Fall Art

We used some wonderful gifts from nature to make some Fall leaf art. Last week we went on a leaf hunt and used all of the different coloured leaves we found to make some trees of our own.
Check out our instagram page for more fun photos! @room8.missg

We welcome Ms. Math to Room 8!

Last week we welcomed someone new into our classroom! Ms. Math (also known as Ms. Quinn-LaFleche) came in to explore some new math concepts with us! For our first lesson with Ms. Math, we looked at a new tool called a rekenrek. It has two long lines with 10 beads on each one (5 red and 5 white). Ms. Math taught us that we can use this tool to figure out how many beads are left on a line after we take some away. Such as if there are 10 red and white all together, how many are left if I cover only the red ones. Many students counted and realized the answer was 5 white beads.
We will continue to use this tool in class to practice counting and breaking down larger numbers into smaller groups.

Ms. Math showing us a rekenrek on the smartboard and one that we can use in class without technology.

After a great lesson with the rekenrek, Ms. Math taught us a new movement game using a big foam dice! We rolled it to see what dice pattern came up, identified the number, and then came up with a fun action to do that many times. Everything from spinning and jumping to clapping and waving! A great way to practice our numeracy skills and get in some activity.

Wave your hands in the air 5 times!

Upcoming Terry Fox Run on September 29th

Parent Council meeting

 

First week of Kindergarten!

Our first week sure was a busy one!
Lots of new routines and places in the school to learn and get used to. The class has been taking the time to explore their new classroom and all of the activities that go on in a typical day in Kindergarten.

We have been learning each other's names and finding out new cool things about each other!
There is always so much to learn about one another when we are in a new classroom.

The students have also been learning their day routines which include some pretty fun stuff!



One of those new routines is our Discovery Bins.  Every morning, once the students have changed their shoes, handed in their red folders, and hung up their coats, they can chose to explore the discovery bins.

The bins are all designed to be engaging and interactive. The student can choose to go to one bin and stay there for the full 20 minutes or they can choose to try a variety of different bins within that time. Every bin offers a different goal for the children. The different activities can help a child build their skills in numeracy, literacy, fine motor, gross motor, turn-taking, and communication.  All of these skills are key part of development in Kindergarten!

Here two students are learning to take turns during a board game. They are also practicing their numeracy skills by rolling the dice and identifying the number of spaces that they can move during their turn.

Here students are using their fine motor skills to pick up and place blocks to create an imaginative design! They are also learning to share and ask each other for help or to be gentle when moving around the table so their structure doesn't fall over.

At this discovery bin, students are using their fine motor skills to string beads onto pipe cleaners. Building of fine motor muscles in the hands is very important for young children since those are the muscles that will help them with more academic tasks such as holding a pencil and having the strength to write or draw for an extended period of time.

They are also looking for beads with letters that match the letters in their name which helps with letter ID.

Every week we will have 5 new discovery bins out that the students can explore and discover.
They are also learning to be responsible for cleaning up the stations once Discovery Bins are over.


Some other exciting new spaces we are learning about are the gym, library, and music room and how to respect those spaces and the equipment we use there.

The gym is a space that we can play interactive games and build our gross motor skills. Activities such as running, hopping, and skipping are all safe activities to try out in the huge gym space.  Right now the class is learning to identify the different lines around the gym based on their colour and how to identify their teams by number.

The library is a much more quiet space than the gym! In the library we walk around to look at the books and sit on the carpet during story time with Mrs. Woods. After the story, we are allowed to pick one book from the tables to borrow for the week until next library day.

The music room is a mix of quiet and loud space. Sometimes we are listening to Ms. Rempel teach us a new song or rhythm. And other times we are trying out new instruments and exploring the sounds we can make. 

Welcome to the New School Year!

Welcome back everyone!