Shake! and... Spill!

This month we have been working on composing and decomposing numbers up to 10.  

As a warm up activity, the students enjoy calling out numbers as I flash dot plates to them and they try to recognize the number of dots immediately.  At the beginning of the year when we first began this exercise, there were many nodding heads or pointing fingers on the carpet as some students slowly counted to themselves, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5..."   Now, in March, students are doing some amazing mental math and recognizing numbers immediately!

"5!  I see 4 dots and 1 more!"

"That's 3!  1 grey and 2 black!"

"4 dots and 4 dots is 8!"

NS1.6  recognize some quantities without having to count, using a variety of tools (e.g., dominoes, dot plates, dice, number of fingers) or strategies (e.g., composing or decomposing numbers, subitizing)


Shake and Spill has also been a popular game we like to play!  In partners, students shake double sided counters in a cup and spill them onto the table.  We record what our spill was on our recording sheet with red and yellow crayons.  At the end of the game we are able to see all of the different combinations of red and yellow one number can have!

After we shake and spill, we say a sentence to describe our spill.  For example, (see top right)  "I have 6 dots.  I have 2 yellow dots and 4 red dots."

  NS1.7  - demonstrate an understanding of number relationships for numbers from 0 to 10, through investigation (e.g., show small quantities using fingers or manipulatives)
NS1.11 - investigate and develop strategies for composing and decomposing quantities to 10 (e.g., use manipulatives or “shake and spill” activities)

Explain Everything - Dinosaurs!

Some updates from http://fdk-rhps.weebly.com/

Our school website is up and running!  Check it out for school information, monthly newsletters, teacher blogs/websites, and so much more!  http://www.yrdsb.ca/schools/rickhansen.ps/
 
Friday, March 22 - Ramp Man Presentation

Wednesday, March 27 - Today is a Friday Schedule

Thursday, March 28 - PRIDE Assembly *Perseverance* hosted by Ms. Grays 1/2 class @ 11:45am

March 29 and April 1 -  School Holiday (no school)

Thursday, April 18 - Official School Opening!!!! More very important information to follow!  : )


Our Dinosaur Inquiry has come to an end, and what a perfect way to celebrate student learning than by having our Explain Everything project up on our Blog!  Thank you to each family for sending in your "Video Blog" permission form.  I promise you won't be disappointed!

After learning about extinction, we wanted to know about different kinds of dinosaurs, they were all so unique.  We discussed that dinosaurs have different features like what they ate, what kind of teeth they had and how they moved around.  

We created our own dinosaurs using model magic.  Explain Everything on our iPads allowed us to take a picture, write and talk about our dinosaurs! 

Language
1.    communicate by talking and by listening and speaking to others for a variety of purposes and in a variety of contexts;
1.5    use language in various contexts to connect new experiences with what they already know (e.g., contribute ideas orally during shared or interactive writing; contribute to conversations at learning centres; respond to teacher prompts)

2.    demonstrate understanding and critical awareness of a variety of written materials that are read by and with the EL–K team;
2.8    demonstrate knowledge of most letters of the alphabet in different contexts (e.g., use a variety of capital and lower-case manipulative letters in letter play; identify letters by name on signs and labels in chart stories, in poems, in big books, on traffic signs; identify the sound that is represented by a letter; identify a word that begins with the letter)
2.10    retell information from non-fiction materials that have been read by and with the EL–K team in a variety of contexts (e.g., read-alouds, shared reading experiences), using pictures and/or props

4.    communicate in writing, using strategies that are appropriate for beginners;
4.1    demonstrate an interest in writing (e.g., choose a variety of writing materials, such as adhesive notes, labels, envelopes, coloured paper, markers, crayons, pencils) and choose to write in a variety of contexts (e.g., draw or record ideas at learning centres)
4.2    demonstrate an awareness that writing can convey ideas or messages (e.g., ask the teacher to write out new words for them)
4.3    write simple messages (e.g., a grocery list on unlined paper, a greeting card made on a computer; labels for a block or sand construction), using a combination of pictures, symbols, knowledge of the correspondence between letters and sounds (phonics), and familiar words
4.4    begin to use classroom resources to support their writing (e.g., a classroom word wall that is made up of children’s names, words from simple patterned texts, and words used repeatedly in shared or interac- tive writing experiences; signs or charts in the classroom; picture dictionaries; alphabet cards; books)

Dino Egg!

