Welcome back, I hope that everyone had a wonderful March Break.  It was great to hear about all the fun activities that happened during the week off from the children.  We had a busy week exploring "The Three Little Pigs" through a variety of activities.  The children had the opportunity to investigate the characters, setting and retell important details from the story.  We concluded with the children building a house for a pig which would withstand the huffing and puffing of the big bad wolf.  Each child was given a plate with a pig in the middle, 12 fruit gummies and as many toothpicks as they wished.  They were challenged to build a house with the pig inside.  When their house was completed, the big bad wolf came to try to blow it down.

Waiting for the builders!

Building a house

The big bad wolf huffed and he puffed, but he could not blow the house down!

A great house for a pig!

The children worked diligently to build a strong structure for their pigs and it was great to hear the children talk about how they were making a cube, or using triangles, or using many toothpicks to make their house stable.  

     We also completed our March pictures this week.  In the gym, the children played Octopus and moved with Just Dance video with Miss Santiago.  The students used PebbleGo to investigate Spring happenings in the computer lab.

     On Friday afternoon, Lambton-Kingsway participated in Earth Hour.  At 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm we shut off the lights in our classroom to help save energy, help the climate and draw attention to the wildlife loss in Canada and around the world.

    Please read the LKS Parent Bulletin to find information regarding the Book Fair the beginning of April.  This Book Fair is hosted by Mabel's Fables and will work a bit differently that our Scholastic book fairs.  Children will be able to make a wish list of books that they would like and then may bring in the money or a credit card number during the purchasing time.  As in the past, all children will have the opportunity to visit the book fair and purchasing books is not required.  We will be also be discussing this in class, that sometimes you just go to a store to look and not buy anything.  The book fair may also change our library schedule that week.  I have put the regular library times on our April calendar, but we will have to be flexible as the library will be a busy place.

     Our March Sharing Assembly is Wednesday at 9:00 am in the gym.  The children will be singing a song under the leadership of Ms. McGee.  The children have been busy practising during their music periods.  Everyone is invited!  The character trait being celebrated is Honesty.

     Wishing everyone a great long weekend with their friends and family.  A reminder that there is no school on Friday, March 30 and Monday, April 2.  Please return Sound Review books and Sight work books by Wednesday so we have time to add the new work.  April calendars will be sent home this Tuesday.

This Week:

Monday-Library (B), Computers (A)

Tuesday-Spring Party (am)

             -check the calendars for volunteers

              -Snuggle Up books exchanged

Wednesday-Sharing Assembly

                   -Music

                   -Return Sound Review books and 

                    Sight Word books

Thursday-Library(A), Computers (B)

                 -Snuggle Up books exchanged

Friday-No School

Monday-No School

     Happy March Break!  I hope that everyone has time to have fun and do some special activities with your family this week.  Try and make time to put the devices and screens away and play games, read or explore with your child.  It is difficult to believe that Spring arrives next week as I see snowflakes outside my window.  Fingers crossed that we have some "lamb" weather when we return to school.
     We had a busy week exploring "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" in Room 159.  In the drama centre the children enjoyed playing the characters from the story and acting out the story.  It was great to hear so many different voices for the characters and such great detailed retelling.  The students also completed a book discussing the setting, the characters and the sequence of the story.
     The children continued explored 3d shapes this week and sorted shapes into 2 categories, shapes that roll and shapes that slide.  We had set up ramps and 3d shapes on the carpet, so the children could experiment and then record their findings.  They also learned that shapes with flat faces slide, shapes with curved surfaces roll and some shapes can do both.
     We have also set up a table with a 100 piece puzzle for the children to work on.  Interested children can visit this centre and then leave the puzzle and other children can come and also add to the puzzle.  It is a great invitation for teamwork!  Our Reading Buddies visited on Friday and everyone played a 3d shape bingo game.  Miss Santiago and I sent home the sheets so you can play this at home.   Enjoy!
     In the computer lab, the children played Shape Construction on ABCya.  Miss Santiago introduced the children to crab soccer in the gym.  The children had a great time!  We also practised writing sight words on the white boards in small groups this week!
     
