Future Island School

Thank you everyone for their generous contribution to the Future Island School in Ghana! It was much appreciated! :)

Octopus

Today the children investigated octopus! They looked at pictures, read stories & learned facts about them!

Did you know the octopus' mouth is in the middle of his arms/tentacles? He also has no ears & cant hear. They protect themselves by camouflaging into the ocean floor. Octopus can also shoot ink out of their funnel to protect themselves. They shoot water out of their funnel to swim. They even have poison that they use to kill their food!

The students also had the chance to interact with a real (but dead) octopus in the classroom! See the pictures below for some highlights!

Octopus Photos

White Day

Tomorrow is white day! Please come to school dressed in white and/or bring in something that is white! :)

Letter & Number of the Week

The letter this week is Oo!

The number of the week for the JK's is 3 & for SK's is 8.

In honour of the letter Oo & number 8 we will be investigating Octopus! Yay!

Letter & Numbers of the Week

This week is the letter Dd. Please practice finding words in books that start with the letter Dd.

This week the JK's are learning the number 2 & discussing what comes in two (i.e. mittens, shoes, socks . . .).

The SK's are learning the number 7 & different ways to show 7 (i.e. 5 & 2, 4 & 3, 6 & 1).

Please continue to practice number skills with your child at home by counting different objects around the house.

Dress Down Day

Six years ago, Mrs. Giancola's son Jonathan went to Ghana for 2 months.  While there, he lived with a family from the village of Offinso.  Ababio and Bea, his hosts, were the people who started the Future Island School, to provide the children in their village with an education.  They have received no government funding to date.  Jonathan, and other volunteers, built the school with their bare hands, and their strength and determination. 
While in Africa, Jonathan phoned home and asked for the money to buy a wheelbarrow as he could not balance the large bricks on his head.  Of course, I sent the money for a wheelbarrow.  Over the years, many wonderful and sad things have happened.  The school is finally built, and most of the windows and doors are installed.  Bea, the wife of Ababio, died during pregnancy 3 years ago, and Ababio was left with the difficult situation of having to bring up a young family alone, and carrying on their dream of providing an education to the students of the Future Island School.  We are asking for donations for Dress Down Day, on Thursday, January 24.  All funds will be given to the Future Island School, helping students in Offinso, Ghana, achieve an education.  Thanking you in advance for your generosity.

Letter of the Week

The letter of the week is Hh.

Please practice printing the letter h, finding things that start with the letter h, and reading & writing words that start with h.

Number Sense

We have begun our unit on number sense. We will be investigating the principles of counting & number recognition.

The students will be learning about conservation principle, abstraction principle, one to one correspondence, movement is magnitude & stable order principle to name a few.

See the next post for information about these principles.

This week the JK's are investigating the number 1 & the SK's are investigating the number 6.

The Principles of Counting

Report Cards

Term one report cards will be going out in February. The students have grown so much since September & the upcoming report card will be a snapshot of how your child is doing overall.

We are constantly assessing your child's skills & development in many areas including personal development, social development, language, math, science & investigation, physical education & art.

The more you practice at home the skills learnt at school, the strong the foundation for your child's future.

You can ask your child's teacher to find out more specifically what we are learning & the assessments we are conducting.

Drama & Dance Workshop

Today was the last day of the drama & dance workshop. All of the students had a great time dancing & putting on the play Little Red Riding Hood! The students learned about transforming into different characters, projecting their voice when speaking & moving to music. Take a look at the posts below to see pictures of some of the classes & the fun they had!

Drama & Dance Workshop Photos

Mrs. Bambaci's class photos:

Picture 1 - Dancing & singing head & shoulders, knees & toes

Picture 2 - Little Red Riding Hood talking to the Big Bad Wolf in the forest

Family Activities in Toronto

There are many activities to do with your family around Toronto.  Check out this link to get upcoming events:

http://childslife.ca/events/events_toronto.html

A few of the FREE EVENTS on the website that are worth checking out are:

Scaredy Squirrel Family Literacy Night by the Toronto Public Library
Monday January 28th at 6:45pm
http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM130486&R=130486

Family Day on Toronto's Waterfront
Monday February 18th
http://www.waterfrontbia.com/

Toronto's Kids Fest
Sunday February 17- Monday February 18
http://www.kids-fest.ca/

Drama & Dance Workshop

Mr. Basile & Mrs. Giancola's classes had their turn at the Dance & Drama workshop today. Check out the pictures . . .

