O Canada

Every day, we begin our day by standing (standing tall with our arms to our sides) for O Canada and for the Treaty Acknowledgement. We sing along to O Canada, and listen to the Treaty Acknowledgement.

English version

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all of us command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

French version

Ô Canada! Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

Every morning we remain standing to listen to the Treaty Acknowledgment being read over the announcements.  

"I would like to acknowledge that this school is situated upon traditional territories. The territories include the Wendat (wen-dat), Anishinabek (ah-nish-nah-beck)Nation, the Haudenosaunee (ho-den-oh-show-knee) Confederacy, the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nations, and the Metis (may-tee) Nation. I also recognize the enduring presence of Aboriginal peoples on this land. 
The treaty that was signed for this particular parcel of land is collectively referree to as the Toronto Purchase and applies to lands east of Brown's Line to Woodbine Avenue and north towards Newmarket."

Message for Monday, May 4

Watch Ms. Brown's Message to you HERE!

Today I would like you to start singing O Canada every morning, so you don't forget how!

English version

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all of us command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

French version

Ô Canada! Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

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Before you read the message you need to look outside and decide what the weather is! Is it Sunny? Cloudy? Rainy? Snowy? Windy? or a mix of 2 (or 3)?  Where the blank space is in the message, you have to say the weather. 

Today is Star Wars Day! May the 4th be with you!  

 Iris!  You are our helper! You can take the attendance to the office :) Iris, you can write the names of the people who are home right now and bring your paper to someone else. Even your brother! You need to be extra helpful today. What will you do?

Who is today's Mystery Friend ?

Clue #1. Our mystery friend has 3 of the same letter in their name.
Who is our mystery friend? You will often find our friend at the Dramatic Play Centre! 

Math Monday!

Today I am sharing two different math activities in two posts to practice throughout the week and beyond. They can also be accessed by links on the sidebar under "Math Activities".  I have emailed out PDFs with Dot Cards and Number Match cards. You can definitely make your own if you don't want to use a printer!
 

Number Match - Number Recognition and One-to-One Correspondence

Counting is the ability to recite numbers in order. Please continue to challenge your child to count in sequence!

Number recognition is the ability to visually recognize and name numbers. Please continue to point out and name numbers around you (house numbers, numbers on the phone or tv remote, on clocks). Letting your child play with a calculator is a fun learning tool -- have them press the numbers 0-10 in order, or just type and say the numbers. Name and order magnetic numbers on the fridge!

One-to-One Correspondence is matching up a verbal or written number with an object. When a child has mastered one-to-one correspondence they can touch objects as they count them. Count everything throughout the day. How many grapes are in your bowl? How many times does the phone ring before you answer it? How many steps are in the stairs to your second floor?

A fun way to play with One to One Correspondence is to use an egg carton. Write the numerals 0-10 (or 11) at the bottom of the egg carton. You can make the numbers random in the sections, or write them in order. Then your child can put the amount of items that the number says into each section. Cheerios work great for this!

Number Match

Number match games will help to reinforce Number Recognition and One-to-One Correspondence. They should be used after your child has practiced a bit with concrete objects (Cheerios, etc). We have practiced a lot in school with counters, pebbles, acorns, etc. !

First, print the cards onto cardstock or onto paper and glue to cereal boxes. I glued to the coloured side of the cereal box, so the back sides were blank. If you don't want to use a printer, just cut out squares of paper and write the numerals 0-10, and then amounts of number dots 0-10 (22 pieces of paper). To be more efficient, you could cut them the same size as your dot cards and play with the dot cards as well.

In the number match game you can begin by just matching the card with the numeral to the card with the ten frame. 


Once the child is proficient matching the numerals 0-10 with the appropriate ten frames, then flip the cards over and try a memory match! 


Memory Match - A 1 or 2 person game. Shuffle the cards and lay all of the numeral cards and all of the Ten Frame cards face down on the table. It is best if you have them in rows. Maybe 5 rows of 4, and an extra two. (I am just showing 16 cards because 16 is all that fit on my mat)

 Flip over one card, and then flip over another card. 

They will likely not match, but remember where they are, and flip them back over, face down. The next person will flip over one card, then another, trying to get a match. 

