Monday Elynn was the special helper, and she brought a stuffed horse for show and tell! It was so great to see the kids all dressed up for their school photos! We made sure to practice our smiles before heading down. I cannot wait to see how they turn out! When we returned, we did our first School Wide Write. We will have 3 of these this year, and it gives us an idea of where a student's writing/connecting to a story/picture skills are at the beginning, middle, and end of the year. It provides a great example of growth throughout the year! This year, the focus was passion! This is a new concept to many kindergartens, and so we focused on the idea of something that we REALLY enjoy doing, and always look forward to. My example was camping. I was so happy to see that everyone had a unique idea, and made a connection to the topic! A special thanks to Lindsay (Parker's Mom) who made the class playdough! The new center is a hit with the class! There are some other class jobs that still need to be filled; there is a sign up on the parent board. If you're able to volunteer for something, please do! Tuesday Today, Ethan was the special helper. He brought a very special monkey stuffy, which his sister won for him at the PNE. He was a little camera shy.. as his monkey is so special to him! Library exchange will now happen every Tuesday! Please make sure your child returns their book on or before Tuesday, to ensure they exchange during our Library block. Meet Pete the Cat. He is always looking for a lap, and enjoys kids reading to him! Today we learned about Terry Fox, and why he is such a special person to Canadians. We looked at pictures of his artificial leg, and discussed why he lost his real leg. Tomorrow we have the Terry Fox run, and we thought about who we will be running for. Check out the shoes on our classroom windows! Please bring in a donation if you can!
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Thursday Ben was the special helper, and he shared an awesome Hot Wheels toy, which we later opened during Exploration time! Ms. Lindsay (Parker's Mom) helped out in the morning, and we with extra hands, we were able to complete a super cute bus craft made of popsicle sticks! The kids love what they have created, and they are now on display on the white board in our class. Thursday evening was open house, and it was great to see so many families visit our classroom, and have their child guide them through our room! We started a wishing well, which many families have added a wish to. If you have not yet done so, I will be sending home a coloured flag for you to complete and return to school to be hung. The goal is for you and your child to come up with a wish for the year on one side, and for you (the parent) to add another wish on the back side. We will hang them to our 'Wishing Stick' as a reminder of some goals for the year. Check Take Home Folders! Friday! Cypress was the special helper, and she brought in a wooden toy car, which she made at Home Depot! To celebrate the first FULL day of Fall/Autumn, we made our first mini-book which explored the colours of fall, and some common symbols. We practiced 'reading the picture' to help us with the words. Read this together with your child, OR have them read it to you on their own!! Rest (quiet) time is essential these days. We usually get quite tired after lunch, and this is a time for us to slow down, take some breaths, and re-set for the afternoon. The kids take this time quite seriously. We visited the gym where we played some games of tag, and moved around like different kinds of animals; Eagles, snakes, elephants, gorillas, penguins, and more!
We finished our day with the Fun Friday Dance Party! Each Friday, we will come back from gym a little early, to complete our week with a good ol' dance. So far, the most requested song has been Gummy Bear.. Though, I'd like to broaden their experience with many different musical genres throughout the year - we'll see how that goes! Busy week ahead of us, beginning with Picture Day tomorrow! We are the third class to be called, so fingers crossed that will be before recess, and they'll look (almost) the same as when you drop them off in the morning.. Wednesday is the Terry Fox Run, which will take place soon after the morning bell. The form that went home shows a map of the route, however, the Kindie's route will be on the school field only. Friday is Mamquam's recognition of Orange Shirt Day. Our school community will be coming together to wear orange in a spirit of reconciliation and hope. Activities will be taking place throughout the week to introduce and explore this topic in classrooms. Monday To begin our week, we talked about our families. We discussed how all families are different, though each is unique and special in their own way. We drew pictures of our family, and compared the size. You will see these pictures hung in our class during tomorrow's Open House visit. We went outside a little earlier for recess, and collected 'finger sticks'. Sticks which were no bigger or smaller than our fingers. We dried these to use for an afternoon craft. Mrs. Shea introduced the letter "S", and we practiced the sound, and learned a song about the letter. We then used the sticks we collected earlier, to decorate the first letter in our ABC Book. I use the Jolly Phonics program to introduce the letters, and they have a particular order in which they are taught. Here's the order in which we will be learning to alphabet! We are going to try for 2 letters a week. Tuesday Today we began our first special helper cycle. Please