It's a Zoo in Here!

Well, we officially made it - spring break is finally here!  I hope everyone enjoys a nice, relaxing break from school.  

This past week we had fun finishing up our zoo theme.  We strengthened our fine motor skills by using popsicle sticks and plasticine to build our very own zoo cages!  

You can click here to see more pictures of our zoo cages in action.  

Lions and Tigers and Bears... 

Oh My!

The students were on high alert looking for zoo animals when we took a zoo safari hunt around the school.  This pre-literacy activity focused on hearing sounds in words, expanding vocabulary, and visual recognition.  You can click here to see more pictures of the safari hunt.  

Little Bakers

We made elephant bread on Wednesday.  The students were very excited for this project.  Some of them were quite shocked to find out that our school has an oven!  You can click here to see more pictures of our baking. 

Zones of Regulation

This week we continued to talk about expected and unexpected behaviours.  We reviewed how behaving in an expected way makes the people around you feel safe and happy.  The students had fun posing for pictures of expected circle time behaviour.  These behaviours include sitting on your bottom, eyes looking, ears listening, and mouth quiet:

They also enjoyed posing for some pictures of unexpected circle time behaviour:

 (Yikes!!)

I plan to hang these pictures in our classroom.  This will give the students a visual reference and reminder of what expected and unexpected behaviour looks like during circle time.  

Coming Up

• March 27 - 31st - spring break, no school
• April 3rd - classes resume
• April 5th and 6th - early dismissal
• the morning class will dismiss at 10:25 am
• the afternoon class will dismiss at 2:15 pm
• April 14th - no school - Good Friday
• April 17th - no school - Easter Monday/Semester Break
• April 18th - PD Day - no school 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Even though we built and set Leprechaun traps, we were not lucky enough to catch one!  Those Leprechauns did however, visit our classroom - and they made quite the mess.  It was up to the students to figure out the seven jokes that were played on them, so they could go to the office to claim their gold!  You can click here for more of our St. Patrick's Day fun.

The students had fun building Leprechaun traps this week.  They worked together and demonstrated wonderful collaboration and team work skills to come up with one trap per table.  You can click here to see more pictures of our Leprechaun trap building.  

St. Patrick's Day Art

This week we enjoyed getting messy.  We painted shamrocks using marbles and marshmallows! 

We also strengthened our fine motor skills by making rainbow necklaces out of cereal.  You can click here to see more pictures of our messy fun.

Zones of Regulation

This week I introduced the students to the concept of expected and unexpected behaviours.  We talked about how when you behave in an expected way (for example, sitting quietly during learning time), your friends and the people around you feel comfortable and safe.  When you behave in an unexpected way (for example, screaming or sitting in someone else's personal space), you make your friends and the people around you feel uncomfortable or scared.  We brainstormed and discussed different expected and unexpected behaviours, and how they might make our friends feel.

Check out our Bulletin Boards

We were feeling the PreK Pride when we seen our finished bulletin boards in Riverview School.  Our lions are displayed near the office, and the birds are in the hallway near the gym.  Be sure to check them out if you get the chance!

Coming Up

• March 27th - 31st - Spring Break, no school
• April 5th and 6th - Early Dismissal Days
• The morning class will dismiss at 10:25 am
• The afternoon class will dismiss at 2:15 pm

We're Going on a Lion Hunt!

We were wild about the zoo theme last week!  The students had fun painting lions using forks and making lion masks out of paper plates.  It was all roars and screams when we used our finished masks to go on a "lion hunt!"  You can click here to see more pictures of our lion hunt.

We learned about different animals and their sounds by singing "The Animals at The Zoo."  The students also enjoyed painting some colourful birds for our classroom zoo!  We will be hanging our lions and birds in the front entry way of the school for the Riverview open house.  Be sure to check them out later next week if you have the chance.   

There were several zoo centres set up during play time.  The students enjoyed being zoo keepers and using the zoo keeper checklist to ensure the zoo animals had plenty of food, water, a clean cage, and were healthy.  We even had a couple of pretend veterinarians in the room!  We also painted a snowy winter zoo and enjoyed a zoo scavenger hunt in the sensory bin!  You can click here to see more pictures of our zoo centres.

This week we have been reviewing the zones of regulation.  We sorted different emotions into the coloured zones - blue, green, yellow, or red.  We also discussed the tools of quietly counting to ten and deep "umbrella" breathing to help calm us down if we are in the yellow or red zone.  The green zone is where you should be when you are ready to learn!

Developing Body Awareness 

Throughout the year we have been singing the "Mat Man" song to help develop body awareness.  The Mat Man song sings about the of parts of Mat Man's body.  This week we developed our fine motor skills by participating in a guided drawing activity as we all drew Mat Man while we sang the song together.  

If you want to see Mat Man in action, you should ask your child if they will draw Mat Man for you!  You can click here to see more pictures of our drawings.  

In the Gym

I introduced the students to two new tag games this past week.  We certainly had some good cardio exercise and got our hearts beating!  We had fun playing bridge tag and peacock tag.  It was a great way to burn some of that pent up energy from being stuck inside.

Coming Up

The forecast next week looks marvellous!  I am looking forward to getting the kids outside to connect with nature and for some much needed fresh air.  Please be sure to dress your child for the weather - wearing snow pants or splash pants will be important for staying dry if the warm temperatures actually arrive!

We will take a break from the zoo next week for some St. Patrick's Day fun!

• March 27th - 31st - spring break - no school

Paleontologists in the Making!

What an exciting week we had being paleontologists last week.  


We had fun looking for dinosaurs, fossils, and bones throughout the school while we worked on expanding our dinosaur vocabulary and visual matching skills.  

We used paint to discover dinosaur fossils on paper!

We hatched dinosaur babies out of frozen eggs.  The students had to figure out how to get the dinosaurs out of the eggs.  They used a combination of salt, water, hammers, and smashing the eggs to free the babies!  This project was so exciting that we have saved eggs for all of the students that were absent so they can have a chance to hatch a baby dinosaur next week.

You can click here to see the rest of our paleontologist pictures.

In The Gym

This week we worked on ball skills in the gym.  I set up stations for the students to rotate through that helped them to work on bouncing, throwing, and catching balls.  We used different sizes of balls, and worked on throwing both over and under hand.  

How Do Dinosaurs Stay Friends?

We read the book "How Do Dinosaurs Stay Friends" by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague.  This open some great discussions around how to treat your friends.  

Last week we read "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" and began to touch on the big concept of telling the truth.  

Coming Up

It's about to get wild in PreK... Next week we will begin our Zoo theme!

I will be sending home a form this week for you to fill out regarding your plans for the upcoming school year (staying in PreK, moving to kindergarten, etc.).  This form is important for our school so that we can begin to project numbers and start planning for the fall.  Please fill this form out and send it back to school by March 10th.

• March 23rd, 5:30 - 8:00 pm - Family Dance at Robina Baker School
• March 27 - March 31st - Spring Break, no school