March 3, 2012 - Looking forward to this week as we look for leprechauns, pots of gold and rainbows!
Greetings in MARCH - clearly a lot of time has passed since I've been to my website. My apologies for not being up-to-date with my website. Here is a copy of the newsletter sent home on Friday March, 2, 2012
Dear Parents/Guardians and Students:
Dr. Seuss:
We have just finished an exciting March 2nd in our class! Today we celebrated the birthday of Dr. Seuss. We have recently started learning about rhyming words. For some children this is something they are experienced with and for others it is brand new. Learning to create rhymes and to hear rhymes is an excellent tool to assist with reading and writing and it is FUN! We have also been looking at word families. (i.e. at family - hat, mat, cat, rat, sat and op family – stop, flop, hop, pop, drop)
Have you heard about the Happy Rhyming Muncher and the Sad Muncher? Have you heard your child singing “Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow....”?
As part of our Dr. Seuss Birthday celebration, we wore our red and white Cat in the Hat hats. We sampled blue jello with fish inside (inspired by One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and the letter Jj), ate marshmallow Cat in the Hat treats, and we ate some healthy Green Eggs and Ham.
DO YOU LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM? WOULD YOU? COULD YOU?
We also began to experiment with “survey taking” to gather data about things our classmates like and do not like (this is a great exercise in encouraging talking and posing questions to friends, name printing, and survey reading). Today, the SKs used pretend Green Eggs to complete some simple addition problems. The JKs drew Green Eggs and practised printing numbers 1, 2 ,3, and 4.
We have also started looking at syllables in words (syllables - the number of claps / segments in a word – e.g. Kindergarten has 4 syllables, and tree has only 1). Did your child come home and use that big word with you? Did they come and challenge you to think of a 4 syllable word? Did they tell you about feeding the 1, 2, 3, and 4 syllable monsters? They can get very hungry!
Library:
Mrs. Barrie in the library would like to remind you to bring back your books on library day - which is generally on TUESDAYS. When you do not return a book, Mrs. Barrie cannot give out a new one.
Little Readers / Home Reading:
I am pleased that many students are returning their little home reader books each week. I am indebted to Katie (a volunteer mom) who changes the books for me and your children each week – THANKS!
I would also like to extend my apologies for not making it clear that the home reading program had finally started. Please remember to return your books and they will be changed on Thursdays. (Unbelievably many of these tiny books cost quite a bit of money – some of them for $5.00 – so please do your best to keep them in good condition.)
Online
Language – A favourite online resource is www.starfall.com – this is an excellent site to visit for learning letters and beginning reading. The children LOVE this site at school.
Math - We have also just begun to visit these websites:
The first website is for practising with a 5 frame and the second website is for practising with a 10 frame. The sites help the children develop a visual and mental understanding of number relationships for the numbers 5 (e.g. 0+5 = 5, 1+4=5, 2+3=5) and 10. Once your child has mastered the first website, they will be ready to try the second website. (if for some reason the sites do not work....please simply Google “5 frame” and “10 frame”)
Youtube – My children enjoy looking through different alphabet and math youtube videos with me at home. Once we’ve deemed them appropriate, fun and educational, I like to share some of them with the class. You could try to search for:
“a is for apple” = Phonics Song 2 – youtube “one little two little three little numbers”“10 in the bed” youtube “the Shapes song” youtube“down by the bay” Raffi
There are so many more too – have fun – but please do this together since youtube content can be too advanced/inappropriate for children.
Maternity Leave
As I indicated in my November and December newsletters, we are expecting baby number 3 in April! It is amazing how time has been flying by (and standing still at the same time.... – especially when my joints have not cooperated or when I feel very large). The baby is due April 11. I have finally made the decision this week to start my maternity leave in March. My last day with the class will be next week - Thursday March 8th.
I am very excited to meet our new baby (that is an understatement). Earlier tonight, s/he was wiggling around a lot and I’m sure once my head hits the pillow tonight s/he will start break dancing inside!
I will also miss teaching your children at Queen Mary too. It is exciting to see your children developing. It is amazing how they change from September to the end of the year. Please continue to foster their academic and personal / social growth. I will remain in contact with the new teacher (the interview process will begin shortly for the new teacher) to hear how the class is doing and I will send in photos of the baby for the children to see.
Thank you for your support this year!
March Break
Wishing you and your child a safe, wonderful, fun-filled, March Break. The March Break for our class is from Friday March 9 – Monday March 19th. Please come to school on Tuesday March 20th with a welcoming smile for the new teacher
Wishing you all the best and thinking of you!
With sincere thanks,
Mrs. Wall / Susan Wall
DECEMBER NEWS 2011!!!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU!
stay tuned for a photo of our family Christmas tree
Here is a photo of our Christmas tree. Lucas has been very eager to get it up and decorated. He would have started just after Halloween, but has had to wait until this past weekend. It is a small, scrawny, fake tree that I bought when we were first married. It certainly does not smell like an evergreen or is as dense and big like an expensive "fake" tree. However, it works, the kids love it and it will stay with us for quite some time. This year, Lucas assembled the tree with some help from Simon. I put on the lights and since then the boys have been joyfully adding decorations. The decorations range from very memorable, crafty decorations made by my Aunt for me as a child. As a child, all the neices and nephews would receive a newly hand-made decoration from my Aunt. One of my favourites is a pair of crocheted red skates. There
are also some wooden bird decorations made by my Uncle. There are decorations from my University days when my girlfriends and I would give Christmas tree decorations as presents. I have also made a few decorations myself. Currently, I'm making the boys a felt gingerbread pirate - In recent years, we've added decorations that the children have made at home and school. We have fun creating and displaying. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season filled with joy and good memories. Sincerely, Mrs. Wall
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Dear Parents/Guardians
Happiest Greetings from Mrs. Wall!
