Colour Mixing

When the students are painting, they are often exploring what happens when they mix colours. I decided to extend their interest in colour mixing by providing more colour mixing experiences.

The first activity I provided was an experiment. I filled jars with red water, yellow water and blue water. I placed empty jars in between the jars of coloured water. I put pieces of paper towel from the jars of  red and blue coloured water into an empty jar, from the jars of red and yellow coloured water into an empty jar and from the jars of yellow and blue coloured water into an empty jar. We were all amazed how the coloured water travelled through the paper towels into the empty jars and created new secondary coloured water. When the experiment was over, all of the jars had equal amounts of coloured water.

I read different stories about primary colours and secondary colours including Mouse Paint and Mix It Up. 

At the Sensory Bin, the students were provided with cups of coloured water, eye droppers and small empty clear cups. They had the opportunity to mix the coloured water to make secondary colours. The students also created different coloured water beads by putting ice cubes of two different primary colours in a container with clear water beads.

At the Production Centre:

• The students created their own Mouse Paint books. 
• The students had the opportunity to mix the primary paint colours (red, blue, yellow) to make secondary colours (orange, purple, green) and then paint with their newly created colours. Some students also explored colour mixing with white paint and created different shades of colours.
• The students created tops with two primary colours and explored what happened when they spinned the top.

At the Light Centre,

•  The students experimented with placing transparent plastic objects of the three primary colours on top of each other. 

Mitten Tree & Food Drive

During the week of December 14 to 18, Grapeview school is having a Food Drive and a Mitten Tree. We are collecting non-perishable food items and new mittens for children. Participation if fully voluntary. 

Suggested non-perishable food items for the Food Drive are: 

• Peanut butter
• Canned Stew or Chili (hearty meals)
• Canned Tuna, Salmon
• Canned Fruits or Canned Vegetables
• Juice boxes and Large Juice (real juice)
• Canned Meat (chicken, ham, etc.) 
• Canned Pasta (Sidekicks, Beefaroni, Alphagetti, etc.)
• Nut free granola bars
• Gluten Free Products
• Baby Formula & Cereal
• Powdered Milk

Co-Created Class Alphabet & Word Wall

In the past, teachers would put up commercially made alphabets and word walls in their classroom. Research has indicated that when students themselves create the classroom alphabet and word wall, not only do they build upon their phonemic awareness and extend their language development from the process of creating it, but it is also more meaningful to the students. As a result, the students are more likely to refer to the class alphabet and word wall when they are printing and writing.

For the word wall, each student painted one or two pages with watercolour paints. The students then attached a letter and corresponding Jolly Phonics picture cue to each page. Each student then placed his/her name and picture on the word wall based on the beginning letter. Students have a strong connection to their own names and the names of their friends and teachers. By referring to the word wall to find the name of a teacher or friend, the students are building upon their phonemic awareness.

For the class alphabet, each student created the lowercase and capital letter for one or two letters by choosing materials from nature and carefully forming the letter with the materials.

Literacy

Phonemic awareness is the recognition that words are made up of individual sounds and the ability to manipulate sounds. Phonemic awareness develops through a series of stages during which children understand that language is made up of words, which are made up of syllables, that are made up of phonemes (or individual sounds). Phonemic awareness is an oral ability, enabling children to identify rhyming words, identify words that begin the same, and identify the individual sounds in words. Meaningful, interactive games and activities give children the best practice in phonemic awareness.

In class, I have been engaging the students in rhyming and listening activities. Rhyming and listening activities help children develop stronger auditory discrimination and awareness. These activities give children exposure to and experience with hearing, identifying and creating words that rhyme.

In October, when a student was the Special Helper, he/she was asked to choose from a collection of objects - two objects that rhyme. The students placed the objects in the Special Helper bag. During our class meeting, the student took one item out of the bag and the class was asked to try to guess what the other object in the bag was. 