This Week:

Monday-Welcome Back!
               Library (B), Computers (A)
Tuesday-First Day of Spring!
               Snuggle Up books exchanged
Wednesday-Music
Thursday-Library (A), Computers (B)
                Return Sound Review books and Sight Word books
Friday-Snuggle Up books exchanged
            Pizza Day

     Happy March!  Fingers crossed that Spring is on the way.  The children completed their March calendars this week and created lions and lambs as we classify the weather this month.  Hopefully there will be more lamb days than lion days.  As the weather continues to change please send splash pants or snow pants (depending on the weather) with your child.  Our playground continues to have wet spots and no one wants to be dirty or wet for the school day.  Thanks in advance.  If your child does not have splash pants, this is a great time to purchase a pair.
     We investigated "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" this week.  The drama centre had bowls, chairs and towels for beds.  The children enjoyed wearing the name of their character and acting out the story.  The Junior Kindergarten students completed work naming the characters in the story and the Senior Kindergarten students drew the characters, the setting and the beginning, middle and end of the story. Our building challenge this week was to build a bed for Goldilocks.  Goldilocks was made of paper on a recipe card, but had keys taped to the back of the paper to make her heavier.  The children were given a variety of materials including 2 paper cups, small blocks, craft foam, popsicle sticks, pompoms, chopsticks and recipe cards to build a bed.  They had to use a minimum of 2 different materials, the bed had to hold Goldilocks and there had to be space under the bed.  The students did a wonderful job constructing their beds.  We will be studying "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" this week. There will be a lot of "trip trapping' over the bridge!
     We continued learning and experimenting with 3 d shapes this week.  We built a ramp and the children took turns determining if their shape would roll, slide or roll and slide down the ramp.  We then classified the shapes in a Venn diagram.  Please see pictures to the right of the blog.  In the computer lab, the children played "What Came First?".  This game uses adventure stories to practise story sequencing and is on Book Flix.  In the gym, the children used the parachute to play Cat and Mouse and also played a game called Birds Nest.
     On Tuesday, we will be attending a presentation from the Youth Wellness Network,  entitled, "How to Become Your Own Best Friend."  This is based on extending the golden rule to treating ourselves the way we want to be treated so we can treat others the way they want to be treated.  This presentation teaches students the tools to build a stronger foundation of self-esteem and self-love.
     Miss Santiago and I would like to wish everyone a wonderful March Break.  Hopefully you will have the opportunity to spend some fun time doing special things with your family.  This is always a great time to explore a new book, a board game or just enjoy a nice walk in the neighbourhood.   Hopefully we will return to sunny warmer days!

This Week:

Monday-Library (B), Computers (A)
Tuesday-Snuggle Up Books exchanged
               Youth Wellness presentation
Wednesday-Scholastic Book orders due
                    You can order and pay online
                    Music 
Thursday-Library (A), Computers (B)
                 Return Sound Review books and 
                 Sight Word Books
Friday-Snuggle Up Books exchanged
            Have a wonderful March Break!

See everyone on Monday, March 19!

     Welcome to the end of February, although the weather is feeling Spring like at the moment.  Hopefully the rain and dreary clouds will end soon.  We discussed Chinese New Year this week and create dragons for the traditional dragon dance.  On Friday we took our dragons to the office and shared a song and dragon dance with Mr. Currie and Miss Emily.  We also introduced 3d shapes.  Using 3d models and real life examples the children explored the sphere, the cylinder, the rectangular prism, the cone and cube.    The students also worked on a book matching 3d shapes.  This week we will continue to explore 3d shapes and begin to discuss their features including flat faces and curved surfaces.   
     We are beginning a unit on Fairy Tales this week which will include drama activities, sequencing activities and story mapping.  Through a variety of stories the children will be discussing characters, setting and the beginning, middle and ending of stories.  We will also be including some building challenges, stay tuned!
     On Monday, LKS will be welcoming the Toronto Argonauts and the Grey Cup!  We will be attending the school "Huddle Up" assembly in the afternoon.  The Argonauts' "Huddle Up" mission is to improve the overall well-being of youth by creating a positive school climate and building positive character.  Each student at LKS has designed a t-shirt to promote positive character.  These shirts can be seen in the front hall display case.  Please have a look the next time you visit the school.  They look great!  To show our Argo spirit, please have your child wear an Argo shirt, dark blue, light blue and or white on Monday.  Thanks in advance.
     On Friday, we sent home the March leader calendar.  If your child's leader day is during your vacation, please trade with another student.  The children who have not yet had their leader turn will continue with something they have made and the next sharing topic is a Mystery Object.  Please see me or Miss Santiago if you have any questions.
     The playground continues to be very wet and soggy.  Please have your child wear or bring snow pants or splash pants for outdoor play.  No one wants to have wet pants at school.  If your child is not dressed properly for outdoor play, there are limits on the activities they can participate in.  Thanks so much.

