Friday Fun

Today we worked on patterns.  We looked at different kinds of patterns (colour, size, shape, direction).  We are also learning to identify whether a series is or isn't a pattern.  We had so much fun figuring these out.

We also did some directed drawing today.  Besides being an artistically important activity, these projects help us to strengthen our fine motor control and our listening skills.  We started with a snowman as our winter theme winds down.  Next we will be working on penguins to go with our polar animals study.

A Peek at Our Day

This week, we started new 'Welcome Work' baskets.  Once again, they were a total hit.

 Winter Picture Books

 ABC Ordering - Penguins

Snowflake Pattern Block Mats (back by popular demand)
 

Snowflake Number Puzzles

Playdough Mats 

We also read a fun story called La moufle. Here is a video of it:

Here is an English version by Jan Brett.

Winter Walk and Survey

We finally went on our winter walk this morning.  We made observations and collected interesting things while we walked around the courtyard.  The kids were especially interested in the animal tracks in the snow.  Some of the kids were certain that they'd found bear tracks!  Could there be a polar bear living in our courtyard?!?  We decided that our next classroom theme should be polar bears. 

When we got back inside, we had hot cocoa and chocolate milk.  We answered a survey by deciding which drink we preferred.  Hot cocoa was the winner by far.  I think the marshmallows might have swayed a few kindergartners!

Some of the kids chose to take a close look at our winter walk collection.

Monday Fun

We continued our winter studies with more snow in our sensory bin.  This time, we used paint to make it beautiful.  We mixed colours, painted paths, and were very surprised by how quickly the snow soaked up the paint.

 

We also worked on the letter E and the number 3, and played some games to keep moving.  With all of the indoor recess lately, learning through games helps us to use up our extra energy!!

Sorting

Today we worked on sorting.  We used our shoes to learn about same (pareil) and different (différent).  We sorted them using different rules, like black/not black (we have a surprising amount of black shoes!), and laces/velcro/slip-on.  Next we danced with a shoe and found its pair when the music stopped.

A Peek at Our Day

Today we watched a short cartoon called Misti, Minou et Mimi.  It is the story of three little cats (trois petits chats) who lost their mittens (les mitaines).

We also focused on the number 2 today.  We worked out some of the ways that we can make and show the number 2.  Of course, we had to play with the parachute again.

Playing it Cool

We continued our winter study today by bringing the cold weather into our classroom.  Here are the kids playing in our real snow sensory bin.  They shoveled out paths, made ice sculptures, and built icy homes for our toy animals.