November 21-25

Welcome to another week!

INTERVIEWS

Thanks to all of you for making our parent-teacher conferences such a success! I always look forward to the chance to sit with you and discuss your child's successes and next steps. I hope the experience was as positive for you as it was for me. For those of you who were unable to attend, please just give me a call (613.224.7922), or send a note in your child's Note Tote to re-schedule. We can also chat over the phone, if it's more convenient.

PLEASE WELCOME SARAH BLAKE

Sarah is an ECE (Early Childhood Educator) student from Algonquin College who is completing a placement with us over the next 5 weeks. Sarah comes with a valuable set of skills and insights and a pile of warmth and energy! The children have welcomed her and are already very comfortable seeking her attention and assistance. Sarah's roles include observing, designing, implementing and evaluating several activities (linked to our curriculum and planned with my supervision), assisting with daily classroom procedures and working with the children in small group, one-one-one and eventually, whole group settings. Sarah has written a more detailed introduction of herself and posted it on our "Kinder News" bulletin board. Please stop by for a peek!

OUR DOOR IS ALWAYS OPEN

Along with Sarah, we have Shanice (our Brookfield High School co-op student) back with us after a brief hiatus. Welcome back, Shanice!

Emily, our Carleton University volunteer, continues to come on Thursdays (when her course-load permits!).

This Wednesday we will have our dental hygienists students, Dalal and Jill, back from the Canadian Institute of Health to deliver their lesson on 'healthy and unhealthy' snacks. This ties in perfectly to our study of 'healthy habits', this week! Their lesson plan looks informative, fun and hands-on. Thank you Dilal and Jill!

As well, beginning shortly, we will have volunteers from the 'Ottawa Reads' organization coming in once, maybe twice a week to read with our students. More info to follow.

HEALTHY HABITS

Our focus this week is on healthy habits and a letter, as well as 2 charts will be going home tomorrow with all the details. Please help your child complete the charts ("Brushing Your Teeth" and "Healthy Habits") and send them back after a week, so they can obtain their 'Healthy Habits Hero' certificates!

Please also watch for "My Fruits and Vegetables" booklet. We will be doing a shared reading (big book) of this all week, and your child will bring home his/her own copy to read to you.

We will also be learning about the different food groups, everyday and sometimes foods, dental hygiene, hand-washing, and the importance of exercise and sleep! We have lots of hands on activities planned to help students grasp these important concepts. Please continue the discussion at home and at the grocery store!

WRITER'S WORKSHOP

The Kindergarten class had their first ever Writer's Workshop and it was a great success! This ties into our School Improvement Plan, which is focusing on writing this year. I am using reading and writing guru Lucy Calkins' series "Units of Study for Primary Writing: A Yearlong Curriculum", "Launching the Writing Workshop" as my guide. Each workshop begins with a brief 'meeting' during which time I introduce a new concept and model it for the children. Our first workshop focused on building enthusiasm and helping students identify themselves as 'authors'. I then modelled how writers:

1.CHOOSE A TOPIC they CARE about
2.THINK about the topic
3.TALK about it
4.SKETCH it
5.WRITE about it (this includes scribbles, random letters, beginning sounds/letters, words and labels, sentences).

There is a WIDE range of writing ability at this stage, so each child's instruction is scaffolded and supported. The key is that each child FEELS successful and FEELS like a writer! We will move onto structure and mechanics at an appropriate pace.

The students have special hard hats that say "Writer at Work" that are ONLY worn during Writer's Workshop. This helps keep this time special!

SHOW AND SHARE

Thank you so much for partipating in this month's activity. The children are doing an AMAZING job with their patterns! I can't believe how quickly they grasped the concept of 'core of the pattern'. They are eager to have their chance with the 'briefcase' and they take it very seriously! We will turn all of their hard work into a class book that will then travel home! (Please note that the "Book of Peace" I mentioned last post did not get done. Our "Hands of Peace" quilt took a bit longer than anticipated. We did, however, have a very poignant discussion about how each of us could bring peace to our classroom, homes and communities.)

Thank you for checking in and have a wonderful week!

Warmly,
Ms. Cox