Joyeux Noël!

Dear Salle 202 families,

First of all, Dominique and I (and Sadie!) thank you so very much for your thoughtful cards, messages and gifts. You are too kind.
I hope the kids enjoy the little book I chose for them. Many students are starting to put some sounds together as we read the morning message every day, so perhaps they can help read their book by looking for the letters and sounds that they already know. This will give you a little preview of our borrow-a-book program which will begin in January!

We are also excited to show you YOUR present. We even wrapped it up! I hope you love your picture, I think they turned out beautifully! They are made by drawing and painting directly on the glass, and then adding a foil background. Please ask your artist about how they made their glass painting! Several students helped me with the parts of the project that I thought I had to do myself, such as cutting the foil, and taping the frames shut. Thanks so much to my helpers!

This week, our kind gestures have included making a chocolate bell for your neighbour, preparing cards and gifts for our other teachers, singing a song to Mr. Greene and cleaning up our classroom and cubbies. Our specialty teachers, who see many students but don't often receive cards or gifts, were really touched that the kids took the time to make cards for them.

This morning, we had fun singing at Dewson's annual carol sing-along. Thanks so much to Mr. Greene for accompanying us! This afternoon, we played a super fun Christmas bingo and everybody was a good sport. We also had fun in the beautiful new snow today, giving toboggan rides, building various structures and playing games.

Last Friday, we had a very special show & tell. Kinga's mom came to present a puppet show and then provided all the materials to do at least 5 different art projects. Merci beaucoup!

In our centre time, we've been working on building numbers, we've been exercising our fingers more at finger gym, we've had the opportunity to design a bookmark to enter in the library's competition, and we've been exploring the various puzzles in our classroom - among other things.

If you're interested in learning a little more about what we do during the day, and how it aligns with the new kindergarten curriculum, I invite you to attend the parent council meeting on Thursday, January 11th. I will be giving a presentation on the new curriculum and how we report on it. Play-based can seem a bit disorganized at times (even to the teachers!), so it's nice to sit back and reflect on all the learning that is going on within it.

Words of the Week

Joyeux Noël!

un cadeau
le sapin

un flocon de neige

un bonhomme de neige

Dominique and I wish you a fantastic, restful break. 

Happy everything!!

the chocolate bell...

Hi families,
Our menorahs are on their way home today for you to enjoy. The little silver bell decorations with the chocolate inside is intended as a little gift for your neighbour. It was our kind gesture today. Please encourage your child to deliver this gift to one of your friendly neighbours. Thanks!

A reminder that tomorrow we are heading to the public library just after morning snack. Please make sure we are dressed for this short walk in whatever weather.

I am still missing trip forms and payment from 5 students. I have sent a bright green reminder in case you aren't sure if this applies to you. Please check for that and let me know if you need a new form. Also, the kids that visited the hearing/vision clinic last Friday have received their reports. These are in pochettes today.

See you soon,
Tamara

Last Minute Library Trip

Dear families,
What a crazy time of year! The days are flying by - I just had to remind myself that there is only one week of school left, not two!
This week, our kind gestures have included, holding the door for others, cheering up friends who are sad, or not feeling well, making cards to thank the parents who have helped recently, making a coupon for a free hug to give to a friend (these are now circulating a second time, I think), and today.... we made cookies to give to the office staff!
Each group made the same cookie recipe with a different topping, and each baker added some ingredients, mixed them up, and helped with making the cookie balls. I, personally, tested many of the flavours (it was a hard job) and they were all delicious. We had so many cookies that we were able to offer a huge plate to the office staff and caretakers, and we also got to have one each. :)

You have a few things to look at tonight. Our pictures have arrived at last! Everyone got a class picture, and many of you got the prints you ordered.
You also have a yellow note about another outing to the public library. It's coming up quickly - next Wednesday morning. We do need 3 parents, so please let me know ASAP (either with the slip, or just by emailing), if you are able to join us. The last trip was much quicker than I anticipated, so we may not need you for as long as I've put on the form, but we'll leave shortly after 10 am and will definitely be back before 11:30. Thanks in advance!