After a gift from E.R.'s (SK) family, we got to hatch a dinosaur egg in our classroom! Thank you!!  :)  

Throughout the week before March Break, we made our thinking visible by explaining what we saw, thought and wondered! 

Miss Robertson: "What do you think is inside this egg?"

 A.K. - I think it will be a flying dinosaur. 
Z.L. - I think it's going to crack and a baby dino will come out. I wonder where it will go after?
J.L. - It's going to break and the dino is going to wake up.  I think he might have sharp teeth. 
D.M. - I see bubbles.  I think there's going to be a baby dinosaur.
M.O. - I think it might be a flying dinosaur when it hatches. 
E.R. (JK) - I see a egg.  I think it's a dino egg and it's going to hatch. 
L.S. - I think it's going to be a baby dino that swims in the water.  He's going to grow up to be a big Mama. 
S.S. - I think it will be a dinosaur with a long neck. 
D.V. - I think it will be a Tyranosaurus Res. 
E.W. - I see an egg.  I think it will be a Stegosaurus. 
J.M.X. - Egg. Dinosaur.  Blue with sharp teeth. 
S.Z. - I think it will be a Triceratops. 
S.C. - I think it will crack in the water and it will be a swimming dinosaur because it's in the water. 
A.G. - It's going to crack because that's what eggs do.  I wonder when it will crack?
A.L. (male) - I think the egg will hatch and it will be pink with black dots. 
A.L. (female) - I think it's going to crack and the baby dino will use it's claws to break out. 
J.L. (SKfemale) - I think it will hatch into a Triceratops. 
A.M. - I think it will crack open and a dino with a long neck will come out. 
V.R. - A purple dinosaur. 
E.R. (SK) - It will crack in the water and the dinosaur will grow. 
L.U. - I think there will be a swimming dinosaur with 4 fins.
N.W. - I think it's going to crack and a dino is going to float out of the water. 
E.Z. - I think it's going to be a Spineasaurus.  It will be small and fast. 
C.W. - I think it will be a Stegosaurus.

Miss Robertson - "What is happening to the egg?"

A.K. - I wonder what his name is?

Z.L. -  I see the egg has a small crack. 

J.L. (JK male) - I see there is a little piece that has cracked.  I see spikes and eyes! 

M.O. - The egg is hatching.  I think a green dinosaur will come out. 

S.S. - I wonder how the egg cracked?

D.V. - I see a hole in the egg. 

E.W. - I wonder how the dinosaur will hatch?

S.Z. - I think that's a dinosaur foot!

S.C. - I see the egg, it has holes, some white spots and a crack. 

A.G. - I see feet!

C.W. - I see a green thing popping out.  I wonder if it's a long neck?

A.L. (male) - I wonder if that is a dino tail!

J.L. (SKfemale) - I think that is a tail. 

L.U. - I wonder if that is a flipper. 

E.Z. - I think the egg is hatching.   

A.M. - I see another part of the egg is cracking. It's showing Stegasaurus points!

E.R.(female) - I see cracks in the egg. 

E.W. - I think he eats plants and his spikes keep him safe. 

S.Z. - I see plates! I think the spikes protect him. 

S.C. - I think he eats meat. 

C.W. - The spikes are to scare the other dinosaurs. 

Personal & Social Development 

1.3    express their thoughts (e.g., on a science discovery, on something they have made) and share experiences (e.g., experiences at home, cultural experiences)

Language

1.    communicate by talking and by listening and speaking to others for a variety of purposes and in a variety of contexts;

1.7    use specialized vocabulary for a variety of purposes

1.8    ask questions for a variety of purposes and in different contexts 

Science 

2. conduct simple investigations through free exploration, focused exploration, and guided activity, using inquiry skills (questioning, planning, predicting, observing, communicating).

