Our Rock Star today was Olivia. She plays soccer in her community.

Olivia shared her soccer jersey that said, Soccer in the Community, how perfect is that? Olivia shared her super cool cleats which offered a wonderful opportunity to talk about what other sports we wear cleats for and why. Olivia's were especially fancy. Olivia loves scoring goals and running in soccer. She also shared a medal she has won in soccer-way to go, Rock Star Olivia. 

Students enjoyed reviewing their knowledge about our animals of study and the food they eat. Students used their alphabet tool kits to help them connect letters with sounds in words and write dominant sounds in words that they are hearing. Kindergarten are encouraged to stretch out the sounds in words and listen for the main ones they are hearing. Then, using their knowledge of sound/letter relationships they write the corresponding letters. They did an incredible job of recording the beginning, middle and end sounds in words to communicate their knowledge of what their animal eats. We used our WOW colouring rubric to make these food drawings look amazing.

Students added finishing touches to their diorama habitats today. Next week we will complete the final two pages in our informational books so they are ready to share at conferences.

Ideas to extend learning at home:

• play a board game: practice subitizing the number on the dice; what number do you roll-how quickly can you say that number?? Practice counting the correct number of spaces
• use loose parts, snack food, toys or painting to show the value of a number pictorially (ie: write the numerals 1-10 and then show 1 goldfish, 2 goldfish, 3 goldfish...
• make piles of toys, beads, rocks or food items: I have 5, show me more, show me less
• read books: identify letters in words, tell your own story using the pictures
• write your own story: draw a series of pictures to tell a story, then label the pictures using letter sounds, try to write a sentence to tell about your pictures

Reminders:

• no school for AM kinders tomorrow-see you Monday
• next week is a full week 
• conferences are coming up before spring break

Today our Rock Star was Liam. He shared that he likes to participate in boxing in his community.

Liam shared his boxing gloves today. He loves boxing. Wow, that is a pretty cool activity, Rock Star Liam. 

Today students enjoyed problem solving using snap cubes. They were challenged to make more and less than a given set and justify their thinking. Students participated in a letter/sound review using jolly phonics songs and actions.

What a wonderful opportunity to have a visit from a dentist today. Students learned about oral hygiene, proper brushing techniques and the importance of caring about your teeth. What a wonderful experience.

Our Rock Star today was Scarlett. She enjoyed sharing that she participates in dance classes in her community.

Scarlett shared a dancing medal and photographs of her at her dance recital. She loves dancing because it is fun. Scarlett participates in ballet and jazz; she likes jazz the most. Scarlett sometimes gets nervous when a lot of people are watching her dance. Wow, we think you look beautiful in your dancing photos and your medal is so special. Great work, dancing Rock Star Scarlett.

This morning we reviewed our animal body parts. Making connections among sounds, letters, words pictures and meaning helped us to label our animal diagrams. Students were encouraged to access environmental print, took kits, diagrams and informational posters to help them label their diagrams. They did an excellent job.

Students enjoyed gym, centers and letter/sound review.

Reminders:

• Thursday is movie night (I sent home tickets with your child in their backpacks today)
• Friday is no school for AM kindergarten

Marvelous Monday

Our Rock Star was Zach today. He likes to go dirtbiking.

Zach shared his dirt biking pants, jersey and photos today. He loves to dirt bike when he goes camping, he has even gone all the way to the top of a mountain. Zach doesn't get scared and sometimes he falls but gets right back up again. He usually dirt bikes with his dad. Zach sure keeps busy outside of school. His friends loved looking at the pictures and asking questions about his wonderful past time. Wow, that is pretty exciting, Rock Star Zach.

Students enjoyed sharing their ideas, experiences and feelings during our community circle. We also spoke about signs of spring and shared things we are excited to do when the snow melts.

This week kindergarten will be busy preparing an informational book based on their animal of study. Today we worked on our title page. Students worked hard to write neat and clear. Throughout the week we will work on our labeled diagram and food our animal likes.

Students learned the number pairs for 9 today and practiced creating these number pairs using two colours. Students represented and described the number 9 concretely and pictorially. Using tally marks, ten frames, pictures, manipulatives and number pairs, students shared their understanding of the number 9.

Kindergarten enjoyed their library visit and have two new books coming home today.

We enjoyed exploring our new centers today-lemonade stand, big blocks, and babies. Students are working to share, take turns and use their imaginations.

Movie tickets are still available if you are interested. Here is a copy of the form:

Upcoming:

• this week is no school for AM kindergarten

Our Rock Star today was Sydney. She loves to skate in New Brighton community. So cool that you are involved in activities in your community, Sydney.

