The Children Were Asked To Wear Clothing With Patterns

We continued our mathematical investigation of patterns by examining the patterns in our clothing.  We had lots of excellent examples!  Please ask your child to identify some of the patterns seen below.

Worms Continued!

Another fun science experiment using gummy worms, vinegar, and baking soda.

Some Creative Highlights From The Week

In the top left corner you will see the gorgeous stained glass leaves the JK/SK children made with their Big Buddies. In the upper right corner the beginnings of a "still life" painting are shown.  The student was making a poster for our "Fall Store" and painting a piece of decorative corn.  The bottom pictures highlight a squirrel craft that was made with the fall leaves the children brought in.  Thanks for collecting leaves last weekend!

The Fall Store Is Open For Business!

The children are enjoying our new Dramatic Play Centre.  As the pictures show, they really love loading up their shopping carts!  The students priced all of the items in dollar amounts.  One of the photos in the collage shows a student reaching into her purse to pay the cashier (wearing an "apple apron") with loonies.

Our Shoe Store Has Closed - We Have A New Store In The Works!

It was a busy store for a few weeks! The children voted to change our Dramatic Play centre into a "Fall Store". On Friday we listed all of the items they would like to "sell to their customers". This weekend Mrs. Beselaere and I will be on the lookout for gourds, squash, Indian corn, different pumpkins, etc. Please email Mrs. Garrow if you have any to spare. Thanks so much!

Sweet Acorn Treats!

We tied in some mathematical language (ordinal numbers: first, second, third, fourth) as we created these delicious treats. 

Acorn Science And Art!

A New Home For Our Worms

Mrs. Weller changed our worm habitat.
Did your child tell you about the fun we had after the rain on Wednesday scooping up the abundance of worms on the pavement in the Primary Play Area?

A Surprise On Some Of The Leaves

Looking for falling leaves and colour changes!

We have walked through the back school yard several times over the past couple of weeks.  The children have been curious about falling leaves and changing colours. We were not seeing a lot of change until this past Thursday. The children were delighted to see leaves under one of the trees and they had a ball running through the leaves.  The students can't wait for more leaves to fall so we can rake up piles of leaves for them to jump in! You can bet that we will continue our walks through the back school yard in the coming weeks and Mrs. Beselaere and I will have our rakes ready!

Leaf Man Continued

Leaf Man

The children have been extremely interested in leaves and acorns lately! This beautiful book matched up with this interest perfectly!  Enjoy the pictures of the incredible leaf/nature creations made by the JK/SK children with their awesome grade 7/8 Big Buddies.

Our Rotten Pumpkin Experiment

It all began when Miss Donna from the Library visited our classroom (in late September). The children were very, very excited about a book she shared with us called "Rotten Pumpkin". They were intrigued by the pictures of a decomposing pumpkin named Jack. They loved the pictures of insects and worms invading Jack. They wanted to know if we could make a pumpkin "go rotten". We got a pumpkin right away. They children guessed how many days it would take and tracked the progress on the calendar made by Connor. For some strange reason, the process was unfolding very quickly. It didn't take long for Jack to get slimy and soft. Before we knew it, Jack collapsed! 

Happy Holiday Weekend!

Our "Rotten Pumpkin Experiment" Inspired Some Pumpkin Fun In Our Classroom This Week! (Stay Tuned For An Extensive Post On Our Experiment)

Our Worm Inquiry

Stuffed Animal Day #2!

Our Box is Not A Box...It Is A Kindergarten Clubhouse!

We had 27 box designs to consider.  The children made designs for a rocketship, an airplane, a girls' fort, a boys' fort, a treehouse, a home, and many more.  The number of designs for girls'/boys' fort were equal so we decided to turn the box into a "Kindergarten Clubhouse" for all of the children to share and enjoy.

Not A Box! Our Box Design Project

Here are some design examples for the box. 

Our First Letter Collage For Our ABC Wall

Recent Math Activities

Introducing....Our Toad!

  I purchased a new screen for the top of the tank today so we are ready for all kinds of insects and spiders.  Feel free to hunt at home and send them in! The children will be happy to hunt at recess. I also bought some crickets to feed the toad on Monday. That will provide for some excitement!

Sorting Our Shoes On Shoe Day

On Tuesday September 30th, the children were encouraged to bring in their favourite pair of shoes.  Shoes had turned into a popular topic in our classroom!  It all started with Pete The Cat and his books , "I Love My White Shoes" and "Rocking In My School Shoes".  This interest in shoes inspired the creation of our "Kids Shoe Store" in our Dramatic Play Area.  It is full of boxes of children's shoes, labelled by size and ready for purchase for $1 per pair.  The children are having a ball measuring their customer's feet and helping their customers select the perfect pair of shoes from the selection of sports, dance, casual and dressy shoes.

We started Shoe Day off by sorting our shoes.  The children came up with excellent "sorting rules".  Each photo below shoes a new way that we sorted our shoes!

Sorting Rule: How does your shoe get done up? (velcro, slip-on, buckle, laces, zipper)

Sorting Rule: Colour

Sorting Rule: Sparkly/Non-Sparkly

Sorting Rule: Type of shoe (slippers, dressy, sandals, running shoes)

Another highlight of the day was our session with our Big Buddies.  We made a class book about our shoes based on the wording of Pete The Cat's "I Love My White Shoes" book.  This class book will travel to each student's home for your enjoyment.  We also measured our shoes and the shoes belonging to our big buddies' with snap cubes.

Terry Fox Fundraiser - A Huge Success!

Our Terry Fox Walk was held on a beautiful day.  The children enjoyed walking with their buddies on the path around part of Mudd Creek.  We are so very pleased to announce that our class collected donations in the amount of $397.00! Thanks so much for your support of this worthy cause.  

Jewel Jar Update

The jewel jar was getting close to being full at the end of September.  We had not discussed what we trying to earn.  The children offered some incredible ideas:
1. Stuffed Animal Day: We already a Stuffed Animal Day in September!  Apparently it was a big hit the first time!
2. Building Day: The idea was to have a day of designing and constructing.
3. P. J. Day: This sounded like a comfy way to spend a day.
4. Friends Day: This was an idea we had never heard before.  The idea was we would invite another class or groups of children from other classes to our classroom for a "playdate".  What an excellent idea!

You can see how the vote turned out!  Stay tuned for the date of Stuffed Animal Day #2.  The jewel jar is almost full!

A Gift For Rainbow Our Betta Fish

I purchased a "hammock" for our beta fish named Rainbow some time ago.  "Rainbow Day" seemed like the perfect day to add it to his tank.  Our Happy Helper opened the gift and we added the green plastic leaf with its suction cup to the tank right away. The children were very curious about this leaf and they made fabulous predictions and drawings about the function of the leaf (e.g., it would be a bed, it would be a surf board).