Happy February!

Dear Salle 202 families,
Sadly, our class is shrinking. We didn't have an opportunity to say a proper goodbye to Xavi, who changed schools over the holidays. We did, however, have time to celebrate August's last day with us before his family moves. We all signed a special card and gave him a big group hug. We celebrated his birthday a little early, and we set up a special activity centre at his request: building 3D shapes with marshmallows and toothpicks!
We have a special opportunity to be pen pals with August now, and look forward to hearing from him as he gets settled at his new school. Bonne chance August!!

Yesterday I sent home the February calendar. Don't forget that the $8 for the science workshop is due this Friday. Scholastic catalogues will come home this week and any orders are due next week.
On the back of the calendar, I've put our class list of names. Many students are excited to make valentines for their friends (one student didn't even want to pack the note because she wanted to get started right away at aftercare!!). Of course, it is completely optional, but if your child is going to give out valentines, please make sure they have one for everybody. If writing all those names is a daunting task for your beginning writer, or if you think that matching up each name with the name on a paper bag "mailbox" will be too great a challenge for your beginning reader, please do encourage your child to address their cards to "mon ami". That way, any card can be for anyone. Easy.

Thank you again to the parents who came to the library on Monday. The puppet show this time was "Mud Puddle", by Robert Munsch. The kids found it hilarious and roared with laughter throughout (I laughed out loud too). Our next trip to the library will be in the last week of February.

This week, I've witnessed some great counting at the math centre and a lot of great letter and word work (do we ever love those new printing pages!!). We have continued to add regularly to our list of poems. Ask your student to teach your their current favourite. Some very popular ones are, "Les amis", "Bateau sur l'eau" and "Les tasses de thé". Some newer ones are, "Voici le petit garçon", "Petite souris de cendre" and "Patapi patapiège". Our song, "Hymne à l'amitié" is also coming along nicely. We're about half done learning it - just have to work on the verses now.
Students are getting the hang of checking in their borrowed book and signing out another one and are able to do this more and more efficiently.

We have made it all the way up to Q in the French alphabet, and have continued reading about each letter in our book about "Le Village des Sons". We learned that Q's best friend is U, and that U let's Q make his own sound when they're side by side. We've also practiced pinching our lips together, like a fish, for when U is alone. This sound doesn't really exist in English. A cool trick is to shape your lips for an O vowel, and then say "ee" through that space. You will end up with the French U sound.
OK, so we skipped over R, S and T... we'll go back. But we've now officially learned the vowel sounds in French. There are many exceptions, and different ways to combine them, but we'll worry about that later.

Mots de la Semaine

Alistar noticed that as we placed words beginning with C on the word wall last week, I organized them into two columns. One for words beginning with C, and one for words beginning with Ch. Great observation! We read the story about a little girl named Ch, who is trying to shush a baby to sleep. Whereas in English, we almost add a tiny t sound in front of a ch (think: chatter - the tongue touches the teeth), in French it is a gentle sound, like the English sh (think: should - the tongue is raised). There happen to be many animal names that begin with ch in French...

un chat

un chien

le cheval

la chèvre (goat)

le chameau (camel)

As you probably know, Term 1 report cards (called the "Communication of Learning" for kinders) are coming home on February 13th. We will soon begin scheduling interviews for the following Thursday evening and Friday morning. This time, interviews are by parent or teacher request. I will extend an invite to everyone, and will let you know if I feel that meeting would be beneficial. Look for this paperwork next week. I guess this means we are half way through the school year... wow!

Scientist in School

Hi parents,

I want to start off by bragging about an amazing thing that happened in our class yesterday. I was slow getting to the carpet for our poem time. I usually choose leaders and recite the poems along with the kids, however, Dominique and I were still helping with shoes. Instead of sitting around waiting, some leaders emerged from the group that was already there and they started reciting poems on their own. When one poem ended, they would choose another leader and continue. They knew ALL the words! I was amazed. I simply went and sat down on the carpet and joined in with them. I told them how proud I was, and they told me that I could feel free to go get snack ready and they would just keep doing poems without me! Hahaha! So I did, and they did! Bravo tout le monde!

Another cool thing... for a week now, we've been practicing the song "Frère Jacques", not just as a class, but in 2 groups as a round! We got to be preeeetttty good at it, if I do say so myself. This afternoon, we surprised Mr. Greene with a special performance of it. He was so impressed that he thought we were in grade 3, and challenged us to try it in 4 parts!!

We also started learning a new song that we will perform at the kindergarten concert (March sometime, I think) and a school assembly (April). The song is about friendship, and will be very fitting for Pink Day, which is what our assembly will focus on. It's a song by Céline Dion and is quite long, so we will do a greatly reduced version. However, if you'd like to listen to it at home, you can find it here.

Today, you are receiving a blue note explaining that we will soon have a visit from a Scientist in Schools presenter. We will participate in a half day workshop including about 5 different experiment centres ranging from chemistry to astronomy to paleontology. We need some parents to help lead centres. Don't worry, you don't need to be a scientist to be our science teacher! The visiting scientist will explain everything you need to know. If you're able to join us for the morning of February 8th, please return the slip or email me. This amazing workshop costs $8 per child. Please send this in by next Friday and ensure that a name accompanies the money. Thanks!!

