Kindree Kindies

Wow what an exciting and engaging day!

This morning, we started off discussing Superheroes from a critical lens. Students shared their favourite superheroes, a few students shared theirs on chart paper.

Then, we discussed “fiction” or characters that they would typically see on television, apps, video games etc. compared to everyday superheroes that they would engage with everyday such as parents. We discussed what fictional characters do such as protecting, keeping safe and being good. All students made the connection that their real heroes were moms and dads. As well, students began to notice gender differences in the number of male superheroes compared to female characters. Very important, in my opinion, for these young learners to notice and identify the implicit meaning that are present when playing with these popular toys.
We watched a video about a modern day superhero…and we discussed why we thought this person was extraordinary.

Students then moved to explore action figures, comic books and other texts that our ECE student teacher, Mrs. Saima William brought into the class. Students then were invited to make their own bobble head dolls, pokemon cards, masks and capes to create a new superhero. Students created characters ranging from super girl, super butterfly girl, green man etc. To say that they were not beyond engaged would be an understatement.

This was our morning.

The afternoon consisted of the students going to music class and then returning to our classroom to create and design dragons for Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year. Have a look at your child’s creation. Most of their dragons were given names, they are very proud of that they have created.
This was followed up with a parade by a few students.

As well, students have expressed interest in hockey so we created a hockey rink area in the classroom with audience stands, a canteen, jerseys for kids to wear (thanks Mrs. Lynch) and mini hockey sticks to play. As well, Miss McGing has been investigating culture, diversity and identity. Students have talked about the poem “I am From” which looks at symbols and items that makes us who we are. Students have started to create art, research and create documentation of their own cultural identities.
I hope this helps with conversations around the home and making you aware of your child’s day and learning

Thanks for your support,

Bryan

Homelessness:  Today we discussed this photograph.  The students shared their ideas of what they saw in the photo, we recorded their observations rather than their guesses or inferences.  We placed their observations on the photograph through an app called “explain everything”.   Their observations are placed in white text scattered around the photograph. Next, the students then discussed how they sleep at home and the images or texts that they have in their own rooms each night.  Those observations are in blue in the top right corner. 

Finally we chatted about how this photograph made them feel.  The photograph made kids feel sad and scared and wondering why someone would sleep on the street.  They wished this person had a stuffy to sleep with so that he/she wouldn’t feel scared .  Students had questions ranging from why is someone sleeping on the road, where is their home, where is their mommy and it must be hard to sleep because of cars going by etc.  We discussed that people in Mississauga and Toronto and other places that some people actually sleep on the street at night in winter and summer.  The kids were shocked and saddened by this reality.  Your children were able to think critically, deconstruct and take an in-depth look at a multi-layered photograph.  The rich discussion that evolved further exemplifies the importance of visual critical literacy to our young learners.  They did such an amazing job.

Next, our kindergarten friends listened to the story entitled “The Lady in a Box”.  This fantastic picture book/ story shows how kids can make a difference to the problem of homelessness in their community.

The next step in this process will to actively get our kindergarten friends enabling them to choose “how they can help” through action.  Stay tuned.

Parents,
Check out the video taken from today’s music class.
Mrs.Karen Marks has them doing fun things.
Thanks for watching.

Literacy Today:  We opened up our discussion today about where do we see words?  We also chatted about what is reading?  The consensus on both was that reading occurs only in picture books, in the library and on websites.  As well, we talked about what is cereal and made a word web of ideas sharing our ideas.  We discussed the Froot Loops as a text that we can read.  The children noticed bright colours, numbers and a cartoon of a toucan.

Through our conversations, the children began to notice that were many different types of “s’s” on the box.  I asked if one of the s’s was the real one, but the kids said that they were all the same letter but they looked different.  Through that, we chatted about “font”.  We discussed the toucan and was it a photograph of a toucan or a cartoon? We wondered why that this was done.  Was it because that toucans ate Froot Loops or was there another reason?

We talked about the numbers on the box and what that meant.  Students wondered why there was a game on the back of the box and we discussed some reasons why they did that and students said “maybe it was for kids to play”.  Further, We discussed the nutrition information on the side of the box and why some of the information was written in the language of French. One student said, why is “fruit” spelled that way?  Is there really fruit in the box? We questioned if there was.

We wondered if all Froot Loops boxes all looked the same, so we explored some boxes in Japan, China    All in all, a really rich text discussion about purpose, audience, art, colour, words on a cereal box.

We then watched some 3 Froot Loops commercials on You Tube, and discussed and questioned who do we think the ads were for…mommies and daddies or kids like them.

You could try an activity like this at home with any sort of cereal or food around packaging.

Bryan Woods