Ms. Smith & Mrs. Grant's Kindergarten Class

This week the students have been looking at the farm. We have been reading farm stories and working on writing our own farm stories. The studremembering to use finger spaces between their words when writing stories. The student were also learning about the diferences between cows and pigs. They have learned several interesting facts about both animals, The students have used this information to create beautiful artwork and stories to match which are now on ents have been working very hard to make sure they use their sight words and sounds to help them with their writing. They are also getting very good at display in the hallway.

This week the students really focused on recycling. They have been collecting objects that can be recycled and sorting them into the different bins we have at school to ensure we do our part to help the envrionment. They have also been talking about what we can do to help with Earth Day as it is quickly approaching.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! This week the students were talking about this holiday as well as Leprechauns, rainbows and shamrocks. The were read to daily with special holiday stories and worked on their own stories about what they would do if they ever caught a Leprechaun. They made some wonderful art work with rainbows that will be coming home shortly.

Today was our trade fair. The students had a wonderful time visiting the gym to see what our older students have been working so hard on. They purchased all kinds of wonderful items from cupcakes and cookies to painted decorations and candy cane sleighs, to facepainting and fresh cotton candy. The students thoroughly enjoyed the trade fair and we hope they tell you all about the wonderful items they will be bringing home with them.

This week we have been working on all kinds of fun activities focused around the upcoming Christmas holidays. The students have been writing stories about our elf Jewels and having a great time looking to see what she is up to each day. Today she happens to be ziplining across our classroom on a candy cane, we wonder what she will be up to tomorrow. We have also been working very hard on our Christmas writing using our holiday word wall. We will also be participating in our first all school DPA, we will be playing holiday tag games outside so please send your child ready with clothing appropriate for the weather.

On Thursday December 5th Santa sent us a package from the North Pole. It was very cold when it arrived!  We read the letter from Santa and found out he had sent us an Elf to see how we are behaving in class before Christmas. We had to give our Elf a name and we chose to name her "Jewels". Jewels will use her Christmas magic to fly home to the North Pole each night and give Santa a full report on how we are doing in class. She will then return to our classroom before we arrive at school. Who knows what she might get into in our classroom. She has already made a castle out of our blocks, been bouncing in a slinky, and riding our dinosaurs in a parade. We are having a wonderful time telling Jewels all our hopes for Christmas. Jewels will be around our classroom until just before the holiday break.

This week the students are getting very excited with the upcoming holidays. We will be working on getting our letters to Santa finished and sent off to the North Pole. If you would like a copy of your child's letter please let us know by Friday Dec. the 6th so we can copy it for you. We are also working on 3D shapes. We will be sorting them into groups and deciding if they roll or slide and why.

This week we will be looking at the story "The Gingerbread Man". There are several variations on this story and will will be reading them and comparing them to the original version. We will also be working on sequencing of a story. The students will learn to take the important parts of the story and put them in order based on what happens in the story. There are many exciting activities we will be working on related to this topic including a visit from the gingerbread man himself.

This week we have been learning about 2D shapes. We have read some interesting stories about shapes, sorted shapes, gone on a shape hunt around the school and created pictures using a variety of shapes. You can help at home by continuing to encourage your child to find shapes while you are on a walk, while you are shopping or around your house. You can also help your child cut out a variety of shapes and create pictures such as buildings, people, robots, animals and much more!  Shapes can be lots of fun so enjoy!!

This week the students have started learning about community helpers. We have had a few discussions and read some books on this topic and will continue to do so over the course of the month. The students are very keen on learning about these important memebers of our classroom and we hope to have a few of them visit our classroom. If you are interested in being one of these visitors please send us a note or call us at the school. Thank you.