What a wonderful start to the year! As you may have guessed, the pace of Kindergarten is fast, especially in these first few weeks as we get used to everything and grow our routines. Pictures are an important part of assessment in learning - I document their social growth and academic learning as we progress through the year, and through this blog I will share some of those photos with you.I took dozens and dozens of pictures as we were doing so many things, so these are not in any particular order! At the end, for those who like going a little deeper into the why's of our classroom, I will explain a few ongoing threads that will run through the story of our Kindergarten year.TR and LU work on table centres in the morning - every morning we go straight to the tables for centres - these rotate between fine motor, math, literacy, and problem solving. Students collaborate, expand their vocabulary, and strengthen skills as they work. Our bus craft helped us practice drawing, gluing, and were a great end point for our learning about bus safety!
Kindergarteners are so creative. They are competent and capable learners and this comes out in special ways during our explore time. Several of our friends have started to think about their own explore time learning and have drawn/written what they are doing to share with the rest of the class.
In literacy, we found words that every student could read! These are environmental words, like the STOP on a stop sign, restaurant signs, and cereal brands. It was a big boost to our confidence to have a jumping off point for our literacy learning. We also started literacy centres, reading books, practicing our letters, and practicing our names!
Something you may notice is that right when you come into the room, we have empty frames on the wall, and all of our art and creative supplies in that area. That is our atelier, which is a fun word for workspace or studio. Having all the supplies in this space, laid out nicely, is an invitation for students to create! This isn't a centre - rather, it is a space that students go to to create things to expand their other centres. For example, ZO made a computer, one that opens and closes! LUC made a dinosaur that is walking! The frames express to students the value put on their work and creativity!
The following pictures are the ones that the students were most excited for me to share with you - we practiced sorting today! In math, we count with Mr. Bunny, who is very hard to wake up, but when he does, we hop up and down with him to count! After all that excitement, we got to work in groups, practice Habit 6, Synergize, and sort by the colour rule together! RO made a really great connection to our learning about sorting by colour - we sort every day when we clean up, putting the animals in the animal bin, the trucks in the truck bin, the markers in the marker bin.
Kindergarteners are so creative. They are competent and capable learners and this comes out in special ways during our explore time. Several of our friends have started to think about their own explore time learning and have drawn/written what they are doing to share with the rest of the class.
In literacy, we found words that every student could read! These are environmental words, like the STOP on a stop sign, restaurant signs, and cereal brands. It was a big boost to our confidence to have a jumping off point for our literacy learning. We also started literacy centres, reading books, practicing our letters, and practicing our names!
Something you may notice is that right when you come into the room, we have empty frames on the wall, and all of our art and creative supplies in that area. That is our atelier, which is a fun word for workspace or studio. Having all the supplies in this space, laid out nicely, is an invitation for students to create! This isn't a centre - rather, it is a space that students go to to create things to expand their other centres. For example, ZO made a computer, one that opens and closes! LUC made a dinosaur that is walking! The frames express to students the value put on their work and creativity!
The following pictures are the ones that the students were most excited for me to share with you - we practiced sorting today! In math, we count with Mr. Bunny, who is very hard to wake up, but when he does, we hop up and down with him to count! After all that excitement, we got to work in groups, practice Habit 6, Synergize, and sort by the colour rule together! RO made a really great connection to our learning about sorting by colour - we sort every day when we clean up, putting the animals in the animal bin, the trucks in the truck bin, the markers in the marker bin.
Another blog to come in a few days! PS. I promise they won't all be this long!
Now for those who'd like to read more - a few things you may notice in our Kdg 2016 Story:1. Habits and the Leader in Me! BCS promotes leadership in all of our students. We are not preparing students to be leaders in the future, but we are equipping students to be leaders now! "Good habits make great leaders" - your children will learn 7 Habits that will be incorporated into everything we do. Imagine a student who prioritizes, who takes charge of their own emotions and responses, who takes care of their bodies and their spirits by exercising and spending time with God - these are leaders. To read a brief summary of each habit, click here.
2. Through the Throughlines, we are finding our place in God's story. God's story is one of creating the world, humans sinning and leader to the fall of man, and God redeeming us through Christ's death and resurrection. We have our own place in God's story, and Throughlines are identifiers to our place in that story:
"1) God – Worshipping: Students understand that worshipping God is about celebrating who God is, what God has done and is doing, and what God has created. Students see worship as a way of life.
2) Idolatry – Discerning: Students will understand that when other “things” are more important to us than our relationship with God, they become idols. Students will be challenged to identify, understand and discern the idols of our time and to then respond prophetically.
3) Earth – Keeping: Students will respond to God’s call to be stewards of all of creation.
4) Beauty – Creating: Students will celebrate God as the #1 CREATOR and understand that when we create things we show that we are made in God’s image. We offer praise to God by creating beautiful things. Our creativity makes God smile!
5) Justice – Seeking: Students will act as agents of change by identifying and responding to injustices.
6) Creation – Enjoying: Students will celebrate God’s beautiful creation.
7) Servant – Working: Students will work actively to heal brokenness and bring joy.
8) Community – Building: Students will be active pursuers and builders of communal shalom.
9) Image – Reflecting: Students bear the image of God in their daily lives. All humans are image reflectors.
10) Order – Discovering: Students will find harmony and order in God’s creation." (CCS, 2016)
The following quote is one of my favourites...
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