Santa Claus Parade

Did anyone go to the Santa Claus Parade last night? I did! It was so much fun. My favorite float-aside from Santa's float- was the F.E.S "To F.E.S and Beyond..." Buzz Lightyear float. Our parade committee really out did themselves this year!

Here they come!

Look at the detail!

To F.E.S. and Beyond!



A special thanks to my friend Diane Booker for taking pictures of the F.E.S. float! It now truly feels like the holiday season! Only 27 days left to do your shopping!

Ashley Daley-Creamer

Trades Fair

    We are so very lucky at Fairvale. Our great Guidance Counsellor, Mrs. Perkins-Love, organized a Trades Fair for our kids. This is such a great event because our kids get to see what great careers are out there for them to pursue when they get older! Whenever I ask the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I get the typical doctor, policeman, or teacher responses. What is great about the Trades Fair is that kids get to see the other options that are available.
    We had many trades people at the school. We had electricians, plumbers,automotive service technicians, massage therapists, personal support workers, woodworkers, truck and transport technicians, water/waste supervisors, heavy equipment operators, pipe fitters, hairstylists,and a travel agent. Each trades person had a booth set up around the gym. The kids went to the booths and had the opportunity to try out some equipment.

Alex and his big buddy hamming it up with the plumbing students.

Nora and Jules had the chance to sit in the huge trucks!

Caleb and his big buddy were super excited about this big truck.

Ryan really liked hanging out with the pipe fitters!

Ava and Paige were measured by the personal support workers.

Izzie tried her hand at putting together the sheet metal robot.

Denny and his buddy "working" hard on an engine.

Sarah loved getting curls put into her hair!

Ben helped build a few things and he met some men that know his dad.

Hazen and his buddy Noah working hard!

    Our kids had a pretty great time. The played with a sheet metal robot puzzle, "worked" on an engine, had their hair styled and tested out the horns of some huge trucks.I looked over at the massage booth at one point and some of our kids were getting their hands massaged. Massages in Kindergarten! I apologize for any diva/divo like behavior that might occur as a result! :) Overall we had a pretty exciting day to say the least!

Ashley Daley-Creamer

Classroom Elf

Well it is getting closer to Christmas! Only 4 weeks left until our break! I just wanted to introduce our new classroom visitor:Pixie Dust!

He looks innocent but he's a trickster!

Pixie Dust is the elf that we adopted. We met him during our morning meeting. Our class decided on his name-aren't they creative? He is going to be living in our classroom until December 23rd. Santa sent him to us to make sure we are being good! Santa told us that our elf is not allowed to talk to us but he is always watching and listening. At night he flies back to the North Pole and reports to Santa. He tells him who has been naughty and who has been nice. I hear we have been very nice so far. I hope we keep up the good work!

Ashley Daley-Creamer

Teddy Bear Picnic

Click on the link below to view all of our teddy bears and their shenanigans!
https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dc64p8b7_2d95hkhdc

Snowsuits

Parents,
   I was so happy to see all of the kids dressed nice and warm for outside today! Just a reminder that the kids need to come dressed in their snowsuits (mitts, hats, snow pants and jackets) to school. They will be going outside every morning for sometimes 20 minutes so it is very important that they come to school warm and cozy.
   Not to brag but every kid was able to get dressed and undressed all by themselves in their snowsuits. Our class knows that I only help with jackets if zippers get stuck. However, I was preparing myself today to have to step in a little in regards to the snowsuits.I was pleasantly surprised when I didn't need to help anyone! They must have been practicing getting into those snowsuits at home!
Ashley Daley-Creamer

Teddy Bear Picnic Tomorrow!

Please bring your teddy bears to school tomorrow! Remember they will be staying for a sleepover!

Ashley Daley-Creamer

Snow Day Language Arts

Welcome to your very first Snow Day! Snow is not just very pretty, it can also be used in Language Arts. Here are a few Snow Day ideas your little one may like to try.

• Use your feet as one great big pencil and practice making letters in the snow.
• Your fingers are your pencil now-can you write any of the sight words in the snow?
• Read "The Mitten" by Jan Brett or any other book about snow. Stop every so often and see if your child can predict what will happen next.

Enjoy your snow day boys and girls! I'll be all snuggled up today working on a Math game for Kindergarten Math Week. I'll see you all tomorrow with your teddy bears!

Ashley Daley-Creamer

December Newsletter

December News

Thursday December 1^st 2011

Dear Parent(s),

            The Christmas season is upon us! The kids are all very excited for Santa’s visit. The countdown to Christmas is on (only 23 more shopping days left!!). I’m sure you are feeling the excitement at home because we are certainly feeling it here at school! The students are all gearing up for an exciting month. Last month was equally exciting as we learned about the letters Kk, Ee, Rr, and Hh, about rhyming, reading, Remembrance Day, numbers and bears. We were busy learning the first two I-Care Rules. These rules are: We listen to each other and Hands are for helping, not hurting. This month we will celebrate the importance of giving rather than receiving, of cooperation rather than competition and we will focus on what is right with the world. Here is an outline of what we will be doing in December:

Language Arts: This month we will focus on our printing skills as we will continue to print our first and last name. We will be printing more and more words in our journals as well. Now that we know many of the letter names and sounds, we are able to put these together to make words. We will also be learning all about the letters Mm and Dd. Our sight words for the month are: the, in, it.