A reminder that forms and payment for our High Park trip are due tomorrow. Over half our class has yet to return this. If you need a new form, just let me know.

Happy Hanukkah! We've been reading and learning about it, and we made menorahs to decorate our hall. We are now working on another really cool Christmas/winter craft that we'll show you next week!

Despite the cold, we've been loving our outside time in the snow. We've been building, giving toboggan rides, playing "Promenons-nous" and other versions of tag, and making snow angels. Aside from this morning, it's actually not felt that cold thanks to the beautiful sunshine! Thanks for sending the kids in all their winter gear so that they can be comfortable when we're outside. We're doing our very very best to get all of the little bits and pieces home each day, but with so many kids staying for daycare, we can never clear out the cubbies entirely to make sure that everything has gone home. While I understand that it is tedious work, having names in absolutely every piece of clothing will really help us get things back to you.
In addition to the main lost and found under the overhang stairs, we also have a kindergarten collection hanging in the downstairs hallway (outside of room 103). Please check there for any missing items. Thanks!

I know that many students like to get a gift for their teachers at this time of year. While this is a very kind gesture, we do not want anyone to feel that it is necessary. We would also encourage you to consider a gift for our classroom, so that we can all benefit. Dominique and I frequently spend our own money on art supplies, paper towels, extra socks and mittens for kids, and prizes for our prize bin. Most of all, we appreciate the gift of your involvement, as your support always makes our days go more smoothly!
As we approach the Christmas break, a teensy reminder that we do not have food parties. We will continue with the fun and festive activities next week and we will have a little gift for the kids, but we will not be doing a group gift exchange or having extra treats. Thanks for your understanding.

Mots de la Semaine

We do lots of counting in our class - just out of necessity! For example, we tell the kids how many carrots or crackers to take for snack, and they count them out. When making an art project, we count to 20 or 30 to let the glue dry. In the morning message, we often count how many a's, e's or i's there are. Most frequently, I count up or down from various numbers to help with transitions. Recently, I have noticed many children counting along with me - a nice surprise. I will endeavour, in the next while, to spend more time counting sets of objects and having the kids show me the number, so that we can begin developing that sound-symbol correlation. Since the kids are clearly already counting this high, I want to make sure that in your practice at home, the kids are not skipping any of these tricky numbers in the teens. They are really the only ones that don't follow a logical pattern, and very often you can skip one and not know it. Please listen carefully if your child is counting in French at home, and make sure they are not omitting one of these numbers!!

onze 11, douze 12, treize 13, quatorze 14, quinze 15,

seize 16, dix-sept 17, dix-huit 18, dix-neuf 19, vingt 20

more shameless self-promotion...

This is the time of year when even part-time musicians, like me, are super busy! I regret not having told you about the Children's Messiah that I was involved in earlier - it was a great event for kids.

Here are two upcoming concerts that I'm involved in, which are in the evening and geared more toward adults (but kids are welcome).

If you like classical music, you are sure to enjoy the concert I'm singing in this Wednesday evening. It's a great group, and great rep. See poster for info.

I am also doing the solo bits in the Bach Vespers service at Church of the Redeemer (Bloor & Avenue), this Sunday evening at 7:00. The service is only an hour long, and no admission fee - just an offering.

In our class, we have been learning the refrain to a popular French Christmas song called "Petit Papa Noël". The kids know it really well now. You can hear the whole song, with verses, on YouTube, as well as plenty of other French holiday songs. 

Dewson's annual holiday sing-along will be December 22nd at 9:30am (I think). There's usually room for a few parents in the back!

Calendrier de Gentillesse

Dear families,
We've been pretty busy this week! First thing Monday morning, we went to a bus safety presentation, and we practiced an emergency exit from the back of the bus. We learned some safety tips that we will remember if we ever go on a bus for a field trip. Did you know that a big school bus probably weighs more than a T-Rex?

