Welcome to the end of January!  I can't believe we have been back to school for almost a month.  Time flies when you are busy learning!  The children completed their bridge building activities this week along with a sequencing activity for The Gingerbread Man.  We also gave the students an opportunity to draw and design their own gingerbread person and a gingerbread house.  In addition they brainstormed who their gingerbread person who run away from.  Mr. Currie dropped in to visit this week and added some pictures of us onto his Twitter feed.  You may find his Twitter feed on the LKS website.
     We also started shape activities this week.  Beginning with 2d shapes, the children will participate in a variety of activities to explore the features of 2d shapes.  It is important to be able to recognize and name the shapes, such as a triangle, but also be able to explain why it is a triangle and not all triangles look the same.  We will also be introducing math vocabulary including sides, vertices, longer and shorter.  This week we were able to explore shapes using the iPads and a Geoboard app.  Using this app, the children used virtual elastics to create shapes.  Please see pictures to the right of the blog.  We will continue this activity next week when we borrow the iPad cart.  The children will also be painting with shapes, making shape pictures, and creating shapes with a variety of materials.
     We had a surprise author visit on Tuesday, so the team (A) did not have the opportunity to exchange their library books.  They will exchange their books this Tuesday.  The children are enjoying a new game in the gym called Dog House.  Miss Santiago places hoops around the gym to be the dog houses and she then calls numbers, for the amount of children in a hoop, or hoop colours.  The children run to find a hoop they can jump inside.  
     There were many notes and important information sent home this week regarding upcoming events.  Information regarding Valentine's Day was sent home on Tuesday.  Just a reminder to spread out the work with their valentines and it will be a much more fun and enjoyable experience.  On Friday, the February calendar and 100 day information was in your child's mailbag.  Please keep this information in a safe place, so you can review the dates  if necessary.
     With the uncertain weather, the children should continue to wear snow pants or splash pants as our playground can be very wet.  No one wants to have wet pants during the day and it limits the fun if you have to stay on the pavement during outdoor play.  Thanks in advance!
     Report cards will be sent home for all students on Monday, February 12.  The online interview schedule will be open on Monday, January 29.  Booking information will be provided in the LKS Bulletin.   Parents are welcome to book an interview if they have any questions or concerns regarding their child's progress.  Miss Santiago and I will be contacting parents that we wish to meet with.  If you have a quick question, please feel free to talk to us at drop off or pick up.  Thanks in advance.
     I will be absent Thursday and Friday this week to attend my nephew's graduation from the Armed Forces' Basic Training.  Mrs. Champagne ( a regular supply teacher at LKS) will be in the class with Miss Santiago while I am away.  We are very proud of Taylor for joining the military and want to support him as he continues his service to our country in Alberta.

Upcoming Event:  February 9-Carlton the Bear (Maple Leafs Mascot) and some Maple Leaf players will be visiting LKS.  They are part of a program for grades 4-8 entitled Future Goals.  Carlton the Bear will be visiting our classrooms in the  afternoon.  Wear your blue and white clothing or Leafs shirts and let's show our school spirit!  Go Leafs Go!  

This Week:

Monday-Music
               90th day of school, Zero the Hero visits
Tuesday-Library(A)      Computers (B)
               Snuggle Up books exchanged 
Wednesday-Last day of January 
Thursday-Library (B), Computers (A)
                 Return your Sound Review book
Friday-Groundhog Day
            Snuggle Up books exchanged 

     This was a busy, but short week in Room 159.  The children created snowmen on Monday.  This was a great opportunity to practise scissor skills and use imaginations to design their own snowman.  We traced 3 snowballs of different sizes and the children were responsible for the rest!  The results are wonderful.  The students also completed their "This is Me in January" drawing and colouring.  This month the children had a choice, they could do a winter picture on blue paper using chalk for the snow or a regular picture on white paper if they were not doing a snow scene.  Miss Santiago and 1 love to see the progress in the children's drawing and writing.  The January pictures will be posted in the classroom later this week.  Our Reading Buddies visited on Wednesday this week and we made snowflakes.  It was wonderful watching all the children work together with their buddies.  The Grade 8's were learning some snowflake making techniques also.
     We have completed our next set of letters in the Jolly Phonics program.  The work was sent home on Thursday and the new poems are in your child's Sound Review Book.  Enjoy sharing your child's Poetry Book this weekend.
     On Thursday, we began an investigation of the book, The Gingerbread Man.  The children are completing a sequencing activity, which assists in retelling the important parts of the story.  This is a wonderful way of practising comprehension which is an important part of reading.  The students are also involved in a problem-solving challenge.  We have put the children in partners and they are building a bridge for the gingerbread man to get across the river, so the fox does not eat him.    Each group has the same materials and they are to work with their partner to build a bridge stable enough to hold the gingerbread man.  The children are doing a great job and I have put some pictures to the right of the blog to show our wonderful bridges.  We will continue with sequencing and bridge building on Monday.
     In the Computer Lab the children are continuing to explore BookFlix; 123's and ABC's.  In the gym, the children began to play "What Time is it Mr. Wolf" using animal addition.  We also played "I Have, Who Has?" with numbers to 30.  We will continue this fun game when we have an extra 5 minutes.  It is becoming a class favourite!
     Our January Sharing Assembly is Friday, January 26.  The award winners will be notified this weekend.  Friday is also Pizza Day!

