Countdown to Halloween

The focus of our kinders this week has been the upcoming excitement of Halloween.

Through journal writing, read-alouds, STEM and art activities, we have been exploring various aspects of this holiday. 

Pumpkin Painting 

On Wednesday we painted a variety of pumpkin shapes in different shades of orange, using paintbrushes, cotton balls and forks. The goal was to explore a variety of painting tools and to create a variety of textures with paint. On Thursday, we added faces to these pumpkins using wax crayons!  What a great way to draw shapes (triangles, squares and rectangles) and make spooky faces that scared the teachers!

Emerging Writers

As students become interested in writing, they enjoy making a variety of marks on the page. To an adult this may look like scribbles, but it is a first step in writing words. Drawing pictures is also a way students create written stories. Encourage your child to write and draw at every opportunity.
This little one brought in a small notepad from home and spent the day making notes. Well done!

STEM Challenge

This week, we received some new toys in Room 103. These magnetic shapes were a hit! Children built a variety of structures, including castles, barns and rocket ships. They even created two dimensional pictures.



Collaboration

A key aspect of the Kindergarten program is collaboration during play. The outdoor playground provides children with many opportunities to co-operate and collaborate when building, playing games or engaging in imaginative play.  When we all work together we stay in the green zone and have a great time!

The Great Big Crunch      

An initiative of Halton Food for Thought, the Great Big Crunch is a school-wide activity. The entire school assembled in the gym. Students participated in an apple trivia game, learning about apples and their nutritive value. After a countdown, we all bit into our apples. Mmm, it was good!!!

Room 103 is now on Instagram!

For visual updates on learning throughout the day, please request to follow Kindergarten_103 .

Boogie-A-Thon Fundraiser

St, Andrew is already half way to our target of raising $20,000 to support learning at our school. Al funds raised will be used to purchase activities for our students that will enhance their experiences at St. Andrew School. We appreciate any financial support you can give us.

There are several ways to donate.

1. If you would like to donate via cheque, you can follow the instructions on the on-line pledge form.

2. You can make a donation through the board's Make a Donation Button. 

     a. Gift information - select an amount

     b. Select Destination - Andrew

     c. Tribute Information - Not a tribute gift

     d. Message to School Board - Student name, specify amount donated per child.

     e. Click add to cart

3. You can make a donation through School Cash Online.

Our Boogie-A-Thon will take place on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31. The Kindergarten classes will be dancing in the gym between 9:30 and 10:05 am. Please feel free to join us for the fun. Please note that Halloween costumes should NOT include weapons, masks, complete body suits with covered faces, or inflatable costumes. All costumes should be appropriate to the values we hold as a Catholic school.

Upcoming Dates

Wednesday, October 31 - Boogie-A-Thon Fundraiser - 9:30 to 10:05 am

Wednesday, November 7 - Firefighter Visit

Friday, November 9 - Pizza Lunch

Friday, November 16 - Pizza Lunch

Songs, Poems and Chants

One Little Skeleton

One little skeleton hopping up and down,

hopping up and down,

hopping up and down.

One little skeleton hopping up and down,

for this is Halloween!

Two little witches flying through the air ...

Three little pumpkins rolling down the hill ...

Four little goblins skipping down the street ...

Five little children saying "Trick or Treat" ...

A busy week in Room 103!!!

Two fire drills, library, gym, STEM activities, music, reading, art and math! On Friday our playground was closed while workers planted new trees and built new features. We can't wait to see what's new next week!

Screen Time in Kindergarten

From time to time, our kinders watch videos in class. Screen time is always purposeful and connected to learning and the Kindergarten Program curriculum expectations.

Inquiry

When questions come up about wildlife, the natural environment or how things are made., we will seek answers through a variety of means: books, websites and videos. Children are learning to thoughtfully ask questions and seek answers. The Magic School Bus, Wild Kratts and How Things are Made are excellent educational and engaging programs.