In the spirit of giving and caring for others, which is often celebrated at this time of year, we have been focusing on one kind task each day. In the morning, we pull out a task from our calendrier de gentillesse (kindness calendar). Sometimes it's an action that we can do all day, or sometimes it's a task that we do once as a group. This week we have already written and mailed (merci Max) a letter to Santa, asked teachers how we can help, picked up garbage in our school yard, and made sure to say lots of merci and s'il te plaît. Please ask your student what our kind task was each day this month!


I was also SO impressed when our class, in an effort to find gym shoes for everyone, came up with the idea to offer Mme Mary Ann a laundry basket for Christmas so that she can keep some extra shoes in the gym. If you have any kids' running shoes at home that you know you will never use again, but are still in working condition, please feel free to send them in, and we will add this to our gift! The credit for this amazing idea goes to Edith, who started the discussion, and then to many others who chimed in with more suggestions.

On Tuesday, we introduced our class iPads into our quiet time routine. Our class has 5 iPads that we can share, and of course this is a very special and popular activity. I have shown the kids how to use the app, Jeux Pour Lire, which has some simple games to support literacy. For example, game 1 asks you to listen for a specific syllable (e.g., "ta") within words. You can click on objects to hear their name, and it if contains the syllable, you drag it into the square. It's another good opportunity to practice matching letters to their sound.

On Wednesday, we began work on a decoration for Hanukkah. We watched a short video explaining why many families light a menorah, and we are all working on creating our own out of a paper plate, some cardboard, tissue paper and paint. We will use these to decorate our class, and then bring them home.

Today, students received information on a field trip coming up soon after the Christmas break. We're going to get all the paperwork done before the break so that we don't have to rush after. On January 16th, we're spending the day at High Park. We will have a half day workshop at the Nature Centre, and we will spend the other half of the day exploring. Snow would be fun, but we will cross our fingers that it is not bitterly cold. This trip costs $10. Please keep the information on the green sheet and return the second page and payment by Friday Dec. 15th.
I will be looking for 4 parents that can come all day, and for others that can join us just for the afternoon. You can indicate your interest and availability on the form and I'll be in touch. Thanks!

Mots de la Semaine

All week, we've been working on asking more questions in French. We've seen the words "est-ce que" in the morning message, and we took a picture for our memory bank so that we can maybe guess at these words if we see them again. Our words of the week are the sentences we've been really practicing, all beginning with "Est-ce que".

Est-ce que…?

- je peux avoir du papier?

- tu peux m'aider?

- tu peux ouvrir ça pour moi?

- tu peux jouer avec moi?

Construction Notice

If you've been in our main office recently, you know how badly we need our roof to be repaired. Construction is beginning tomorrow. For as long as the front entrances are fenced off, please enter and exit the kindergarten yard through the back gate (on the Ossington side), and enter the school through one of the doors on the east side of the school.
Thanks for your understanding!

Lots of mail!

Dear families,
I can't believe it is November 30th, but I'm so excited for this next month. I love the holidays!
There are a number of things in pochettes today. I have prepared the December calendar with what I know of now, but please keep checking this blog for last minute stuff. I also carefully tucked a tiny slip of paper inside many kids' library books today - this lists any books that are overdue to our school library. Please search your home and see if we can get all our books returned before the Christmas break.

Our library trip yesterday was successful and entertaining. We listened to the very funny story "That is NOT a good idea", and we watched a puppet show called "Nail Soup", featuring some cool 30-year old puppets! Please ask your listener about these two stories!
We also learned how to get a library card and I have sent home some information today. If you do not yet have a library card for your child, there are two easy ways to get one.
1) Take the postcard to any branch along with a piece of ID.
2) Fill out the white form and return it to me.
We will not be signing out books during our class outings to the library, but we do wish to make it easy for families to visit the public library and hope that you take advantage of this fantastic resource!
The librarian that we met wanted you to know that they are preparing another show for families on some upcoming Saturdays. It will be "The Princess and the Pea". You can call the College/Shaw branch at 416-393-7668 for information.

