Kindergarten and Grade 1 Experiences at Rosser Elementary
On February 6th we participated in our JUMP event, during the afternoon, with our Division 2 buddies. We had a lot of fun doing a variety of skipping techniques including partner skipping and the long rope. We decorated our paper hearts and began the heart wall in the gym. Other classes added their hearts to the wall, as well.
Through the generosity of our parent community we have raised a great deal of money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation – over $2800.
Students began by creating a water coloured background. They then created construction paper penguins and placed them on paper icebergs. These penguins were adorned with a variety of decorations, as the students chose. They then used white paint and created a snow blizzard by using Q-tips as paint brushes.
Who says that penguins can’t fly??
Students created penguins with loops of construction paper. They have been flying around our classroom for a few weeks now.
We have been doing research on a variety of (six) penguins with Mrs. Anstee, our librarian. We began as a whole class learning about the Adelie penguin. We then divided into 5 groups of 4 students to work on a different penguin (as a group) each week. These penguins are: the Gentoo, the Galapagos, the Rockhopper, the Little Fairy, and the Chinstrap. We have two weeks left in our research timeline. Each week the students have completed a booklet on one of these penguins.
In addition to this research we have created a height chart (with the penguins and the students recorded on it).
Students have enjoyed doing their research and learning about penguins.
In January we had a delivery from the Antarctica. It was a penguin (named Pringle), the novel Mr. Popper’s Penguins, and a letter from Admiral Drake – a character from the novel. We have been reading this novel over the past few weeks and we will finish it up this week. Pringle has been making home visits with students in the classroom. The students have been making journal entries about their experiences with Pringle. Each morning the students read these journal entries to the class and share their pictures. Pringle has also been adorned with a variety of necklaces, bracelets, and ribbons as a result of these visits.
On January 16th we were lucky to have a visit from the Mobile Dairy Classroom. A huge trailer came onto our school grounds with a mother dairy cow and her baby calf. Students learned what cows eat, how they have 4 stomachs to digest their food, and how they produce milk. They saw the cow being milked by the milking machine and saw the calf being feed this milk via a baby bottle.
It was a very enjoyable and educational experience for all of us.
In early January, the students worked on a poster which described themselves. These have been posted on the bulletin board in the hallway outside of our classroom for a few weeks now.
The last day before Christmas Break we had a full and busy day! We began with our Pancake Breakfast where we enjoyed the wonderful pancakes made by our parent volunteers. We were also lucky to have a visit by Santa and his Elf who gave the students goodie bags.
We had a great time working with clay for our Christmas presents to our families. Students began with the raw clay which they formed around a wooden doweling (forming the hollow centre necessary for the firing process). The grade ones created snow people and the grade twos created gingerbread people, as they had made snow people last year in my class. They created the bodies in three sections and then made the hats. These needed to dry for almost a week before they could be put into the kiln.
After they had been fired the students glazed them and then they were re-fired. Students then decorated their people and they were ready to be wrapped to be given as gifts. I hope you all enjoyed them!!