This Week:
Monday-Library (B), Computers (A)
               Argos visit-wear light blue, dark blue 
               and/or white
Tuesday-Snuggle Up books exchanged
Wednesday-Music
Thursday-Happy March!
                  Library (A), Computers (B)
                  Return Sound Review books and Sight
                  Word books
Friday-Snuggle Up books exchanged
             Happy Friday!

     Happy Family Day Weekend!  I hope that everyone enjoys this long weekend.  We have heard lots of fun plans for the children and families this week.  This was an extremely busy week in Room 159.  On Monday, we celebrated the 100th day of school.  Thank you to everyone who volunteered in the classroom and sent in snacks and drinks.  It was a great day of celebrating the first 100 days of school.  The children rotated through activities including making 100 day hats, putting 100 stickers on a paper in groups of 10, completing a puzzle counting by 10's, making a book about 100 and creating a necklace with 100 fruit loops.  
    We also completed valentine crafts this week and opened our valentines.  Thank you to everyone for helping your child complete his/her valentines.  It was wonderful to watch the students deliver their valentines and then opening all the cards on Wednesday.  They were so excited to see how many valentines they received and then reading all the names.  Miss Santiago made hot chocolate for everyone as a Valentine treat on Wednesday.  On Thursday, we went to the gym to see the Three Little Pigs put on by the Dufflebag Theatre.  It was a wonderful interactive theatre presentation.  Thanks to Parent Council for funding this special experience.  
     We will begin learning about 3 dimensional shapes this week.  We will focus on the sphere, the cone, the cube and rectangular prism and the cylinder.  During our investigation of these shapes we will introduce terms including flat faces, curved surfaces, slide and roll.  This is always a fun unit as the children enjoy learning new terms and exploring the features of the shapes.  We are creating a museum of 3d objects.  Please feel free to bring to school an example of a 3d shape you have at home, for example a tennis ball is a sphere.  Thanks in advance.  We will also be discussing Chinese New Year this week.
     Miss Santiago introduced the parachute in the gym this week and the children played a popcorn parachute game.  In the computer lab, the students explored a Valentine's Day game.  
     We will continue talking about the Olympics this week.   Throughout the day, we take the opportunity to watch special events and Olympic highlights.  We have created a medal graph to show our medal count.  Go Canada Go!
     Our February Sharing Assembly is Friday, February 23.  The Kindergarten classes will be presenting a song.  Certificates will be presented for the character trait of Fairness.  Award winners will be notified this weekend.  Sharing Assemblies begin at 9:00 am in the gym and last for approximately 20 minutes.  Everyone is welcome!
     Enjoy your child's poetry book this weekend.  A reminder to please sign and return your child's report card envelope.
     As the snow melts, please continue to send your child with snow pants or splash pants.  The Kindergarten yard can be very wet and muddy this time of year.  We don't want anyone to have wet pants and be uncomfortable at school.  Thanks so much.

This Week:
Monday-Happy Family Day!
Tuesday-I am helping with Kindergarten Registration in the afternoon, there will be a supply teacher with Miss Santiago.
              Snuggle Up books exchanged
Wednesday-Music
Thursday-Library (A), Computers (B)
                Return Sound Review Books and Sight Word books
Friday-Sharing Assembly
           Pizza Day
           Snuggle Up books exchanged


   