This Week:
Monday-Music
Tuesday-Snuggle Up books exchanged 
               Library (A), Computers (B)
Wednesday-Happy Wednesday!
Thursday-Library (B), Computers (A)
                 Return your Sound Review Book
Friday-Snuggle Up books exchanged
           Pizza Day
           Sharing Assembly-9:00 am in the gym

Enjoy the last full week of January!

     Welcome back!  We had a busy first week of January in Room 159.  With the changing temperatures, we have started to discuss the temperature daily, using a demonstration classroom thermometer.  Friday has been the most interesting day to date, we started the day with 9C, it was 1C at lunch and at dismissal we were at -4C.   Just a reminder to please label mittens, gloves and hats that your child wears to school.  We have been using the Kindergarten dryer to dry wet items between outdoor play periods, when time permits, and it makes sorting out similar items much easier.  It also helps us to get everything back to the correct owner.  Thanks in advance!
     The children completed a sheet titled, "Holiday Memories" on Monday.  They drew and wrote about something they remembered about their holidays.  This great writing and drawing task is displayed on the bulletin board in the hall.  Have a look the next time you visit the school.  The students also completed their January calendar.  The Junior Kindergarten students are practising their numbers to 20 and the SK students are completing the entire calendar and adding important classroom dates.  For this  month's calendar, Miss Santiago took pictures of the children and assisted them making snow globes.  The results are fantastic!  These are definitely keepsakes beyond the month of January!
     During our large group time, we introduced counting by 10's and played a circle game where each child in the circle continued the counting from 10-100.  The child who says 100 has to sit down until we are left with only 2 students to complete the counting.  We also played a game called "I have, who has?"  Each student has a card with 2 sight words.  They listen for the sight word on their card and then proceeds with, "I have, who has-and reads a new sight word."  It is a great reading and listening game.  We will also play this game with numbers as we continue to practise our numbers from 1-30.
     In the gym this week, the children played Follow the Leader (being animals), Great Wall of China and Going on a Bear Hunt.  The children also explored Going on a Bear Hunt in music class.  During computer lab, the students continued to explore Bookflix-people and places.
     Reminders:

• Scholastic Book orders are due Wednesday, January 17.  You may now complete your order and make your payment on-line at the Scholastic website.  You may continue to complete the order form and submit the order form and payment directly to the classroom.
• Friday, January 19 is a PA Day and there is no school.  Snuggle Up books will be exchanged on Thursday.  Please return your Sound Review books on Wednesday, so we have time to add the new sheets.  Poetry books will be sent home for the long weekend.  Enjoy!

This Week:
Monday-Library (A), Computers (B)
Tuesday-Snuggle Up books exchanged
Wednesday-Computers (A), Library (B)
                    Return your Sound Review books
                    Scholastic Book orders due
Thursday-Snuggle Up books exchanged
Friday-PA Day, No School
   

     Happy 2018!  Wishing you all the best in the new year!  I hope that everyone had a wonderful time with their family during the holidays.  Hopefully the weather forecast is correct and we will have warmer weather for the start of the week and back to school.  Miss Santiago and I collected mailbags during the last week of December and they will be sent home again on Tuesday,     January 9.
     Thank you to everyone who donated their time, food and drinks to our holiday party.  The children had a wonderful time creating ornaments.  We also made reindeer food before the holidays. Hopefully it helped Santa to find your house on December 24.  
     We will be completing activities relating to the New Year and January this week.  
     If you are planning a holiday in the upcoming months, please let us know the dates in advance, to help with scheduling your child's leader day.  Thanks in advance!



This Week:

Monday-Library (A), Computers (B)
Tuesday-Snuggle Up books exchanged
Wednesday-Library(B), Computers (A)
Thursday-Happy Thursday
Friday-Music
            Happy 80th Day of School
            Zero the Hero visits
            Snuggle Up books exchanged

Our Elf is busy when we go home!

Shhh!  Elfie is sleeping!

