During November, we took part in our Remembrance Day ceremony at Bellwood. We discussed as a class what peace was and what are ways we can show peace in our world. In honour of this special day, we created a Peace dove that decorated the gym for our ceremony. Within the dove, the children painted their fingers and printed them on the canvas. This was our symbol of remembrance to show that as a class, we would always remember those who fought for our freedom. We know that even though we are small, we can still make a BIG difference in our world!
One of our phonics lessons during November was looking at words that ended in the vowel 'e'. We came to know this fellow as 'Sneaky e'. He is sneaky because he is always stealing the sounds of short vowels and making them say their long vowel name, such as cub (cube) or hop (hope). The children then made their own 'Sneaky e' paperbag bandit and wrote different words that had this robber on the end. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun learning!
Much of our writing lessons focused on the theme of snowmen and winter. We read many different books on snowmen and zoomed in on 'Snowmen at Night' as our point of reference for one specific writing lesson. The children were to imagine that they had their own snowman that came alive at night. They were then to visualize all of the activities that their snowman would do if he never melted during the year. For each season, the children wrote about the adventures of their snowman.
They continued by creating beautiful snowman artwork to capitalize on their ideas. One piece of artwork was to teach the children about profile pictures, while the other piece was to show their snowman melting (looking downward). I think they turned out very sweet!
Our math lessons have been focusing around addition and subtraction. We have been working with tens and ones, breaking numbers apart. One activity that we did to ground their thinking was creating pictures using tens and ones tracers. The children then had to count how many ten rods and ones they had to compose a specific number.
We continued our study of addition and subtraction by looking at fact families (3 numbers that compose 4 different number sentences : 2 addition and 2 subtraction). To explain in more detail, here is an example.
3, 10, 7
These three numbers can work together to make 2 addition and 2 subtraction sentences.
3 + 7 = 10
7 + 3 = 10
10 - 3 = 7
10 - 7 = 3
The children were asked to create gingerbread houses to showcase one fact family. They looked beautiful and every one was different. The children loved working in groups to solve problems and in the end had a better understanding of how addition and subtraction worked together in correlation (just like them).
DPA (Daily Physical Activity) is part of our everyday learning. Having children take part in physical activities to get their hearts pumping and muscles moving is so critical to healthy bodies. During November and December, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Lepine (our two enthusiastic DPA teachers) decided to bring winter to our classroom. Not only did the children take part in an indoor snowball fight (very safe, yet lots of fun - no water required); they also were engaged in activities that required them to balance mittens on their heads and pretend to skate within the classroom. Of course, not being one to leave the room during times of excitement, I had to take a picture.
The end of November brought with it an endless supply of wonder and excitement for our class. One especially thrilling moment was when a mysterious package was sent to our classroom. The secretary called us on the P.A. system one morning and told us that something was waiting for us from the North Pole. Can you imagine? All the way from the North Pole, just for us! You should have seen the look of pure anticipation in their eyes.
Mrs.Highland went to pick up our special mail and when she returned, would you believe that it had frost on it!! The package was snowy and very cold!! There was even a special note from Santa that explained how he had sent a special helper to our class all the way from the North Pole. The children were soo excited and I couldn't contain my giggles.
Our special helper ended up to be an Elf on the Shelf. Our first task was to come up with a name for our elf. Our list was very creative, and I was hoping for something like Elfis; however, the name Lightning Climber was decided upon with great happiness from the crowd. So started our days with our little elf.
Each morning, the children would run into the room to see if our elf had been good or naughty during the night. We had been told that some elves could make a mess in your room; however, overall, Lightning Climber was very self-controlled. He would often be found hanging from the ceiling, writing short messages to the class, hanging from our Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom tree or just quietly sitting reading a book.
We had been told that Lightning Climber was not allowed to talk to us during the day; he just watched us during our learning to see what a great class we were. Unfortunately, one day Lightning Climber had some trouble with our tape dispenser and ended up taping himself to our front board (this was a very funny moment in room 108). It was sad to see our little helper leave to return to the North Pole, yet he was a joy to have for those few weeks! Thanks Lightning Climber for bringing added joy to our classroom. We will miss you and remember you fondly!
The final, yet most anticipated moment has arrived, our famous, most talked about, 2013 train ride around the world on the Polar Express . Yes, this was a very special and highly educational learning experience in room 108. Our trip began with each child receiving a special ticket to board, complete with snow from the North Pole of course. Each day or two, we would travel to a new country and learn all about its holiday traditions (food, activities etc.). Many times the children would enter the room to be swept up in pictures of each country and the beauty of learning about other people around the world. What a wonderful experience for the class to see other countries and take part in some of the fun ways that other children celebrate holidays. There is so much beauty in diversity!
Some of the places that we travelled to were: Sweden (children tasted cinnamon buns and hot cocoa), Mexico (breaking apart a piñata together), Italy (taking part as a class in an Italian meal, complete with lasagna and Italian bread), France (children left their shoes in the hallway and were surprised to find treats waiting at recess, tasting yule logs), England (opening crackers), and Canada.
The class was also given the opportunity to share their own personal holiday traditions from their family. It was such an intimate moment for the children, because they were able to gain a better knowledge of their classmates and how they celebrate holidays with their families. The smiles were so beautiful to watch; each child shared and was so proud to talk about their family. The rest of the class listened attentively and had the chance to ask questions if they wanted.
The following are pictures that were taken throughout our trip around the world. Thank you for sharing your traditions with our class family.
Sweden: Cinnamon Buns and Hot Cocoa
Mexico: Pinata Passion
Italy: Pavarotti and Lasagna
Italy was by far my favourite day on our trip around the world. I have to explain what took place because it was just so exciting. The children entered the classroom with the lights dimmed low. The desks were placed in groups with tablecloths; it looked just like an Italian restaurant. Pavarotti was playing on the CD player and our projector screen was showing beautiful pictures of Italy. The children sat down and watched all of the historical photos of Italy. We then sat down together and talked about some of the traditions, methods of travel (gondolas - one child said it would take a long time to travel to Toronto on a gondola - this made me smile) and food they ate. By the time we were finished discussing, our tummies were rumbling.
Lasagna was dished out and Italian crusty bread was shared among friends. We dined and watched the spaghetti clip from Lady and the Tramp (classic Disney scene). The children ate it up ha ha. We had a marvelous time together and learned so much.
France: Yule Logs & Surprise Treats in Shoes
England: Crackers
Canada: Diversity within our Room
Overall, our journey around the world was a wonderful learning experience. We bonded as a class through our diversity and gained a greater knowledge of other countries and the differences and similarities we share. The year 2013 has proven to be a year of great discovery and growth in room 108. I'm thrilled to enter the year 2014 with your children, to see further development and progress in their learning. It is such a privilege to teach your children and again I thank you for your continued support of our program. Have a beautiful holiday with your family. I can't wait to begin our new learning and discovery journey together in January 2014!
Happy New Year from my family to yours!