Photo 1 - Animals sleeping in the forest

Photo 2 - Little Red Riding Hood

Drama & Dance Workshop

Today Ms. Evans & Mrs. Mancino's classes had their dance & drama workshops. The students had so much fun.

They learned about transforming into different characters, moving to different types of music, projecting their voice when speaking & they acted out the story of Little Red Riding Hood!

Look at some of the pictures below to see the fun!

Mrs. Giancola & Mr. Basile's classes will be having their workshop on Monday - please make sure everyone is at school on time so they don't miss out on the fun.

Have a great weekend :)

Dance & Drama Workshop Photos

Picture 1 - Making our ears & antlers

Picture 2 - Little Red Riding Hood skipping through the forest

Picture 3 - Little Red Riding Hood resting by a large tree & talking to the big bad wolf

Picture 4 - All the animals dancing in the forest

Picture 5 - Little Red Riding Hood saying thank you to all her animal friends

Friday

Just a reminder that there is school tomorrow for all of the schools in the TCDSB. We look forward to seeing all of the students tomorrow.

As well, tomorrow is the drama & dance workshop for Ms. Evans & Mrs. Mancino's classes. Be sure your child arrives at school on time and has paid the $6 for the workshop so they don't miss out. It should be a lot of fun! :)

Numbers

Beginning this week, we will be testing the students to see how far they can count before making a mistake, and on how many numbers they can recognize for the upcoming report cards.

Please continue to practice these skills at home with your child.

Communication Skills

Having great communication skills is a valuable asset to have in today's society and building these skills starts in Kindergarten. 

Verbal communication skills are fundamental in healthy childhood development; and helping your child to communicate their needs, thoughts and opinions regularly will not only help your child while they grow up but also in the future.

Therefore, take time everyday to talk and listen to your child.  It can be as simple as asking them questions about their day that require more than a yes and no answer.  Such as asking them to describe the work that they brought home, how to play one of the games they have learnt in gym class, or to sing or recite the poem of the week.  You can also ask them to tell you about the show they were watching on TV, ask them questions about the book you just read them, or to describe something in the room (ex: colour, size, shape, what it does or is used for etc.).

Ensure that your child is speaking loudly and clearing looking at you or who they are speaking too.  Praise them on specific points when they do a good job (ex: I liked the way you looked at me when you talked to me . . .) and offer helpful comments to improve and build this skill (ex: try that again but a little louder).

When your child is communicating make sure it is a positive time for them and that they are not nervous.  Listen to what they have to say even if it doesn't always make sense, and don't push them to have to find the "right answers" that they think you want.  Just listening and responding to what they say in a positive way will help build their confidence and encourage them to communicate more openly. 

Taking only a few minutes everyday will greatly help your child make friends, interact with others, and gain confidence in who they are.  The benefits or good verbal communication will carry forward for them into their future.

Outside Play

We go outside everyday to play so please send your child to school dressed appropriately: winter boots, coat and snow pants, hat and gloves.  Also please label all clothing so we can make sure it gets back to you if they leave it behind. 

This Week

This week we will be:

• Focusing on getting back into routines like sitting with legs crossed and listening, lining up quietly, eating at snack and lunch time, and staying focused during story and work time etc. 
• Sharing about our Christmas and New Years celebrations with one another. 
• Reading The Mitten by Jan Brett and completing literacy activities connected to the text.

Also, as winter is here please remember to send your child to school in boots and with a warm winter jacket and snow pants so they are free to play and roll around in the snow :)

Back to School

As the Christmas holiday is coming to an end we hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year celebration with their families. 

Just a reminder that school starts again on Monday at 8:30am.  We look forward to seeing everyone at school!  Have a wonderful weekend.