Busy Bees

Wow...our days just fly by! Look at some of the Language work we have been exploring recently:

Creating letters using Geoboards and elastic bands

An awesome cooperative game of  I Have ___ Who Has___?
that is like an emergent reader but also reviews letter recall

Using a Venn Diagram to discover if letters are shared (or not) between two friends

Here's some of the vocabulary we've been working on leading up to Halloween:

la citrouille (pumpkin), la sorcière (witch), le bonbon (candy), le fantôme (ghost), la maison hantée (haunted house), la chauve-souris (bat), le chat noir (black cat), un hibou (owl), le squelette (skeleton), la lune (moon), le masque (mask), le chaudron (cauldron), le balai (broom), vole (fly) , le costume (costume), une araignée (spider), une toile d’araignée (spider web)

Many of the words were learned in our game of "Trouver le bonbon" (Find the candy) pictured below. Students take turns hiding the candy under the various Halloween pictures and the class asks "Est-ce que c'est en dessous..." (Is it under...?)

We've also added a few more actions to our repertoire:

 

Three Cheers for Pie!

Mmmm, Mmmmm, yummmm! 

Talk about starting the week off on a good note! We baked some pretty terrific mini pumpkin pies yesterday afternoon and WOW were they goooood! In fact, 26 kids liked them! I've attached the recipe in "The Extras" part of the blog so that you can go directly to the recipe (I didn't add ginger). This activity fit in perfectly for exploring the various ways in which a pumpkin can be used; first enjoy the playfulness and texture, then eat the seeds, next make some  pie, and finally carve a Jack-o-Lantern! Love it!

Exploring Pumpkins

I'm not too fond of the texture of pumpkin pulp, but it is one of those "must-do" moments that you have with your kids! Take a look at some of these cuties as they are cleaning out the inside of our pumpkins:

Now what do you do with all of that ick? Well you pick out the seeds and roast them of course! Talk about a really tasty snack!

Can you believe the results of this survey?

And if that doesn't convince you that we really enjoyed the taste test, maybe these words will:

"They're yummy!"

"They taste like popcorn!"

"They're tasty!"

"These are good!"

"I like them!"

"I'm going to ask my mom to make these!"

October 31st

On Thursday, October 31st  please feel free to send your wee one in dressed for Hallowe'en! If you do choose to send your son/daughter in costume it may be a good idea to provide an extra set of clothing to change into as our room can get somewhat warm and, as we know, those costumes can be hot and itchy! As a reminder it would be best to leave swords, masks, crowns, and other accessories at home for safety issues and also so that they don't get damaged or left behind for the big night! We will enjoy a small costume parade around parts of the school in the morning, and in the afternoon we will  enjoy some yummy snackage during second nutrition break (afternoon).

 Thank you ever so much to the following families for providing us (33) with our snack for the afternoon:

                Cheese and Crackers:: Jack B.
                Cookies:: Tyson
                Fruit Tray:: Brooklyne
                Veggies and Dip:: Kaylynn
                Drinks and Cups or Juice Boxes:: Vala
                Cupcakes:: Nolan

Play-Doh

The following families generously provided us with Play-Doh this month:

 

The Koktan's

The Thompson's

The Macdonald's



Thank you so very much!!!

French Update

Sorry it's been so long since my last update! My home computer is on the fritz and when I try to update using my phone, there is an issue with the browser. Anyway, we've been busy in French. Students have been retelling the story of "Boucle d'or" (Goldilocks) in the drama centre and are getting really good at it. They are politely asking for common classroom items in French (crayon, colle, ciseaux etc.) by saying "s'il te/vous plait" (please) and "merci" (thank you). We have recited the poem "Ramunoir" a million times and are acting out the action words "marche" (walk), "saute" (jump), "danse" (dance), and "dort" (sleep). We are now in the final stretch before Halloween and learning a lot of the vocabulary that goes along with it.

Merry and Bright

Yikes.....Hallowe'en hasn't even arrived and here I am posting and passing on a little Holiday goodie from Mabel's Labels. If you are interested don't forget to type Stonecrest as the school you wish to support! Just click on the link below and it should take you right to the holiday specials.

Holiday Labels and Stocking Stuffers

Best Day Ever!

Your son/daughter likely thinks that their birthday ranks up there as one of the best days ever! Please know that we are happy to celebrate your child's birthday by distributing invites on their behalf or even enjoying a treat that you might like to send in as long as it is easy to distribute. We do have a gluten issue in the class, but Mom has graciously offered to provide a "stunt double" to ease the concern over this dietary sensitivity. Please just let us know in advance if you plan on sending a food item in so that she has a treat available for her child to take part in the celebration too. 

 

Many thanks!

Got Buddies?

Lucky us....we have some Big Buddies! Every Day 1 we will have a visit with Mrs. Wilker's Grade 3/4 students for about 20 minutes. During this time you might find us playing language based games or reading books to one another. It is such a wonderful time as the interactions are incredible and the learning through games continues to support what we are up to in the classroom!

A-P-P-L-E

Do you remember the song about a farmer who had a dog named Bingo? Hum that tune and then try our shared reading. The little dots were an activity that the children participated in by indicating where each word was and helped us to track print as we read or sang through the poem. Be warned...it might be hard to get the song out of your head once you start! 

New Addtition

Wanted to wish you all a lovely long weekend! If you are on a journey to visit with family....safe travels. :o)

A new gadget was added to the blog on the right hand side. Instead of checking in here at random you can actually sign up to receive an email any time a new entry has been made! Great feature that may make things easier.

Give and Give and Give

Over the last few weeks the children have been very interested in nature. What better time to talk about trees and all that they have to offer! We began by brainstorming all of our ideas on how trees help us and the various ways in which trees can be used. A picture walk of the story The Giving Tree followed and we added to our list by just having been close observers of each page.

After actually sharing the heartwarming story with the children, we discovered yet other things to add to our list with some BIG IDEAS that could be summed up with one word. Some students were pretty surprised as they realized how useful trees can be and how they really do give and give and give just like the story.

Library Day

For the past few weeks Library Day was on Fridays (Day 4). Due to the PA Day this Friday that means Day 4 is now going to land on Tuesdays and book exchanges will happen then! Wanted to give you a heads up in case we forget to send home our reminder cards!

Book Order!

October's book order is being sent home today! Look for great books from both the English and French flyers! Thursday October 10th is the return date for anyone interested.

Have a good week!

No School!

Please remember that there is a PA Day this Friday October 11th!

Who Might Be In??

Are your dinner conversations a bit confusing as random teacher names are being tossed into the mix? Because of Full Day Kindergarten the children are spending time with other Stonecrest teachers as both M. Cote and myself have prep times throughout the week.

One morning a week when Paul leaves the room on a prep block, Madam Creaser steps in and continues the activities that are in progress.

When I am on prep in the afternoon Mr. Johnson comes to the room and takes the children to the gym twice a week where he introduces new skills and gross motor activities. Once a week the children are with Mrs. Tucker and they go to the Library for a book exchange.

Our constant thread throughout the day with all of the above teachers is our very own Ms. Behnke.

A New Beginning

Please be patient as we try our hand and familiarize ourselves with this new blog spot. We all needed access to be able to communicate with you at our own personal times; hopefully this is the solution! Please come back and check this site often as updates will occur from all of us at various times.