Sometimes, kids wonder things out loud, and it gives us ideas for new centres we should set up. Many months ago, Noa wondered out loud what would happen "if we mixed ALL the colours together in milk". It's been on my mind ever since. Today, we set up a colour mixing station (using water instead of milk... in case of spills). First, students made a note of the colours they wanted to mix, and then they put 2 drops of each colour into their water. We had a selection of 7 colours to mix with. Whatever the result, they tried to find a pencil crayon to match in order to document their findings. Some students, who had an unidentifiable colour, made up a new name for their colour... such as "Swamp-speed" or "Halloween Bats".

This week, I've also added some new pages to our printing duotangs. Many students were very excited to finally have more to work on. On the new pages, there's printing, but there's also room to write and draw words for each letter. Some students have been incredibly independent by looking around the room, using the word wall, posters, bins or books to find words to add. Malaika and August have shared some good tips for how to help yourself find words on your own, and students have helped each other understand words that they have already learned. Bien fait mes amis!

Mots de la Semaine

Ahh! I just realized I forgot to post words last week!

I'll give you an extra challenge this week. Can you review the words to the chorus of our new song?

“Si c’est ton ami, dis-lui qu’il chante

et puis chante avec lui.

La la la...

L'amitié c'est le plus beau pays.”

Mathy Math Math

Dear parents - or I should say, at-home teachers,

Thank you SO much for jumping on board the borrow-a-book program. I can tell, through my daily meetings with each reading group, that you are not only doing the job, but also making it fun for the kids. They have been very proud to read their books with me the next day, and eager to exchange them (I have to talk them out of whipping out their books before their meeting with me!).
I know that there will be days when it doesn't get done, but let's keep giving it our best effort. I think we will all be blown away by the kids' progress!!
The first two reading strategies that we are emphasizing with our beginning readers are:

• looking at the pictures - this will often be enough to guess a word, for example in those colour books
• noticing a word pattern - this is why you read the first page - after this, many readers notice that the words look the same on each page, and it helps them keep going. I've worked with older readers who missed out on using this strategy, so I wanted to start with it right away.

If you haven't already been pointing these things out to your budding reader, please feel free to reinforce them in your daily reading. Thanks, you're the best!

With the excitement of our trip, and the need to explain borrow-a-book, I've delayed telling you about some exciting math stuff that's happened over the last while. It's always exciting when students do something in their independent centre time, that leads us to a group learning opportunity. Recently, we have been inspired by the students' enthusiasm for building with shapes, and counting, so we have set up some activities to extend upon their interests.

Since we have been counting aloud in French quite a bit, I decided it was high time to begin matching up the numbers that we say with how they actually look. Pictured below, we gave each student the challenge of representing their number with stickers, in a way that was easy to count. You can see that many students used the idea that Sean suggested - to use rows, some students lined them up, and Nora put her stickers in the shape of her number.
These beautiful posters will be a great reference tool for us!

On another day, during centre time, I was presented with a pizza made of big and small magnetic triangles. The cook didn't know the amazing geometry and measurement that she had done in creating this pizza. Not only was she exploring shapes (using triangles to build a hexagon), but was also able to measure the surface area of the pizza in two ways - it took 6 large triangles, or 24 small triangles. We looked at the pizza as a class, and talked about how it takes many small items or few large items to cover the same area.
Later, we set up an extension activity for the class and many mathematicians tried their hand at building shapes using other shapes, and were able to fill in my outlines in more than one way. 

(Thanks Lori, for sharing the resource with this idea!)

I also missed telling you about a second visit from Kinga's mom, Aniko. She presented another puppet show, using gorgeous puppets and props that she has made since her last visit. They are stunning! Our class was captivated during the story, and asked some great questions afterwards.

While it was still snowy, we had fun shoveling, tobogganing and building with it. This group worked together to make the cutest little snowman - coming up with solutions to the problem of the snow not being very sticky.

In the picture below, some scientists found our magnetic wands, and I encouraged them to look and test for other magnetic items in the classroom. They found the items that immediately came to my mind, as well as some that I didn't think they'd check, and others that I didn't even think of, like the drying rack!

These are great examples of what learning through play looks like!

Park pics & Borrow-a-book beginning!

Dear families,
We had a great time at High Park today! We made it back and forth safely. Our students followed instructions very quickly when getting on and off transit, and had their backs against the wall in a snap! They listened and participated very nicely at the Nature Centre, and were extremely good sports when it came to all the walking. It was a long day, but we had the most BEAUTIFUL weather, and did tons of fun stuff. Honestly, I'm not sure how it could have been better (short of the playground washrooms being open!!). Please join me in thanking the many many brave parents who volunteered to come on an outdoor field trip in the middle of winter. I can't thank you enough - you made my job today so easy, and you made our trip possible.