Sydney brought in her figure skates and shared photos of her skating at the outdoor New Brighton skating rink. We loved hearing about how fast she can skate and how she never falls down, but if she did she would get back up. Her friends were so excited to see her photos and hear about how much she likes skating. Hopefully our classmates get to see this super skater on the ice. Amazing, Rock Star Sydney.

Students finished up their last learning table this morning.

Today students participated in a more and less Smart Board activity. Students counted objects and wrote the numeral. We used comparison of the numbers to decide which number was more and which was less. We talked about how we knew:

• I see 9 flowers(Griffin)
• I see 5 lions (Olivia)
• There are more flowers (Scarlett)
• There are less lions (Liam)
• There are more lions, I know because 9 is more than 6 (Sydney)

Students completed a Cookie Monster problem solving activity as a class. We learned that Cookie Monster loves cookies. He will only eat cookies with more than five chocolate chips (picky eater, eh?). Students as a class drew examples of cookies he would eat and cookies he would not eat. We shared our justification using sentences. Very impressive, kindergarten. After our class activity, students made two cookies-one cookie that Cookie Monster would choose to eat, and one that he would not eat. After completing their cookies, they shared their thinking with Mrs. Johnston. See the activity and rubric below: 

Proficiency Level	Success Criteria
1	Count a set of objects or dots: Student counts one set of chocolate chips
2	Compare 2 sets of objects and identify which shows more or less:  Student identifies which cookie has more chocolate chips  or less chocolate chips
3	Construct and compare a set of objects that shows more than or fewer than a given set of objects:  Student makes two cookies and draws chocolate chips, either more or less than 5
4	Compare and describe sets of objects using words such as more, fewer, as many as, or the same number: Student makes two cookies and draws two sets of chocolate chips; one is more than 5 and one is less than 5 and describes using more or less

Reminders:

• there is no school tomorrow for all New Brighton students 
• next week there is no school for AM kindergarten on Friday 

Our Rock Star today was Ethan. He shared that he plays baseball in the community.

Ethan brought in a photo of himself all dressed up in his baseball uniform. He played on the Pirates team. He wears white pants and a baseball hat. When he bats he wears a special helmet. Ethan loves catching and throwing. His favourite part of baseball is hitting the ball. Whoa, very cool, Rock Star Ethan. GO PIRATES.

Students enjoyed their learning tables.

Pink Shirt success. Thanks to everyone who wore their pink today and to everyone for sharing their ideas on kindness:

Today is Pink Shirt Day. We shared ideas about what kindness means:

• Sharing (Brett)
• Helping people (Owen)
• Caring (Ryder)
• Loving Someone (Ethan)
• Make sure someone is okay if they get hurt (Zach)
• Help people (Scarlett)
• Make sure no on is hurt (Harriet)
• Help someone carry something (Kayley)

We shared time that we have shown kindness:

• Cleaning up to help my sister (Olivia)
• By helping my brother in the garage, I get him tools (Brett)
• When someone needs help at First Class, I help them feel better (Zach)
• I hug someone if they are sad (Ethan)
• I help my sister when she was sad because she got hurt (Kayley)
• When my brother got hurst I helped him and I made him feel better (Griffin)

Students had the opportunity to draw and write about a time they have shown kindness. Students were encouraged to first draw a detailed picture and then add labels, words or sentences to describe their picture. Wow, kindergarten-there was some incredible work out there today. 

Reminders:

• no school for New Brighton students on Friday

Exciting Exploration and Experimenting

Our Rock Star was Ivy today. She loves to act, sing and dance outside her community.

Ivy shared her special recording book of her community sing/act/dance company-step up. She loves singing. Ivy has been doing this activity for a long time. Wow, we loved seeing your recognition stamps and hearing about how you move on the stage. Thanks for sharing, Rock Star Ivy.

Reminder that tomorrow is Pink Shirt Day: we will be focusing on kindness, supporting
Students enjoyed settling into their learning at their learning tables today.

After gym, students continued to investigate and describe living things, objects and events. We reviewed the variety of homes that animals live in-logs, trees, caves, holes etc. After reviewing the characteristics of animals, students experimented with clay to build their animal. When placing their completed animal into their habitat, students were mindful to think about where the animal would be located and what activity it would be doing. Wow, kindergarten-amazing work. We have owls eating bugs, bears eating fish, hares eating grass...oh my...

 

 

 


Students will continue to add to their diorama habitats throughout the week. Next week we will be compiling information about our selected animals to make an informational book.







Check out these clay animals:

       

                        

       

                        

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