     Happy 100th Day and Happy Valentine's Day!  This will be a busy week in Room 159.  Thank you to everyone for helping your child complete their 100th day project.  The children have been enjoying explaining their project and discussing how they counted 100 objects.  We have been learning that you need 10 groups of 10 to make 100.  It was wonderful hearing one child tell the class that he brought 100 straws and there were still 100 straws at home since the box had 200 straws.  What great learning!  A reminder that the last 100 day projects should be brought to school on Monday.  Thanks to everyone for following the schedule.  The children have also been busy delivering their valentines. They work together in pairs to drop the cards into their friends' mailbags.  Please send all remaining valentines to school on Monday or Tuesday.  
     In anticipation of 100 days, the children have been building with 100 cups.  They have been building towers, pyramids and other buildings.  It has been fun!  We have also created a writing centre with a mailbox.  The children have paper, colourful pens and stickers to create mail for their classmates.  They then put the mail in the correct spot.  Lots of great learning happening here!
     All the children received a Word Book in their mailbags this week.  This book will be sent home each week with new words in the front pocket.  Please take out the words and keep them at home to practise.  There is a note inside the book explaining that the children may practise writing the words on the lines and may write sentences if they wish.  A reminder to encourage the children to be as independent as possible when writing.  The only exception is that the words they are practising should be spelled correctly.  Please return the books on or before Thursday each week, so we can add the new words.  Enjoy!
     The children completed their February pictures this week.  We also played a dice rolling game with our Reading Buddies.  Each person had a sheet and they coloured in the numbers to 100 as they  rolled the dice.  On Friday, the children created pictures using the number 100.  It was great to see what they designed using their imagination.  Their great work is displayed on our classroom door.
     In the computer lab with Miss Santiago this week, the children played 2d and 3d shape games and shape pattern games on Starfall.  The students played Bird's Nest in the gym.
     On Thursday, the children enjoyed our visit to the mobile planetarium in the library.  While sitting inside the planetarium the children saw a rocket blast off, the Earth, other planets and stars from space.  Thanks to Parent Council for funding this great experience.  For more information you may visit http://ontarioplanetarium.com.
     Thank you so much for helping your child show his/her Leaf Spirit on Friday.  We even did attendance, with "Go Leafs Go" instead of our usual "Good Morning!"  Unfortunately Carleton the Bear was not able to visit LKS and the assembly was for Grades 1-8.  The children did enjoy their slice of pizza at lunch.  Thanks again.
     The children are looking forward to their 100 day celebration on Monday.  Thank you to our classroom volunteers and everyone who is bringing snacks.  It will be a fun morning!  Miss Santiago and I have organized 5 centres for the children to visit.  If you are volunteering at the party, please bring shoes to wear during the morning.  
     To help our celebration of Valentine's Day, please have your child wear red, white or pink on Wednesday.  On Thursday, the Dufflebag Theatre will be doing a presentation in the gym and we will try to rearrange our library time.  Please have your child return his/her book and we will attempt to have a quick book exchange.

This Week:

Monday-Report Cards Home
              100th Day Party
               Zero the Hero visits
Tuesday-Library (A), Computers (B)
Wednesday-Happy Valentine's Day
                   Wear red, white or pink
Thursday-Library (B), Computers (A)
Friday-P.A. Day-No School

A reminder that Monday is Family Day and there is no school.  Enjoy the long weekend with your friends and family.

     Happy February!  Welcome to the shortest month!  Even though February only has 28 days this year, it is always a busy, busy month.  We will be celebrating the 100th day of school, Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year.  The children celebrated Groundhog Day on Friday.  Let's hope that Spring is closer than 6 weeks away.
     The children have been busy investigating 2D shapes.  On Wednesday the children searched for 2D shapes in the school with their Reading Buddies.  It was wonderful to watch the students working with their buddies and recording the 2D shapes they found on the first floor of the school.  We will continue with 2D shapes this week.  The students also completed art activities using shapes to create pictures and a shape collage.  The shape collages are on display on our hallway bulletin board.
     This will be a busy week as the children begin to share their 100 day projects.  Please check the schedule for your child's day to share.  We have divided the children into groups, so that the presentations are spread out over the week.  Your child will come home with their project after they have shared it with the class.  We do not have room for 28 100 day projects in the classroom.  I hope that everyone is enjoying this fun activity with your child.  Miss Santiago and I can't wait to see them.  
Your child may also bring in their valentines beginning on Monday.  All valentines should be at school by Tuesday, February 13, so the children have time to deliver them.  The children love reading their classmates' names and putting them into the correct bag.
     The mobile planetarium is visiting the school on Thursday and Friday.  The library will be closed due to the display, so the children will not have library and computers on Thursday.  We visit the planetarium Thursday morning.
     Carleton the Bear, the Maple Leaf mascot will be visiting the LKS on Friday.  Let's show our Leaf spirit and wear your leaf clothing or blue and white clothing.  Go Leafs Go!
     The leader will be writing his/her address on the leader chart for this cycle of leaders.  Please practise this important information with your child.
     

This Week:

Monday-Music
              Valentines can come to school
Tuesday-100 day presentations begin, check the 
                 schedule                
                 Library (A), computers (B)
               Snuggle Up books exchanged
Wednesday-Winter Walk Day-walk to school!
Thursday-Return Sound Review book
                No library and computers due to    
                 planetarium visit                
                 We visit the planetarium in the library
Friday-Snuggle Up books exchanged
            Wear blue/white or Leafs clothing
             Carleton the bear visits