Math: In Math we will be focusing on the numbers to 5. We will be counting and creating sets of 5, representing the numbers 0-5 concretely and pictorially, identifying the number 5 on five frames and recognizing “at a glance” arrangements of 1 to 5 objects or dots. Basically, we will be learning how to make sense of numbers by relating numbers together, in sets, and in patterns. We will also be having a “Math Week” for all of our Kindergarten classes. Each Kindergarten class will have a chance to learn a new Math game/skill with every Kindergarten teacher. It will be fun for the kids to learn with another teacher and fun for me to teach the other classes!

You and Your World: Holidays are our focus this month. We will be learning about the various traditions during the Christmas season. We will learn about how we celebrate Christmas and how our families celebrate together. We will also learn about the holiday of Hanukkah as we read stories and play games related to this special holiday.

Homework: Homework will officially begin in January. Homework in Kindergarten focuses mainly on ROUTINE rather than product. As we all know, homework is something that is inevitable at school and in life as we succeed at our jobs. Our goal in Kindergarten is for the children to establish a successful homework routine so that homework becomes an accepted part of the day (just like brushing your teeth). Homework in Kindergarten should take no longer than 10 minutes. The activities are designed to reinforce what we are doing in school, to make that home and school connection to the importance of learning and working at home as well as at school. On Monday December 5th I will send your child’s homework duo-tang home with him/her. Included in the duo-tang will be a “preview week” of homework to give you and your child an idea of the homework activities that will be brought home in the New Year.

Items of Interest:

Winter Weather: Please ensure that your child has extra mitts and hats in his/her book bag. When the snow begins to fall, your child will have to wear his/her snow pants to school in the morning as the children are out on the playground for at least 20 minutes each morning. The children need to be dressed properly when arriving to school.

Christmas Party: We will be having our Christmas party following the Kindergarten Christmas Concert on December 21st. The Christmas Party Group (Ben Dorcas, Ava Brown, Alexander Urquhart, Julia Kenel, and Ryan Lordon) will be responsible for providing the treats for that party. More details will follow.

Christmas Concert: As you all know we will be having our Christmas Concert this month. All of the Kindergarten classes are participating and we have begun practicing our songs. We will be singing a lot of songs together with the other Kindergarten classes and we will be singing a selection of our own. The concert is very exciting for our children. I hope that you are all adjusting your schedules to ensure that you are in the audience for your child’s very first school concert.

Goodbye: As you all know December 23^rd will be my last day with all of our kids. I have truly enjoyed every minute with them! I just want to give a big “Thank You!” to all of my Kindergarten families. It is exciting to watch how hard your children work and the gains they make as the year progresses. It is only through your support outside the classroom that the children come as far as they have (and will continue to go). I am very proud of all their accomplishments, both small and large, and hope that they not only enjoy the rest of their year in Kindergarten but also develop a love of learning that will continue as they move ahead through the future. I know you will all love working with Mrs. Kilpatrick for the remainder of the year! Have a wonderful and safe Christmas!

Dates to Remember:

Thursday December 15^th-Happy Birthday Izzie!

Sunday December 18^th-Happy Birthday Julia!

Wednesday December 21^st-Christmas Concert at 12:30p.m.

Friday December 23^rd: Last day of School Night before Christmas Break. Wear your pajamas!  ½ day of school

Sunday December 25^th-Merry Christmas!

Friday December 30^th-Happy Birthday Ava!

Saturday December 31^st-Happy New Year!

Tuesday January 10^th-Welcome back to school!

Once again, we are facing another busy month. I’m sure that you are too! I hope that you will take the time to appreciate the magic of the season, the joys of giving, and the spirit of Christmas as you spend some time with our family this month. I look forward to seeing everyone at the Christmas Concert. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Mrs. Creamer

                                                        

November Newsletter

November News

November 1^st, 2011

Dear Parents,

            November is here! Your child has been in Kindergarten for two months! Can you believe it? Our students are doing a wonderful job in Kindergarten. The kids in our class can sit in story center for 30 minutes all the while participating and engaging in learning activities. Wow! The kids in our class can all play together, get along, work as a team and clean up after themselves. I am very proud of them and I hope you are too! We are learning a lot about school. Last month we learned new letters, we learned all about shapes, we learned about numbers, patterns, sorting and much more! This month we will be equally as productive. Here is an outline of what we will be doing this month:

Language Arts: We will be engaged in some rhyming activities this month. We will also work on our letter recognition, focusing particularly on the names, sounds and actions for Kk, Ee, Hh and Rr. I hope that you are all finding our sound books to be a helpful tool at home. Now that the kids know a few key letters they are able to put those letters together to make actual words. For example, your child should be able to sound out the words, sat, sit, tip, tap, and pin. We will be putting our sounds together at school to make words this month. Our popcorn words for the month of November are: a, see, at.

