Learning at home in an online environment has become our new normal in the kindergarten classroom. Students have many questions and some understand that a terrible virus has invaded our country and so in order to stay safe we have to learn at home. Students have also learned that in order for many services to continue in our day to day lives, there are special people who continue to go to work every day. In their own way, they are expressing thanks to all the essential workers and recognizing the great job they are doing.
It is a joy to see art from the perspective of a child.
There are less than two months to the end of the school year and for the next few weeks I will be sharing my experience of online learning with my kindergarten class. Navigating the online learning environment has been somewhat of an adventure. I must confess that I miss the person to person interaction in the physical classroom space. Nevertheless, the students and I have gotten into an online routine that seems to be working.
We have weekly Zoom classes where some student interaction is facilitated through games, stories and other creative expressions. Students get the chance to share their home learning and participate in weekly Show and Tell. Being in the comfort of their home with parents around, gives students that extra exuberance to share with friends. Mark you, there are a few of them that still need that prompting to share openly.
It has been fascinating to watch their growth and share in their learning in the online space. The school year will be completed in this online environment and as much as I would love to be able to see them in the classroom, we will make the most of what technology affords us.
This term we had a great time exploring 2D and 3D shapes in the environment. Students were taken on a shape walk around the school where they identified different shapes they saw. In the classroom, students used shapes to build various structures. Our final challenge was to build a shape robot using a mixture of both 2D and 3D shapes. Students were also given an opportunity to present their robots in front of the class as they practiced their oral skills.
Shape Robots
Students created different robots using recycled materials.
students were also challenged to present their robots to a grade 3 class. At first, they were a little nervous but they were willing to take on the challenge. The grade 3 class was very accommodating and students had fun presenting their work.
Our trip to Forest Valley provided many opportunities for outdoor exploration. The experience provided many hands-on, inquiry-based learning opportunities that fit right into our learning goals. Our tour guides were Danny and Sarah. They gave students a very warm welcome and introduced them to the fun activities we were going to engage in for the day.
Measurement
There were so many beautiful trees in the outdoor space. The students estimated how old the trees were by hugging them. Two hugs meant the tree was 200 years old.
Observing Animal Tracks
Students observed the animal tracks to guess which animal had made a path through the woods.
Spotting Bird Nests
Students spotted several nests high up in the trees. They had so many questions for our tour guide Danny.
Building Structures
Students worked together to build several nests for different animals
What a great day of fun and learning at the Forest School!
Play-based learning provides many opportunities for students to learn and explore. Through play, students use their imaginations to indulge in creative and engaging activities. Fall presents so many opportunities for students to enjoy the outdoors. Examining leaves are a great way to incorporate learning outdoors. Here we invited students to compare leaf sizes and group into small, medium and large.
Through outdoor play, students use their imaginations to create make-believe scenarios that they explore with their peers. After a read aloud where characters in the story build a campfire, students made connections to the outdoor by creating their own version of a campfire.
We have been working on letter names and letter sounds in our class. Here one of my JK students used a stick to make the letter M. I must say he did a great job!
Many opportunities are there for students to observe their surroundings. Rainfall created several puddles outdoors that students had fun exploring. This puddle had a worm moving around. Students were simply fascinated with all the movement and spent quite a bit of time observing the worm and other items in the puddle.
The benefits of outdoor play cannot be overemphasized.
Students get multiple opportunities to engage in inquiry
Daily physical activity helps to improve students overall health and wellbeing
The teacher is presented with many scenarios to observe students' social interactions
Students' creativity and imagination skills are enhanced
Today, November 11, is a special day as we pause to reflect on the work of our many hardworking men and women in the armed forces who died in the line of duty. The day is observed as Remembrance Day or more informally Poppy Day. In our classroom, we had a conversation about the meaning of Remembrance Day and students were shown a video summarizing the poppy story.
At school, we had a Remembrance Day assembly where students quoted poems, sang songs and paid tributes by laying wreaths made in the classrooms. It was a solemn assembly and students were in a reflective mode. Our class created a poster for remembrance day with a poppy themed handprint of Flanders Fields. As part of our in-class discussion, students were asked what Remembrance Day meant to them or what the day signifies. Here are a few of their unedited responses:
"It is when we sing a song."
"On Remembrance Day we wear poppies on our t'shirts."
"They were fighting because they were getting old."
"They were fighting on the field."
"It means when the people died."
"People who fought, they fought the bad guys to make us safe."
Poppy themed handprint done by kindergarten class
It was a very interesting conversation with the kindergarten class. It is important that we continue to engage our students in conversations that draw on our history and the significance of main events. Even if we have to break it down so they can make connections. Today our class says thank you to all the members of the armed forces who fought for our freedom.
We will remember them!
Wreaths made by students at Roywood Public School for Remembrance Day Assembly!
