Just a big reminder to everyone that we are in full Lego Drive mode!  We are looking to build a Ridgeview Lego Collection and we’re asking all students to consider bringing a cup or Lego from their own collections.  We have a fabulous table for building that will be housed in the Library.  We’re graphing all the donations from each Grade so please consider making a donation!

We took a little swim this week with our “o is an octopus” craft.  We  had lots of “ooohs” and “aahhhhs” for this cutie-pie craft.  The children did a lovely job of their printing as well.  The “o” formation (around and close) is the basis for many letters.  A reminder for all parents as you’re watching your children print, the children should be starting at the top of the “o” and going around counter-clockwise; the join should be barely noticeable at the top of the “o.”  Printing is all about precision so letters should be sitting on the line (except for the tails of letters such as g, j, p, q, y).  

**Please remember we DO NOT colour in the centre of the “o.”  Ever.

We’re carrying on with our Math Rotations for 1 this week.  In addition to creating number sets and exploring with manipulatives, we’ve added a written component for the children to practise tracing their numbers and printing the number words.

Christy and I are attending a series of Math Workshops on Balanced Numeracy this term.  We are examining the development of Number Sense for our Kindergarten children, and learning some new instructional practises for extending numerical understanding.  

A fun game we learned is called “Splat,” which looks at part-whole relationships of number.  We showed the children a whole number but only part of the number.  The other part of the number was hidden by the splat.  We ask them to think about not only what part is missing (the number), but how did they figure how much was missing?

-we can count on – we see 3 counters and count on to 5 (4, 5)

-we can take away – we know there is 5, we see 3 counters (5-3=2)

We had no sooner hung up our stunning Winter Perspective paintings than we decided to have some close-up winter fun by making these adorable snow globes!

It’s just a fun craft, incorporating many craft skills for Kindergarten such as cutting, pasting, drawing and most importantly the feeling of independence when completing something “all by myself!”

In Primary Singing, we are learning how to sing “Rounds.”  Mrs. Soderling starts singing and then the children begin singing after.  The song goes “round and round.”  They tried it both ways, teacher first, then students; then students starting and teacher going second.  It was challenging of course, but the children gradually improved and they can almost hold their part.  We were really proud of them!

Next week is a very busy week with DancePlay.  We realize all children do not enjoy dancing.  There will be a lot of instruction, remembering dance steps and sequences, and listening skills, focus and self-regulation will be in high demand.  Please ensure your child is getting lots of sleep and we will try to encourage them to be eating well at lunch and snack so our week of dance is successful!

Upcoming Events and Reminders

Library Book Exchange is on Monday.

We will NOT be participating in this week’s popcorn sale.  Our children will be in the Dance Celebration for the afternoon and they will not have an opportunity to eat it.  Our children are not able to manage the bag of popcorn on the playground with the other 400 students swarming around them.

Parents are welcome to attend the Dance Celebration but please note that space will be very limited.