Composting

Last week we received a kitchen food container for our classroom.  We are trying to teach the children a sense of responsibility for the environment.  Kindergarten is the perfect age to begin teaching the importance of reducing waste. 

Our food container

With the students, we talked about what goes inside the food container, for example, apple cores, banana peels, seeds, strawberries and many other fruits and vegetables.  When students are finished eating their snack they are reminded to put their banana peels, orange peels or apple cores inside the food container.

At the end of the morning, we take our food container outside and dump all of the food inside the composters that are located in our school garden. 

We are learning that composting is good because it is good for the earth.  If we put food in the compost, it doesn't go to the garbage dump so we are making less garbage.

Songs of the Week - November 19

Square Song

(Sung to the tune: “The Farmer in the Dell”)

 

A square is like a box,

A square is like a box,

It has 4 sides,

They are the same,

A square is like a box!

 

 

 

 

Triangle Song

(Sung to the tune: “The Farmer in the Dell”)

 

A triangle has 3 sides,

A triangle has 3 sides,

Up the mountain,

Down and back,

A triangle has 3 sides!

 

 

 

Circle Song

(Sung to the tune: “The Farmer in the Dell”)

 

A circle’s like a ball,

A circle’s like a ball,

Round and round,

It never stops,

A circle’s like a ball!

 

 

 

Rectangle Song

(Sung to the tune: “The Farmer in the Dell”)

 

A rectangle has 4 sides,

A rectangle has 4 sides,

Two are long and

Two are short,

A rectangle has 4 sides!

 

 

 

 

Family Friday

Dear Families,

Remember that tomorrow, Friday November 23rd is Family Friday. You are welcome to stop by and visit the classroom and see the children engaged in their learning.

We will open the doors at 10:45am. We will continue on with our learning and our normal routines while you are visiting.

We hope to see you tomorrow,

Ms. Gourgiotis and Ms. Hammond

Songs of the Week - November 5

Peace Song

 

Hold hands, all around the world

Hold hands, all around the world

Hold hands, all around the world

It's good for you and me!

Love, love, all around the world

Love, love, all around the world

Love, love, all around the world

It's good for you and me!

Peace, peace, all around the world

Peace, peace, all around the world

Peace, peace, all around the world

It’s good for you and me!

 

 

 

 

Crackers and Crumbs

 

Crackers and crumbs

Crackers and crumbs

Here are my fingers

Here are my thumbs

Here are my eyes

Here are my ears

They will all grow big

In the next ten years!

Family Friday!

Dear Families,

Please remember that tomorrow, Friday November 9th is our first Family Friday. You are welcome to stop by and visit the classroom and see the children engaged in their learning.

We will open the doors at 10:45am. We will continue on with our learning and our normal routines while you are visiting.

We hope to see you tomorrow,

Ms. Gourgiotis and Ms. Hammond

Tim Horton's Shop

We have been talking about designing a new Drama Centre for our classroom. We started by brainstorming ideas in the class. Some of the students' ideas are listed below:


Tim Horton's Shop
Bakery
Airport
Police Station
Fire Station
Toy Store
Grocery Store
Burger Shop
Restaurant

Students then created pictures of what they wanted the centre to look like.

Bakery

Tim Horton's



Airport

Restaurant




 

We then voted on the top 3 choices and most students wanted to change our Drama Centre into a Tim Horton's.

 The students are very excited and have even been making their own money to include in the cash register.

Here is what our Tim Horton's Shop looks like now:

Thank you to the families who have sent in empty timbit boxes and cups.

Visit to Thorncliffe Park Public Library

Dear Families,
On Monday November 12th, we will be going on our first walking trip to the Thorncliffe Park Public Library.  Students will be listening to stories read by the librarian and they will look at books but they will NOT be taking books home.  Please make sure that your child is dressed appropriately for our walk.

If you would like to volunteer to come with us to the library, please let me know as soon as possible.

Thank you,
Ms. Hammond and Ms. Gourgiotis

Happy Hallowe'en

We wish all of our families and students a happy and safe Hallowe'en!

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Kindergarten Dress-Up Parade

Dear Families,

On Wednesdsay October 31, 2012 your child will be participating in a Kindergarten Dress-Up Parade.  Your child is welcome to come to school dressed in a costume.  Please ensure that the costume allows your child to participate in school activities (e.g., gym, music, activity centres).  NO pretend swords, guns, knives or weapons are to brought to school.  If your child chooses not to wear a costume, they may wear traditional clothes from another country, party clothes, or orange or black clothes.  All Kindergarten classes will be participating in the parade.

Thank you.

Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

Dear Families,

We have been talking to the children about how we respect and care for each other in the classroom and our school community.

