Memory Book

I hope you enjoyed looking at the Memory book over the weekend.

Please return the Memory book to school by Thursday, December 17th. I will continue to add pages and photos to the Memory books throughout the rest of the year. I will send the Memory books home again at the end of March. At the end of the school year, you will be able to keep the Memory book as a memento of your child's JK or SK year.

Christmas Concert Reminder

This is a reminder that our Christmas concert is on Wednesday, December 16th.

Concert Outfit
Kindergarten students are asked to wear a festive Christmas outfit (e.g., favourite Christmas dress/outfit; Christmas colours (e.g., red, green, white); Christmas shirts, sweaters and/or socks; Christmas hat or antlers; etc.) for the concert.

Afternoon Concert
ALL Kindergarten students are asked to attend school in the AFTERNOON on Wednesday, December 16th. Please bring your child to school at 12:45 p.m. The afternoon concert will run from 1:30-2:30 p.m. The Kindergarten students will stay to watch the rest of the afternoon concert after we perform and will also have time for a small snack (please send a snack to school). Please pick up your child at 3:15 p.m.

Evening Concert
Please bring your son/daughter to the Kindergarten classroom on Wednesday, December 16th at 6:30 p.m. The evening concert will run from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. The Kindergarten students will be performing first. PLEASE pick up your Kindergarten son/daughter from the Kindergarten classroom immediately following our evening performance (approximately 7:10 p.m.). We cannot 'clog-up' the hallway where the rest of the school will be lining up. If you do not wish to stay to watch the rest of the concert - you may go home after your Kindergarten child has performed.

We hope that family members and friends can attend either the afternoon or evening performance to watch us!

Christmas Party and Carol Singing

On Friday, December 18th we will be having our Christmas Party and carol singing. Students are encouraged to wear festive clothes (e.g., red and green, Christmas shirts and/or socks, Christmas hat/antlers, etc.) on that day.

We will be playing some Christmas games and having our Christmas party snack provided by some students in each class. Please only send a drink for your child on Friday.

Parents, grandparents and younger siblings of the morning Junior Kindergarten students are invited to join us from 10:30 - 11:15 a.m. in the Kindergarten classroom to sing Christmas carols.

Parents, grandparents and younger siblings of the afternoon Senior Kindergarten students are invited to join us from 2:30 - 3:15 p.m. in the Kindergarten classroom to sing Christmas carols.

Gingerbread Houses

On Friday, December 11th, the Kindergarten students decorated their own small 'gingerbread' houses. The houses were made for us out of graham crackers. The students enjoyed using a wide variety candies to decorate their houses. A BIG THANK YOU to Dianne Kirwin for providing the Kindergarten students with the gingerbread houses, icing and candies!!

Mrs. Mayer put each house in a Ziploc bag to keep them fresh. On Monday, the SK students will be able to take their gingerbread houses home to admire and/or eat. On Friday, December 18th, the JK students will have the opportunity to eat some of their gingerbread houses as part of their Christmas party snack and will be able to take home the rest of their gingerbread houses on that day.

If you received this post in an email, please click on the title of the post to view the photos of our gingerbread houses and gingerbread cookies.

Gingerbread Cookies

This month we have been reading various stories about a gingerbread man, boy, girl, cowboy, baby, and gingerbread friends. On Wednesday, December 9th, we decorated and ate gingerbread boy or girl cookies. When everyone was finished decorating their cookies, Mrs. Mayer asked the Kindergarten students to take one bite of one of their cookies. Mrs. Mayer graphed which part (arm, head, or leg) of the gingerbread cookie each student bit. In both the JK and SK classes, more students bit the leg and very few students bit the head first. After completing the graph, the students were then able to finish their gingerbread cookie!

On Thursday, December 10th, Mrs. Mayer forgot to close the classroom door and our Gingerbread Man escaped our classroom! The Gingerbread Man left us notes with clues to where he went in the school. We went on a Gingerbread Man hunt by quietly tip toeing down the hall (we didn't want the Gingerbread Man to hear us coming!!). We asked different teachers and students if they saw the Gingerbread Man. Some of them saw him running down the hall. The Gingerbread Man was fast! Every time we went to a part of the school, the Gingerbread Man was already gone and left us another note with a clue. We went to the gym, the library and the Grade 1 classroom. Finally we found him in Mr. Schmidt's office! He was by Mr. Schmidt's phone (perhaps he wanted to make a phone call?). We carried the Gingerbread Man back to our classroom. Mrs. Mayer will try to remember to keep our classroom door closed so that the Gingerbread Man won't escape again!

Personal Video Message From Santa

A parent told me about a website that allows you to create a personalized video greeting from Santa. At santa.sympatico.ca you can upload a picture of your child and fill in some information about your child (e.g., name, what he/she wants for Christmas). On the video, Santa then talks to your child and mentions the information that you included.

I mailed the students' letters to Santa and hope to soon receive the letters for the students from Santa. I will send the letters home when I receive them.

Crazy Hat Day In November

On Friday, November 27th, Gracefield school had Crazy Hat Day! The Kindergarten students had very creative and great looking hats!

Police Officer Visit

On Wednesday, November 25th, Police Officer John visited our class. During his visit, Officer John talked to us about:

• How we can tell that a person is a police officer.
• The role of a police officer.
• Good and bad strangers.
• The importance of wearing seat belts and helmets.
• How to safely cross the street (stop, look, and listen).
  
• Calling 911 when there is an emergency.

While discussing important information, Officer John entertained us with different games, scenarios, and drawings. We especially enjoyed the opportunity to see his police car!