Our December Scholastic catalogues are also coming home today, and orders are due next week. Again, if you would like to keep your order a secret, just send it in an envelope and leave me a note. I'll contact you when the books arrive. Here are a few recommendations from the Club de Lecture catalogue:
#21F4 "Veux-tu être mon ami?" - A book about friendship, a subject often discussed at school. We are also very familiar with the word "ami", so maybe your beginning reader can help you look for this word in the book.
#7F4 "Toujours parfait" - 3 books for $6 - sweet deal! Plus, one of the books is the French version of "The Princess and the Pea" (the show that the library is putting on soon).
#2F4 "Activités pour les petits: Noël" - this is an activity and sticker book that might be fun to work on over the holiday. The kids are LOVING this type of interactive book right now, but remember that it is to keep at home!

Today was hat day. (I hope these special days have been sent out by the office because I always forget about them.) With hat day in mind, some students helped me plan a special crown-making centre. Artists who chose to make a crown got to wear it all day and bring it home.

Also this week, we did some great work with a story we read last week called "Ce n'est pas mon chapeau". It's a very funny story about a little fish who steals a hat from a big fish and thinks he can get away with it. The last few pages have no words, so it's a little unclear whether the little fish gets away or not... we know the big fish gets his hat back! I had the students draw how they imagine that the story ends, and I wrote down their idea. Each student helped me with the writing by adding some missing vowels (a's and e's). Please ask your author what happens in this book, and what their ending is!

Mots de la Semaine

Here are some words which have come up in our poems, stories, songs and writing this week. 

petit

gros

un poisson

un éléphant

mon ami(e)

Finally, in another burst of shameless self-promotion... It was a joy to see Eliza in the audience at The Redeemers doo-wop gig back in September. If you were interested, but couldn't make it to the Gladstone, check out our new videos on the media page here.

String Games

Today we were fortunate to be visited by Mirabel's mom, Aubrey who is an artist. She showed us her mesmerising work of moving art, all about creating pictures using string, or string games.
The kids loved watching her videos and imagining what they saw in the string. We had a chance to try the beginning positions, and some students chose to bring their string home so that they can keep practicing. It's not easy!

Here's a link to some YouTube videos if you are interested in working more with your string!

Merci Aubrey!

Vision/Hearing Clinic Upcoming

Hi parents,

Before I get to our update, I want to put in a little plug for the upcoming Vision & Hearing Clinic being offered at Dewson. I think you have already received information about this from the magical office email list. What is offered is a very short, simple screening to check for any vision and/or hearing issues. If anything comes up, you will be notified and it will be up to you to book a follow-up appointment with a doctor.
If you notice that your child doesn't respond when called, seems to not hear things, has trouble following simple instructions, complains of headaches or doesn't show much interest in literacy (no interest in books, signs, letters) than this simple screening is a great first step. Could be that there's a simple solution to a mystery problem!
Applications and payment are due by Tuesday, Nov. 28th and the clinic will be held during the school day on Dec. 15th.

This has been a good alphabet week for our class. We have solidified our knowledge of e and g and we have met their buddies i and j. To review, i makes the English ee sound ("see"). This is confusing at first, but we are pretty smart, so we get it! I also mentioned last week that g and j have switched names in French, so you see j, but you say "jee". This stays confusing for a loooong time, but we'll never stop practicing! At least their sounds are the same as in English.

I challenged the class to build some of our new letters during centre time - here are some of the things they came up with...

We have also started building our word wall. This will help us grow our French vocabulary as we slowly learn and post words so that we can look there for fun and for support. This week, I hid some words around our classroom and the kids went on a treasure hunt. When they found a word and learned its meaning, they drew a little picture next to the word and presented it to the whole class. The pictures I am using as the title for each letter of the alphabet on the word wall are the characters from Le Village des Sons. Maybe you can look at the picture below, review the stories of a and b and ask your presenter what word they were responsible for drawing and presenting!

