December 6th, 2014
It is with mixed emotions that we say, 'Good Bye' to Mrs. Piche. She had decided to take a position at Dunlop PS and we wish her well.
It was fantastic seeing so many of our kinders at the Holiday Fling today. What a great day, raising money for our students. Thank you all for your support :)
Two more weeks to go!!!
Kind Regards,
Mrs.Valente & Ms. Butzer
November 27th, 2014
Hello!
December is just around the corner, how time flies!
The students have created their Toy Store which includes a cash register, shopping cart, 'toys' to sell, flyers to browse through and special paper for receipts to be written on! Ask your child about their time in the Toy Store.
S, A, T , I, P, N, C, K, E, H, R, M, D, G, O and U. These are all of the letters we have been learning. Our morning instructional circles will often comprise of the JK students wearing letter vests while our SK students use a clipboard with writing paper on it to write the words that we create.
The students have been word detectives and search daily for our sight words in the books that we are reading. Some of our sight words: the, is, in, it, on, up, my, me, we, he, she, can.
In Math our students are still working on understanding numbers and the concept of a number. How a number can be larger than or smaller than another number. We have started to decompose numbers into groups. Today we looked at the number 8 and how we can group it into: 1 + 7,
2 + 6, 3 + 5, 4 + 4...
Next week the focus will be Patterns, stay tuned!
Kind Regards,
Mrs. Valente, Mrs. Piche and Ms. Butzer
November 15th, 2014
Hello!
The cold weather is upon us and we are collecting any extra mittens and hats for our students who might be in need. If you have any extras we would gladly accept them :)
Our students have been working really hard over the past few weeks. We had a fantastic Halloween full of activities and fun. We paraded around the gym and danced with our friends. Our Remembrance Day assembly was truly amazing and our kinders sat through the entire hour-long assembly demonstrating respect and kindness.
We had our first science experiment! After a few weeks of filling in our 'Wonder Wall', the students decided that we should explore volcanoes. Questions were asked, knowledge was attained and volcanoes were drawn, labeled and constructed. Although it was a cold day outside, the heat from our volcanoes warmed us all up!
Our new dramatic play area is a... Toy Store. We will be making every part of this store and will post pictures soon :)
Kind Regards,
Mrs. Valente, Mrs. Piche and Ms. Butzer
October 20th, 2014
Hello!
Our students have been working incredibly hard when learning numbers. We are focusing on the concept of a number, "What is a number?". Please help your child with this task by giving them a number between 1-10 (JK students) or 1-20 (SK students) and start a discussion by asking them what they know about that number. Take out manipulatives (objects such as blocks, buttons or coins) and ask them to model that number using the manipulative. If they are ready, ask them to show you what '1 more' and '1 less' would look like. Happy Learning!
We are up to 9 letters in our Jolly Phonics program. We have recently learned: C, K and E. You can help your child with their letters by having them write each letter in capital and lowercase format, 5 times. Some students are ready to sound out short consonant-vowel-consonant words using the letters we have learned. Here are a few words you can practice with your child: cat, sat, pat, pen, ten, pin, tin, pan, tan, can, sap, tap, cap, nap.
Kind Regards,
Mrs. Valente, Mrs. Piche and Ms. Butzer
October 4th, 2014
Happy Weekend!
We have had a wonderful few weeks. The students are now following classroom routines with ease. We are impressed with the self-regulation that is observed with many of them (ie. choosing to go to the snack table when they are hungry, asking to use the washroom even when they are involved in their favourite activity). Continuing with a focus on self-regulation, we no longer will have our whole class 'Book & Blanket' time, it will be replaced with a reminder to go to the 'quiet area' for a rest, if needed.
We have now learned 6 letters using the Jolly Phonics method. We have learned: S, A, T, I, P and N.
We are now using Writer’s Workshop as a weekly method of writing. Students first draw their own picture of “whatever is in their brain.” Then they label their picture by slowly sounds out the words. Students will be supported for the next few weeks when they are writing. We will either scribe (write) for them, or help them sound words out slowly. The goal is for students to write completely independently. JK’s may not reach this goal this year. That is completely developmentally appropriate.
We will soon send home a notice for a few items we are in need in our class. In case you are doing a fall clean-up this weekend, here are the items:
*fancy paper
*stickers
*medium and large sized ziplock bags
*paint chips
*medium sized glad/ziplock plastic containers with lids
Kind Regards,
Mrs. Valente, Mrs. Piche and Ms. Butzer
September 17, 2014
Hello!
It was wonderful seeing all of you this evening at Meet the Teacher. Watching your children bring you around the room and showing you their favourite things was delightful. We hope that you enjoyed your visit and look forward to seeing you again.
Kind Regards,
Mrs. Valente, Mrs. Piche & Ms. Butzer
September 9, 2014
Good Day!
The students in our Kindergarten class are experiencing a range of feelings as they start off their new school year. Please continue to reassure them that it is okay to have these feelings and encourage them to focus on the positives from the day.
Even though school has just begun, we have accomplished quite a lot. Please check through your child's schoolbag for treasures that they will be bringing home.
Our doors are always open, so please feel free to contact us as questions/comments/concerns arise.