2.1 state problems and pose questions before and during investigations

2.2 make predictions and observations before and during investigations

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Students have been using our iPads to take pictures of what has been happening around our class.  Mrs. Taebpour and I have been printing the pictures for inspiration in our journals.  Look at our writing!! WOW!!

Book Drive

 One of the "Big Ideas" in our Full Day Early Learning Kindergarten Curriculum is Children are connected to others and contribute to their world.  Our class can do just this by participating in our Book Drive!  We can make a difference to support charities and make donations to help others in need. 

Rick Hansen Public School is running a book drive from now until April 19th, 2013 so that we can support The Children’s Book Bank of Toronto.

Please donate any books that are gently used and are suitable for children up to grade six. No teen novels or adult books please.

 www.childrensbookbank.com

How did dinosaurs become extinct?!

All week we have been using our iPads to create Explain Everything projects.  Please send in your yellow consent form so we can get our videos up on the blog.  :)

 Dinosaurs are still on our brains!  This week we asked, "how did dinosaurs become extinct?" 

Our class knows dinosaurs lived millions of years ago because of the bones paleontologists have found in the ground.  We were curious why dinosaurs are no longer living today!  We discussed that because people were not around when dinosaurs roamed the Earth there isn't one exact answer to why dinosaurs are now extinct.  

We pretended we were paleontologists and thought of our own theories!

Z.L. "The dinosaurs ate too many desserts."
J.L. (JK) "The dinosaurs had a fight."
D.M. "People were protecting themselves, and hurt the dinosaurs."
M.O. " Their bones broke out of them into the ground."
E.R. (JK) "The wind blew them into the sand."
L.S. "They are different than people." 
S.S. "The snow, rain and ice came."
D.V. "Someone pushed a tree and the dinosaurs fall."
E.W. "People scared the dinosaurs."
S.Z. "The wind blew them away."
S.C. "Maybe there was a bomb."
G.F.F. "The rain washed them away." 
A.G. "Their bones broke." 
A.L. (SKmale) "An asteroid hit them, there was an explosion in space." 
A.L. (SKfemale) "They fell down into the ground." 
J.L. (SK) "They are not here anymore."
A.M. "A volcano erupted and it was so hot the dinosaurs died."
E.R. (SK) "They were here for too long."
L.U. "There was lots of rain and wind."
N.W. "They started feeling bad, like a tummy ache." 
E.Z. "Kind of like grandmas and grandpas, they got too old and didn't eat healthy food." 

After all of our predictions, we found out paleontologists also made predictions about what happened to the dinosaurs.  They had to do a lot of exploring and investigating to come up with their own predictions too.   Our class talked about four theories paleontologists had that might have happened to the dinosaurs - after we made a class graph to show what theory we thought might have happened!  

Our class thought a volcano was the most likely way dinosaurs became extinct. 

 10 students thought a volcano caused dinosaur extinction. 
7 students thought an asteroid caused dinosaur extinction. 
4 students thought sickness/disease caused dinosaur extinction. 
1 student thought an ice age caused dinosaur extinction.

J.M.X.'s volcano at the sand table

We loved this book about dinosaurs hatching out of eggs!  We had to read the clues first about different dinosaurs and then open the egg to find out what dino was inside!   Later at the playdough table, we made dino eggs.  It was so much fun cracking them open to see what dino was inside!

A dino egg!

This dino was inside the egg!

 
















In the 104 Dino Museum, we wanted to have information about dinosaurs for our museum visitors!  Using non-fiction books, we have been finding specific dinosaurs that interest us and then making "Dino Fact Sheets" for our museum.  Take a look as our Kindergartens conduct their own research!

L.U.

A.M.

S.Z.

A.L. (male)

J.L. (male)