¡Bienvenidos a Kinder!
Welcome to our AM and PM Kindergarten Blog
In the kindergarten classroom we are looking at scaffolding specific halloween vocabulary through singing. Below are the links to a few songs we will be singing in class over the next week. Play the video with your child and ask them to listen or sing along in Spanish :)
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Over the past 10 days the kindergarten students have been using themselves as inspiration and have been learning all about the elements and attributes that make them unique! In particular they have been working on drawing whole-body self portraits and using shapes to create their bodies. Shapes is a large part of the Kindergarten curriculum and while drawing with them student's were also able to further build upon their recall of shapes in Spanish. Ask to hear about shapes in Spanish at home!!!
Students started by building "MAT-MAN" on the carpet as a whole group (see picture below) and seeing how all of our body parts can be drawn using simple shapes. From there they moved into their visual journals where they began to use "Mat-Man" as a reference point to draw themselves.As we moved through the learning task of creating a self-portraits students used mirrors to look at the distinct features that truly make them a unique individual. Through drawing and colouring student's elaborated on their "Mat-Man" drawings to make them more representative of themselves. Students then moved into a final Self-Portrait Art project than will be on display on our bulletin boards for the next few weeks. Before completing this final project students created a visual bulls-eye rubric with their teachers to help establish targets for them to achieve when drawing their self-portraits (See Picture Below). Students enjoyed creating this rubric and were often found checking in with their work half way through to see how they could improve and complete their best work! Finally, in order to add to their final portraits students used literature to explore what they believed to be the most important part of their bodies and why! Below are a few quotes from our writing work about the things the student's believed to be the most important part of themselves: "The most important part of my body is my ears because the help me to hear my mom when she needs me" "The most important part of my body is my heart because it pumps blood through me" "The most important part of my body are my legs because they help me run fast and walk slow" "The most important part of my body is my nose because it helps me breath" "The most important part of my body is my belly button because it make me laugh" "The most important part of my body are my adult teeth because they do not wiggle" Through this multi-step learning task students were able to not only develop their drawing skills but take a a closer look at all their individual attributes that compile together to make them all the wonderfuly unique kids that they are! Next time you are drawing ask to see a drawing of "Mat-Man" What is our Kindergarten Story?
Over the course of the last month the Kindergarten students have been using our school wide inquiry question of “What is our Story” as a pillar to guide our classroom conversations and discoveries. The kindergarten students have been exploring and developing ideas about what our kindergarten story will look like and how all of their unique qualities as individuals within our classroom will be key factors in developing the story that is our classroom community. As a group the Kindergarten students have looked at what they believe the key elements to “our story” should be and our now practicing and implementing those discoveries. We have discussed: What the students hoped to learn during the year Expectations of each other within the classroom Ways to make and treat friends Centers they would like to see within the classroom. More specifically we also have begun looking at other individuals stories. In September we looked at the story of Terry Fox and explored how Terry’s story evolved and what characteristics made him unique. Furthermore, we also have started to examine our Indigenous communities and used the book “Shi-Shi-Eko” by Nicola Campbell to begin this exploration while looking at the stories and histories of indigenous children who had been made to attend residential schools. By using these texts the students were able to compare and contrast these experiences and further see how each individual in this world is unique; demonstrating that one's experiences and values all impact their individual story as they evolve. Kindergarten Center Updates Kindergarten students have been exposed to a variety of unique and engaging play centers. All of our centers are developed to provide the students with purposeful play opportunities while aligning with the Alberta Program of Studies for Kindergarten. Literacy: We continue to use the students' names as a hook and invitation to play within the classroom literacy centers. Students are able to not only identify their own name, but recognize all the letters. By manipulating letters and interchanging uppercase and lowercase letters students got to print, create and play with their own names! Numeracy: Patters, Patterns, Patterns! Students are beginning to look at what is a pattern? Through a variety of invitations to play students have been given the opportunity to create their own patterns. This is also a nice invitation to scaffold the student’s Spanish vocabulary of colours, shapes and numbers. Furthermore, students continue to look at shapes and develop their ability to recognize a variety of different shapes in both Spanish and English. Dramatic Play & Construction : Students have been using a variety of different blocks and materials to use their imaginations and create different structures. Mini-mundos (mini worlds) have been discussed and students are entering into this play by using "ready made" city blocks in the classroom. The next step will be to use our Maker Centre to construct elements (landscape, objects, structures) for the mini-mundo. Fine Motor: Student continue to work on developing their fine motor skills by taking part in centers that help to strengthen the muscles in their hands while handling and manipulating smaller objects. Manipulating plasticine, cutting or tearing paper, holding different widths of paint brushes and beading onto branches or thread all support development in this area. |
TeachersAM - Srta. Lynda Elhage and Sra. Jordan Irwin Archives
January 2018
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