End-of-the-Year Celebration!
The kindergarten teachers would like to invite all Hawkwood kindergarten students and their families to pack a picnic and meet at beautiful Bowness Park to celebrate a fantastic kindergarten year together! You will find us in the grassy area between the new and old playgrounds, just past the parking lot. We hope you can join us! Thanks to everyone for a wonderful school year together! When: Thursday, June 20 at 5:00-6:00pm Where: Bowness Park, beside the playground What to Bring: a picnic dinner, a big blanket to sit on (we have not booked tables), lawnchairs, water bottles (This event will happen fair or shine!) Feeling anxious about Grade 1 is a normal part of leaving Kindergarten. Here are some books from the Calgary Public Library to help calm nervous minds. The Night Before First Grade by Wing
All Are Welcome by Alexandra PenfoldFollow a group of children through a day in their school, where everyone is welcomed with open arms. A school where kids in patkas, hijabs, and yarmulkes play side-by-side with friends in baseball caps. A school where students grow and learn from each other's traditions and the whole community gathers to celebrate the Lunar New Year. The Day You Begin by Jacqueline WoodsonThere will be times when you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you. There are many reasons to feel different. Maybe it's how you look, talk, or where you're from; maybe it's what you eat, or something just as random. It's not easy to take those first steps into a place where nobody really knows you yet, but somehow you do it. School's First Day of School by Adam RexIt's the first day of school at Frederick Douglass Elementary and everyone's just a little bit nervous, especially the school itself. What will the children do once they come? Will they like the school? Will they be nice to him? David Goes to School by David ShannonDavid's teacher has her hands full. From running in the halls to chewing gum in class, David's high-energy antics fill each schoolday with trouble -- and are sure to bring a smile to even the best- bahaved reader. If You Take A Mouse to School by Laura NumerousIf you take a mouse to school, he’ll ask you for your lunch box. When you give him your lunch box, he’ll want a sandwich to go in it. Then he’ll need a notebook and some pencils. He’ll probably want to share your backpack, too... Dear Parents,
In recent blogs and school council meetings I have shared some of the challenges being presented as we plan for the coming school year. Most of these challenges originated from a decrease in our enrollment and a decrease in funding from the provincial government. The reduction of our teaching staff by 3.5 positions has created a need to shuffle our teaching assignments significantly more than in previous years. For many of our students this will result in a disruption to their “Two-Year Loop”. While, for the most part, classes entering the second year of their loop will remain intact, the teacher connected to them may change. An additional challenge this year is that our system staffing process is also 5-6 weeks later than it usually is and is therefor, still subject to change over the summer months. Even as we create class lists in June, because of student movement and staffing changes, they are still subject to change prior to September. Like in previous years, your child’s homeroom teacher will be emailing a “welcome message” to their students in late August prior to the students’ first day on September 3. While we work through these challenges, as a staff we are getting very excited about the possibilities that next year will bring. Thank you again for your patience and your amazing support for our school community. Sincerely, Mike MacDonald Principal, Hawkwood School Calgary Board of Education | www.cbe.ab.ca 650 Hawkwood Blvd. NW, Calgary t | 403-777-6410 ext 0 e| [email protected] Kindergarten learned about soapstone, where soapstone comes from and the process an artist go through to shape it. Students use various rasps, 3 grits of sandpaper and oil to carve and complete their own soapstone butterflies.
How it relates to the curriculum: - experiments with a variety of art materials to create two and three-dimensional forms - begins to discover that many objects in daily life are designed or created by artists; e.g., picture books, pottery, paintings and sculpture - develops fine motor skills involving finger speed, arm steadiness, arm and hand precision, finger and hand dexterity, and the manipulation of small materials Hawkwood school was visited by a very special guest this week: Chantal Chagnon!
Chantal is a Cree Ojibwe Metis storyteller who lead and taught our Kindergarten students in a drumming circle. How it relates to the curriculum:
On June 7thKindergarten will be going on our regular Friday community walk. This Friday is extra special because we will be releasing our butterflies into the wild! Please remember to ensure your child is dressed for the weather with proper outside shoes.
Kindergarten finished our observational record of our caterpillars. As a class, we have observed and to recorded our observations like a scientist. Now our caterpillars are no longer caterpillars but butterflies. How it related to the curriculum: - shares information-gathering experiences - draws to record about ideas and experiences Centre time in kindergarten is a fun and very important part of each day. Learning opportunities happen through exploration and play.
Our "Environment and Community Awareness" (Science) curriculum states: The child uses materials in the environment and community and becomes aware of how others use materials. Have a look at some of our centers in the classroom…. Reading tip:
Just because a child might stumble a little through a leveled text for school doesn’t mean they shouldn’t continue to try challenging texts during other types of reading opportunities! Leveled text reading is only one kind of reading in the classroom and is meant to assess progress and connect reading to home for Home Reading in Grade 1! |