The book "Have you Filled a Bucket Today?" by Carol McCloud is all about being a generous and caring person. It teaches us that we have an invisible bucket that has one job...to keep all of our happy feelings safe.
We learned in the story that a Bucket Filler says or does nice things that make others feel special. When you make someone feel special, you are filling a bucket.

We learned in the story that some people can be Bucket Dippers. You dip into a bucket when you make fun of someone or when you say or do mean things to others.

How can you be a Bucket Filler at school?

Huriyah - You have to share.

Shaheer - Give some flowers.

Emina - Play with everybody.

Sofia - Give your friend a special thing.

Muqadis - Share toys.

Hasan - Play with people.

Aazeen - You not run in school.

Abdullah - Share with people.

Mustafa - Find something if something lost.

Shazana - You give presents to people.

Kindergarten Dress-Up Parade

Dear Families,

On Wednesdsay October 31, 2012 your child will be participating in a Kindergarten Dress-Up Parade.  Your child is welcome to come to school dressed in a costume.  Please ensure that the costume allows your child to participate in school activities (e.g., gym, music, activity centres).  NO pretend swords, guns, knives or weapons are to brought to school.  If your child chooses not to wear a costume, they may wear traditional clothes from another country, party clothes, or orange or black clothes.  All Kindergarten classes will be participating in the parade.

Thank you.

Song of the Week - October 22

10 Little Pumpkins

 

 

1 little, 2 little, 3 little pumpkins,

4 little, 5 little, 6 little pumpkins,

7 little, 8 little, 9 little pumpkins,

10 little pumpkins in the pumpkin patch.

 

Pick one up and put it in your pocket,

Pick one up and put it in your pocket,

Pick one up and put it in  your pocket,

Way down yonder in the pumpkin patch.

 

 

 

 

Shapes Are Everywhere!

We are learning about shapes - triangles, circles, rectangles, ovals and squares. They are everywhere!

We are learning about the number of sides each shape has, for example, a square has 4 sides, a triangle has 3 sides.

We are talking about shapes in our environment. The door in our class is a rectangle. The clock is a circle, and the table top is a rectangle.

The students have been using geoboards and rubber bands to create their own shapes.

When you are walking to and from school, become a shape dectective and find different shapes in the environment! Your child can make a picture of the shapes they saw and bring their picture to school to share with their friends.

Picutre Day

This is a reminder that tomorrow, Thursday October 18th, is Picture Day!  For best results, it is recommended that you wear solid colour clothing.

Say cheese.

Songs of the Week - October 8

Little Leaves

Little leaves are falling down,

Falling down, falling down,

Little leaves are falling down,

Orange, yellow, red and brown.

 

Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes



Head and shoulders

Knees and toes

Knees and toes
Knees and toes
Head and shoulders
Knees and toes
Eyes, ears, mouth and nose!

Hands and fingers
Elbows, knees
Elbows, knees
Elbows, knees
Hands and finger
Elbows, knees
Eyes, ears
And a great big sneeze, ACHOO!!!!

Our New Light Table!

We introduced our new light table to the students today and were amazed by their enthusiasm and what they created.  The light table invites children to experiment with light. The light source shines underneath the children's faces from below rather than above and creates a new relationship with light. This is a new way to perceive light.



This is our new light table.



Below are some images of the students' creative expression and discoveries at the light table.

O:  "I make a people and I put two hands."

A:  "We made different kind of colours.
We put all of the stones on the different colours and
we saw the stones were changing colours."

F:  "I can make green.  Yellow and blue make green."

Z: "I made the sky, the stars in the night time."

We cannot wait to see what else our students create at our new light table!

Songs for the Week - October 1

This is the Way....
This is the way we pick up the leaves,
Pick up the leave, pick up the leaves,
This is the way we pick up the leaves,
Because they've fallen down.

This is the way we throw the leaves,
Throw the leaves, throw the leaves,
This is the way we throw the leaves,
Because they've fallen down.


This is the way we jump on the leaves,
Jump on the leaves, jump on the leaves,
This is the way we jump on the leaves,
Because they've fallen down.




You Are My Sunshine

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy, when skies are gray.

You'll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away.

 

Ms. Gourgiotis' Class Valley Walk

On Thursday October 4th Ms. Gourgiotis' class went for a walk to the local valley.  Ms. Hammond's class brought back a snail when they went on their valley trip on Tuesday and we wondered what we would find in the valley? 

We noticed the beautiful leaves changing colours.

 

We decided to bring magnifying glasses and one of the students even suggested we bring a flashlight to see if we could find some snails in the soil.  Ms. Hammond's class found empty shells by the sumac trees but we did not find any.

We continued walking towards the wooded area by the river and we saw worms and birds' nests and we even found a snail, and then we found more and more and more!! We found ALOT of snails!!!  We were so excited.





