PRESENTING

Presenting Mrs. Taylor's Kindergarten Class Blog!

Follow our Reggio Emilia Inspired class to see what students are learning at Prince Edward School. Visit often, borrow ideas to enhance your learning at home, and most importantly discuss with your child their -- PLAYFUL LEARNING, EXPLORATIONS and DISCOVERIES at school!!!


Tuesday 26 November 2013

Check out the class on Twitter!!!




Benefits of T 
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For the remaining part of the year, I will no longer be blogging, instead I will be sharing students learning through my Twitter home page, a social media webpage.  Students' work will be posted, pictures, creations and reminders. You do not need to sign up with a Twitter account to view the webpage, but I encourage you to follow the AMAZING LEARNING JOURNEY of your child. 

By signing up for Twitter and following the class, you will be automatically notified by email when something FANTASTIC is Happening in Your Child’s Class.  You will receive an instant message through email that we have tweeted!!!  Twitter provides real time events in the classroom, quick and easy to post compared blogging from home.  Twitter allows opportunities for sharing tweets with your child and to talk about their day and ask more questions to expand their learning.

 
I will Tweet for the very first time on November 26th. 
Check it out at 

Monday 25 November 2013

Amazing Things have been happening....

Structures


Teamwork

 
 
Tracking Print
 
 
Invented spelling using letter sound knowledge
 
 
 
Smartboard Experiences
 
 
 
 
Creating shapes and letters using marshmallows and popsicle sticks
 
 
Experimenting with ramps and measuring how far cars travel
 
 
Graphing healthy verse junk food
 
 
Building 'castles' using 3D figures
 
Painting with marbles (mixing colours)
 
 
Creating art (free choice)
This girl made this flower for her Mother.
 
 
Building with Lego
 
 
Sorting (colour, shape and size)
 
 
Designing marble mazes
 
 
Designing costumes for each other
 
 
Blue Day
Experimenting mixing colours and responding to 
little blue and little yellow' by Leo Lionni 


Finger painting a blue ocean
 
 
Mixing colours using spinners and paint 
 
Students having a picnic 
 
 
 
Have you seen our new birdfeeders in the back of the school?
Mr. Taylor showed us how to properly dig holes for the 4x4's using a hand auger, how to measure the holes to be sure there were deep enough, how to secure the post for the cement to hold and how to use a drill.   

 I wonder..... will all the birdseed be gone after the weekend?
I wonder... what kind of birds visited our new bird feeders?
 
 
 

Sunday 24 November 2013

So many Fabulous Paintings...

 
 
 
with a variety of colour,
 
 
 shape,
 
 
 
 technique,
 
pride,


 
and teamwork!!!
 
 
Curriculum Expectations:
 
Personal and Social Development:
1.1 recognize personal interests, strengths and accomplishments
2.5 interact cooperatively with others in classroom events and activities
 
Visual Arts:
V2.1 explore a variety of tools, materials and processes of their own choice to create visual art forms in familiar and new ways
V2.2 explore different elements off design in visual arts
 

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Our Dramatic Centre has evolved....

into a Bakery

These two students found these materials around the room and stated, "Let's make cookies!"
Together we made a list of materials needed to create a bakery.
 
 
'Baking on Giles'

 
We made baking clay.
 
 

 The students were very created! 
 

 
Also, we made play dough for students to use their imaginations while baking.  
 
 
 
Labelling bins and baskets gave students opportunities to write in the bakery.  
 Also, some students would take orders and make change for 'customers'.


 Mrs. Iandolo decorated cupcakes with our students.
 
 
There are many benefits for our early learners to engage at the Dramatic Play:
 
 
Language
  • Dramatic play encourages a child to communicate their thoughts through the eyes others.   Children will mimics what they see adults do.

Social

  • Children learn the foundations of social behaviour through dramatic play. By pretending they are someone else, they learn how other people feel and act.


Emotional
  • Dramatic play allows children to sort through emotions and situations that they may not understand.  
Cognitive
  • Engaging in dramatic play develops cognitive function.  For example, free play develops self-regulation, which is the function that allows a child to pay attention when need be and control their emotions.




Saturday 2 November 2013

Strategies and Benefits for playing with Puzzles

Modelling --Strategies for puzzles






 
 
Benefits for children when playing with Puzzles
 
  1. Develop vocabulary
  2. Increase small muscle development
  3. Develop eye hand coordination
  4. Improve memory skills
  5. Increase problem solving skills
  6. Build spatial perception
  7. Build literacy skills


To increase your child's vocabulary use words such as straight, curved, edge, inside, outside, above, below, beside when teaching basic puzzle skills.


 

Journal Writing

Creative Journaling -- November 1st



 
We asked the students to draw a picture and write words about their night.
 
Students were asked to use only 1 page, use 3 or more colours, to fill the whole page and include text.  We encouraged students to write text or ask a teacher to help write a sentence to match their drawing. 
 
Here are some of their journals:










 
At home, start a journal with your child to record their thoughts, feeling and special events in their life.   Encourage your child to use a proper grip when holding colouring tools, to draw with detail, to use lots of colour, and to add a message to match their drawing.