talk with your child about this, as some are having a hard time accepting that their special helper day is not 'tomorrow'. Aliyah was the lucky one at the top of my list! Aliyah shared a Bunny stuffy, which is very special to her. My camera didn't seem to make another appearance on Tuesday, as I have no other pictures from the day! But, here's some highlights: - practiced "S/s" writing - we practiced butterfly breathing during quiet time. Butterfly pose with our feet soles together, and breathing in and out slowly while flapping our wings. - we visited the Library! Ms. Kranz gave each of us a cloth bag, which should always hold our library book too and from school. This is the bag we are expected to keep for our years to come at Mamquam Elementary! Students are allowed to keep a library book for up to two weeks without a return reminder/fee. However. We will have weekly exchange (day/time yet to be scheduled) where I would love if students used to exchange their book for a new one. Ideally, they will come home with a NEW book each week. I will keep you posted on our Library day. Wednesday We began our day with a story about Sophia, who gets her feelings hurt at school. We spoke about how our heart feels when someone says something mean to us, or hurts us. I crumpled up a paper heart, as a visual for the kids. We then made a pledge to always think before we speak, because it is hard to fix a wrinkled heart (as they found out). We used band-aids to mark our name. Then we visited the gym! Wednesday's are big equipment day!! Following snack, we painted popsicle sticks in preparation for a craft we will complete tomorrow! Today, Beckham was the special helper, and he brought a sand dollar in for show and tell. He found it at the beach! The cold is going around! And we must learn how to try our best to keep ourselves healthy, as well as others! We did an experiment to demonstrate how easy it is the spread germs. I 'sneezed' on my hand, and then held hands with some students. They then held hands with other students, which revealed how quickly germs can spread! Yuck!
Wow, what a busy first week of Kindergarten! We worked very hard this week, to learn new routines, rules, and make new friends. I hope your kids came home each day with a smile on their face, and a story in their heart! Parker, enjoying our new reading area furniture! Meet Cuddle Bear. Our classroom stuffy who helps us if we're stuck in the blue zone (sad, lonely, tired.. etc.) Rainbow names! Students diligently practicing with wet glue, and precise paper placing! Kids loved the dress up box this week! On Friday, we began our day by making our first class book. Each student was given a page to complete, which collectively creates a class book! The theme was "Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar", as we had learned the song earlier in the week. As I got the students to work, I realized the cookies from my cookie jar had been stolen! The students were aghast, and instantly began searching through our room. We took a tour of the school, and found them in Mr. Massey's office! I fully intended to document the process, but was so excited by the student's positive energy, that I completely forgot! Here's a picture of us walking back to our classroom to enjoy our special treat! Students enjoying their well deserved treat!
Welcome to our blog! I tried classroom blogging for the first time last year, and absolutely LOVED it! Not only does it give you a look at our days, but it creates a space for dialogue! So, please check often, share with your relatives (near and far), and feel free to comment on the posts (it fill my bucket). Even though we began our journey together on Friday afternoon, we began calendar this week, and therefore, are currently on day 2 of Kindergarten! Here's some pictures from our first couple of days. Friday afternoon: some great friendships already being made! Tuesday, September 12. Exploring some centers in our room; a puzzle map of Canada, castle building with foam blocks, and a class favourite - geo-boards! I love to play music throughout the day. Today's lunch time choice was mystical forest. Some students couldn't help but get out of their chair and bust a move! Afternoon activity: crafting with the beginning letter of our name. I gave the kids creative freedom to decorate with many different craft items. And believe it or not, I took a chance with wet glue on day two! And they've already mastered the "just a dot, that's all your need!" And here is how the cloak room was left! These kids are learning to take care of their belongings, and make sure everything is in it's spot! They are learning so fast, and I'm so proud of them! As you can see, not all shoe mats are full, nor lulu bags of extra clothes. So if your child has not yet brought a pair of inside shoes, or an extra set of clothes in a ziplock bag, please do so this week! I am so excited for the year ahead, and getting to know each and every one of my students. If you have not done so already, please come and introduce yourself to me at drop off or pick up! It will take me a while to remember all faces and names, but the more often, the better!
-Mrs. Shea |
About Mrs. SheaThis is my second year teaching at Mamquam Elementary, and I absolutely love the school! I am a born and raised Squamish local. This is my 4th year teaching. My husband and I moved to Fort St. John for our first year of teaching, where I had my first Kindergarten class. I am married, and have a dog named Poppy! Archives
February 2018
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