Number Sense

In the classroom we will be using 5 frames, 10 frames, subitizing (recognizing quantities by sight), Rekenreks, number lines, base ten blocks and 100s charts to focus on developing number sense. On the right side of the blog I have listed some websites that have online games that your child can play at home to develop his/her math skills. Some of these games use 5 frames, 10 frames, subitizing, Rekenreks, number lines, base ten blocks or 100s boards.

I have also posted the number sense songs (e.g., 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed) that we will be singing in the next two months under Poems and Songs.

5 FRAME
Use the 5 frame to focus on quantities 1 to 5.
Use the 5 frame to add and subtract to 5.

10 FRAME
Use the 10 frame to focus on quantities 6 to 10.
Use the 10 frame to add and subtract to 10.

SUBITIZING (recognizing quantities by sight)
Use dice, dominoes and home-made dot pattern cards to work on subitizing.
Flash a quantity represented with a dot pattern for a couple of seconds and
ask your child to identify the quantity by sight (not by counting).


REKENREK
Use Rekenreks to focus on counting, subitizing, doubles, and adding and subtracting.



NUMBER LINE
Use the number line to count forwards and backwards.
Use the number line to skip count (count by 2s, 5s, 10s).
Use the number line to find/identify numbers.
Use the number line to add and subtract.

BASE TEN BLOCKS
Use the base ten blocks to create numbers.
Use the base ten blocks to add and subtract.



100s BOARD
Use the 100s board to count forwards and backwards.
Use the 100s board to skip count (count by 2s, 5s, 10s).
Use the 100s board to find/identify numbers 1-100.
Use the 100s board to add and subtract.

World Vision Canada

In the past years, some students have surprised me with gifts during the holiday season. While I appreciate this generous gesture, there are many in our community and in the world that are in great need. Instead of buying me a gift, please consider making a donation to World Vision Canada.

World Vision Canada is an organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. For more information, you can visit World Vision Canada’s website at https://www.worldvision.ca/Pages/Home.aspx

If interested, you may choose to make a direct donation to World Vision Canada or you may choose to send in a donation to the school (cash or cheque made payable to Gracefield School). No amount is too small. With the money collected, the Kindergarten classes could purchase one or more ‘gifts’ through World Vision Canada. Below are a few examples of ‘gifts’ that can be purchased through World Vision Canada:

• $35 Clothing for 25 Children and Families
• $50 Supply a Classroom – provide an entire classroom with books, art materials, pencils, paper, and more.
• $55 2 Hens and a Rooster - can produce 150 eggs a year for a family
• $100 Goat – can provide a family 250 litres of protein-rich milk a year and extra income
• $100 Stock a Medical Clinic – for a community in need
  

Please send any donations for World Vision Canada to the school between December 1st and December 18th. In January, I will notify you which gift(s) through World Vision Canada the Kindergarten classes were able to purchase with the money collected in December.

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November Niagara Falls Art Gallery

On Monday, November 2nd, we had our first Niagara Falls Art Gallery Workshop for this school year. Both Kindergarten classes did a fabulous job listening and watching each step and carefully completing their pictures. I will be hanging the pictures up in the school for others to see what a great job all of the Kindergarten students did. Please enjoy this slide show of everyone's pictures.

The JK students learned about the primary colours: red, blue, and yellow. They painted the primary colours and then they mixed primary colours to make secondary colours: orange, green, and purple. The JK students carefully followed the step by step directions to draw a fish. Finally, they painted their picture with the primary and secondary colours.

The SK students learned how to draw all of their body parts and how to draw their eyes and hair with more details. They also learned about the horizon line and adding a background to their pictures. The SK students carefully followed the step by step directions and drew their self-portraits. Finally, they coloured their pictures with oil pastels.

Our Halloween Party

On Friday, October 30th, we had our Halloween Party! All of the students dressed up in costumes. Mrs. Mayer dressed up as Snow White. We went on a parade, played Halloween games, sang Halloween songs, ate our party snack, and read a Halloween story. Enjoy looking at this slide show of photos from our party.

In the month of November, please remember to continue to send nutritious snacks to school. Please do not send candy or chocolate. Thank you!

Developmentally Appropriate Writing Tools For Young Children

Research has shown that when preschool (Junior Kindergarten) children are learning to print letters, it is most effective when the children use writing tools that provide friction and resistance. These tools provide the child with extra information to the joints and muscles that are used for writing. This extra information helps students to remember how to form the letters. When writing on paper, crayons provide friction and resistance. Chalk also provides friction and resistance when used on chalkboards. When Junior Kindergarten children use pencils, pens and markers, these tools rarely give the child the additional input that they need.

The Handwriting Without Tears Junior Kindergarten workbook is a crayon-based book. At school, the students are using crayons when they practice printing the capital letters in their workbook. When your JK child practices printing his/her name and practices printing the capital letters on the pages of his/her Jolly and Printing duo-tang, please have him/her use crayons.

Research has also shown that small writing tools are developmentally appropriate for Junior Kindergarten and Senior Kindergarten children. When young children use small writing tools, it encourages them to use the precise pinch that is needed for a mature tripod grasp. Little pieces of crayon and chalk (2 to 3 cm long) also help children to develop fingertip control and strength. When moving a child to a pencil, a golf pencil is developmentally appropriate for young children. Golf pencils are in the proper proportion with the size of young children's hands. Red primary pencils are too heavy and long for little hands.

The Handwriting Without Tears Flip Crayons are designed with dual colours and dual tips to encourage fine motor development. When children flip the crayons, they are using in-hand manipulation skills. These skills lead to improved finger coordination.

At the June JK Orientation, I provided all of this year's JK students with: a box of Handwriting Without Tears Flip Crayons, a small piece of chalk, and a golf pencil in their JK Orientation Package. Please encourage your child to use these tools at home. If you have misplaced these writing tools, you can break small crayons in half.