If the cards match, then you take them out of the game, and in a pile to the side. (Each person should have a pile, becasue the person with the most cards at the end wins).

 If you get a match, you can try again (or you can play, just one try per turn). Keep playing until all of the cards have been matched. This is an awesome game for memory skills and for number and amount recognition.

If your child is ready for number words ( the SK students should try this!), substitute the number words for the ten frames or the numerals, and try memory match. 

Subitizing with Dot Cards

What is subitizing? (pronounced "soobitizing")

Subitizing is the ability to quickly identify the numbers of items in a small set without counting. We do it in instances like when we roll a dice and instantly know that we have rolled a 5.

 We didn't count the pips (marks) on the die, we just know that arrangement is 5. 

Subitizing is a developmental prerequisite to counting. 
The easiest way to teach it is to flash dot cards and have the children quickly call out the amounts that they see. In the classroom i use paper plates with dots stamped on them with bingo dabbers.  I start by flashing a card slowly.When we do it in the classroom, by this time of year, I can flash it for less than 1/4  second. but we have build up to that. I let the child(ren) guess the number and when they have all finished guessing, I hold it up, and keep it held up. After I flash the card, I ask the children what they saw, and then how they saw it. Looking at the dot card below they might say "I saw 5. I saw a row of 4 on the bottom and one more at the top".  or "I saw 5. I saw a dot on top and then 4 at the bottom"  or "I saw 2 black dots and two black dots and one grey dot. Two plus two is four and one more makes 5". We try to explain what we see in our head after the initial "flash".
We also often discuss the different ways of seeing it while I am holding it up. This helps everyone to understand that there isn't just one way of seeing things. Talking about how we see the number is (initially) even more important than getting the number correct.

I have sent you a pdf with these smaller dot cards. You could print them onto cardstock and then cut them out, or print them onto paper  and glue the paper onto cardboard (cereal box or cracker box!) and then cut them out. Having a sturdy card really helps with the flipping, and also keeps the children from seeing through the paper!


Or, if you have a bingo dabber and some paper plates, make dot plates! The cards that I have shared have a solid black and a grey. Do the solids in one colour and the grey dot in a different colour. Circle stickers will work well also!

Practice with the dots cards up to five first, then add six, and when your child is ready, add 7 etc.  

Morning Message for Friday, May 1

Watch Ms. Brown's Message to you HERE!

Before you read the message you need to look outside and decide what the weather is! Is it Sunny? Cloudy? Rainy? Snowy? Windy? or a mix of 2 (or 3)?  Where the blank space is in the message, you have to say the weather. 

Henry K!  You are our helper! You can take the attendance to the office :) Henry, you can write the names of the people who are home right now and bring your paper to someone else. Even your brother! You need to be extra helpful today. What will you do?

Who is today's Mystery Friend ?

Clue #1. Our mystery friend has a y somewhere in their name.
Clue #2.  Our mystery friend has a b somewhere in their name.
Who is our mystery friend? You will often find our friend at the Dramatic Play Centre!

Drawing in our community

In Mo Willem's book Knuffle Bunny, we get to see the community that Trixie  lives in. 

Let's see more of Trixie's community, and her school, in Knuffle Bunny Too! Can you make some connections in this story too?

 

 

I love how Mo Willems used some real black and white photographs for the backgrounds on the pages. Then he used drawings on top of the photographs. This is called mixed media. That is when we use two different kinds of art together. 
Photography + Drawing = Mixed Media

We can try this too!

First, draw a person or other character (you could use the Pigeon! or any animal!) and then cut it out. I drew myself with pencil, and then used markers to colour myself in. Doing this on cardstock helps. (you can use the back of an old card). Parents -- you could help with the cutting if your child needs some help -- Usually the children do their own cutting, but the focus of this activity is having fun with the character on the page - not the cutting :)

Then you can put the cut out person on a magazine page of a street or building. Or on a picture of your own house that has been printed out in black and white! (I just use regular printer paper and increase the contrast and brightness) You can glue your character on, or you can put it there and take a picture of it and then move it and take another picture, and you can make a story! 

You can add a speech bubble and add some words!

If you don't have a magazine page of a street or building, you could print one that I used! Or just lay your drawing on top of an ipad.