School Spirit Week

Saddle Ridge School Spirit Week

Next week students can participate in a fun activity each day. These activities are optional.

Monday, December 16- Wear Red/ Green- Students are encouraged to wear something red or green to school.

Tuesday, December 17- Fun Sock Day- Students are encouraged to wear fun socks to school. 

Wednesday, December 18 - Festive Wear Day- Students are encouraged to wear something festive to school. 

Thursday, December 19 - PJ/ Stuffy Day - students may wear their PJs (pajamas) and bring a stuffy to school. 

The Gingerbread Boy

Over the last few days, we have been reading the story, "The Gingerbread boy".

Through our reading of the story, we have practiced many literacy skills, such as making predictions, using a picture to help us read the words, and retelling parts of a story. 

After exploring with the story, students had the chance to use different materials to make their own Gingerbread people. 

Here are some pictures of students using a checklist to independently build their own Gingerbread:



 
 

After building our Gingerbread, boys and girls had a chance to talk about the details on their Gingerbread with a partner and draw it in their journals. We used our checklists to remember that our Gingerbreads all had special noses, mouth, buttons, gems and ribbon/icing. You can ask your child what colours their Gingerbread had!



 
 
 

Builders Make a Plan

After exploring with various materials to build a house and learning the parts of a house, we have also learned that a builder makes a plan.

First, we discussed how builders use shapes to draw their houses and looked at the shapes we could see in real houses. Next, we used a checklist to plan and draw a house. Last, we tried our best to label our picture by listening to the sounds we could hear in the words we were trying to write.

After practicing naming and drawing using shapes, we had a second chance to practice talking about and using shapes for a fun art activity. When we were done building our houses, we enjoyed using sharpies to add the details and write some words. 

 
 


 

At home, you can practice this early literacy skill by first having your child draw a picture using shapes and then encourage them to add the sounds they hear or the letters they think makes sense. In kindergarten, we like to draw about the things that are important to us- like going to the park or grocery store with our family, playing in the snow or eating our favourite snack.

Builders can work with others.

Room 3/4 has been working hard as builders and remembering all of the parts of a house. 

This week however, we also learned that builders can work with others. We discussed how the job of building a house is a lot of work and takes a lot of time and that builders must work with others in order to get the job done. 

To help us understand how to be a good builder and work with others, we used a target.

We decided that if we were fighting and not sharing, we are far from the target (on the red).

If we are building beside our peers, but not working together, we are close to the target (on the yellow).

If we are sharing and working with our peers on one house, we are on target (on the green).

I can work with others: 

Here are some images of our builders working together!



 
 
 

Being builders..

This week, students had the chance to practice being real builders in the classroom!

First, we used early reading skills to learn the steps a builder uses when building a house. Using the "My House" book, we followed a familiar pattern sentence that showed us the steps we needed to build a house and what the different parts of the house were called. 

Next, boys and girls were challenged to build their own houses using all of the parts of the house. Here is a look at their hard work as builders:

Students have been working on building their oral language first through growing their vocabulary by naming the parts of a house, and next by sharing with their teacher and peers by adding, "My house has a _____,"

At home, can practice naming the different parts of a house with your child and draw their attention to the beginning sounds they hear in those words, such as "d" for door. 

As the students built the parts of their house, teachers were busy capturing pictures. Those pictures are being added to a classroom book that we are going to call "My house" to use in the classroom library. Using this story, students will continue to build their understanding of pattern sentences by looking at pictures and the first letter to predict and decode words. 

The Family Book

After reading, "The Family Book" by Todd Parr and practicing drawing our families, boys and girls were inspired to use different coloured shapes to create the members in their family.

After building using shapes, students were encouraged to draw details that made members in their family special. 

 

Students are beginning to explore early literacy concepts by copying the words "My Family" and by writing the beginning sounds they hear in the words they are trying to write, such as "D" for Dad, "M" for Mom.