As most of you know from my November newsletter, we are happily expecting our third child in April. You are probably also aware that at the end of November there were a few reported cases of “Fifths Disease” at Queen Mary. This is a common childhood illness that often displays no symptoms, but in some children a rash. In extremely rare situations the illness can be very dangerous to a fetus, the baby of a pregnant woman. As a precaution, I have been temporarily reassigned to PCVS. Last week, I learned, much to my disappointment that I am not immune to the virus and therefore am not able to return to QM yet.
I am missing my class and the Queen Mary community very much. In the meantime, I am very thankful that Mrs. Hatcher (a QM EA) is in our class and that we live close enough that I am able to visit her at night with plans and craft supplies etc... I am also very thankful that the class is being taught by Mrs. Laura Gates. Both Mrs. Hatcher and Mrs. Gates keep me very informed about the class. If you have any questions or concerns, you may call the school 745-1353, talk to Mrs. Gates and/or email me susan_wall@kprdsb.ca.
Math Focus:
This month, the class has been focusing on two-dimensional shapes with some discussion of three-dimensional shapes too. You may have heard your child taking about “SHAPE MONSTER”. The class has been feeding the Shape Monster blue squares and orange ovals etc.... If you would like to make yourself a shape monster booklet, please visit this website: http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/Shape_Monster_Printable_Reader_Booklet.PDF
Mrs. Gates has also brought the class to the computer lab where they fed the Shape Monster (that she designed) using the SmartBoard...munch munch munch! You may have also noticed that many of the Christmas crafts have included traditional shapes as a focus. (i.e. star-shaped Santa)
Many thanks to Katie, Delia’s mom for helping prepare craft supplies for the class! Many thanks to Dawn, Maddie’s mom for providing and completing the reindeer and Christmas tree craft with the class on Friday’s whirlwind crafting day! What fun!!!!
Language Focus:
The Junior and Senior Kindergartens have continued with the Jolly Phonics program and have been introduced (review for Seniors) to the letters Hh, Rr, and Mm. Some of the Senior Kindergarten students have also been studying the digraphs ch and sh. Please continue to review the Jolly Phonics homework booklet or read ABC books, play with ABC puzzles, or maybe try out something like the Leap Frog ABC fridge magnet toy? The children have been visiting www.starfall.com and reviewing letters using the ABC part of that website (as well as learning about shapes when making
an online Gingerbread person). The ABC possibilities are endless!!!!!! I am also excited to hear that many of the JKs are making the transition from tracing their names to copying them. WAY to go!!!!!
REMINDERS AND UPCOMING INFORMATION
- Thank you for bringing in your Beauty and the Beast permission forms!! It is so helpful when they come in on time. ENJOY the show!!!!!
- Dec. 20th is the QM TURKEY LUNCH!!!!!! Please bring in your donation of a twoonie $2.00 if you have not done so already.
- Dec. 22nd – we are excited to welcome back Alder’s mom Alison who will be “painting” cookies with the class. She makes the most beautiful and delicious icing that is “paintable”. Painting cookies is always a success with the class AND so is eating them!!!!!!
- Dec. 22nd - there will be a small, yet festive party on the 22nd. If you would like to bring in something to eat, can you please let Mrs. Gates know soon.
I wish you all a very joyous and safe holiday season. I am thinking of you all. I cannot wait to be back at QM. The first day back from the holidays is Tuesday January 10th, 2012.
Sincerely, Mrs. Susan Wall
Looking for ways to support your child's learning math via the internet? Here is a list of websites compiled by KPR - Enjoy
Internet supports for parents.pdf
MATH!!!
One of our math focuses in October is NUMBERS:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Junior Kindergartens are focusing on knowing numbers from 0-5. Our October Goal is for Junior Kindergartens to be able to name numbers from 0-5. It is important to practice mixing up the order of numbers when learning them. Please read books with numbers. Print numbers for children and have them read them. Make up a game of match. Look for numbers inside and outside.
Senior Kindergartens are focusing on knowing numbers from 11-15. Our October Goal is for Senior Kindergartens to be able to name numbers from 0-15 and to begin reading number words from 0-5. It is important to practice mixing up the order of numbers when learning them. Please read books with numbers. Print numbers for children and have them read them. Make up a game of match. Look for numbers inside and outside.
I am curious about my Online Website Readership. Are you there? If you have a favourite math website, please send it to me via email
HAPPY OCTOBER!
Sue
Important October Dates:
- October 11 = Trip Forms and Money Due
- October 13 = Scholastic Orders Due
- October 18 = PICTURE DAY
- October 20 = CLASS TRIP
- October 21 = Popcorn Day - if you would like popcorn, please put the $1 in your child's message bag. Some children have money in their hands and are forgetting to give it to us in time.
- October 27 = Orange and Black Day and Halloween Celebration!
 Welcome to Mrs. Wall's JK/SK Class!
Please enjoy our class September 2011 Welcome Newsletter.
September Welcome Newsletter 2011 - Wall.pdf
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