Mots de la Semaine

Our outdoor clothing which we so carefully hang up in our cubbies...

un manteau

les mitaines

un chapeau

les bottes

une écharpe

I'm going to ask you for one more packing favour. If you could please remind your child to keep their personal colouring books and workbooks at home (just like home toys), that would be helpful. They are very exciting and when they are pulled out, everyone wants to share it which is not only hard to facilitate, but also prevents us from trying other activities. Thanks!

Thank You

Dear parents,
Thank you all very much for meeting with us this week and for being so supportive and receptive to our feedback. It is always so lovely to work with families that are invested in their childrens' education and want to help out however they can. It makes our job easier and so much more enjoyable.
As many of you saw during our quick chat, each student had a chance this week to self-evaluate how they believe they are doing on many of the important learning skills mentioned in the report. We were impressed with how self-aware and honest the kids were. We are encouraging our students to pay even more attention to those skills by giving them stars on our chart when we catch them doing those good things. It has been very motivating these last two days!
I was also thrilled, Thursday morning, when I asked the class if anyone had done what I'd asked and set a goal with their parents after reading their report. Not only did many hands shoot up, but the goals they shared with me were very fitting, and manageable for each individual. You had clearly discussed what I wrote and supported your child in making a very wise decision, and it's showing at school. Many students have already started doing their goal (e.g., participating more, using words to solve problems, or organizing their cubby independently). I've spoken to each child and written down their goal for myself so that I can remind and encourage them. I know you will be reminding them and asking them about it, and I thank you in advance. What a difference your encouragement makes!

Amazing news!! We WON the book fair draw!! Actually, Nora won (félicitations!), but I was able to choose 2 lovely books for our class, so it feels like we all won. How exciting!

This week, I told our class another oral story (no book, no pictures). It's about a girl named Tipingee, who, together with her friends, manages to outwit her mean aunt who's treating her like a servant (think: Cinderella). Ask your storyteller if they can tell you more about Tipingee and her friends, and how Tipingee gets out of a tricky situation...
Once again, I gave students the challenge of representing the story somehow, during their centre time. Many students took on the challenge, and I saw many different representations, including building Tipingee's house, a lego boat with Tipingee's family in it, and many drawings of different parts of the story. These varied representations are a great window into how the kids were imagining the story as they listened, and give me an idea of just how much of the French story they understood.

This week, we also got our sand table going. Our intention had been to use all your beautiful moon sand in our outdoor space, but now that it's mitten weather, that's not so practical. Here's the first group enjoying the soft feel of the moon sand in our class.
(This reminds me, we are anticipating moon sand next week from Huxley and Max.)

Outside, we've been playing tag games, a little of "Promenons-nous", I spy, we've been sharing stories, and occasionally I am treated to a special show.

Some of our students earned stars for using word to solve a problem kindly when two different groups were trying to share the big blocks to build a fort and a castle.

In alphabet news, we have made it up to the letter h now in letters that we have spent time focusing on. We have read their stories in our book about le village des sons and we look for them every morning in the message. We spent extra time on e because not only are vowels so important to learning to read, but it is one of the few letters that is different in French than in English. In English, of course, the letter e sounds like 'eee' (as in "see"). In French, however, that sound and name belong to the letter i, who we will meet soon. In French e's name and it's sound are much less bright and more round - think "could". Some words you may already know that use this sound are  je, bleu and feu. E is probably the most confusing letter of the French alphabet, because it's sound can be affected by many different accents or neighbouring letters. For now, we're just learning its main sound, and that there are exceptions. As we approach the end of the year, and in grade 1, students will learn more specific grammar rules.

Two other differences in French are that j and g have traded names (so we see g, but we say "jay"), and the letter h is usually silent. In the story, Mademoiselle h is a very shy lady, who hides under her h-shaped chair whenever there is a knock on the door. Words that begin with h in French don't have a breathy sound at the beginning, it's basically just there for show. So, for example, "hibou" (owl) would just sound like "ibou".

Words of the Week

This week, I thought I'd put some of the frequently used words in our classroom. These are often featured in instructions, for example when we're coming inside in the morning, and when it's time to have snack.

le tapis

la table

une chaise

dehors

le sac à dos