So Much Learning

 

This past week, our school had it’s first winter concert!  Being a brand new school this year has been all about firsts, but our first winter concerts was extra special.  The Super Kids were so excited and proud to perform for their families!  As you can tell from the pictures, we were polar bears.

Our classroom has some new bulletin board displays for the winter season.  Our snowman and our winter family tree complete with family pictures.

This week we learned about holidays celebrated by people in our community and around the world with the help of the Pebble Go website.  We explored Diwali, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Chinese New Year, Christmas and many more.  The Super Kids discovered, through their research, that holidays celebrated by different communities seem to all relate to family, food, lights, celebrations, and gifts.

We have been exploring letter writing for most of the month of December and have learned about the different parts that make up a friendly letter.  We have read many books with a letter theme to them to explore the parts of a letter.  The Day The Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home are two excellent examples of letter writing and postcards.

 

We also read the book I Want An Iguana by Karen Orloff and David Catrow.  This is a sweet book written using letters from a boy to his mom about why he wants an iguana and she writes him back each time.

This time of the year lends nicely to this letter format.  Many of the Super Kid’s families are receiving letters and cards from family and friends.  Many have brought examples from home.

Together we talked about what the purpose of a letter is and who we could write our letters to.  It was important to give the class the choice of their own audience.  First I wrote a letter to my family to show my thinking and to use the “What Good Writer’s Do” checklist in our classroom.  Re-reading, editing, using cross-outs, adding details is all part of the writing process.  Then we created a letter to our Education Assistant, Mme. Coutts.  After all this writing, the kids were eager to start their own.  Letters were written to family members far way, parents, elf on the shelf, Santa, and even a few to the Tooth Fairy!  Some of the students are still working on their letters but I had to share the one below. This Super Kid added a picture during choice time on Friday and asked to take it home so he could leave it for his family’s elf on the shelf.  Of course he could!  I just had to take a picture of it first.  I just loved that he choose to work on it during his choice time.  It showed power of an authentic audience. 🙂

Small group centres is an important part of our learning in our classroom.  During both math and reader’s workshops the students cycle through a variety of activities that allow them to practice developing skills.  This week I had to snap a few pics of a few of these centres.  The last two were taken during choice time.  I just love when students independently pick these type of activities during this time. 🙂

   

One week to go before our winter break!  Gingerbread houses, art activities, and STEM challenges are going to keep us busy throughout the week.  Stay tuned….

 

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