Welcome to the end of November and the beginning of December.  We started discussing germs this week, how they spread and how to stay healthy.  The children had fun completing a book about germs.  To show how germs spread, Ms. Santiago and I put hand sanitizer and glitter on our hands to represent germs and then shook hands and high fived the children.  They could easily see how germs pass from one person to another.  We also started an experiment with 2 slices of bread.  I placed 1 slice of bread into a ziplock bag wearing gloves.  We then passed the second slice of bread around the circle and had each student touch the bread.  It was then placed into a ziplock bag.  We will be watching the bread this week to see if the germs are growing on either slice of bread.
     The children are enjoying shopping in our grocery store.  Thank you so much for all your donations.  Our shelves are now full and we do not require any more food packages.   Thank you to everyone who attended our November Sharing assembly.  Just a reminder, please do not post any videos or pictures of the Sharing Assembly which contain other children on social media.  
     Once again this year LKS is helping those less fortunate through our Stonegate Baskets.  The Grade Parents have emailed information regarding our adopted family.  Please contact Candace, Linda or Artie if you have any questions.  Donations may be brought to the classroom beginning Monday, November 27 until Friday December 8.  Thanks in advance for your generosity.  It is a great way to give back during the holiday season.  If possible, have your child  help pick out your donation.  It is a wonderful way to teach empathy and the importance of helping others.
     The Kindergarten students now have time in the gym each week.  We are currently taking the children to the gym in 2 groups for 20 minutes each, on Day 1 and Day 5.  This week the children played Sharks and Minnows, which is a game of tag.  They also played Night at the Museum, where they have to be a statue and change poses without the caretaker noticing.  If the caretaker sees you moving you become a caretaker.  Please ensure that your child has running shoes in their cubby for our time in the gym.  Thanks to everyone who has sent in running shoes for your child's indoor shoes.  On occasion we will miss our gym time for other events in the gym.
     In the computer lab this week, the students explored www.pebblego.com.   They explored natural happenings in the Fall.  You can access pebble through the Lambton-Kingsway website.  Scroll down to the bottom of the list of teacher websites to the virtual library.  Click on the virtual library, proceed to quick finds and you will see pebblego.  The children went to science, earth/space and then fall.
     On Tuesday afternoon, we will have a Terry Fox assembly to celebrate reaching $20,000 in donations.  Thanks again for your generous donations.  I will be participating in the Mystery Pail Dump.  There will be a number of pails to choose from, with a variety of materials inside.  Fingers crossed for a safe pail with something not sticky or gooey to be dumped on my head!  I am sure you will hear all about the assembly after school.
     You received a brochure from the Parent Council regarding the Annual Giving Campaign in your child's mailbag on Friday.  You will be receiving additional information via email this week.  The brochures were to be sent home on Monday, but since mailbags do not go home on Monday, we sent them home a day early.
     A reminder that Friday is a PA Day and there is no school!   Please return Snuggle Up books Tuesday and Thursday to be exchanged.

This Week:
Monday-Happy Monday!
Tuesday-Computers (A), Library (B)
               Terry Fox Assembly at 12:30
               Snuggle Up books exchanged
Wednesday-Return Sound Review Books
Thursday-Snuggle Up books exchanged
                Music
                60th Day of School-Zero the Hero visits
                 December calendars will be sent home
                 Scholastic Book Orders Due
Friday-PA Day-No School
            Happy December!
  
   

     It has been a short, but busy week in Room 159.  Miss Santiago and I enjoyed meeting you and discussing your child's learning throughout the week.  It was a wonderful opportunity to talk and share information regarding your child.  Thanks again.  If you have not yet returned your child's brown report card envelope, please sign where indicated and return it this week.  Thanks in advance.
     Your child's mailbag was full on Thursday.  We have completed the first 6 letters in the Jolly Phonics program and we sent home the letters so you and your child can practise the sounds and begin making words.  Please keep the 6 letters in a safe place as we will be adding additional letters as we progress throughout the program.  The corresponding songs were included in the Sound Review books.  Poetry books were also sent home.  I hope everyone had the opportunity to read and sing the new songs and revisit old favourites.  We are learning about tally marks as we begin to do graphing in math.  The children practised making tallies using popsicle sticks.
    Miss Paska helped the children learn about colour mixing this week as they investigated mixing coloured water and also mixed paint to make new colours.  It was a fun filled and slightly messy Thursday.  Please see the pictures to the right of the blog.  We also completed our Peace People this week and they are displayed on our classroom door and small bulletin board.
    Book orders were sent home on Thursday.  A reminder they are due on Thursday, November 30, so I can place the order on the weekend.  Please return the completed order form after paying online.  If you wish the books to be a gift, please mark "gift" on the order form and I will give them to you in a bag concealing the contents.  Returning the order forms in your child's mailbag is the safest way to ensure delivery to the classroom.
     We will begin to discuss healthy living with a focus on germs and healthy eating.  Our drama centre will become a grocery store.  We would appreciate donations of clean, empty containers/boxes of healthy food to add to our store.  Nut free products only please.  Thanks in advance.
     Our November Sharing Assembly is Friday, November 24.  The character trait this month is Empathy.  The award winners will be notified this weekend.  The children will be presenting a Beatles song with Miss McGee conducting.  The children should wear a yellow shirt for the Sharing Assembly.  Thanks!

