This Week:
FYI:
APRIL 26 -Snack Days has been CANCELLED.
Tuesday, April 9 - Learning Commons Book Exchange
Wednesday, April 10 - Scholastic Book Orders Due
Thursday, April 11 - Class picture day
Friday, April 12 - PM Students Attend
Wednesday, April 10 - Scholastic Book Orders Due
Thursday, April 11 - Class picture day
Friday, April 12 - PM Students Attend
Letter Learning /n/
To correctly form the uppercase letter N, start at the top and draw a straight line down. Jump back up to the top and draw a diagonal line to the bottom, then go straight back up to the top.
To correctly form the uppercase letter N, start at the top and draw a straight line down. Jump back up to the top and draw a diagonal line to the bottom, then go straight back up to the top.
To write the lowercase n start the same as the lowercase letter r that we did last week and continue your hump over and down to the ground.
Last Week:
Guided Drawing
Guided drawing is a fantastic way for children to be successful when drawing new ideas. To match our letter learning this week we looked at how to draw a rat. We think we did a fantastic job. We discovered that it is helpful to slow the video down or have an adult pause it so that we could draw all of the details. If you want to try drawing a rat at home follow this link.
More guided drawing fun
How to turn "Rat" into a cartoon
We have been working hard on improving our independent journal writing. When developing an idea for writing, children have been asked to expand a simple sentence into a more interesting sentence. Thinking about "what" you did, "where" you were and "who" you were with, provide the reader with lots of information. "I went swimming" would then become "I went swimming at the YMCA with my mom, dad and sister." Most of our information is communicated through detailed pictures that we draw and we are being expected to include details in our pictures. Colour is intentionally placed to enhance our drawing. We are even learning that sometimes "less is more" and outlining a key item can be better than colouring it in completely. New to us is the use of uppercase letters to begin a sentence with and a period to end a sentence. At this time of year, children should be able to copy print from around the room and write the beginning and end sounds of the words in their idea. There writing is frequently phonetic so they tend to write only the dominant sounds that they hear in words and there are rarely any vowels. This is called "kid printing". We will continue to practice these new concepts and more until the end of the year.
Learning Together
"Children begin to learn about themselves as the basis for healthy interactions with others. In Kindergarten, children develop friendship skills and have opportunities to demonstrate caring and make a contribution to others. They learn to express their feelings in socially acceptable ways and show respect and a positive caring attitude toward others. They take turns in activities and discussion, and contribute to partner and group activities by working cooperatively, giving and receiving help, and joining in small and large group games and activities." -Kindergarten Program of Studies
Letter Study
When students learn through play, they are better able to make deeper connections to the content being studied. One way to explore letters through play is by building letters with various materials. In our classrooms, we built the letter Rr using tiles, spools, counters and snap cubes. Afterward, students brainstormed ways to make the letter Rr at home. Some of their ideas included:
"I could make the letter Rr with my spaghetti!"
"I want to use water and a stick to make the letter Rr."
"I think I might use the legos at my house."
"I could just use rocks to make the letter R!"
Important Dates Coming up:
April 15th -Kindergarten Dental Health Presentation AM Class
April 16th -Kindergarten Dental Health Presentation PM Class
April 16th -Kindergarten Dental Health Presentation PM Class
April 19th -NO School -Good Friday
April 22nd -NO School -Professional Development Day
April 26th -AM Students Attend