Light, Camera...Action!

At kindergarten today, we prepared for our Winter Concert by filming scenes in front of a green screen!  Every Bannatyne student got to do a scene and Mme Gallo recorded them all.  Mme Katie will add some special effects and compile them all into a film to be shown during the show.  It sure made for an exciting day!

Letters to Santa

Today we wrote letters to Santa.  We drew pictures of our Christmas wishes and signed our letters before mailing them to 'le pôle Nord'.  Hopefully we hear back from Santa before our Winter Break.  My favourite gift request? A real ghost!  Good luck with that, Santa!!

The Integrated Arts: Vist 2

As promised, here are some photos from our second clay day.  Today we made working whistles out of clay and decorated them to look like an animal or creature.  Our little sculptures look amazing and will be on display during our Portfolio Open House in December.  But first they need to be fired in the kiln and painted during our last visit with Mme Donna. Thanks again to our volunteers who helped us with this complicated task.  It would have been impossible without so many helping hands.

Mixing Colours Experiment

We are learning about mixing colours.  Today in kindergarten, we read stories about colours, sang songs about mixing them, and made (another) mess.  Tomorrow we will be working with clay, and on Thursday AND Friday we will be finger painting.  This might be our messiest week yet!!  Stay tuned for more pictures.

The Intergrated Arts: Visit 1

Today we welcomed clay artist Donna Garofalo.  We learned all about forming shapes and drawing in the clay to create the details on our self-portraits.  We used tools to roll out our clay and poke holes in it it.  It was messy and fun.  Mme Donna took our projects home to cook in her kiln, which reaches 2500°F!  We'll get to paint our faces before we bring them home.

Say Cheese!

Wynn won a prize today for following our kindergarten rules and she chose to be our class photographer. Here are some of the (90!) photos she took of her friends at school today. You have a good eye, Wynn!

What is Peace?

This past week at school, we had many discussions about what peace means.  We spoke about symbols of peace, what Remembrance Day is all about, and how we can make peace in our own lives.

Inspired by this book by Todd Parr, 'C'est quoi, la paix?', we made a short video about what peace means to us. The kids chose things that make them feel peaceful, like hugs from mom and dad, and taking care of friends.  Other kids chose food, as many of our discussions centred around feeling peaceful when we are taken care of, like when our moms and dads make us delicious meals and snacks for kindergarten.  What struck me about all of our discussions is that to a 4- or 5-year old, peace can be found in a simple thing (eating a piece of fruit, or a snuggle with a stuffed toy).  When we look at how that simple thing makes them feel loved and safe, it becomes powerful enough to shape a life.

Remembrance Day and a Special Surprise

Here we are watching the Remembrance Day ceremony on Thursday.  It was an incredible service.  We heard the choirs sing and watched a memorable performance by the dance club.  It was beautiful and it perfectly complimented the discussions that we've been having in class about peace and remembrance. 

The next day was a perfect day for a special surprise that I've been planning.   We had a popcorn party!!  We spent a period watching a French show called Annie Brocoli.  It was meant to celebrate what a wonderful little family we've become in kindergarten.  This is such a caring and considerate group of students.  They help one another; include, protect and comfort one another; and they show me every day how much they care about the community that we've created in our classroom.