Concert Reminder

Student-Led Conferences

This Wednesday, your child will be bringing home their very first kindergarten report card. They are written in comment form and do not include grades. The purpose of the report card is to give you a good idea of what your child is currently able to do and give you some ideas for things to work on. 

In addition to the report card, our school will be hosting an Open House on Thursday, November 26th from 4:30-7:00. During this time you are welcome to stop by our classroom with your child so that they can show you some of the things they've been learning. This is a time to celebrate your child's accomplishments and to make connections with the Stevenson staff and other families in our school.

If you would prefer to have a more private meeting, you are welcome to call the school to schedule an appointment for Friday morning. The phone number at the school is 204-832-1359.

During the Open House, the library will also be hosting a book fair. There will be games, prizes, and a great selection of books available for purchase. 

Planning for Play

Hi there, it's Mrs. Lowe writing today. I want to tell you about something awesome happening in room 8.

You may have heard that in our class we call playtime "Thinking and Learning" time. That's because play is the way that children learn their best! When children are playing they are observing, creating, problem solving, cooperating, and learning to work together.

Recently, I observed many of the students in our class were having a hard time settling into a particular activity. Some students were doing the same activity every day, with the same group of peers.

In an attempt to elevate the play, I introduced Play Plans. Before we go to Thinking and Learning time, we sit in a circle and all of the students think about what they would like to do with their time. We go around the circle and each child shares what their plan is. This gives me an opportunity ask questions about their plan like where they will play and who will join them. I can spot some possible problems, like too many children at one activity, and have the students make suggestions for solutions before the problem arrises. It also allows me to direct students to where they can find any supplies they may need. This helps students to be more independent at getting organized for play.

Since we have been creating Play Plans, I have noticed that students are much more purposeful in their play, are playing with a wider variety of playmates, getting along better and demonstrating greater independence.

Here are some of the activities that were happening today during Thinking and Learning time.

Painting on the Buddha Board

Sorting letters by colour

Dividing cars so everyone has an equal amount

Building a long road

Drawing his family on the Smart Board

Writing cards for their friends and teacher

Drawing snakes and playing librarian

Creating a game for others to play 

Feeding all the animals on the farm

Working together to build a track

Save The Date

Our Winter Concert is coming up and we can't wait to show you what we've been working on!

Remembrance Day

Over the last few days we have been talking a lot about peace and war.

The students learned that the poppy is a symbol of Remembrance Day and helps us to remember the soldiers who fought for our freedom.

We also learned about an artist named Georgia O'Keeffe. We looked at some of her beautiful poppy paintings and talked about all of the colours we saw and other things we noticed.

Then the students painted their own poppies. They practiced making long strokes from the centre of the paper out to the edges. When all the poppies were finished we put them all together into a wreath and it looks absolutely beautiful!

In the morning we also went to the Remembrance Day assembly. Two students from our class brought their poppies to put on the wreath and we all sang our poppy song.

ABC PARTY!

What a celebration!  We accomplished everything on our list and more!

Our decorations are hanging and the students are SO proud!

We used Instagram and our blog to show our parents. We also got to reply to a lovely comment we received.

We read an ABC book called Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (it's one of our favourites). Then we made Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree snacks!

Finally we played ABC BINGO!

It was a great day and we are feeling very proud of ourselves!

We Finished the Alphabet!

Since the first week of school we have been learning one letter every day.

We meet at the carpet. Each student brings their own marker and whiteboard. We start by writing our own names on our board, then the letter of the day.

Next we watch a Storybots video and the letter rap video by Have Fun Teaching. The students love rapping along with these.





We brainstorm words we know that start with the letter of the day and then we practice writing the letter in our notebooks (4 times).  Each student is practicing holding writing tools correctly and forming letters in a way that others can read them.

Today was a big day. We finished the alphabet!!!

Using their fine motor control and letter knowledge to form ALL of the letters in the alphabet!

We decided that we should celebrate and came up with a plan!

We also decided to make a new ABC display in our classroom.  I was so impressed with how well the students formed the letters. The new display will be up tomorrow.

Remembrance Day

All families are invited to attend our Remembrance Day assembly in the gym. If you have any questions, please contact the office. 

Halloween Celebrations

On Friday, we started the day with some very special Halloween Discovery Bins.

In the afternoon we went to the parade in the gym and then we danced and danced.

When we went back to our classroom we got to decorate our very own orange jack-o-lanters. 

We ended the day with some delicious snacks! Thanks to all of the families who contributed.