The Kindergarten Program Expectations: 
1.8 ask questions for a variety of purposes, (e.g. for direction, for assistance, to innovate on an idea, to obtain information, for clarification, for help in understanding something, out of curiosity about something, to make meaning of a new situation) and in different contexts (e.g. during discussions and conversations with peers and adults, before, during, and after read-aloud and shared reading experiences, while exploring the schoolyard or local park, in small groups, in learning areas)
13.3. select and use materials to carry out their own explorations

Read Alouds

We are sure you are aware that many of your child's favourite books can be found read-aloud on YouTube. In our classroom, we also access the Halton Catholic District School Board's license for Tumblebooks. Children are often engaged by having a "new voice" reading new and familiar stories to them.

The Kindergarten Program Expectations: 
11.1 demonstrate an interest in reading (e.g. expect to find meaning in pictures and text; choose to look at reading materials; respond to texts read by the educator team; reread familiar texts; confidently make attempts at reading)

Understanding of Media Texts 

We have watched The Berenstain Bears at arrival on rainy mornings. Children arrive at different times and take varying amounts of time going through arrival routines (taking off coats, handing in their zippy bags, etc.) This program explores, in a subtly Christian context, many social issues such as making friends, bullying and sportsmanship.

The Kindergarten Program Expectations: 
3.3 demonstrate an awareness of making and keeping friends (e.g. sharing, listening, talking, helping, entering into play or joining a group with guidance from educators)
12.1 respond critically to animated works (e.g. cartoons in which animals talk, movies in which animals go to school)
12.2 communicate their ideas verbally and non-verbally, about a variety of media materials (e.g. describe their feelings in response to an seeing a DVD or a video, dramatize messages from a safety video or poster, paint pictures in response to an advertisement or CD)

Daily Physical Activity

During long rainy days, our kids need to both burn off excess energy and calm their bodies. The internet has a wide range of enjoyable resources such as Pop See Ko, Just Dance Kids, Go Noodle and Cosmic Yoga. Together we learn how our bodies can move quickly and slowly.

The Kindergarten Program Expectations: 
7.1 participate in creative movement and other daily physical activities (e.g. dance, games, outdoor play, fitness breaks)

Songs, Poems and Chants

The Spooky Wheels on the Bus

by J. Elizabeth Mills

Tune: The Wheels on the Bus

One spooky bus goes RATTLE and SHAKE,

RATTLE and SHAKE, RATTLE and SHAKE.

One spooky bus goes RATTLE and SHAKE,

All through the town.

Two white wipers go CREAK, CREAK, CREAK,

CREAK, CREAK, CREAK, CREAK, CREAK, CREAK.

Two white wipers go CREAK, CREAK, CREAK,

All through the town.

Three noisy cats go MEOW, HISS, HISS,

MEOW, HISS, HISS, MEOW, HISS, HISS.

Three noisy cats go MEOW, HISS, HISS,

All through the town.

Four glowing wheels roll ROUND and ROUND,

ROUND and ROUND, ROUND and ROUND.

Four glowing wheels roll ROUND and ROUND,

All through the town.

Five big spiders SPIN THEIR WEBS,

SPIN THEIR WEBS, SPIN THEIR WEBS.

Five big spiders SPIN THEIR WEBS,

All through the town.

Six singing mummies HUM, HUM, HUM,

HUM, HUM, HUM, HUM, HUM, HUM.

Six singing mummies HUM, HUM, HUM,

All through the town.

Seven silly monsters WIGGLE and WAGGLE,

WIGGLE and WAGGLE, WIGGLE and WAGGLE.

Seven silly monsters WIGGLE and WAGGLE,

All through the town.

Eight wacky witches CACKLE and HOWL,

CACKLE and HOWL, CACKLE and HOWL.

Eight wacky witches CACKLE and HOWL,

All through the town.

Nine magic brooms go SWISH, SWOOSH, SWISH,

SWISH, SWOOSH, SWISH, SWISH, SWOOSH, SWISH.

