The Wonderful World of Kindergarten : May 2019

Monday, May 27, 2019

Tuesday:

We read a couple different versions of Jack and the Beanstalk. Much like we did with the stories of the The Three Little Pigs, we are comparing and contrasting the different stories. One common thread in the stories is that there is a castle at the top of the beanstalk. We looked at some pictures of real castles around the world and used our knowledge of 3D shapes to look at similar shapes in castles. The kids then built their own castles with clay.

The kids visited grade 1 and had a great time in Mrs. Gibson's room. I was very happy to hear what great listeners they were. Sounds like they are all ready!

For Math we practiced our observation, estimation and counting skills by making predictions about how many peas were going to be inside a snap pea pod. We started by watching a video of someone opening two different sizes of snap peas, first the small, then a medium, and then the large one was not opened. The kids had to use the information they gathered from the first two to make an estimation. The kids did a great job. We then practiced with the real thing.

Thursday:

After creating imaginary rollercoasters last week, we got together with our buddies for an STEM challenge. The kids had to draw the blue print of a rollercoaster containing at least 2 hills and 1 loop and build a prototype out of piping insulation and masking tape. Thank you to Ms. Leeper's class for helping us with this super fun project!

Friday:

Friday was the last day of school for our clerk, Ms. McDougall. The school is going to miss her very much. The kindness ninjas did a mission, sneaking into the office when she was on her lunch and covering her workspace with cards, thank you notes, pictures, and ninja tags. She apparently cried when she got back, great work Ninjas!

On the topic of Kindness Ninjas, a very special shout out goes to the group of kiddos that raised an astonishing $365.10 for the BC Children's Hospital Foundation! Thanks to everyone who supported their effort. Way to go!

Stories and songs this week:

Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney

Jack and the Beanstalk

Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osbourne

Jack and the Beanstalk: A Twist

Lollipop Tree by Burl Ives

Slippery Fish by Charlotte Diamond

Monday, May 20, 2019

Flowers, Snails, and Community

Monday:

The kids had a great start to the week getting to play ukuleles in music class.

When they came back to class they listened to some calm music and made still-life drawings of Gerber daisies, tulips, and lilacs. They learned the parts of a flower and labelled their drawings.

My son found a snail on the weekend and made a temporary home so that I could bring it into school to show the class.

Tuesday:

We have continued to practice our friends of 10. Today we used different coloured unified cubes to build all the different ways.

Thank you to Stephanie for more art supply donations. The kids loved making bookmarks out of sparkle glue.

Wednesday:

Thank you also to Ms. R, Ms. Y, and Ms. M for helping prepare this fun butterfly craft for the kids. They are enjoying making beautiful stained-glass inspired butterfly patterns.

We have been learning about our community and different people that help in our community. The kids drew pictures of different community helpers. They are displayed in the hallway if you want to come in a have a look. They are great!

Thursday:

This week we have also been learning about 3D shapes. We looked at several books exploring how 3D shapes are used to build structures. We went on a walk to look at 3D shapes around the school yard and noticed lots. The kids worked in small groups to try to represent some famous structures using various building materials.

Friday:

Our Buddy class has been working on building roller coasters, so we looked at roller coasters together. The big buddies helped the little buddies to design their dream roller coaster. Next week the buddies are going to share their roller coaster builds with us.