Author: maratovicw

Summer Time is Here

June 23, 2020 maratovicw No Comments Uncategorized

Dear Families,

We hope you have enjoyed our blog and our learning activities for your children.  None of us expected for the school year to end like this and we are very grateful for your patience and support while we navigated remote learning.  We are incredibly impressed how you have managed home learning and loved seeing your children grow and learn at home.  Although we have missed them incredibly and look forward to seeing them when they are big Grade Ones!

Our blog will continue to be available for most of the summer, please continue to visit and enjoy the read alouds and the activities.

Wishing you a very safe, happy, and restful summer,

Mrs. Lee, Ms. Maratovic, and Mrs. Nero

 

 

 

 

Week Eight Learning Activities

June 2, 2020 maratovicw No Comments Week Eight Learning Activities

Our school has now reopened and while some students are returning to class,  others are continuing learning from home.  We appreciate our families have different needs and are happy to support you in your educational choices for your children.  We will keep updating our blog with new learning activities and we look forward to continuing receiving samples of your children’s work if you are doing remote learning.  You do not have to email work samples if your child is attending class.  While we may not be able to answer your emails as quickly as before, we will do our best to balance in class and remote teaching.  We are pleased to continue partnering with you in your child’s learning and invite you to reach out by email to your individual teacher with any questions or comments.

In Literacy this week we will focus on rhyme. Rhyming words sound the same at the end of the word, not at the beginning.  To hear if two or more words rhyme, listen careful and if they have a similar or same ending sound, they are rhyming words.  (For example: cat and bat rhyme but car and cat do not.)   In Kindergarten, we learn about rhyming  “nonsense” words and real words.

In this simple, rhyming story, Bear like fruit.  After listening to the story,  ask your child to copy the words from the story, Apple, Bear, Orange, Pear, and draw a picture of each.  Perhaps you can ask your child to help you make a fruit salad with 2-4 of your family’s favourite fruits.  After enjoying your fruit salad, perhaps you can draw and write what fruits you used in your fruit salad.

Listen carefully to Dr. Seuss’s There’s a Wocket in my Pocket story and guess which words are nonsense words – made up from Dr. Seuss’s imagination.  Can you draw a picture of an imaginary animal that might sit on this pillow?  Draw and label your picture. Remember your imaginary animal name should rhyme with pillow……I was thinking maybe spillow or trillow?  Can’t wait to see what your imagination came up with!

Listen to the Rhyming Dust Bunnies story by Jan Thomas and find out what happens to our funny friends.  Can you draw Ed, Ted, Ned, and Bob?  Label the picture with their names.  Talk with a sibling or a parent what is it the dust bunnies like to do for fun?  What might they be afraid of?  Perhaps go on a dust bunny hunt around your home?  Play a rhyming game with your family, take turns coming up with rhyming words of your own, if someone misses a turn, they can do five jumping jacks!

Watch and listen to the story I see,  it is very short.  Can you listen to it again and read along with me?  What do you notice about the book?  You can’t really turn the pages!  It kind folds like an accordion.  Ask your parents to help you make an accordion book and you can illustrate and write your own book.  You can use the same animals or come up with  your own!   (Here are some suggestions: Cat/Mat, Frog/Log, Snake/Lake,  Bug/Mug)   Copy the words or try and sound them out yourself.  Say the word slowly, (like the word:  c-a-t)  stretch it out, and write down the sounds that you hear.  Don’t worry if you don’t spell it correctly.

Click here for more  online rhyming activities  to enjoy.

In Numeracy this week we will continue to focus on Canadian Coins.  Can you name the animals on the Canadian Coins?  The Penny, no longer in circulation, has the maple leaf on it.  The dime has the Bluenose Schooner, a famous symbol of Canada.  Make a paper wallet and decorate it with your name.  Write the names of the coins on the outside – Penny, Nickel, Dime, Quarter, Loonie and Toonie.  We also have a 50 cent piece, not often used.  Print of some paper coins or ask your parents for real coins to put into your wallet.  Can you set up a play store in your home and spend your money?

For more Math activities this week, please check out our new Math Tab above for lots of games and math ideas.

Everybody loves to dance right?  We loved the Tooty Ta dance in our class!  Check it out and maybe you can teach it to your parents?  Try the Freeze Dance for even more fun!  Maybe you can share your favourite dance moves with us?