Elfie likes to colour!

Riding on the train with some friends!

Cards, anyone?

     Welcome to the last week of school in 2017!  The children are busy with special activities for this wonderful time of year.  We completed our "This is Me in December" pictures this week.  Miss Santiago and I love watching the children's development as they continue to add more details to their pictures and write sentences using their sound knowledge, sight word vocabulary and environmental print in the classroom.  The Junior Kindergarten students completed a colourful book about reindeers and the Senior Kindergarten students wrote a book about a Christmas tree.  The books are included in your child's mailbag this week.  Please look carefully in their sound review books or poetry books for work.  The January calendar was also sent home on Friday.  Please keep it in a safe place for next month.  Enjoy the new poems and songs in your child's poetry book this weekend.  We also discussed Hanukkah this week and the children made menorahs.  On Tuesday, the class made ornaments with their Reading Buddies.  They are on display on the Christmas tree in the front hall.
     The children loved playing in the snow this week.  Thank you to everyone who sent in extra mittens with your child.  We play outside at lunch and then often have outdoor play first in the afternoon.  There is no time for mittens to dry, so an extra pair is a necessity.  Also neck warmers are much safer than scarves, since they have no loose ends to get caught on equipment.  Just a reminder to please label all clothing that your child brings to school.  With 27 children, we have many pairs of mittens, boots and snow pants etc in our classroom.  We want to get everything back to the correct owner and having names or initials helps Miss Santiago and I very much.  It also helps other teachers who find mittens etc outside or in the hall.
     Thursday morning we went to the gym to watch the teachers, including myself, play dodgeball with the Terry Foxers and winners of the Terry Fox trivia contest.  It was a fun school activity!  In the computer lab, Miss Santiago introduced the children to Bookflix.  You can access Bookflix through the virtual library on the LKS website.  The children explored fiction and non-fiction books.
     We are having our Holiday Party on Tuesday, December 19.  Thank you to our volunteers and those bringing food to our celebration.  Please check the December calendar for more details.  Children may wear their Santa hats, reindeer antlers etc to the party on Tuesday.
     Miss Santiago and I would like to thank you very much for our very generous Christmas gifts.  We will have fun shopping and buying something special.  Thanks again.  We love teaching your children and consider it a privilege to be a part of their learning.
     Mailbags will be sent home on Tuesday as usual.  Please return your mailbags and we will keep them over the holidays.  Mailbags will not be sent home on Friday.  Enjoy reading your favourite books at home and hopefully some new books will be presents!
     Check Mr. Currie's twitter account.  There is a tweet of our students using the Code-a-pillar.
     Wishing you all the best during the holidays.  Enjoy this time with your family and friends.

This Week:

Monday-Library (A), Computers (B)
Tuesday-Christmas Party 9:00-11:20 
               Snuggle Up books exchanged
Wednesday-Library (B), Computers (A)
Thursday-First Day of Winter
Friday-Music
            Last day of school before the holidays!

See you on Monday, January 8!
   

Hour of Code in Room 159

Coding with snowmen and astronauts

Watching the code-a-pillar follow the directions

Coding our code-a-pillar

Creating coding maps based on the Gingerbread Man

Coding with Miss Paska

Writing code to move the snowman to the mountains

We did it!

Playing Box Island on the iPads

     Welcome to the cold temperatures of December.  It is wonderful to see the children dressed so warmly.  Just a reminder that we are outside 2 or 3 times a day unless the weather is dangerously cold.  Please make sure your child has all of his/her winter gear so they can enjoy our outdoor time.  We had a busy week celebrating the Hour of Code in Room 159.  Enjoy the pictures above.  The children completed a variety of fun tasks involving coding.  On Monday, we borrowed the iPad cart and the children played Box Island, a fun coding app.  Box Island is available for free from the Apple App Store.  The children also had the opportunity to write code to move a snowman to the mountains avoiding dangers like fire and hot chocolate.  Later in the week, the students each created a Gingerbread Coding Map and then challenged a friend to move the gingerbread man to his/her house.  We sent this home on Friday, so you can play with your child.  The class is also enjoying using our new toy-the Code-a-Pillar.  The children sequence instructions and then the caterpillar follows the code you have created.  In the computer lab, the children used the Google coding activity and also explored germs and bacteria on Pebblego with Miss Santiago.

The class completed their December calendar and explored different patterned paper to create a fancy Christmas tree.  Miss Paska discussed healthy meals with the students and they each created a healthy meal they would like to eat, following the guidelines of 2 fruits, 2 vegetables, meat, grains and a dairy product.  The children also played Silly Bananas, a tag game with Miss Paska in the gym.  This was Miss Paska's last week in Room 159.  We will miss her very much and wish her all the best as she completes her Early Childhood Education Studies at Ryerson and continues with her basketball career.