Here we are looking for snails.

 Below are some of the snails we found.

                   

                                     

 We even found a slug!!  Some students thought it was a snail but it did not have a shell!  We concluded that it must be a slug since it didn't have a shell.



As we were leaving the valley we were excited to see a bunny rabbit!!!



We brought our snails and slug back to the classroom and needed to create a habitat for them to live in.  Here is what our classroom snail and slug habitat looks like now:



I want to thank Aaron's mom, Shaheer's mom, Faizaan's mom, and Khadija's mom for volunteering to come with us on our walk. Your help was appreciated very much!

What does our snail want to eat?

The children have been enjoying observing our classroom snail. Many of the children wonder what our snail eats.

We added leaves, bark and two flowers for our snail to eat but we didn't know what it liked best so, we decided to do an experiment.

We took our snail carefully out of its home and put a leaf and a dandelion next to it. We waited and watched. Slowly the snail turned and moved towards the dandelion. We watched as it started to eat the dandelion. 

The children in both classes decided that we needed to go and find more dandelions for our snail because that was what it wanted to eat. So we put on our jackets and headed out to the classroom gardens.

We found dandelions AND we found another snail!!!! We carefully brought the snail back into the classroom and added him/her to our snail home. 

What do you wonder about our classroom snails?

THANK YOU!

We want to thank all of the families who came to school for our Curriculum Morning on Tuesday October 2nd.  It was such a pleasure to see so many of you.  The students, and their teachers, were excited to have you join us to see our classroom and the students' work, and to learn about our routines and expectations.  We look forward to welcoming you into our classroom throughout the year.

Ms. Gourgiotis and Ms. Hammond

Below is a poem about the importance of play-based learning.

Just Playing

(Author Unknown)

When I’m playing in the block room,

Please don't say I'm "Just Playing"

For, you see, I'm learning as I play.

About balance, I may be an architect someday.

When I'm getting all dressed up,

Setting the table, caring for the babies,

Don't get the idea I'm "Just Playing"

I may be a mother or a father someday.

When you see me up to my elbows in paint,

Or standing at an easle, or molding and shaping clay,

Please don't let me hear you say, "He is just playing"

For, you see, I'm learning as I play.

I might be a teacher someday.  

When you see me engrossed in a puzzle or some "playing" at my school,

Please don't feel the time is wasted in "play"

For, you see, I'm learning as I play

I'm learning to solve problems and concentrate.

I may be in business someday.  

When you see me cooking or tasting food

Please don't think that because I enjoy it, it is "Just Play"

I'm learning to follow directions and see the differences.

I may be a cook someday.

When you see me learning to skip, hop, run and move my body,

Please don't say I’m "Just Playing"

For, you see, I'm learning as I play

I'm learning how my body works.

I may be a doctor, nurse or athlete someday. 

When you as me what I've done at school today,

 And I say, "I just played,"

Please don't misunderstand me.  

For, you see, I'm learning as I play

I'm learning to enjoy and be successful in my work. 

I'm preparing for tomorrow.

Today, I am a child and my work is play.   

Ms. Hammonds' Class Valley Walk

Dear Families,

On Monday October 1st, the children in Ms. Hammonds' class went to the valley to look for snails! It all started with our questions and observations of our classroom shells.

After we explored the shells and discovered they once had crabs and snails inside them, we tried to find snails and crabs in our classroom garden. When we couldn't find any there we tried to think what we should do next. Sofia wondered if snails lived in the valley and Mariam reminded everyone that we had gone on a walking trip to the valley last year. Everyone agreed that we needed to go to the valley and investigate if snails lived there.

We headed out on a beautiful morning. At first we noticed all the changing leaves on the trees.

We reached the Sumac trees and to our delight we found snail shells! But wait...they were all empty!

Next we headed into the forest and looked around the river for snails.

Then it was time to walk back to school, even though we didn't find any snails.

Suddenly, the children started to shout 'Snail!' 'Snail!'. Sofia had discovered a REAL snail, alive inside his/her shell. We gently put him/her on a leaf and Eminas' Mom very carefully carried him/her back to our classroom.

Back at the school we thought about what our snail might need to live in our classroom.

"Dirt!"
"Flowers."
"Water."
"Fruit and apples."

Ms. Hammond decided that she would look up information about snails on the computer. 

This is what our classroom snail looks like now. The children in both classes enjoy observing and caring for our classroom snail.

I want to personally thank Eminas' Mom, Ariannas' Mom, Mustafas' Mom and Mariams' Dad for joining us on our walk. They helped make sure all of us were safely walking to and from the valley.

Ms. Gourgiotis' class will be going to the Valley this Thursday. I wonder what they will discovery in the valley?