Nursery rhymes, Dr. Seuss books and many picture books are great sources for rhyme. At home, when you read books written in rhyme, ask your child to help you finish each phrase with the rhyming word. When you play rhyming games, allow your child to make up nonsense words if he/she can't think of 'real' words that rhyme.

In our Jolly Phonics program, each week, we are focusing on two letters and their sounds and focusing on identifying the beginning sound of various objects. In class, we review the letters and sounds by playing Jolly Jump Up. I recently sent home Jolly Phonics cards and instructions on how you can review the letter sounds and actions and play Jolly Jump Up at home. 

I use the Handwriting Without Tears Program to teach the students how to print letters and numbers.  Handwriting Without Tears is an award winning and research based program that teaches children the skills required for printing. The goal of the program is to make legible and fluent printing an automatic skill for all students. The play-based multi-sensory activities: are developmentally appropriate for Kindergarten students, help young children learn correct letter formation, address children's diverse learning styles (visual, tactile, auditory, kinesthetic) and consistently use the same motor patterns and verbal cues. The students have been practicing printing their names and two letters each week. 

The students have been learning the Kindergarten sight words during the past few months. Each week we review the sight words by:

• Using flash cards
• Going on word hunts to find sight words in our morning message and then reading the morning message
• Reading a mini book that focuses on our sight words

Many students have been inspired to write during the past few months for various purposes. The students are using various classroom resources (name cards, word wall, sight word cards, class alphabet, Jolly Phonics page) and their knowledge of letters, sounds, and sight words to write:

• Their friends names
• Letters to the Fairies and Gnome
• Their own books
• Labels and signs for our co-created Drama Centres (McDonald's & Tim Hortons)
• Random Acts of Kindness cards
• Anti-bullying shirts
• Letters to our classroom Elf (Twinkler) and to Santa

Mathematics

In September, we read books about sorting. The books inspired the students to sort a variety of materials that were placed in the classroom and that we found outside. Through sorting activities, children learn to think analytically and to express their thoughts clearly. The students developed their vocabulary as they explained how they sorted the objects and as they described the colour, shape, size, texture or other attributes of the objects. I often asked the students to consider how they could resort the same materials in a different way by focusing on a different attribute. When the students demonstrated that they could resort with ease, the students were challenged to try to sort materials by two attributes (e.g., same colour and shape).

In October, after reading stories about patterns, many students explored a variety of items to make their own patterns in the classroom and outside. The students learned to identify, describe, reproduce, extend and create simple patterns. The children explored: object patterns (stone, button, stone, button), colour patterns (green, green, blue, blue, green, green, blue, blue) and size patterns (big, medium, small, big, medium, small).  The students also started to identify the core of the pattern. The core is the shortest part of the pattern that repeats. Each student created a pattern necklace by recording his/her core and then referring to it as he/she made his/her pattern necklace. At home, you can use common object such as pebbles, twigs, buttons, dry pasta, coins, etc. to make patterns with your child. Make a pattern for your child and ask him/her to describe the pattern and extend it. Ask your child to make a pattern with objects and tell you the pattern. I have posted on the right side of the blog a few on-line pattern games that your child can also try at home.

In November and December, I have been reading various books and we sang various songs (e.g. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed) that inspire the students to explore the number sense concepts of: counting, estimating, quantity, more/less/the same, representing quantities in different ways and ordinal numbers. During Activity Time, the students have been exploring these number sense concepts at many areas of the classroom. They are exploring and using Five Frames, Ten Frames, Hundreds Charts and Number Lines. The students are investigating one-to-one correspondence when counting items in the classroom. They are learning that they are more successful with counting objects when they place them in a line and touch each object as they count them or when they move each item into a new pile or container as they count the items. The students have been exploring subitizing (recognizing some quantities without having to count) when using dice and dominoes. They are also using the Hundreds Chart to help them to skip count (count by 10s, 5s and 2s) and count forwards and backwards.