We have enjoyed hearing about your walks in the neighbourhood.  Can you try and guess where we were on these walks?  I’ll give you a hint, it’s a big lake in your city!  In Burnaby, not too far from school.  Maybe you too can go for a walk there, but your parents would have to drive you!    Walk 1 – Sky   and Walk 2 – Duckies

We hope you have enjoyed our Recipes and we would like to enjoy yours too!  We invite you to share your family’s favourite recipe.  We would like to publish it on our blog using your child’s first name only.   Please send in your recipes to your teacher by email and look for our upcoming Kinder Cooks tab.

 

 

Go into our Butterfly tab and watch 2 videos! The first one shows one of our caterpillars emerging into a beautiful butterfly, and the other is of Mrs. Lee releasing them in our school garden!

                                                 

Warmest Regards,

Mrs. Lee, Ms. Maratovic and Mrs. Nero

 

 

 

Week 5 Learning Activities

May 12, 2020 maratovicw No Comments Week Five Learning Activities

We hope you have been enjoying the beautiful weather and have had a fun and relaxing Mother’s Day!  Thank you for sharing pictures of the cards and gifts made with love by your children.  They brought joy to us just as they did to you!

As you are choosing this week’s activities to do with your children, please remember that learning in Kindergarten is not a “one-time activity”.  Learning takes repetition, revisiting, and redoing activities over and over.  Please repeat, revisit and redo some activities your child has already enjoyed these past few weeks.  In addition, this week, please observe “where your child is at” with their learning and what you might want to do next over the coming weeks to help them learn.  Please do these activities for a few minutes each day, rather than a long chunk of time in one day.

  • Ask your child to write their name.  Observe.  Are they printing the letters properly?  Are they using all capital letters or just for the first letter?  By end of June, it would be nice if they printed their name using the Capital letter for the first letter and using lowercase letters for the rest.  You may want to teach your child to write their last name as well.
  • Ask your child to say the alphabet.  Are there any letters they are confused with or not confident with?  Practice those letters specifically.  Can they identify the letters of the alphabet at random?  Capitals and lowercase.  If they are missing letters, practice those letters specifically, a little each day.

Visit Starfall for a complete guide to letter names and letter sounds.  Have your child practice the letters and letter sounds they are not confident with.  If your child has access to a device, please visit Starfall daily.  There are many literacy and numeracy activities to explore for all reading readiness and reading levels.

  • Count by 1s to 30.  Practice until it is easy for them.  Ask them randomly, what comes after 11, after 23, after 29.  Ask them what comes before 5, 9, 14, etc.  Of course, you can work with higher numbers if your child can count to 100.
  • Count objects in your home.  For example, you can ask your child to go and count all the pillows and tell you how many pillows there are.  (other ideas:  chairs, beds, tables, pots and pans, cutlery, sets of toys – cars, dolls, etc.) If you have small items at home like buttons, or blocks, or crayons, ask your child to count out 10 of them and put them on the table.  Have them count them and arrange them in a line.  Add 2 or 3 and ask your child how many there are now.  Take away some and ask your child how many there are now.  Observe your child’s thinking by what they are doing.
  • Teach your child your cell phone number and your address.  Practice each day until they have it memorized.  If you think it is too hard, try again in a week or so.  Practicing together once a day will help them learn.  Please be patient.  If your child already knows their phone number and address, practice having them write it down.

Remember our Salmon and Mme. Dare’s release video?  To learn more about salmon or for other science activity ideas, please check out Science World – Dome at Home link.

 

 

 

Emergencies – Does your child know what to do in case of an emergency at home?  Does your child know when to call 911?  Please check out this website from the Canadian Government and watch the videos on making a family plan. 

 

Story Book Corner has more read alouds for you to enjoy!  Please revisit the previous stories and enjoy the new stories added to our Story Book Corner. Happy Listening!

  • Circles of Round with Mme. Wong If you have made some shapes from Mme. Wong’s activity, can you make a mobile with your paper shapes?  If you don’t have wire or dowels, use straws, chopsticks, or rolled up paper straws and string to create a fun mobile!  Click on this link for more Mobile Making ideas. 

   

  •  Wishes from Mrs. Rawnsley Can you think of a wish for yourself?  A wish for your mom or dad?  A wish for your brother or sister?  Ask your mom, dad, brother, sister or grandparents what their wishes might be.  Working hard together we can make our wishes come true!  Send us your drawings of your family wishes.  Happy wishing!