Nine magic brooms go SWISH, SWOOSH, SWISH,

All through the town.

Ten goofy ghosts say BOO-OO-OO,

BOO-OO-OO, BOO-OO,OO.

Ten goofy ghosts say BOO-OO-OO,

All through the town.

One spooky bus goes RATTLE and SHAKE,

RATTLE and SHAKE, RATTLE and SHAKE.

One spooky bus goes RATTLE and SHAKE,

On HALLOWEEN night!

Classroom Sign-In - Question of the Day

Each morning, our students sign in by answering a Question of the Day. An example of a daily question is "Do you like cheese or pepperoni pizza?" A question is posted on our whiteboard. The children consider their answer, find their name and place it in the appropriate column. (Names are on magnet backed popsicle sticks.)

Why is the Question of the Day so important to learning?                                      

The Question of the Day provides valuable learning in Literacy and Numeracy.

Your child's ability to quickly recognize their name is the  foundation for literacy development. At home you may support your child's learning by having them practice writing their name each day. You may also use magnetic letters on the fridge to form their name. Have them point to each letter and say that letter out loud. If they are unsure of letters, have them repeat with you the letters in their name.

After each child has responded to the Question of the Day, we count as a class the responses in each column. We ask which column has more and which column has less. We intentionally use words for quantity such as "more", "less", "greater", "fewer", "most" and "least". The process of counting helps develop an understanding of one-to-one correspondence, cardinalty (number value) and ordinality (number order). The whiteboard display of columns is also a rudimentary graph.

Leaves are falling!

Our little ones in Room 103 are entranced by the changing colours of leaves! We have a beautiful maple tree in our outdoor playground that is a glorious display of red and orange. Over the last few weeks we have collected leaves and sorted them by colour and created a pictograph. We have created leaf pictures through leaf-rubbing and collages. We have also  created pictures of fall trees by dabbing cotton balls in paint as well as through shaving cream resist painting. Such fun!

Indoor/Outdoor Shoes

As the weather becomes cooler and wetter, please ensure your child has a pair of indoor shoes that stay at school. This will help keep our classroom and school hallways clean.  Marking an "O" on outdoor shoes will help us and your child identify which shoes are for outdoors only.

Upcoming Dates

Wednesday, October 17 - Super Hero Math Power! 6:30 to 7:30 pm

Thursday, October 25 - The Big Crunch - Wear apple colours: red, yellow or green.

Friday, October 26 - Pizza Day

Wednesday, October 31 - Halloween Boogie-a-thon Fund raiser  

Students are encouraged to wear costumes to school. No weapons please!  Parents are invited to join their children as they dance in the gym. More information regarding time will follow.

This is our school's one major fundraiser for the year. The money from the Boogie-a-thon will be used to purchase items and activities for our students that will enhance their experiences here at St. Andrew School. We appreciate any financial support you can give, it all goes towards enhnancing our children's education!

Songs, Poems and Chants

Love Is Something 

Love is something if you give it away

Give it away, give it away.

Oh, love is something if you give it away,

You'll end up having more!

It's just like a magic penny,

Hold it tight and you won't have any.

Lend it, spend it and you'll have so many

They'll roll right over the floor!

Love is something if you give it away

Give it away, give it away.

Oh, love is something if you give it away,

You'll end up having more!

Have You Ever Seen A Pumpkin

Tune: Have You Ever Seen A Lassie

Have you ever seen a pumpkin,

a pumpkin, a pumpkin?

Have you ever seen a pumpkin that grows on a vine?

A round one, a tall one,

A fat one, a small one.

Have you ever seen a pumpkin that grows on a vine?

I'm A Little Pumpkin

Tune: I'm A Little Teapot

I'm a little pumpkin

Orange and round.

Here is my stem,

I grew in the ground.

When I get all cut up,

Don't you shout!

Just open me up

and scoop me out!