The kindergarteners have decided to have an outdoor picnic (snack time) together every Wednesday (weather dependent)! We have been very lucky with the weather recently and the kids have enjoyed playing and learning outdoors. To make this picnic an enjoyable experience, we politely ask that parents bring a litter-less snack for their child and something “easy to eat”. We appreciate all the support from our families!

As the students would say, “rods, rods, rods!” Initially, students commented about the colours of the rods and how there are many colours like the colours in a rainbow. Then, they learned that each rod has a value and when you place the rods in numerical order from 1 to 10, it forms a “staircase”. Fascinating! Students enjoyed playing with cuisenaire rods to find different ways of building numbers up to 10. For example, students learned that 7 is not just 7; 3 and 4 more equals 7 or 5 and 1 and 1 more equal 7.

For more information about cuisenaire rods, please visit: https://www.hand2mind.com/glossary-of-hands-on-manipulatives/cuisenaire-rods

Students have been experimenting with different loose parts to create their own story or to create stories with a friend. Different materials are introduced each week to see if new materials can spark new ideas. We have been focusing on two of the many story elements: characters and setting. Students enjoy thinking about characters other than people. Could they be animals? Could they be cars like in the children movie Cars or trains like Thomas the Train? Some story workshop materials include wooden people, beads, different colours of felt, toy animals, coloured chips, etc. Students are asked to use their imagination for what certain materials could represent, for example, beads could be treasures in a treasure chest or coloured felt could represent different settings (blue felt could be a body of water, yellow felt could be sand/the beach). This year, I have enjoyed talking to students about their stories and how I can support them to build their stories.

It all began with one student saying, “I want to learn how to fold a paper airplane.” I demonstrated one way of folding paper airplanes and encouraged students to experiment folding paper airplanes in different ways and with different types of paper. Up to this day, students are still asking questions and experimenting with different ways of folding paper airplanes! Continue to stay curious 🙂

These are just a few examples of outdoor projects using natural materials:

“I am going to collect rocks to form a circle. Then I will collect some sticks to put in the middle. Like a campfire!”

“Look at the bedrooms in this house.”

“I found a hole. We will gather different things to put into this soup! Mud soup! Want some?”

In term one, the majority of the students in Division 15 shared with me that they would like to learn to draw. At the beginning, I was leading directed drawing and we drew characters from story books like Piggie and Pigeon. One day, a student asked me, “can I show the class how to draw something?” From that day onwards, the special helper of the day leads directed drawing. The kids love this time of the day!

We received our Plant A  Promise kit in October last year. Through this program, students will learn characteristics of living things and skills around observation and communication. In early December, we planted the bulbs in a bin in our courtyard. Before we planted the bulbs, we examined the bulbs with our 5 senses and we even cut one open to see what it looks like on the inside. Students were also able to share what they already know about daffodils, what they wondered about daffodils, what they want to learn about daffodils, and what plants need to grow. We have been going to the bin that we planted the bulbs in to see if sprouts have sprung. We received “little surprises” this week! Please have a look at our photos.

(For more information about this program, please visit: https://www.bcaitc.ca/planting-promise)

We can represent different numbers with ten frames! Playing with ten frames will help us develop strong number sense.

Look who’s back for another visit: Ana from the McGill Public Library. We played “Would You Rather”, read “The Little Red Hen”, acted out a story with our fingers/hands, and asked questions! We are grateful for this opportunity and we wish to see Ana soon again! Tomorrow is a professional development day for staff. Hmmm….what a great idea to visit the library tomorrow! Ana encourages the children to visit the library anytime 🙂