Love, Laughter, and Loose Parts

Month: April 2020 (Page 1 of 2)

Learning Plan for the week of April 28-May 1: STEAM

Hi Families!

This week we are learning all about STEAM! STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math!

I was inspired by the students’ amazing recycled material creations, as well as so many of them showing me their Lego during our class meetings. We have some talented builders in Div. 27, and I’m excited to see what fun things you can explore and create this week.

Here is a picture of something that my daughter created out of recycled materials! She made a cafe for her Playmobil characters – thank you, Div. 27, for the great inspiration.

This week, I have attached the learning plans in PDF format, as well as provided a “text only” version in this post for those wanting to use the translate function on the blog. To access the “text only” learning plan, click “continue reading.”

Weekly Learning Plan for April 28-May 1

Optional Challenges for April 28-May1

Making 5 Worksheet (optional)

 

 

Continue reading

Recycled Materials Creations

Hi Friends!

Thank you everyone who sent in a picture of their amazing recycled materials projects! I was so inspired by your creations that I have planned some fun building activities for  next week for us – I’m looking forward to seeing even more fun creative projects from Div. 27.

Here are some of your wonderful creations! Continue reading

Learning Plan for April 20-24: Earth Day!

Hi Families!

Below you’ll find the PDF document for this week’s learning plan. Additionally, I have added some optional challenges for those seeking more, but they aren’t required! As with last week, you can spread out the activities throughout the week in the way that makes sense for your family. I can’t wait to see some of your fun nature and Earth Day inspired work!

-Ms. Osiris

Weekly Learning plan for April 20-24

The following PDFs are optional:

Optional Challenges for April 20-24

Nature Math Worksheet

EarthDayColoringPage

EarthDayCrown

Rock Monsters!

Hi Families!

Thank you to those who posted their pictures to Fresh Grade of going Rock Monster hunting! Below are two lovely collages that Alyssa’s mom made of a bunch that they found throughout the neighbourhood. Zak even found a sign about using rocks in the forest! And thank you to Hannah for her lovely picture of herself and her favourite rock monster!

Wow! Look at all these rock monsters around the neighbourhood!

Have you seen any of these happy faces around?

Check out this sign in the forest that Zak found!

Hannah says “The pink rock monster makes me calm.”

Window Hearts

Hi Friends!

Thank you for all of your beautiful videos and pictures that you have posted to Fresh Grade! Here are some of your window displays that help show our appreciation for essential workers, like doctors, nurses, grocery workers, fire fighters, and other important people who help keep our community safe and running smoothly right now.

Don’t forget: If you want to share your pictures with the class, be sure to post it to your portfolio so I can see them!

Love,

-Ms. Osiris

Zak’s beautiful paper hearts.

Meika chose many different colours of paper.

Harper made a big paper heart and some lovely signs!

Hannah L. used neat window crayons for her hearts!

How To Help Your Child “Write”

Children learn to show their ideas on paper gradually. They begin with pictures, eventually experimenting with strings of letters or “pretend writing,” and eventually work their way towards what we can identify as words and sentences. This does not happen overnight, and each stage of writing development is valuable and worthwhile!

In order to help your child develop confidence as a writer at home, here are some helpful tips:

  • Give them lots of opportunities to use pictures to show different kinds of ideas (made up stories, family adventures, retelling a familiar story from a favourite book, drawing about a nature wonder they have)
  • Encourage them to check their picture for details: Have they answered the important “who, what, where” questions? Is their idea clear? What kinds of details would help their reader understand their message even better?
  • After drawing their picture, can they label any of the people or objects in it? Writing “mom” next to my picture of my mom or “ball” next to my ball helps my reader know what the pictures are trying to say.
  • When writing words, help your child “trust their sounds.” This means that they say the word to themselves slowly, and s-t-r-e-t-c-h out the sounds, writing each as they hear them. At first, they may only hear one or two sounds and only write down a couple of letters. That’s okay!  They might even get the letters wrong. Also okay! The key is that they do this themselves, to develop confidence in their abilities and practice some foundational phonetic skills that they will build on as they move forward in their writing journey.
  • Remind them that using “kid spelling” is great! This inventive spelling that children create when sounding things out is an important step in their writing development. I like to tell them that they don’t need to worry about “book spelling” (meaning conventional spelling) because they aren’t books! So don’t worry if they don’t spell things “right.”

It helps to continue to practice letters and letter sound with your child in fun and engaging ways, like their Alphabet Jive book, rhyming songs, and ABC books. Help them notice letters around them, showing them the sounds they make. This helps them build the knowledge necessary to use in their writing as they sound things out!

Thank you for your continued support! You’re doing great!

Learning Plan for the Week of April 14-17

Hi Families!

Thank you so much to those who have posted their child’s learning on Fresh Grade; it has been amazing to see their faces and share a glimpse into what they have been doing! I am excited to see even more posts this week as we move into our first “real week” of distance learning. I am also eager to be able to share some of their pictures on our blog, so they can see what their friends have been doing.

Our theme this week is about taking care of ourselves, and centers around a book that a local parent made to help young children understand what is happening in our world right now.

Remember that the expectation for Kindergarten students is only 60 minutes of structured work per day, and the reality of this is likely quite different from household to household. The activities for this week can be spread out however makes the most sense for you. If you are looking for additional activities to fill your days, check out the Links page at the top. And don’t forget to leave time for play and family fun! Enjoy!

 

April14-17

Rock-Monsters Book

Tips for Home Learning

Hi Families!

I wanted to share this really straightforward document with you regarding home learning. I know the task can seem daunting, especially with multiple children at home, and even more so when you yourselves are working from home. Have a look, take a breath, and know that I’m here to support you however I can.

Link: Tips for Home Learning

-Ms. Osiris

Website Links

Hi Families!

Below are some of our important (and fun!) links, all in one place! If you find a great website or app that you like to use with your child, feel free to comment below.

Fresh Grade: https://freshgrade.com/freshgrade-classic/

Microsoft 365 (to access Teams): portal.office.com

Epic! Books: https://www.getepic.com/sign-in

Zorbits: https://zorbitsmath.com/

IXL Math: https://ca.ixl.com/inspiration/family-learning

Ms. Hintersteininger’s Blog (Music Teacher): http://sd41blogs.ca/hintersteiningerk/

Mr. Anderson’s Blog (School Counselor): http://sd41blogs.ca/andersons/

Art Hub for Kids: https://www.youtube.com/user/ArtforKidsHub

Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems: YouTube via The Kennedy Center

Burnaby School District Resource Links: https://learning.burnabyschools.ca/resources/

Burnaby School District Activities: https://learning.burnabyschools.ca/elementary/

Translation!

Hi Families!

On the bottom left of this page is a “Translate” button! If you, like many of our families, do not speak English as a first language, and need a bit of clarity, click on that yellow button and choose the flag representing the country/language that you want to read. Auto-translate software isn’t always accurate, but it can help if needed.

Easy!

 

-Ms. Osiris

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