Friday, April 22nd, 2022

Hi Families, 

Our learning this week focused on our continued exploration of local bird species, using activities from The City of Calgary Nature Kit to develop our understanding of bird eggs, food and beaks. 

Interdisciplinary Learning

While exploring eggs, we applied mathematical thinking to describe the shape. Students were able to identify that if an egg was flat, it would be an oval. They were then introduced to the term "ovoid" to describe the 3D shape. 

We ordered eggs from largest to smallest, and made predictions about which eggs belonged to which bird, making connections between the size of the bird and size of the egg, the colour of the bird and the colour of the egg, as well as our past experiences in nature. 

Ask your child if they can recall which egg belongs to which bird out of the following: Black-Capped Chickadee, Northern Flicker, Eagle, Hummingbird, Mallard, Robin.

We also explored different styles of beaks, comparing them to common tools for scooping, straining, probing, cutting/tearing, sucking and tweezing, depending on the birds food source.

Knowing that Chickadees use a small, tweezing or pinching beak for small insects and seeds, we also introduced a new material harvesting the seeds from the dried sunflower heads that were donated to our classroom in the Fall. We love not only learning what it's like to be a Chickadee, but also noticing how different the sunflower seeds are! Some are striped, some are solid, some are long and skinny, some are short and fat! 

As we closely study each of the City of Calgary bird nominees, students will be asked to observe the space around their home - front yard, backyard, local park - for each bird. 

This week, students are coming home with an observation sheet for the Black-Capped Chickadee. If you need another copy, the template has been uploaded to our Google Classroom --> Classwork --> Resources --> Have You Seen...Backyard Birds

Students are asked to record how many Chickadees they observed in the space, where they saw the bird (tree, ground, bird-feeder, roof, light-post, etc.) as well as what the bird was doing (eating, drilling, calling, etc.)

No writing necessary. Students should record in pictures they can speak to. 

We will need the Chickadee observation sheets back by Thursday, April 28th. Please ensure your child's name is written on the back. 

Literacy

In our Literacy work this week, we started our final review of letters and sounds, while layering in accurate and efficient lowercase letter formation. This week, we reviewed the letters c, o, s, v and w. Ask your child if they can tell you what these letters all have in common. 

We also introduced some I Spy visuals into the classroom, that allow for a range of skill practice. This week, we practiced using them in two different ways:

1. I Spy Initial Sound: "I spy with my little eye, something that starts with..."
2. I Spy Rhyming: "I spy with my little eye, something that rhymes with HAT..."

All the images on the visuals are CVC words (consonant-vowel-consonant), so students have been introduced to all the sounds. This should be taken into consideration when you see pictures such as the "bear", which has sounds students have not been introduced to yet, so is not decodable as a full word. Instead, think of a "cub", which has consonant and short vowel sound, which have been introduced, and is decodable for students. 

Some students can extend their learning by:

3. CVC Writing: Your child can find and write two words that rhyme, practicing our efficient spelling strategies. They can write as many rhyming pairs that they see. 

For home practice, these visuals (three different versions) can be found in Google Classroom --> Classwork --> Resources.

Finally, in gym, we have introduced racket sports, stating with badminton, solely for our entertainment, and being able to use birdies ;) We love a good thematic unit. 

Some reminders:
- Friday, April 28th: Please return your child's Black-Capped Chickadee observation sheet
- Friday, April 29th: PM Kindergarten
- School Council Growing Smiles Fundraiser: Fundraiser Link

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Ms. Thomas