Celebration of Learning

Dear Parents/Guardians:

We are excited to invite you to the Kindergarten & Grade One Celebration of Learning on Thursday February 6^th from 6:00pm – 7:00pm.

Kindergarten students have been learning through the lens of a storyteller by reading various stories in order to create our own unique stories through playful puppetry, art, and talking with one another.

Grade One’s have been working through the discipline of an anthropologist to study the cultures and traditions of our families and share stories from the past.

Students will share their learning through the arts connected to their disciplinary literacy inquiries, as well as work from the Artist in Residence, Sharon Fortowsky, and music classes with Ms. Mann.

The format for the evening will be as follows:

Kindergarten	Grade One
5:45 pm Arrive and go to the gym. Families wait in the gathering space 6:00 pm Students share music learning in the school gym 6:15 pm Students and families explore art exhibits in the gathering space	6:00 pm Students and families explore art exhibits in Grade One classrooms and hallway 6:45 pm Students share music learning with their families in the school gym

Students are invited to dress up in semi-formal attire. Grade One students may choose to dress in traditional clothing from their culture (kimono, sari, kilt, flamenco dress etc)

Please RSVP to your child’s teacher.

Sincerely,

The Kindergarten & Grade One Team

Royal Oak School

January 27th - 31st

This Week:

Monday, January 27th 

• Family Literacy Day – Cuddle Up and Read (wear pajamas, bring a stuffy and a favourite book to share with a friend) 
• Artist in Residence Lesson (Sirup PM)
• Learning Commons Book Exchange

Tuesday, January 28th - Artist in Residence Lesson (Sticksl AM, Dixon AM & Sticksl PM)

Wednesday, January 29th - Artist in Residence Lesson (Dixon PM)

Thursday, January 30th - Artist in Residence Lesson (Sirup PM)

Friday, January 31st - Non-Instructional Day (No School)

This Past Week:

This week we continue to develop our Lost in the Snow Stories. During centre time, students had opportunities to create a story with pictures, some letters and words. At the painting centre, students were painting various characters and settings. 

"In my book, I have my mom and me."

"I'm making a kitty for my character. My friend helped me draw this picture. I'm going to make a puppet."

"This is my story. I love making stuff at the Art Table."

"I made a snowman for this story. Ms. Dixon, can you help me spell Snowman?"

Our stories are set in a variety of places including the snowy woods, playground, city, farm and mountains. Students were tasked with completing a detailed mixed media drawing of their snowy setting, in tempera paint, felt, chalk and oil pastel.  

    

Students developed a main character for their “lost in the snow” story. Inspired by the many snow stories we read in class, our main characters include a wide variety of animals, insects, and children.

As a character development activity, students were asked to consider important details and aspects of their character by completing the other half of an unfinished drawing. We learned about “feedback” and how important the process of giving and receiving specific feedback is in order to improve our work. After practicing the process of giving feedback to their teacher’s work, students gave helpful feedback to each other in order to improve their drawings. We are very happy with how much our work improved from our first attempt to our second!

Students gave feedback on how their teacher
could improve her drawing.

Looking at "examples" and "non-examples" helps students recognize and define the learning criteria for producing high quality work. 

Students used feedback provided by their peers to
improve their own drawings.

                                     .

Have you heard about our Significant Words? Since the beginning of the year, we have been looking at key words centered around our day to day learning. Ask your child about the following words. Can they identify the letters and their sounds, in each word? Why are these words special to our class?

Important Dates Coming Up:

January - Gymnastics during Gym Time with Ms. Hennick
February 4th - Family Evening Skating Event 5:00 - 7:00 PM

February 6th - Kindergarten Celebration of Learning, 6 PM - Save the date (More information coming soon!)

February 7th  - PM Students Attend

February 7th - Fun Snack (Pre-ordered through Healthy Hunger https://healthyhunger.ca/)

February 10th - School Council/ Fundraising Meeting 6:30 PM

February 13th -Teachers' Conventions (No School)

February 14th -Teachers' Conventions (No School)

February 17th - Family Day (No School)

February 21st  - AM Students Attend

February 28th  - PM Students Attend