December 12-16th

Week of December 12th Updates / Reminders

Hello Parents / Guardians, Here are just a few reminders before we break for Winter Break. Weather Please ensure your child is dressed for the extreme temperatures (hats, mitts, boots, snow pants and warm jackets).  The students will have some outside time for recess when the temperature is warmer than -20c including windchill.  Donations If you and your family have any children’s (G rated) DVD’s that you would be willing to donatefor indoor lunch/recess, please send them to school on Monday. Christmas time is traditionally associated with a time of giving and sharing. In keeping with the spirit of Christmas, we will be running a Christmas hamper campaign from December 5th through to December 13th. During this time please send your cheques or cash donations to the school in a sealed envelope marked ‘Christmas Hampers’. We will be distributing gift cards from all funds collected to Evanston families who would appreciate a little extra during the holiday season. Caroling Students at Ken Taylor School have been participating in a Creative Movement unit for the three weeks in December. Together we have learned about a variety of cultural celebrations and dances that are from around the world. Each class will have an opportunity to share what we have been learning during our Caroling Assemblies next week. Below is a list of dates and which class is performing when. We welcome parents and guests to come and share in the magic of the season with us. Tuesday, December 13 @ 9:30am  Pearson/Stewart Brar/Bakkan               Thursday, December 15 @ 1:00pm  (Red and Green Day) Hargreaves/Sayani PM Kindergarten   Friday, December 16 @ 8:30am (Pajama Day)  Carstairs/Witczak AM Kindergarten  Steckly/Fraser/Jordan  Lost & Found We have accumulated many lost items in our lost and found.  Please take a moment with your child to make sure none of the items belong to you.  We will be donating any items left over after December 16th. Spirit Days We will be having 2 Spirit Days next week Thursday Dec 15th Red and Green Day Friday Dec 16th Pajama Day Last Day of Classes Dec 16th is our last day of classes before Winter Break.  Please note this is an EARLY DISMISSAL FRIDAY which means students will be done school at 11:30 and there will be NO PM Kindergarten that day.  Report Cards will be sent home on this day as well.   The Staff at Ken Taylor would like to wish your family a relaxing Winter Break.   Thank you!

The students 'light up' my day!

Today my 3 little helpers assisted me with getting paint and markers ready to create these cute Christmas light cards.

In addition to our fun crafts and art, we have been continuing with the sight words of the week so far: the, and, am, with, and the sounds 'ing' and the long  /e/.
We also continue to work with addition and subtraction facts with numbers up to 10.

I wish....

Today Ms. Carstairs' three little helpers did an excellent job! The class wrote down a wish on a Christmas light cut out. Some of the wishes were very sweet and thoughtful. Ask your child what they wished for!

Ms. Carstairs' 24 days of teaching!

Today we opened up the first 3 drawers in our class advent calendar to see who my little helpers would be! These students got to be special helpers for the day. As we continue our countdown to the break, we will choose new helpers each day who will help with a fun project! Today we made our own snowmen! Yesterday we wrote letters to Santa, telling him all the things we have learned in school this year. I wonder what we will be doing tomorrow???

Sight Word Practice!

I have decided to start sending home the Sight Words that we are working on home with the students so that they can practice them at home as well as at school! There will be about 5 words per week. Each word will be in a poem. Have your child use a highlighter or marker and find the Sight Word within the poem. Read the poem together; or have your child read it to you. Have them underline or circle any other sight words they know! Then have them re-write each word and use it in a new sentence. This is not HOMEWORK; it is just extra things to practice at home if you would like your child to have the extra practice and you have the time. Please do not panic if it does not get done each night; it is meant to be helpful not stressful!

Thank you for your continued support in your child's learning!

For Math, we will continue with our number sense pattern by making groups of 10 and relating this to the corresponding addition fact. One way we practiced was by having 10 circles with white on one side and red on the other. The students shook them up in their hands and dropped them on to their desks. Then they counted; how many had red facing up and how many had white facing up? They would colour this on their sheet. How many different combinations of red and white are there that add up to 10? This can be related to addition. If I have 5 red and 5 white; I know that 5+5=10. If I have 6 red and 4 white, I know that 6+4=10! Try it at home!