Our High Park trip is tomorrow!! Last week's classes loved their day, so I am very excited. A reminder note is coming home today. It says the following:
1. Please be on time for school. We want to leave promptly after 9:00 attendance.
2. Bring a lunch, snacks and FULL water bottle.
3. Dress for success! We will be outside and on our feet all day. Layers and comfortable footwear are a must.
4. Please remind your child of what is expected of them on the trip. We are expected to respect living things, use tools appropriately and not pick or eat anything. It is crucial that our students pay close attention to instructions from their chaperones, teachers and Nature guides. When waiting for/exiting from the bus/streetcar, students will be asked to keep their back against a wall/fence and stay very close to their chaperone.In addition, I suggest the kids have a hearty breakfast before school, as we have a long travel and walk up a steep hill before we will be able to have a snack. Thanks!
In case you haven't figured it out, we have completed our green activity bags for this year. Thanks for your support with this routine throughout the year, I hope you enjoyed doing the activities at home! Over the summer, I highly recommend continuing with some French review, be it vocabulary, reading or other activities in French. I am always very happy to loan out materials if it helps make this possible for you. If you would like a summer package, please let me know in the next couple weeks.
Lately, we have been learning about 3D shapes. It is tempting to call a sphere a circle, to call a cube a square, or to call a prism a rectangle. It is great that we can recognize the shapes of the sides, and the similarities between shapes, however we want to learn the mathematical names for some basic 3D forms. We have now pretty much mastered the sphère, cube, cylindre, cône, prisme, and pyramide. We have been playing "Qui suis-je?" as a fun way to identify some characteristics of these forms, without making a busy attributes chart, as we surely will in grade 1. We have learned to recognize which shapes can roll, and what 2D shapes are used to build different 3D forms. For instance, we know that prisms use a lot of rectangles, while pyramids use a lot of triangles. We also know that a pyramid has an obvious sommet on the top (the kids have insisted on learning the word sommet even though I told them to ignore me when I teach them grade 1 stuff). Many students are now able to give the "Qui suis-je?" hints, in French! I wonder if they can play this game with you at home...
For some hands on fun, we have continued to build 3D forms using our magnet toys and Mme Diamond's example sheet (now we can name what we've made), and we also finally used up all my recycling I've been hoarding all year, to build some 3D structures. We will display these at our upcoming concert for you to admire and take home!
Next Thursday, May 30 (5 pm), is our Kindergarten Concert. It is very un-Mlle Mitchell-like to not prepare a song, however, we have been working on our play for quite some time, and are very hopeful that we can pull it off for you! On May 30, I would like to have all students back to the classroom at 4:30 for last minute preparations, at which point you should grab a seat in the gym (look for signs so that you sit close to where our class will perform, as we will be setting things up differently in the gym). If your child goes to daycare and you will not be picking up before the concert, please communicate to both the daycare teachers and myself that I should pick up. I don't mind going to the daycare rooms at 4:25 if that helps you out. The concert should be over by 6:00, and I will try to keep the kids in our corner of the gym until a caregiver makes eye contact with me. Please take home your child's sculpture and artwork as you leave. It would be great if the kids could wear pink and/or purple and/or green and/or blue for the concert! This will help us look the part for our play, as I don't have quite enough aprons of each colour to go around.
In advance of the concert, please remind your performer of what is expected during the performances (their own, as well as their friend's classes). We need to make sure we are silent and respectful during others' performances, as well as engaged and participating during our own. It is easy to get distracted, and it would be a shame to take away from what we/others have worked hard on. We talk about this at school during each rehearsal. Can't wait!!