Math: We will continue to make sense of numbers this month. The children will explore the concept of number using one-to-one correspondence to compare two sets. We will also focus on counting and creating sets containing 1 to 5 objects.

You and Your World: Our focus this month will be on the I-Care Rules. We will discuss the importance of listening to each other and using our hands for helping not for hurting. We will also talk about the importance of Remembrance Day, wearing a poppy, and attending a Remembrance Day ceremony. We will wrap up the month with a short unit on bears.

Items of Interest:

Scholastic Book Orders: It is that time of year when people begin thinking about Christmas. If you would like to purchase books through the Scholastic Book Clubs for your child for Christmas and you want it to be a surprise please put a note in with your order. I will either keep the books for you then call you to make arrangements for you to get the books at school or I can send them home with your child in a sealed envelope.

Winter Weather: Although winter doesn’t officially arrive for another month and a half it sure feels like it is here already! It is very important that your child now has a winter hat and a pair of mittens. The kids play outside when it is cold, damp and when the snow is falling so it is really important that they are prepared for the weather.

Dates to Remember:

November 1^st- Food period #3 orders go home

November 2^nd-Happy Birthday Brenden!

November 3^rd-Food period #3 orders due

November 11^th-Remembrance Day-No School

November 12^th-Happy Birthday Paige!

November 17^th- Parent-Teacher Conferences 4pm-7pm

November 18^th-Parent-Teacher Conferences 9am -11am

                       No school for students!

November 15^th-22^nd-Scholastic Book Fair-Our class will attend on Nov. 17^th at 10:35 a.m. If you would like to send them with some money to purchase a book that day send it in their BEE folder and we will help them choose a book.

November 26^th-Santa Claus Parade-Keep an eye out for the F.E.S. float!

As you can see, we are gearing up for another very busy month. I want to say a big thank you for helping your child find “Environmental Print” items and for sending in your baby pictures last month for our class book. The books are very popular and the kids are very excited that they can “read” them. Thanks to all who provided treats for our Halloween party. The treats were delicious and enjoyed by all! I hope you had a wonderful time trick or treating and enjoying the excitement of Halloween. I know that I sure did!

Please let me know if you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns about your child. Our door is always open. I look forward to seeing everyone at the Parent-Teacher Conferences!

Mrs. Creamer

Kindergarten Christmas Concert

Our Kindergarten Christmas Concert will be held on Wednesday December 21st at 12:30. I hope you are all making arrangements so you can see your child in their very first concert!

Ashley Daley-Creamer

Parent-Teacher Conferences

I'll see everyone tonight and tomorrow for Parent-Teacher Conferences! I also apologize for the lack of posts-I blame home reports! :) Stay tuned for updates early next week!

Ashley Daley-Creamer

Halloween Party

 We had such a fun time at our Halloween party! Thank you to the Halloween treat group! The kids loved the snacks. October 31st was a very busy day. In the morning we did some very important work in Language Arts and Math. After snack, our Grade 4 reading buddies came and played a "Who am I" game with us. Each big buddy had a Halloween picture (witch, mummy, tombstone etc.). The big buddies had to give our class 4 clues about their picture. Then we guessed! It was really fun-and some of their answers were hilarious. Big Buddy Hint: You can eat me, I am brown, I am yummy, you get a lot of this on Halloween. Answer they were looking for: Chocolate. Answer given by one of our little ones dressed as a zombie: Brains.

    After our grade 4 buddies left we played a few games of bobbing for apples. Well, we played our version of bobbing for apples (fewer germs and mess playing our way). Check out the pictures and video below.

Our helper Miss Emma holding the apples. Oops no hands allowed kids!

Oh, we have a winner! Someone finally got a great big bite.

This is much harder than it looks!

 

   After a few games, our Grade 3 buddies visited with us. We made a witch craft with them. It was really fun. The kids love learning things from their big buddies. You may have noticed a magnet in your child's folder on Halloween. Our Grade 3 writing buddies gave us magnets as our treat on Halloween. We gave both of our buddy classes chocolate!

   We ate lunch and then it was time to PARTY! We munched on our delicious treats and danced to a few spooky songs. We watched a short Halloween clip and then had a Halloween parade throughout the school. The other classes really liked seeing our costumes. Here is a group shot below. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did at our Halloween party!

Ashley Daley-Creamer

Library Tomorrow!

Please return all library books tomorrow!

Ashley Daley-Creamer