December in Review

Here are some of the things we leaned last month.  

Belonging and Contributing:  This moth provided us the opportunity to see ourselves as performers!  We practised and prepared for our winter concert and when the time finally came we were very excited.  The students really enjoyed performing on the stage and they enjoyed watching as part of the audience too.  It was a great day!  Thanks again to everyone who attended. 

Self-Regulation and Well-Being: Independence is a big part of our Kindergarten curriculum.  Since this month brought many new activities to our classroom such as decorating gingerbread cookies with Marcus’ grandmother or playing the fun games that Mlle Oliver brought in for the students to play, it was important that students demonstrate independence by choosing activities that suited their learning needs and which they enjoyed.  Independence in dressing for the cold weather continues to be a push as well.  We are getting faster every day and almost everyone in the class can do up their own coat.  Bravo!

Literacy and Mathematics Behaviours: In math we learned about surveys.  The students participate regularly in daily surveys and sign in questions but this month we began to discuss why people conduct a survey.  We also learned how to collect data for our surveys in different ways such as using tally marks, using manipulatives or signing names to reflect a vote.  Some students even developed their own surveys and asked their friends to participate. 

Problem Solving and Innovating:  Our students problem solve every day, either when creating and building structures and creations using the various materials in our room or when solving social disagreements, both big and small with their peers.  This month we also participated in Maker Day (Check out our blog post on that).  One group of students became interested in building with cubes, after seeing a Santa creation made by the grade threes.  This lead to a three day effort where they collaborated to recreate the Santa they had seen, using a picture they had taken as a blueprint.  The final result was fantastic and lead to even more creations!  Several students were inspired to make creations of their very own, using cubes as well as other materials.  It is wonderful to watch students get inspired, learn and grow!