Mrs. Piquette's Kindergarten Blog: November 2015

Sunday 29 November 2015

KA Veterinarian Hospital ... By Appointment Only

Since our students have shown a keen interest in animals this year, we decided to change the dramatic centre into a veterinarian office for them. Mrs. L. MacPherson was nice enough to lend us some materials, and Mrs. Piquette worked hard with the children to set up the new dramatic area. Have a look!

Thursday 26 November 2015

Penny for your Thoughts

Today was a very special day. We are learning about the /p/ sound, so when we went on a nature walk in the neighbourhood and ended up close to Mrs. Piquette's house, we thought it would be a good idea to have Mrs. Piquette bring out her new puppy, Penny (because both start with Pp!). We spent a few minutes outside Mrs. Piquette's house, and she brought Penny out to meet us. Then we headed back to school.

Sunday 22 November 2015

There was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow

We are very excited about the project we have been working on with our Grade 5/6 Learning Buddies. We read a book together called There Was a Cold Lady who Swallowed Some Snow by Lucille Colandro. If you have heard There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, you will be familiar with the main idea of this book. (Incidentally, if you are looking for an awesome version of the song, my personal favourite is sung by Cyndi Lauper).

When Mrs. Piquette and Mrs. Kelly-Miller got together to discuss how we would work as learning buddies this year, we were determined to include technology into the mix. This book provided the perfect opportunity to do just that. Our classes are interested in stop motion animation, and the iPads and Android devices that we have access to make it very easy to create stop motion animation. Even our kindergarten students are able to do this independently.

We are using an app called Stop Motion Studio (find it for free on the app store here) to create an animated version of this book. We will present the final film along with a performance of the song at our holiday assembly during the last week of school before winter break.

We started working on this project at the beginning of November, and have made some really excellent progress. Mrs. Piquette showed the grade 5/6 leaders a few videos about stop motion animation and how to make it work:

1. The Three Principles of Animation

2. Storyboarding Your Idea

Last week we created our story boards.

We are really pleased with how well they came out.

We were so eager to get started with filming that some of the grade 5/6 girls came to visit our kindergarten class on Friday to get a head start on cutting out the materials needed to create our little film.

We can't wait to see the finished product! Stay tuned for more updates!

Monday 16 November 2015

What is Discovery Time?

You may be hearing your child(ren) at home talking about Discovery Time at school. We would like to take some time to talk about Discovery Time and what exactly it is. Our Ontario Curriculum states that

The Full-Day Early Learning-Kindergarten program is a child-centred,

developmentally appropriate, integrated, extended-day program of learning

for four- and five-year old children. The purpose of the program is to

establish a strong foundation for learning in the early years, and to do so in

a safe and caring play-based environment that promotes the physical, social,

emotional, and cognitive development of all children."

As a result, you will see a lot of Discovery Time on our schedule. This time provides an opportunity for our students to explore the activities in the room while we call small groups to work with us at planned activities. So how does Discovery Time relate to the curriculum?

Owen and Aidan play in the Dramatic Centre,
November 6

When I Play at the Dramatic Centre, I am Learning:

to use my imagination and role play
to work cooperatively with peers
to explore elements of drama
to retell stories and familiar events
to communicate my ideas with others
to take turns and use kind words
about people in my community
to write lists, letters, and notes
to be a nurturer and care for others
to use puppets and props to enhance my play and learning
to tidy up materials when I am finished

Michael, Mason, Ashton, Lexi, Elliott, and Cooper
work together to create structures, using a slide
show of famous buildings and roadways as
inspiration, November 6

When I Play at the Construction Centre, I am Learning:

to select and use different materials
to create designs with peers
to construct structures following my plans
to communicate or write about my discoveries and observations
to use problem solving skills effectively
to be creative with a variety of materials
to role play and imagine
to investigate how things work and fit together
to share materials and tools with others
to experiment with simple machines
to develop my fine and gross motor skills

Tharsan, Rhya, Aaradhya and Tessa create art
at the Creative Centre, November 6

When I Play at the Creative Centre, I am Learning:

to use my imagination to create art
to create a plan and follow it through
to explore and share a variety of tools and materials with my peers
to use problem solving skills effectively
to explore different elements of design
to demonstrate an understanding of vocabulary related to visual art
to share my artistic accomplishments
to respond to a variety of visual art forms
to practise my fine motor skills

Zoe, Ammon, Jake, Brooklyn, and Sahneez
work together with a special soft dough on
November 6.

When I Play with Playdough, I am Learning:

to select and use different tools
to create designs with peers
to create a plan and follow it through
to communicate my discoveries
to use problem solving skills effectively
to be creative with a tactile medium
to experiment with letters and numbers
to explore how tools help me
to share materials and tools with others
to experiment with simple machines
to develop my fine motor skills

Zoe, Cooper, Ajaydeep and Tessa work at
the sensory table with water on November 16.

When I Play at the Sand/Sensory Table, I am Learning:

to select and use different materials
to work cooperatively with others
to create a plan and follow it through
to communicate my discoveries
to use problem solving skills effectively
to be creative with a variety of materials
to make predictions and observations
to explore how tools help me
to experiment with simple machines
to develop my fine motor skills
to develop literacy and numeracy skills
to wonder about how things work

Thursday 12 November 2015

Kindergarten A is SEW Awesome!

A great fine motor activity that we have introduced in Kindergarten A is sewing. Several of our students have shown a keen interest in sewing, and ask to sew on a regular basis. At this point we are reviewing how to handle and be safe with a sewing needle, and how to push and pull the needle through the fabric. Our students are SEW excited!

Curriculum expectations that are being targeting during this activity are:

Health and Physical Activity 2.2:

demonstrate persistence while engaged in activities that require the use of both large and small muscles

Health and Physical Activity 4.1:

begin to demonstrate control of small muscles in activities at a variety of learning centres and when using a variety of materials or equipment

Celebrating Hallowe'en in KA

On Thursday, October 29th, we celebrated Hallowe'en in our classroom. It was an opportunity for our students to dress up and spend some time dancing in the gym. We also played games and practiced describing our costumes to the class. Standing up and talking in front of the class was a challenge for some students, but they all gave it a try and most children participated in the activities we had. It was a wonderful day full of fun. We would like to share some pictures of our students having a blast that day.