Below, I have posted many pictures from today, and a few words about what we did. Please ask your explorers about what they did and what their favourite part of the day was! But first... a couple other things...

I'd like to invite you one final time to the presentation about the new kindergarten curriculum. Wednesday, 6:30, library. Hope to see you there.

Another change to the calendar, I have no idea what became of our January Scholastic catalogues. They usually arrive before the start of the month, so I felt pretty safe putting it on the calendar... Anyway, it's no big deal, but obviously orders are not due Thursday. I have the February catalogues now, so I will send those home soon.

On Monday, I sent home a note about our next walk to the public library. It will be Monday the 29th in the PM. Please let me know if you can volunteer.

Exciting news! Tomorrow, Wednesday, each student will be bringing home their first borrow-a-book. A pink note is on the way, along with the book and reading log. The note explains everything from how to use the reading log to sign books out, to what you can do with your child to support his/her reading. This is an activity that we need your help with. We truly are counting on you to make borrow-a-book worthwhile and successful.
At first, you will be doing most of the reading, but I've given you some ideas of what the kids can do to start working with letters and words in French. Even if you don't feel able to read to your child in French, there are still plenty of ways you can work on the book with them. They have practiced working on a book with me, so they have a good idea of what is expected. It took us 5-10 minutes with our first book, to do the very basic read-through and discussion.

Here is a copy of the letter coming home:

How it works

Your child now has a small reading log in their pochette. Each day, we will help students select a book and sign it out by stamping the date and writing the title in their log. We are beginning with the simplest books we have. They usually have a pattern to them, making them easier for beginning readers to participate in reading. Your child is responsible for returning their book the next day (Friday books are returned on Monday).

Once you’ve worked on a book at home (see suggestions for reading), there are two additional tasks to do in the reading log. First, help your child write down one new word that they learned, or would like to learn, from the book. Second, have your child count the vowels in the text (individually by letter) and note the number.

We hope that this is a pleasant experience for both you and your child. It need only be 5-10 minutes per day, and there are plenty of ways to work on French reading with your child, even if you don’t feel comfortable reading in French yourself (see ideas below). The important thing is to be consistent. Do it every day and, if possible, at the same time each day. Work it into your routine, just like brushing your teeth. At this age, working on reading for 5 minutes each day is much more valuable than working on reading for a long stretch on the weekend.

Please help your child keep track of their reading log and books. Everything should stay in their pochette when not in use.

Suggestions for reading

Before	During	After
«  Start by looking at the pictures to make sense of what’s happening. Ask your child to predict what the book is about. This will contribute greatly to your child’s understanding of the text, and that’s very important since the words themselves may be new. «  Refer to the blog to review the sounds we have learned and search for them (e.g., Can you find the letter ‘A’?), or other familiar words (such as the words of the week), in the text.	«  You read the first page as you point to each word. Then have your child repeat it and continue, as you point. Help them notice the word pattern! «  Look at the pictures to help guess a word that we do not recognize. «  Encourage your child to sound out some simple words made up of sounds that they know (e.g., What do you think the word “ma” sounds like?). «  Record (or video) your child reading it, and then let him/her listen to the recording over and over! «  Read the book to your child and let them correct you (they love this!) «  Make it fun by having your child read to their teddy in bed, or over the phone to grandma.	«  After reading, ask questions like What patterns can you see in this book?, What do you like/not like about the book?, Does this remind you of anything you did?, Does it make you think of anything/another book? «  Make sure your child has understood what the book was about – this is just as important as being able to say the words correctly!

  

I hope you enjoy working on French reading with your child. Please ask me if you have any questions about this initiative. Trust me, the time you invest will make a HUGE and noticeable difference in your child's reading progress!

OK, here are the pictures from today!

At the start of our workshop, we met Houdini, the turtle. As us how old he is and why he lives at the Nature Centre instead of in the wild. We looked at a map of High Park and learned that it is as big as 400 soccer fields! Ask your student what animals live in High Park.

We learned the recipe for a pine cone bird feeder (lard + sunflower seeds)

 We listened to a story about chickadees.

We hung our bird feeders outside.

 We played a game pretending to be chickadees and doing the different things that they do to stay warm in the winter. Ask your chickadee what some of their strategies are!

 We went on a hike with our Nature Guides and learned SO much. This tree died because insects were eating it. We could see the little paths they made in the bark.

 We learned about other birds that can live in the park through the winter, for example cardinals and robins. We learned many different bird calls, and clearly heard a nuthatch chirping. Ask your birdwatcher about the different calls chickadees have ("chickadee dee dee", "cheeseburger"). My group saw a woodpecker at the end of our hike, but I didn't get a picture...

 This cardinal makes a sound like a car alarm!

 We hid some extra seeds in the bark of this tree.

 After lunch, we walked down to the zoo.

 Here we are looking like the buffalo (who were HUGE)!

 One group found a duck hanging out on the river ice.

Next we walked over to the castle playground. Nobody could get the sword out of the stone.

 Exhausted! We will sleep well tonight!