Feb.

News FDK 5
We have studied many tough sounds lately which require
lots of home review: sh, qu, ou, oi, ue and er. The
students have studied the sight words: have, me, love,
like, he and she. These words are the ones that children
need to recognize instantly (without sounding out) to help
them read books at the kindergarten level. Continue to
review the sounds and sight words at home. We continue
to develop phonemic awareness skills (identifying the
beginning sounds in words, sounding out words, clapping
syllables, rhyming and blending sounds together to read
words.)
When we read texts to the children we have them look at
the illustrations for clues and we always ask comprehension questions such as: Who are the characters in the
story? Where does it take place? What happens? What is
the problem in the text? How is it solved? What does this
word mean? How would you feel if you were the
character? Ask these types of questions to your child
when reading at home to build their literacy skills needed
for the rest of their school career.
We have finished our amaryllis study as our second one
has now finished blooming. The children wondered what
would happen if we left the shaving cream out on the
cupboard for the day and also what would happen if
water was added. These were inquiries that they came up
with on their own and we happily explored with the
children.
We attended the self discipline character trait assembly
this week. We also viewed a puppet play from the Mental
Health Assoc. last week with the messages 1)love yourself
2)hang out with friends who like you just the way you are
3)talk about your feelings.
The entrance display case will feature work from our
classroom next month. Check it out! We have enjoyed
playing bingonumber, alphabet and sound, to review
important material. We are discussing the arrival of
March and will graph at the end of the week if we think it
will arrive like a lion or a lamb. We are also learning
about these two animals. Each day we add to our
favourite colour graph with the star student.

Guided Centre Activities this month:

Graphing candy hearts, Graphing Lucky Charms, Heart
patterning, 10 Little Candy Hearts booklet, Measuring hearts
and also snowmen with cubes, Rolling the die and covering
the number, using a cutout leprechaun each child measured
and recorded classroom objects that were shorter and taller
than the leprechaun, making pictures with pattern blocks,
fish bowl game-counting, identifying and printing numbers to
20, rolling two dice, adding and covering the correct number,
making rainbow pattern necklaces, number puzzles, bubblegum math-rolling the die, putting the correct number of
pompoms on the gumball machine and recording the
number
Writing the room-Finding and recording words that were 1-4
letters, making valentine cards, decorating foam hearts,
stamping hearts, decorating cookies, graphing smarties, I
love writing, valentine listening centre, exploring the light
table, Olaf craft, writing sight words and names, Im one
lucky kid writing, beginning sounds and matching letter
games, exploring shaving cream and silly putty, puzzles,
lamb/lion craft, If I found a pot of gold writing.
Looking aheadwe will finish the Jolly Phonics sounds, continue studying sight words, consolidate their sounds to now
focus on reading and writing. We will explore 3D figures,
capacity, estimating, measuring with non-standard units,
coins, addition and subtraction. We will explore colour
mixing, planting seeds, the arrival of spring and whatever
other wonders the children have.
Thanks for checking planners. Notes in planners for pickups
and also if you have sent money are greatly appreciated as
sometimes the money falls out in backpacks. Please return
the report envelope as well as a signed last page.
March Birthday Greetings to Jack E., Mack, Nick and Kieran!
March Break is March 14-22. Book orders are due Mar. 3
Subs on Mondays, pizza on Fridays, library on Thursday and
little reader exchange on Tuesdays and Fridays. PLEASE have
your child read to you and record on the log. Your support at
home greatly benefits your child.