciding where to go on "vacation" and what countries they have to pass through to get there. 

A lot can grow out of a simple interest. As we move towards the end of the school year, I hope you've seen how play based curriculum can be responsive to students' needs. 

As a final note, I'm really enjoying the free for all Show and Share theme. So far, we've had students teach us about rocks and minerals, learned songs, read books, and enjoyed being surprised (by a jack-in-the-box).  I look forward to more surprises!

Sincerely, 

Ms. Goegan

P.S. The circulation computer was down last week, so students did not get new books. Library will be winding down soon, but we have a week or two left. 

June Newsletter

Here is your June Newsletter. A hard copy will go home tomorrow, fingers crossed. As usual, feel free to let me know about any challenges with students' special days in case I've missed anyone. Our theme for Show and Share is free choice.

 (Just like Halloween though, we'd encourage you to review what's appropriate for our school in terms of guns, knives, or other violent imagery.)

On June 23 (Raindate June 24th), we'll be hosting a Teddy Bear Picnic, where we'll welcome families to join us in a year end celebration. More information regarding what that will look like will be forthcoming as the date approaches, so check your mail outs and keep your eyes peeled on this site.

Learning about Bees

Last Friday, the class learned about bees from Felix's mom, whose family farm has some hives. Highlights were looking at honeycombs, examining a smoker that they use to calm the bees, trying on beekeeping clothes and learning that bees dance to communicate. Students were also happy to sample some homemade honey on fresh bread.

Answering questions

Felix and the smoker

Ijaz is wearing the hat

Touching the honeycomb

Bees dancing on the field

Waggling in a line