Kind Regards,
Amanda Valente (Classroom Teacher)
Tammy Piche (morning RECE)
Laura Butzer (afternoon RECE)
It is with mixed emotions that we say, 'Good Bye' to Mrs. Piche. She had decided to take a position at Dunlop PS and we wish her well.
It was fantastic seeing so many of our kinders at the Holiday Fling today. What a great day, raising money for our students. Thank you all for your support :)
Two more weeks to go!!!
Kind Regards,
Mrs.Valente & Ms. Butzer
November 27th, 2014
Hello!
December is just around the corner, how time flies!
The students have created their Toy Store which includes a cash register, shopping cart, 'toys' to sell, flyers to browse through and special paper for receipts to be written on! Ask your child about their time in the Toy Store.
S, A, T , I, P, N, C, K, E, H, R, M, D, G, O and U. These are all of the letters we have been learning. Our morning instructional circles will often comprise of the JK students wearing letter vests while our SK students use a clipboard with writing paper on it to write the words that we create.
The students have been word detectives and search daily for our sight words in the books that we are reading. Some of our sight words: the, is, in, it, on, up, my, me, we, he, she, can.
In Math our students are still working on understanding numbers and the concept of a number. How a number can be larger than or smaller than another number. We have started to decompose numbers into groups. Today we looked at the number 8 and how we can group it into: 1 + 7,
2 + 6, 3 + 5, 4 + 4...
Next week the focus will be Patterns, stay tuned!
Kind Regards,
Mrs. Valente, Mrs. Piche and Ms. Butzer
November 15th, 2014
Hello!
The cold weather is upon us and we are collecting any extra mittens and hats for our students who might be in need. If you have any extras we would gladly accept them :)
Our students have been working really hard over the past few weeks. We had a fantastic Halloween full of activities and fun. We paraded around the gym and danced with our friends. Our Remembrance Day assembly was truly amazing and our kinders sat through the entire hour-long assembly demonstrating respect and kindness.
We had our first science experiment! After a few weeks of filling in our 'Wonder Wall', the students decided that we should explore volcanoes. Questions were asked, knowledge was attained and volcanoes were drawn, labeled and constructed. Although it was a cold day outside, the heat from our volcanoes warmed us all up!
Our new dramatic play area is a... Toy Store. We will be making every part of this store and will post pictures soon :)
Kind Regards,
Mrs. Valente, Mrs. Piche and Ms. Butzer
October 20th, 2014
Hello!
Our students have been working incredibly hard when learning numbers. We are focusing on the concept of a number, "What is a number?". Please help your child with this task by giving them a number between 1-10 (JK students) or 1-20 (SK students) and start a discussion by asking them what they know about that number. Take out manipulatives (objects such as blocks, buttons or coins) and ask them to model that number using the manipulative. If they are ready, ask them to show you what '1 more' and '1 less' would look like. Happy Learning!
We are up to 9 letters in our Jolly Phonics program. We have recently learned: C, K and E. You can help your child with their letters by having them write each letter in capital and lowercase format, 5 times. Some students are ready to sound out short consonant-vowel-consonant words using the letters we have learned. Here are a few words you can practice with your child: cat, sat, pat, pen, ten, pin, tin, pan, tan, can, sap, tap, cap, nap.
Kind Regards,
Mrs. Valente, Mrs. Piche and Ms. Butzer
October 4th, 2014
Happy Weekend!
We have had a wonderful few weeks. The students are now following classroom routines with ease. We are impressed with the self-regulation that is observed with many of them (ie. choosing to go to the snack table when they are hungry, asking to use the washroom even when they are involved in their favourite activity). Continuing with a focus on self-regulation, we no longer will have our whole class 'Book & Blanket' time, it will be replaced with a reminder to go to the 'quiet area' for a rest, if needed.
We have now learned 6 letters using the Jolly Phonics method. We have learned: S, A, T, I, P and N.
We are now using Writer’s Workshop as a weekly method of writing. Students first draw their own picture of “whatever is in their brain.” Then they label their picture by slowly sounds out the words. Students will be supported for the next few weeks when they are writing. We will either scribe (write) for them, or help them sound words out slowly. The goal is for students to write completely independently. JK’s may not reach this goal this year. That is completely developmentally appropriate.
We will soon send home a notice for a few items we are in need in our class. In case you are doing a fall clean-up this weekend, here are the items:
*fancy paper
*stickers
*medium and large sized ziplock bags
*paint chips
*medium sized glad/ziplock plastic containers with lids
Kind Regards,
Mrs. Valente, Mrs. Piche and Ms. Butzer
September 17, 2014
Hello!
It was wonderful seeing all of you this evening at Meet the Teacher. Watching your children bring you around the room and showing you their favourite things was delightful. We hope that you enjoyed your visit and look forward to seeing you again.
Kind Regards,
Mrs. Valente, Mrs. Piche & Ms. Butzer
September 9, 2014
Good Day!
The students in our Kindergarten class are experiencing a range of feelings as they start off their new school year. Please continue to reassure them that it is okay to have these feelings and encourage them to focus on the positives from the day.
Even though school has just begun, we have accomplished quite a lot. Please check through your child's schoolbag for treasures that they will be bringing home.
Our doors are always open, so please feel free to contact us as questions/comments/concerns arise.
Kind Regards,
Amanda Valente (Classroom Teacher)
Tammy Piche (morning RECE)
Laura Butzer (afternoon RECE)