Happy Summer

Dear families,
Thanks again for a wonderful year. I can't wait to catch up with the kids again in the fall. They are welcome to visit me anytime (with their teacher's permission!) in room 317. Thanks also for the lovely cards and treats, for both me and the class, it is very thoughtful. I hope you enjoy looking through your child's portfolio, their portrait book, and reading their little gift book with them.

This blog will remain active, so you can continue to access the links, which are great resources for you over the summer. Assuming you don't want to continue receiving emails about my grade 5/6 life next fall, you can scroll to the bottom of this email and follow the prompts to unsubscribe.

Take care and have a terrific summer!
Tamara

Beautiful park day!

What a full week! On Tuesday, our school celebrated Pride month with a lovely ceremony before school, and some special storytelling in the afternoon. We welcomed back Fay and Fluffy, who had done an after school workshop earlier this year, and they told some great, age-appropriate stories (while dressed in their amazing and extravagant garb). I was impressed with our students who were able to explain who Fay and Fluffy were and could even explain why we celebrate Pride. We talked about accepting people no matter what they look like, and never teasing anyone who might have a different family structure than our own, be it one parent, one mom and one dad, two moms, two dads, or two parents that live in two places.

On Wednesday we began the day with a special presentation about how milk arrives in our homes. Our presenter, and her assistant Milkshake the cow, was excellent and had a cute little song explaining each step of the process from cow to table. The workshop culminated in us getting to shake up some cream and make butter. Anyone who wanted to got to taste the fresh butter on a cracker and boy, was it delicious! Fresh butter is something else! Ask your expert what some dairy products are!

Also on Wednesday we had our final visit from our reading buddies. To thank them for their work with us, we made them cards and invited them outside for freezies and a game. Merci Salle 216 et Mlle Gleason!

We've also had some surprise performances this week. First by our class singers and band (complete with MC), then a delightful surprise for me in the morning, two girls practisinging our O Canada actions before school began (they match with some of the French words - you should definitely ask to hear/see this!), and finally a puppet show by a visiting librarian. She was reminding us about their summer reading program and events. Please check out the Toronto Public Library sites for fun workshops and storytelling this summer (some are even in French). You can visit any branch to get your materials to participate in the summer reading program. The kids collect stickers for each book they read!

Today, we spent the afternoon at Dufferin Grove with the other kindergartens. We had a picnic lunch and then had plenty of time to play and enjoy the sunshine. I especially love the giant sand pit at Dufferin. I gathered our students around briefly to watch the "rain" pour down from the tap and carve its way through the sand to the "ocean". It gave us a good visual of rain water making its way through streams and rivers to the ocean, helping to answer the last inquiry question on our sheet.

Happy last weekend!

Thank YOU!

Dear parents,
Thank you for coming to our classroom concert and open-house last Friday. It was great to see the kids proudly showing you around and answering your questions, and I was so pleased with the kids' performance. If you couldn't make it, here are a few pics. I'll also try to send a few videos out via email, but I'm sure others got better ones.

We also hope the papas received their little tomato plant. We recently learned that group M were the space tomatoes! As it turns out, more seeds from group L actually grew into plants, and this was the case across the country, for other classes that tested L and M. We concluded that since seeds are from Earth, maybe they should stay on Earth. Another result from this experiment was that most students chose to gift you an Earth tomato plant... for safety reasons! The message is based on one of our favourite books about a little bunny and his dad. Ask your writer what they say in the book. Happy Fathers' Day!

Mlle Jade had a couple special activities for us on Friday afternoon, including treating us with freezies. Merci Mlle Jade!

Today, we were invited to go to the gym to join in the Raptors celebration as much as we were able. We watched the festivities on the big screen for a time, but it got a little loud...

... So we came back for quiet time and I played Appleletters with club de lecture rose. This was one of our green bag activities, and would be a good one to play this summer, using any letters you have (Scrabble, magnets, Bingo). Simple compile a list of simple French words (you could find old words of the week on this blog) and put a word in the centre to start. Each player adds a word that they can connect to an existing letter. See how big you can get your crossword!

We have a few other special events this week, including a Pride flag raising event before school tomorrow and storytelling in the afternoon. (I'm sure you've received emails about this, please feel free to join us.) Wednesday we have a dairy presentation and our LAST visit with our reading buddies, and Friday we're going to the park! In and around all that, we are also doing a little more writing - including a letter to our next teacher... whoever that is. We're also waiting for a sunny day to do one last science experiment that will help answer the last question we wrote down about the Earth. We already gathered some good info from a book though. Answering these big questions that our kids have has been both a challenge and a joy this year. It's another thing you can do at home... write down those burning questions and help your child figure out the answers. We have found answers in books, on excellent YouTube videos, and through clever experiments (thanks Google and Pinterest!).

Around this time, I always start reflecting on the year that has past. This one seems to have gone by so quickly, especially the past few months. Despite having some very helpful future teachers with us much of the time, it hasn't always been easy having the mini-class on my own. There have been plenty of times when 2 or 3 or all 15 needed me at the same time, and I wished I could do better. But, I also know that I have been able to do more with this group and I feel they are well prepared for grade 1. They are all quite strong in their letter recognition and beginning number sense, understand most spoken French and have been introduced to all the strands and subjects they will encounter next year. Let's try to retain as much as we can over the long summer months by playing games in French, reading every day (in French when possible), watching French TV or movies (ask me for suggestions) and reviewing the words of the week (which you can find on this blog), as much as possible. The game above, or hangman are great, fun ways of doing this. 