Each day, we add a counting rod to the ones pocket and make changes to our chart to represent how many days we have been at school. When we have ten counting rods in the ones pocket, we do the Bundle Dance as I wrap an elastic band around the ten counting rods. We then put the bundle of ten in the tens pocket. We daily count the bundles of ten by 10s. We also add a number to our Hundreds Chart.

In November, we also did the Special Helper Estimation Jar activity. Each Special Helper placed 10 of his/her chosen item in a jar labeled 10. This jar was used as a reference by the students to help them to estimate the amount in the second jar. Each student recorded his/her estimate by printing his/her name and the numeral(s) to represent his/her estimate. After all of the students had the chance to estimate, the class counted the items in the jar. We then find the number on the hundreds chart and represent the number on ten frames.

I introduced the students to various games and activities that explore number sense. The students are learning to use the Five Frame and their fingers on one hand to explore the concept of 5 and discover different ways to make 5 (e.g., 1 + 4, 2 + 3). The students are playing a game: What is missing? by hiding some coins from the Five Frame and asking what is missing. To investigate ordinal numbers, they are playing a game with 5 cups and an object to hide under one of the cups. Students guess which cup the object is under by using the ordinal numbers to identify their guess (Is it under the third cup?).

In December, I will continue to provide materials and activities to extend and deepen the students' number sense understanding. There are some number sense on-line activities listed on the right side of the blog that your child can explore at home. Please continue to have your child use DreamBox Learning at home. It is an EXCELLENT way for students to strengthen their number sense skills!

Niagara Falls Art Gallery

On Monday, December 7th, we had our first Niagara Falls Art Gallery workshop in our classroom. The students very carefully followed the step-by-step directions and drew their own pictures of a whale. They then painted their pictures. The students did an amazing job! Their artwork is ready to be framed!

Polar Express Trip

On Thursday, December 3rd we had a magical time during our Polar Express Trip! The students wore their PJs under their warm winter clothes. They enjoyed the bus ride to and from Puddicombe Farms. We met Santa as we boarded the Polar Express and rode the train through the orchards. The train dropped us off at an old train car. In the train car, we sat in the seats as we drew pictures. We then walked to the Puddicombe Farms store and went upstairs. We met Mrs. Claus in a room where we made our special bell craft. We then went downstairs where we ate a gingerbread train cookie and drank hot chocolate. We listened to the story, The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. Each student held bells, whistle or tinsel and had a special part to do every time he/she heard his/her special word in the story. Before we boarded the bus, our class had a class photo with Santa.

Our Elf & Holiday Activities

On November 30th, we received a very cold package from Santa at the North Pole! It was a letter and a book. Santa asked us to read the book to prepare for the arrival of our classroom elf! We also needed to name our elf. We read the book and brainstormed different names for our elf. We voted on Twinkler. Twinkler arrived on December 1st! Each night he moves to a different spot in our classroom and leaves us a letter. He is encouraging us to be kind and caring. He left us pages to colour during his first week with us. We are looking forward to what he will leave us next week.

On December 1st, we transformed our Drama Centre into a Christmas Centre! The students have been decorating and redecorating our trees. They are also giving each other gifts, dressing up as elves, reindeer or Santa and engaging in dramatic play with the gingerbread men, house, sleigh, reindeer, and elves.

This month we are keeping track of how many sleeps there are until Christmas, doing various games on the computer, putting reindeer number cards in order and matching gingerbread boys or girls.

During the next two weeks, we will be reading various versions of the Gingerbread Man (e.g., Gingerbread Baby, Gingerbread Girl, Gingerbread Cowboy, etc.).