The class wrote their letters to Santa this week with their Reading Buddies.  We will mail our letters in Mrs. Stefanowicz's special mailbox and wait for a reply from Santa.  Thank you very much for all your generous donations for our Stonegate baskets.  Monday morning is your last opportunity to contribute.  Please contact the Grade Parents if you have any questions.  We have helped to make a family's Christmas a bit brighter.

We enjoyed a great presentation from author Kerri Lynn Winters on Friday.  She has written over 26 books and talked about making connections, visualizing and making predications when we are reading.  Keri Lynn read us French Toast, My Walk and Let's Play a Hockey Game ( a rhyming book).  Thank you to Parent Council for funding this wonderful opportunity to meet an author.

Students in Mrs. Heath's, Mrs. Gibson's and Mrs. Taylor's classes will be selling blinking red noses beginning Monday, December 11-15 (or while supplies last).  Proceeds go to the Toronto Foundation for Student Success, which supply TDSB students with food, warm clothes and other necessities.  The red noses will sell for 3.00 each during homeroom.  Students will come to our classroom to sell the noses.  If you are sending money to purchase a red nose, please place your $3.00 in a baggie or envelope labelled with your child's name.  Thanks in advance.  Additional information will be supplied in this week's LKS Bulletin.

There was a mistake on the December calendar.  There is no library on December 12.  Sorry for any confusion!

     A reminder that Friday, December 15 is our December Sharing Assembly.  Sharing Assemblies begin at 9:00 am in the gym.  The children are presenting a holiday song.  Children should wear red, green and or white clothing and wear a festive hat!  Award winners will be notified this weekend.  The character trait this month is Kindness.  See you there!

This Week:

Monday-Library (A), Computers (B)

               Red Noses on Sale-$3.00

               Last day for Stonegate donations

Tuesday-Snuggle Up books exchanged

Wednesday-Library (B), Computers (A)

Thursday-Return your Sound Review books

Friday-Pizza Day

            Sharing Assembly-wear red, green and/or white and a    

            festive hat

            Music

            Snuggle Up books exchanged
            70th Day of School-Zero the Hero visits!

  

     Happy December!  This time of year is always very busy at school and at home, so please continue to check the blog each weekend for up to date information.  With the assistance of our Reading Buddies on Monday, the children completed a Santa countdown activity.  Each day in December, have your child cut off 1 loop of Santa's beard.  When all the loops are gone, it will be Christmas Day.  Have fun counting the days until December 25.  We continued with graphing activities and the children have the opportunity to create their own graphing question, ask their friends and graph the results.  It is great to see all the learning happening around this activity.  Miss Paska also discussed healthy and unhealthy foods on Thursday.  The class enjoyed looking through the grocery store ads and creating their own list of healthy and unhealthy food choices.  We were excited to have Mr. Currie visit Thursday afternoon post some pictures of Room 159 on the Lambton Kingsway Twitter feed.  You can see Mr. Currie's tweets on the Lambton Kingsway website.  Follow the link to the right of the blog.
     Next week we will be participating in The Hour of Code.  The Hour of Code began as a one hour introduction to computer science to show that anyone can learn the basics and to broaden participation in the field of computer science.  It has become a world wide event to celebrate computer science.  Coding activities help to develop problem-solving, logic and creativity.  We will be participating in a variety of activities to teaching simple coding to the students.  Coding is a set of instructions (directions) that computers can understand, it is similar to a recipe.
     A reminder that we are collecting donations for our Stonegate basket.  Details of our family and suggested donations were emailed by our Grade Parents.  Please contact them if you have any questions.  Thank you in advance for your generosity.  We have been discussing how important it is to help others with the children.  Please include them in your shopping if you are able.  Friday, December 8 is the last day for donations.
     December calendars were sent home on Thursday.  Please look inside your child's Poetry book or Sound Review book.  I will be working on the January calendar before the holidays, so please let me know if you will be away in January.  Thanks so much.
     Our December Sharing Assembly is Friday, December 15 at 9:00 am.  We would like the children to wear a festive hat and wear red, green and or white to add to the celebration.  See you there!  Award winners will be notified later in the month.
   
This Week:

Monday-Library (A), Computers (B)
Tuesday-Snuggle Up books exchanged
Wednesday-Library (B), Computers (A)
Thursday-Bring your Stonegate donations
                 Return your Sound Review Books
Friday-Snuggle Up books exchanged
            Last day for Stonegate donations
            Author visit (Keri Lynn Winters) in the 
             library