I also want to extend my heartfelt thanks to YOU, the parents and families. I have been lucky to work with amazing parents every year at Dewson. I appreciate so much your communication, your willingness to speak with me and work constructively at problem solving, your involvement in school life and the time you put in talking about school and doing those activities with your kids at home. That time shows the kids that education is fun, and something that you value. As a result, they feel the same. What you do, and your positive attitude, makes my job much easier, and I am grateful.

Don't forget that report cards are coming home on the last day of school this year, so you won't have a chance to ask me questions. There are no surprises in there, but if you would like to speak to me in person, please email me ASAP so that we can find a time.

See you soon,

Tamara

Goodbye helpers...

Dear families,

I hope you enjoyed the festival, I hear it was a great success, and several of our kids won cakes! Here are a few pictures from the bouncy castles - thanks Mlle Jade!

Sadly, our goodbyes have already begun. We had to say goodbye to Mme Diamond last week. She was with us once a week for most of the year and worked with three different reading groups over the course of the year. She did a lot to support and challenge our beginning readers depending on where they were in the journey, and I noticed real progress that I credit largely to time spent with her. The kids also enjoyed the art projects she planned, and the games she played with them. We wish Mme Diamond the best as she enters her second year of teachers college next year.

At the end of this week, we will say goodbye to Mlle Jade, who has been with us each afternoon since February. She has been amazing at playing with the kids, especially outside where she gets a group game going in no time. She has also been like our Cinderella, helping to tidy the room each afternoon and never forgetting to return our snack bin. Jade was a huge support to me and the kids on 2 full day field trips, as well as some library outings, and I know has also been a support to the supply teacher anytime I have been away. We wish Mlle Jade well as she completes high school next year and pursues further studies in education.

I'm glad we were able to go on our last library trip today. We got to hear some great puppet stories that reminded me so much of our poem, "La maison de Jacques". We also watched a hilarious puppet show telling a story along the lines of "The boy who cried wolf".

The rain held off long enough for us to go to the park for a short time but a good time.

We have a new water centre for the last few weeks of school. At this centre, you can spell with the letters, explore why some float and others sink, or see how much water it takes to fill the different cups. One group found that 4 sponge fulls would fill the medium cup. Another group found that 4 small cups filled the big one.

Don't forget to join us this Thursday morning, before school, for our "Volunteer Tea", thanking you for all the help and support you have provided to me, our students and our school this year. And then again Friday morning at 9:15 in our classroom for our special reprise concert!

You're Invited

Dear parents,
Thanks for your speedy responses. We will have the most guests and the most families represented if we do the concert on the Friday morning. Sorry to those that can't make it at that time. I hope you are able to find a friend who can come. Otherwise, we will post pictures!

Salle 101 Special Performance Invitation

Dear parents & friends,

We would like to invite you to a special reprise performance of Tipingee and some of our favourite poems. We will also give you a tour of our classroom and show you some of our favourite projects from this year.

Please join us on Friday, June 14th from 9:15-9:45 am in Room 101. Please feel free to share this invitation with grandparents or a special friend if you are unable to join us.

Hope to see you soon!

A reminder that the Festival begins at 2:30 pm tomorrow. We will be in the kinder yard from then on, and you are welcome to pick up early if you wish. Thanks to those who have emailed me with pick-up changes. If there are any other changes, please let me know. In preparation for the festival, our class baked two huge cakes today, with plans to decorate tomorrow. Try to win them at the cake walk!

We also got to try a floating/sinking experiment, with some interesting results. We found that both lego, and oranges can both float AND sink, depending on how it is put in the water. Ask your scientist why this is!

Festival & Mail

Dear parents,

As per my message on Friday, we're considering Friday the 14th or Monday the 17th as possible in-class performance days. A note has come home today with some date/time options. Please check off whatever times work for you and return the form by Wednesday so that I can let everyone know the final choice. Thanks!

You're also receiving the library trip note, June Scholastic, the results of the dental screening (which was moved to last week), and some info about the dairy presentation organized for us on the 19th. One more calendar change is that the teacher appreciation lunch (originally on the 14th) has been moved to the 20th. Merci!!

This Thursday is the Dewson Festival! If you've never been, get ready for a day of fun! We basically bring an entire fair to Dewson. There will be bouncy castles, games, prizes, food and more. This is one of Dewson's best fundraisers, so it's a great event to attend and support. I'm sure many of you are involved in making this event possible. If you haven't considered volunteering to run a game for an hour, and would be able to, please contact the office or anyone on parent council and I'm sure they can put you in touch with the right person. We also need parents who are able to stay until the end for clean-up. We really appreciate your help!

A while ago, a green note came home explaining how to buy tickets/wristbands. If you returned this form, the tickets/wristbands will be distributed on Festival day, in class. You can always purchase tickets yourself when you arrive.

To make sure that students who cannot attend Festival, still get to have a little taste, our plan is to take the kindergarten classes out to the bouncy castles around 2:00, before it gets crazy. After that, we will return to the kindergarten yard for regular dismissal. If your student is not doing their regular thing (esp. daycare or bus), please let me know (as well as daycare and the office for bus changes). If you are working a shift at Festival during dismissal time, please make sure you have made an arrangement for pick-up, and let me know if it's different than normal. Unclaimed children will be taken to the office at 3:30, as always. Thanks in advance for all the communication!

The boys have been making obstacle courses for us. They are really fun and great for balance!