Tim Hortons Centre

The students voted to co-create a Tim Hortons Centre in November. The Tim Hortons centre was a big success. The students had Tim Hortons shirts, hats, cups, boxes, bags, trays, coffee maker, tea pot, play food (including Timbits) and other props. We set-up our ‘lemonade stand’ as a drive-through window. The students worked hard at organizing and making their Tim Hortons centre very authentic. The students organized where everything should go (e.g., small cups, medium cups, boxes, bags, trays, etc.) and the students made labels to help them to remember. They created a sign for the drive-through window, an open/closed sign and also created a menu with pictures and prices for each item. It is interesting to see what prices the students think each item cost. FYI, this Tim Hortons restaurant had very high prices for some items! The students used their knowledge of letters and letter sounds to spell and print all of the words.

The students role played being a worker at Tim Hortons by taking and filling orders or being a customer by ordering and paying for their orders. It was wonderful to hear the students say, "Welcome to Tim Hortons, may I take your order?" "Thank you, have a great day!" The students were good employees by keeping the Tim Horton's neat, tidy and organized.

I extended the students' learning by asking them how they would spend $10.00 at Tim Hortons by looking at the price of the items (in dollars) and adding up the amounts to ten. 

I noticed that the students weren't using the calculator on the cash register in the Tim Hortons centre. I introduced calculators to the students. Some students explored adding with a calculator.

In the sensory bin, I also placed coffee beans, coffee grounds and tea bags for the students to explore with their senses.

Some students expressed interest to the staff for having real Timbits and real hot chocolate instead of pretend. I created a graph and asked each student to indicate his/her  favourite Timbit. On the last Friday in November, I brought in Timbits for the students to enjoy. The night before, the Fairies visited our classroom and brought Tim Hortons hot chocolate mix and cups from Tim Hortons. The students enjoyed their special Tim Hortons treat after lunch. 

Every Child Is An Artist

At the beginning of this school year, we celebrated International Dot Day as a start of my year-long focus of inspiring and supporting students to be creative thinkers, to build thier confidence in their abilities and to express themselves.

In September we focused on professional artists that painted with dots: Georges Seurat's pointillism technique, Louise Mead's dot trees and Wassily Kandinsky's concentric circles. The students had the opportunity to create pieces of art inspired by these artisits. In the slideshow below are photos of the students' concentric circles.

In creating still-life portraits, children form an intimate relationship with their subject. They spend time looking closely, aligning themselves with the subject of their work. Then they translate their understandings of the subject to paper, first sketching with pencil and/or black pen and then adding colour.           Ann Pelo

In October, the students were invited to create still-life portraits of sunflowers like artist Vincent Van Gough. I displayed vases of fresh sunflowers at the Production Centre. I asked each student to closely examine the sunflower that he/she was going to sketch. The students were asked to notice and describe what each part of the sunflower felt like and to notice and describe the textures, colours and intimate lines and details of each part of the sunflower. 

The students were then invited to use sketching pencils to sketch their sunflowers by continually referring back and studying their sunflowers in order to include detail of their unique sunflowers. Many students then chose to use a black pen to go over their pencil drawings. The students were then invited to carefully consider the colours they wanted to add to their portraits. The children were provided with a choice of paint brushes and a large palette of water colour paints. 

In October, we read the story Only One You by Linda Kranz. This story encourages students to celebrate their own uniqueness. The students created on paper a plan of how they wanted to paint their rocks in their own way to represent themselves. The students then each chose his/her favourite rock and painted it by referring to his/her plan. We then placed our rocks in our outdoor classroom in the garden area for the school year. 

In November, we read the story Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. In the story, Lois Ehlert created different animals and people using different leaves. The students then created their own animal by carefully selecting different leaves that had been pressed for two weeks. The students first created their animal on a piece of wax paper. When they were pleased with their creation, the leaves were transferred to Mac Tac in order to preserve the leaves and to allow the students to put up their creation on their window at home. 

Throughout the Fall, the students have also explored with a variety of tools and materials: including tempra block paints, liquid tempra paint, various painting tools, markers, crayons, pencil crayons, paper, scissors, glue, play dough, materials from nature, marbles, stamps and a salad spinner to create different pieces of art. 

We are looking forward to participating in our first Niagara Falls Art Gallery workshop on Monday when we can once again be artists!