This Week:
Monday-Bring in a box for our grocery store
Tuesday-Snuggle Up books exchanged
               Library (B), Computers (A)
Wednesday-Smile. it's Wednesday!
Thursday-Music
                Return Sound Review Books
Friday-Pizza Day!
            Sharing Assembly-Wear Yellow!
           Library (A), Computers (B)

     Welcome to the chilly November weather!  Thank you so much for dressing your children warmly for the cold weather on Friday.  The children will continue to go outside for outdoor play and during the lunch break unless the weather is dangerously cold.  We taught the children a song to help with the order of dressing in their winter clothing, "snow pants, boots, coats, hats and mittens always last."    Just a reminder to please label all clothing coming to school, it makes it so much easier for us to send the students home with all their belongings.  It is always a good idea to buy an extra pair (or 2) of mittens/gloves, as they do tend to get lost during the winter months.  Also when we start playing in the snow, it is always nice to have an extra dry pair of mittens/gloves for the next outdoor time.  Please let your child know if he/she has snowpants, hats or gloves in his/her backpack for outdoor play. We don't want anyone to be cold when playing outside.
     All children will receive their Communication of Learning on Monday.  The report is yours to keep, please sign and return the brown envelope.  We will reuse the envelope for the next report and it will verify that you have received the Communication of Learning.  Miss Santiago and I look forward to meeting with you this week to discuss your child's progress.
     The children completed their "This is Me in November" pictures this week.  You will have the opportunity to see them during our parent teacher interviews.  We are finishing our patterning activities this week.  The children made doves with Miss Paska on Thursday and wrote about Peace.  Their individual doves were used to create a large dove of Peace on our hall bulletin board.  The children are also creating "Peace People" and will write their ideas about being a "Peacemaker".  On Friday, the children enjoyed playing Bingo with their Reading Buddies.  Miss Paska created a Bingo sheet and the children rolled the dice and coloured the appropriate square on their Bingo card.  A fun time was had by all!
     We attended the Remembrance Day Assembly on Friday.  The students did a wonderful job listening during this solemn ceremony.  
     Miss Santiago is continuing to use the website Starfall.com in the computer lab.  The children are investigating stories including, Zac the Rat, Peg the Hen and the Big Hit.  Through games they are learning the word families "at, en and it".  They are also matching pictures with the sounds of "s. a. t, i and p"
     The student council has made Thursday, November 16 Pyjama Day!  Let's have a comfy day at school!  Please do not send stuffed animals or blankets to school.  Thanks in advance.
     We have created a classroom Alphabet Book which will be sent home with the leader beginning on Monday.  Please enjoy this book with your family and return it to school the next day so another student can take it home.  Thanks so much!
     Since there is no school this Friday, Snuggle Up books will be exchanged Tuesday and Thursday this week.  Also Sound Review books should be returned by Wednesday to receive a new sheet.  Poetry books will also be sent home for the long weekend.  Enjoy!

This Week:
Monday-Communication of Learning sent home
               Library (B), Computers (A)
Tuesday-Snuggle Up books exchanged
Wednesday-Music
                    50th Day of School, Zero the Hero
                     visits
                    Return Sound Review books
Thursday-Snuggle Up books exchanged
                 Pyjama Day
                 Library (A), Computers (B)
Friday-No School

     Welcome to November!  We had an extremely busy week to finish up October.  The children had a wonderful time on our trip to Strawberry Creek Farm.  We started by watching pumpkins fly through the air using a pumpkin canon!  We then continued to an adventure in the corn maze attempting to find the exit path.  I think most groups exited through the entrance, after finding many dead end paths.  We continued with an early lunch followed by time to use the playground and run around to stay warm.  The highlight of the trip was taking a wagon ride to the pumpkin patch.  At the pumpkin patch we learned about growing pumpkins and then everyone had the opportunity to pick their very own pumpkin.  The tractor and wagon then returned and took us back to the bus for our ride home.  Thank you so much to our volunteers who came on our trip.  
     Tuesday we celebrated Halloween.  The children loved parading through the school yard to show off their costumes.  We continued the celebrations with a party in the classroom.  The students had the opportunity to visit a variety of Halloween activity centres.  These included making a jack-o-lantern out of tissue paper and toilet paper, making a pattern with orange, black and white beads, creating a mummy, making a ghost and designing a spider web.  We then went to the gym to dance to some Halloween music.  After some additional activity time, the children had their special Halloween snacks.  Thank you to the parents who helped at the centres and the parents who donated food and drinks.  A great time was had by all.  
     The children completed their November calendar this week.  We are beginning the discussion of Remembrance Day and the importance of wearing a poppy.  Our classroom discussions will focus on peace and the bravery of the soldiers to keep everyone safe.  The children also made a poppy for the top of their calendars.  Each class at LKS creates a wreath for our Remembrance Day Assembly.  The children painted egg carton cups red and we added black buttons to create poppies.  When our Reading Buddies visited on Friday, they traced the Kindergarten children's hands and these are added to our wreath for the leaves.  The school Remembrance Day Assembly begins at 10:30 on Friday and parents are invited to attend.
     With the cooler and wet weather it is a good time to send shoes to keep at school.  This will help us keep our carpet clean and dry.  If your child does not have shoes at school they must wear their boots all day, which is uncomfortable and can be messy.  Thank you to everyone who has sent shoes to school.
     A reminder to read the LKS Bulletin for information regarding booking an interview during the week of November 13-17.
     Our November Sharing Assembly is on Friday, November 24.  We would like the children to wear yellow as they are sharing a special song with Ms. McGee.
     Please add Pizza Day on Friday, November 24 to our classroom calendar.

This Week:

Monday-Library (B), Computers (A)
Tuesday-Snuggle Up books exchanged
Wednesday-Music
Thursday-Library (A), Computers (B)
                 Return Sound Review Books
Friday-Remembrance Day Assembly 10:30
             Snuggle Up books exchanged