Reading Buddies!!

Every day 5, we go to the library and partner up with Mrs. Baker's grade 4/5 class.  We call them our Reading Buddies!  Mrs. Baker's students had to come up with some activities for our class today!  What a great job these students did!!

They made playdough letters on some Halloween words.  We talked about straight and curvy lines!

They went on a scavenger hunt to look for letters in Halloween words.  Steven was still looking for the letter I for his word "TRICK."

They played a memory game matching numbers and Halloween words!

They coloured pictures and had to look at the number to see what colour to use!

The looked for letters in books using a "witch's finger"  Ben and Lauren found the lower case letter "d!"

They printed words on pumpkins!!

They made puppets.  Maddy's puppet can talk!! 


The grade 4/5 class did a great job in creating such appropriate activities for our class!!!  

Outdoor Activity

We took advantage of the weather yesterday and headed outside to read a story called Move like the Wind.  The children were given ribbon wands and they had lots of ideas of how to move them in the wind!

5 Little Pumpkins

We have been singing a song about five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.  We have been discussing ordinals with this song!  Which is the 1st pumpkin?  Can you make a face like the 4th pumkin?

We keep asking the children questions like:  Who is 3rd in line?  Please try to use ordinals at home too!! 

Five Little Pumpkins

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate,

The 1st one said," Oh my it's getting late!"

The 2nd one said,"There are witches in the air!"

The 3rd one said, "But we don't care!"

The 4th one said, "Let's run and run and run!"

Ane the 5th one said, "I'm ready for some fun!"

Oooooooooooo went the wind,

And out went the lights,

And the 5 little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

How Can I Help My Child at Home

Practise...................

1.  Tying shoes.
2.  Zipping zippers on coats.
3.  Matching upper and lower case letters.
4.  Printing first name
5.  Printing last name
6.  Rhyming words
7.  Recognizing numbers 1 - 10.

Please remember to label all belongings.  Hats, mitts, boots, snow pants, coats as they come to school.  There are many similiar items at school.

Read-a-thon

Our read-a-thon was today.  Thank you to all parents who gave money.  We partnered up with our "reading buddies" and read books in their classroom today! 

Welcome Back!!

Welcome back to the families from last year and I want to welcome all of the new families.  Please check regularly as we will be posting lots of information and ideas and what has been happening in our classroom.

Recognizing the Alphabet Letters

Being able to recognize upper and lower case letters is a skill that is essential to future reading and writing success.  Below are some suggestions to help your child at home to recognize letters.

1.  Letters are made up of curvy and straight lines.  Use materials such as straws, pipe cleaners, yarn and toothpicks to form letters.

2.  Form letters using playdough.  You can trace letters on a paper and your child can cover it up with playdough. 

3.  Write the letters on index cards and look them over at night.

4.   When reading a story look for a few letters in the story.  We use a fly swatter with a hole cut out in the middle to find the letters class. 

5. Post 5 or 6 letters around the house. Have your child go on a letter search. When they find the letter and can identify it, have your child put it on the fridge.

6. Make letters in "finger paint" ways. Use pudding, shaving cream, apple sauce. Say a letter and have your child make it.

7. Put magnets on the fridge and put in order and have your child say the alphabet.

8. Fridge Phonics is a great toy!!!

9. Place 12 upper and lower case letters on the floor. Make your own or you may have some store bought letters. Play a matching game. Match the upper and lower case.

10. Using clothespins(available at the dollar store) write an uppercase letter on the clothespins and a lower case letter on an index card. Encourage your child to clip the clothespins on the matching card and name the letter.

11. Visit PBSkids.org. Click on games. There are numerous letter games that your child can play.

12. Scratch n'Sniff. Use a new sensation to teach the letters. Write letters with glue on paper, then sprinkle with jell-o powder. Makes a super sratch n'sniff when tracing over the letters.

PLEASE NOTE: It is very important to have your child say the letters as they find them or match them, not the adult.