 

 

 

 

  • Ms. Maratovic will read you a fun story of three misbehaving cows and a chicken called Is Everyone Ready For Fun?

 

 

 

 

 

  •     Mrs. Lee  will read you a fun story about a Very Impatient Caterpillar!

 

 

 

 

 

Coming soon to our blog – Painted Lady Butterflies! We are looking forward to our butterfly larvae arriving  and observing the butterfly life cycle and learning all about Metamorphosis.

 

 

Don’t forget to use our Useful Links for May activities from our Music and ELL teachers. 

Warmest regards, 

Mrs. Lee, Ms. Maratovic and Mrs. Nero

Week Two Learning Activities

April 21, 2020 maratovicw 1 Comment Week Two Learning Activities

Parents, thank you for all the hard work you are doing at home, the feedback you are giving us, and for sharing your child’s work with us through photos, notes, and videos.  We miss our students very much and enjoy seeing their faces and the amazing things they are doing at home with you.  Please continue to share their work by emailing their teacher directly.  Emails are listed under the Teacher link above.

Remember our weekly learning activities are like a “Menu” – you can pick and choose what works for you and your child(ren), you are not expected to have your child do everything.  You can also do and share with us other things your child is doing.  We love hearing and sharing your ideas too!

If you feel it is all too much at times, please do less and enjoy your time together more.  Remember, everything you do is a learning opportunity for your child.

Please check the Useful Links (also above in the menu bar) for April Music Activities from our Music Teachers and ELL activities from our ELL teachers.  We are glad to hear that many of you are enjoying the Scholastic Bookflix reading at home.  If you haven’t tried it yet, please do, we think your children will enjoy it!  The link is also listed permanently on the Useful Links page.

This week you can explore the following activities:

 

 

 

 

  • Read together every day, try reading environmental print while walking outdoors, look for letters, words, and signs. Read the labels on your groceries and do letter hunts.
  • Draw a big, beautiful picture each day. Big meaning it fills the page.  Beautiful means it is drawn in pencil and coloured with at least 5 colours.  The picture tells a story. Ask your child to tell you what their picture is about.
  • Write each day. Help your child label parts of their picture, asking them which letters or sounds they know and practice phonetically writing down what they say.  It is not important that they be correct.  It is important that they try.
  • Measure your family! Compare and contrast who is tallest?  Who is shortest?  Draw a picture and label it with the measurements.   Measure your height, size of your feet, size of your hands, your head circumference, your chest, your waist, etc.
  • Measure the weight of different household objects – put 2 objects on the table and ask your child to predict which one would be heavier then ask them to put out their hands and hold the objects – compare to see which is heavier. Hint – an empty cereal box is very big and might look heavier than a jello box, but is it? 😊
  • Write down numbers 1 – 10 on pieces of paper and put into a container.  Ask your child to reach in without looking and pull a number – have them print that number on a piece of paper and draw that many circles.  To make it harder, ask them to write or copy the number in words on their paper.
  • Watch Charlotte Diamond 4 Hugs a Day video on youtube.com and during the week, try having your child learn the song and make a dance to go along with the instructions. Charlotte Diamond 4 Hugs a Day video
  • Go for a daily walk and practice different types of movement. For example, have your child run, jog, skip, slide, shake, for 20 steps each and then do 10 jumping jacks in between.   Be brave, join in the fun!
  • Play I Spy with shapes, textures, colours, animals, insects, anything you can observe on your walks.
  • Bring back an artifact from your walk – a leaf, a cone, pebble, and start a small nature collection.

Talk to your child about “what Zone they are in.”  This is something they are familiar with from school.  (Zones of Regulation)

  • Green – Good level of energy – happy, relaxed, calm.
  • Blue – Low energy – tired, hungry, sad.
  • Yellow – Energetic – silly, can’t sit still, perhaps upset or frustrated, anxious.
  • Red – Very High energy – angry, yelling, out of control.

Zones and feelings can change throughout the day.  Check in with your child about how they are feeling, what zone they are in, share with them what zone you are in.  If Blue, remind them to be kind to themselves and do things slowly until they feel better.  Green is great!  If Yellow or Red, help them breathe calmly, slowly, letting their body and emotions calm down.  It is hard for them to listen when they are upset.   Remind them all their feelings are valid and they can learn to manage them in appropriate ways.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us by email if you have any questions.  We look forward to speaking with you this week and a big hug to all our students!

Warmest regards,

Mrs. Lee, Ms. Maratovic and Mrs. Nero