¡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. ¡Bienvenidos a Eugene Coste! We can’t believe that 2 weeks have already passed! Your children have quickly become accustomed to our classroom routines and expectations and seem to be enjoying each other and the tasks presented in class. While some of you may have already experienced Kindergarten through an older sibling, this may be your first time! We understand that this can be an exciting and perhaps stressful time for some of you. Fear not, your children are very happy once they walk through the door and engaged in learning. What is Our Kindergarten Story? This very broad statement will be our guiding question for the year. It is our intent to weave the idea of storytelling into all aspects of our day and this will be reflected in our centre design. Centres are intended to encourage meaningful play. Students are invited to join the teacher in teacher-led tasks or are provided the opportunity to interact with materials in an independent way. Some of the centres that your children have already enjoyed have included: Building- using a variety of materials (i.e. different sizes and shapes of blocks) Art- exploring and experimenting with a wide range of materials (paint, paper, cutting, gluing, found objects) Bilingual Literacy- oral story telling and imaginative play, sharing ideas to an adult scribe, "Book Nook" and classroom library Numeracy- organizing and sorting a variety of objects, creating and reproducing patterns using a range of materials Your children have also enjoyed experiences in our biblioteca (library), sala de música (music room) and gimnasio (gym). Our favorable weather conditions until now have also brought us outside. We have taken walks around the school yard collecting objects for use in the classroom and making observations about our community. A Note About Snacks We are so amazed by the gorgeous snacks being brought to school by your children. During class time, we set aside approximately 15 minutes to sit and eat a snack. This is time for children to practice table manners, get to know their friends and to learn some new Spanish vocabulary. Many children in our classes also attend CCP. Please make sure that their "lunch" is packed apart from their "snack". Some students have difficulty differentiating between the two. Also some lunch kits are overflowing with food. Please take some time to talk to your children about what they can reasonably eat within 15 - 20 minutes. Later on during class time, children are welcome to snack some more if they still feel hungry. Other Important Reminders Mail day is Thursday- please ensure the green folder is brought to school on this day Library day is Thursday- we ask that a book bag (plastic bag or Eugene Coste book bag available for purchase) is used to transport books to and from home. Change of clothes- Kindergarten children do at times have accidents. Please ensure that a change of clothes is kept in your child's back pack Independence with Zippers and Shoes etc- the children have been doing a wonderful job so far. Some little ones still struggle with putting on their shoes or handling their clothing. Your child's teacher will talk to you if this is an issue. In only a few short weeks, your child has begun to understand some simple commands and classroom vocabulary in our Spanish bilingual program. Language learning in Kindergarten starts orally... as it does at home. When your child was an infant, what did they learn first? To read, to write, to speak or to understand language? It seems silly to imagine an infant sitting and reading a book, doesn't it?
When learning a second, or third, or fourth language, the initial stage of acquiring that language is through listening. Gradually, the learner begins to speak and use language that has become familiar and routine. The later stages of language learning involve reading and writing. Over time, the learner continues this same cycle as their grammar and vocabulary bank expands. This early in the year, your child may not yet feel comfortable sharing some of their Spanish knowledge with you. To help stimulate your conversation with your child about what they are learning, here are some common words and phrases that they will hear throughout their day in Kindergarten. Hola... Adiós Hello... Good-bye Buenos días Good morning Buenas tardes Good afternoon ¡Nos vemos! We´ll see each other later! Vamos a ... comer, sentar, correr, caminar, jugar... We are going to... eat, sit, run, walk, play... Ahora Now ¡Ven acá! Come here! Sentados, sentados, todos sentados... Sit down, sit down, everyone sit down (song) Todos a la alfombra, for favor. Everyone to the carpet, please. ¡Zapatos en las manos! Shoes in your hands! ¡Limpiamos! Let´s clean up! ¡A recoger! Time to tidy up! Classroom/ School Objects el lápiz pencil el papel paper el borrador eraser el pegamento glue la pintura paint la puerta door la escuela school la mesa table la silla chair la alfombra carpet los bloques blocks la muñeca doll la casita playhouse la mesa de arena sand table la mesa de agua water table los centros centres |
TeachersAM - Srta. Lynda Elhage and Sra. Jordan Irwin Archives
January 2018
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