The Doctor is In!

We have changed our Dramatic Play centre into a Doctor's Office.  Miss Mammarella and Mrs. Versteeg noticed that the students were playing "doctor" with the babies in the House Centre, so we asked the students if they would like to create our own Doctor's Office.  The students helped to create a list of items we would need, as well as a schedule of what occurs when you go to the Doctor.  They are doing an incredible job of taking care of their "patients".

Math Mania

Miss Mammarella decided to put some connecting sticks on a table.  They were made of craft sticks and Velcro dots.  The students were creating all kinds of objects with them.  Some students made shapes, and others were making letters or houses, including one that was collapsing in a tornado!  Here is a sample below of their creations.

 

 

We also brought out a new material called "Magna-Tiles".  They are different shapes that are magnetic and can be combined in many different ways to create different shapes and structures.  Students are playing with them on and off the light table.  It's a very popular addition to our classroom.

 

The students in the class have been engaged in graphing activities.  A pair of students survey the class on a particular topic, create a graph, and share the results.  We extended this activity using brown and orange Smarties.  Students were invited to graph a cup of Smarties and discuss their results - "Did you have more orange or brown Smarties?" and "How many more ____ Smarties would you need to equal the ____ Smarties?"  They were very excited as they got to take the Smarties they graphed home with them!

 

 

Building Central

Our classroom is full of buildings and structures of different shapes and sizes.  The students amaze us every day with what they have constructed. Check out the symmetry in the first structure!  We have a future architect in our classroom!

 

 

Many students in the class just LOVE hockey, and decided to make a plan and construct and arena.  Check out the spectators in the last picture!

 

 

All students have been intrigued by the connecting cubes this month, and are using them in many different ways.  Some students have been creating patterns, or using them to measure different things in the classroom.

One student decided to build a structure out of rocks.  He did an amazing job balancing the heavy objects.  Fantastic idea!

A Day in the Life of ELP

Below are some of the learning activities we have experienced throughout January.

We continue to build our letter recognition skills and enhance our knowledge of letter and sound relationships.  As a class, we discuss a letter, the sound it makes, read a book and find the words that begin with the sound, and read a poem together.  Here are some students being "Letter Detectives" as they are finding and circling a chosen letter in the poem, before they re-read it to a teacher.

Students are always busy doing puzzles and playing in the playdough centre.

Student always enjoy reading a book in our "Quiet Corner".  To be honest, it's never really quiet!

Most of the students in the class enjoy making masks.  Animal masks and hockey masks seem to be the favourites!

More or Less?

The students and educators came back after the holidays ready for a new year and a busy month. 

We had a class discussion about "More" and "Less" and made a list of what things we would like more of, and what we would like less of.  Students were invited to make their own list.  What wonderful ideas they came up with!  SK students were encouraged to draw and use their knowledge of letter and sound relationships to "sound out" the objects they drew.  They did an AMAZING job!

Some of the JK students didn't want to be left out so they "had a go" sounding out their objects.  Way to go!

Christmas - ELP Style

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Winter Break, and we wish all the best for 2014 to every one of our students and their families!

Before the Christmas Holidays, we had a busy month.  The students wanted to do a Christmas "Write the Room" activity, where they had to search the classroom for Christmas vocabulary words and record them on their paper.
They always have such a ball doing this activity and it's a great learning opportunity for them.  It allows them to practice their printing, learn new words, and develop their ability to copy.

 

Students made Christmas cards for their parents, and were given the opportunity to create, colour, and read Christmas books.

 

 

We continue to work on "subitizing" numbers (recognizing different configurations of symbols without having to count).  Students were given the opportunity to work with a partner to play the Gingerbread Dice game.  Each player took turns rolling a dice and colouring in the corresponding part of the Gingerbread Person.  They continued playing until both were fully coloured.

We enjoyed a Christmas party on the last day of school before the holidays.  We had lots of yummy goodies, watched a Christmas movie, and danced the day away!