April 30- May 4

Hello and welcome to May! I apologize for the formatting this week. The blog site has changed some things and I can't seem to publish it in the format I've written it?! Sorry for the jumble...I'll have it sorted out by next week. Last week... The children were introduced to a number of new math and literacy centres (More/Less game, matching beginning sounds puzzles, rhyming cubes, Word Worm sight words and playdough). We continue to explore spring and the changes it brings. We have started a 'daily weather' segment with the SK weather correspondants! Students get an 'on-air' introduction and then are handed the microphone to 'report' to the class. They love it and they're learning to observe the weather changes and use appropriate vocabulary to describe what they see! We ended our week with a look at 'shadows'. We read some non-fiction ("What Makes a Shadow?"), got up and moved around and discovered we could see some shadows in our room and then we read a poem called "My Shadow". After hearing the poem a few times the children were asked to draw how the poem made them feel. These pictures will be entered into Scholastic's Poetry Month Contest! We then set up some 'shadow making' centres using the overhead projector, as well as a blanket and some flashlights. The children experimented with hand shadow puppets and learned that the closer their hands were to the light source the bigger the shadow! This week... We will continue with the centres we began last week so that students have a chance to visit each one. We will also be setting up a 'shapes and figures' centre where children will be encouraged to examine and descibe the characteristics of shapes and 3-D figures. We will also be reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction books about birds and the life cycle of robins. We will investigate how robins make their nests and discuss the 'homes' of other animals, as well. On Friday, if the weather cooperates, we will head out to the field to gather natural materials to make our own 'nests' for our wooden birds! I will be sending home a copy of the poem "My Shadow" for you to enjoy with your child. I will also be sending their artwork for the contest home for you to sign (I will not enter it in the contest if you choose not to sign). Please watch for the book "Shape Monster, Shape Monster" to come home (by next week) and please enjoy reading it with your child. EDI SURVEY A reminder notice will be going home at the end of this week to return the survey sent out a few weeks ago. If you've already returned the survey, thank you, and please disregard the reminder! SCHOLASTIC ORDERS The May orders will be sent home next week and will be due back on May 18th. MAY BIRTHDAYS! We have a lot of friends celebrating birtdays in May! Happy birthday to.... Malak May 12 Ida May 27 Cameron May 29 Julissa May 30 Arianna May 31 Thanks for checking in and have a great week! Warmly, Ms. Cox