Kindergarten and Grade 1 Experiences at Rosser Elementary
We continued our introspection by doing an autobiographical study and completing a fun ‘robot’ activity. I took photos of the students which were glued in the space for the robot’s head. These are on the bulletin board next to the Office in the hallway.
We have spent time this week looking at ourselves and sharing things with our classmates. We did a booklet called, A Book About Me. In here we wrote about our likes / dislikes, our families, things we have recently learned, and things we want to learn next. We also did initial drawings of our faces. These booklets are posted on the bulletin board at the back of our classroom.
It is so nice to have the class decided and to be getting on with our school year!!
I am looking forward to a great year. Please check back to this blog as I regularly post information regarding our class activities and upcoming events for the school.
This first few days we have begun some of our regular routines, and also had a little bit of time to get to know each other through exploration of our Math tubs.
Students also had a bit of time to explore some of the Centre activities we have in our classroom.
While we are awaiting the start of our Reading groups, our class will be doing a unit study on the books of Dr. Seuss. We will be doing lots of fun activities around his books. We are also going to be getting to know each other better via a few activities around the theme of “All About Me”.
Stay tuned …
We began our lessons from this kit last week. You should have received an explanatory letter in your child’s planner.
These lessons are meant to open a dialogue with the children. The goal is to inform children of their rights and responsibilities in taking care of their own bodies. We have currently completed 5 of these 12 lessons. In these lessons we talk about feelings and the differences/similarities between people.
Lesson 3 focussed on the correct scientific names for private body parts. We approached this as a science lesson. In spite of some embarrassed giggling, most students took this information in stride.
We will continue these lessons for another two weeks. Each day that we have a lesson a half paper comes home which described that day’s lesson. Please take time to discuss these lessons with your child.
Thank you for your continuing support!
On Thursday, June 2nd Cst. Jari of the Burnaby RCMP came to Rosser to speak to the students. The Primary students had a presentation on road/sidewalk and bicycle safety. There were several small video clips on the different topics. Child actors presented the ideas in a very ‘kid-friendly’ manner.
He touched on the topic of ‘stranger-danger’ and spoke briefly about the recent incident at St. Helen’s School which is just down the road from us. This subject will be discussed in much more detail during our classroom lessons through the C.A.R.E. kit.
Students had a great week of badminton lessons last week. Coach Thomas taught them the correct way to hold the racket and how to hit the birdie. They also used balloons to learn how to be gentle with the rackets and to use a light touch to keep the balloons aloft.
Many students were able to keep the balloon in the air for a long time. Some counted over 100 hits before the balloon got away from them!!
We spent the first two weeks’ Art periods working on our Snow Families. We began by painting the blue ‘sky’ backgrounds onto watercolour paper. We then cut or ripped up white tissue paper and glued it to the bottom portion of the paper, making the snow base. This was then drizzled with liquid glue and sprinkled with white crystal glitter.
Students then added the snow bodies using white paint and different sized round sponges – making a snow-figure for each person in their ‘immediate’ family (mum, dad, brother, sister).
The next week, when these were all nicely dried, we added all the extra details. I made a name banner for each family and the students decorated the snow people with hats, scarves, beads/sequins, etc. They drew on faces and stick arms with Sharpies.
I think that they look quite amazing. They are displayed on the bulletin board outside of our classroom. Check them out, in person if you get a chance, or below …
This week we began our fairy tale unit with the story, ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. We read the traditional version and a few ‘fractured’ or ‘twisted’ versions. One of these was ‘Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs’, and another was ‘You and Me’. The students debated on whether Goldilocks was ‘naughty or nice’. On the ‘naughty’ side they decided that she: didn’t listen to her mother to stay out of the woods, and therefore got lost there; she broke into the Bears’ house; ‘stole’ their food (porridge); broke Baby Bear’s chair; and then ‘trespassed’ in their beds. On the ‘nice’ side they decided that she was a good girl who just made some wrong choices and that she didn’t ‘intend’ to do anything illegal or harmful. It was a good group discussion and was meant to show the students that there are usually two – and sometimes more – sides to any issue.
Students then had fun creating WANTED posters about Goldilocks.
They especially enjoyed deciding how much of a reward should be set for capturing this notorious criminal 🙂
We are beginning a unit on Fairy Tales. We will be reading and doing many activities with a variety of different stories. A letter will be coming home this week asking for your child’s favourite recipe for our Fairy Tale Cookbook. Please send it back (renamed with a fairy tale name) by the due date so that I can get them put together before the holidays.
We had a really great trip to the pumpkin patch on October 6, 2015. We were lucky to have so many parents willing to give their time to help make this a fun day for our students. The weather was spectacular which added to our great experience.
Here are some of the highlights of our trip:
The Petting Zoo
The Play Farm
The Forest Villages
The Corn Maze
and … panning for ‘gold’.
We also enjoyed a tractor ride, snack time, and hunting for the perfect pumpkin in the field.
A HUGE THANK YOU to all the parents who helped out by driving us to the farm and helping to supervise while we were there.
