We had a fun time yesterday carving our jack-o-lanterns, but unfortunately I had lent my camera to another teacher for a field trip. Today the camera was back and we had another fun activity with our two remaining pumpkins. Mrs. Nilo put contact tape on them, then put out foam and yarn. The kids went to town creating faces and wigs for the pumpkins and they really put a lot of thought and detail into their work! Mrs. Nilo also took all of the plans the students had drawn for our jack-o-lanterns and placed them into a book so that the kids could see all of the ideas that their classmates came up with. It was a busy afternoon!
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We have a kingdom in our classroom! Here is the castle starting to take shape. The princess dresses and crowns were snapped up very quickly. I had to get very creative with the tissue paper in our art centre to come up with more dresses! Emily loved her tissue paper gown and insisted on keeping it on all day, even outside! It held up fairly well all things considered. I guess I'd better go down to the stockroom and see if I can dig up any more tissue paper! Several of our SK boys have been mesmerized by a certain game they found on PBS Kids. I put a time limit on the computer and, once their turns were up, they devised a way to continue by using their imaginations and some old keyboards I have in the classroom. Seeing this, I gave them each a whiteboard and encouraged them to draw their game on the "monitor". As their games progressed, they added more and more details to their "screens" They were winning new "levels" and very engaged in this activity. Jaxson took to it right away as he could envision the game very well. He was a great example to his friends, who soon caught on and did a great job too. Most kids like to get messy and many kids love to paint so here's a project we've started that's fun for all! Our tree reflects the changing seasons and we've been dressing it up for fall with colourful leaves. Discussing the changes happening in nature is a part of our curriculum and this is a great time of year to observe them. I hope that you are able to get out this weekend and enjoy the wonderful colour show that nature is providing! Point out and talk about these changes with your child. If you find some interesting items, such as pinecones, nests, colourful leaves, acorns, bark, moss, etc., we'd love to have them to add to our science table! We've also been reading about what animals are doing now to get ready for the cold weather. Words like "hibernation", "migration", and "nocturnal" would be excellent to use! Look at us in our great hats! Despite the fact that the only warning I had of this event was hearing it over the announcements yesterday morning (now what's THAT about?), we had very good participation in our class. (I sent a note home in the communication bags, and I see quite a few came back today so I'm thinking that not everyone saw it). You can see more pictures from Kindergarten in the photo gallery on the site, and pictures from the schoolwide population on the school site under the "Events" tab.
It must be that time of year, we had a praying mantis visiting again today! Mrs. Nilo scooped him up and he spent some time on our light table. He was very active and the kids had a good opportunity to closely observe his movements. As with last year's visiting mantis, we released him after a short time. Wait a minute. . . do you think it could possibly be the SAME mantis returning for a visit? Later on in the day, we had a grade eight visitor from Mrs. Hollinger's class. Yousef came equipped to perform a science demonstration for us using the light table. He was a big hit, eliciting many "OOOH's" and "AHHH's" from his rapt audience of little people as they watched the colours diffuse and mix. Yousef was great at engaging the kids by asking questions and getting them to make predictions. I love it when the older kids spend time in my room! It's a really positive experience for everyone - so thanks Yousef!
It's a neat time of year to find some very interesting gourds - all shapes, sizes and colours! I put them out in a basket and placed a scale beside them. It took the kids about five seconds to detect their presence in the room! They looked them over carefully, then tried the scales, but soon they carried them off to other locations to order them by size, count them, draw them, and sort them. In the end, they decided to make a "scavenger hunt" by hiding them around the room and challenging other friends to find them. Tomorrow, I'll add some more materials to the table and see what the kiddos come up with next!
Picture Day went off without a hitch. We had lots of smiling faces, only a couple of tears, and everyone's hair and clothes looked beautiful! It's such a relief when it's over and we don't have to worry about keeping everyone pristine! Here's a picture of Emily taken last week. She was very proud of her snowman and wanted to point out all of the great details, so please notice the scarf and eyes! I was very happy that she knew how to use the word "details". I often use it when referring to the childrens' pictures, but she was able to transfer the word to a different context. It's a beautiful snowman, but I hope we don't see a real one any time soon! And here is my friend Omar, who asked me to draw a picture of a coconut tree on the whiteboard. He wanted to put the letters of the alphabet climbing up it, as they do in the book "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom". We went and found the book then sang our way through it while printing the letters. All of the kids love this book! I hope that you've had a chance to check it out on BookFLIX (a link is on the site). It's easy to find on Youtube as well. The best place to look is at the library! |
About Mrs. C.Mrs. Cuckovic, or "Mrs. C." as she's called, is a retired educator who spent a long and varied career with the Greater Essex County District School Board in Windsor, Ontario. Archives
November 2020
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