Hello Fellow Salal Members,
December was an exciting month in the classroom (Do I say that every month?). We completed our in-depth study of Salmon with an emphasis on the Chum salmon. We hope you had a good time coming to our Salmon Open House.
Did you hear I went to Canada? My daughter (MCS alum) moved to Ottawa this fall and I got to visit her new life in a sweet small town (Charlton Place). The main event in this town is HOCKEY and we went to a game. I have not cheered so enthusiastically in a long time. With this enthusiasm, I am introducing the game to our classroom. I invited a spirited hockey coach (Cydney’s husband) in to talk to us with all the gear and an overview of the game. We will see where this goes. If the children get as excited as I did, we will continue the study this month. If their enthusiasm does not match mine, we will quickly move onto peacemakers from around the world. Either way, we will begin our study peacemakers this month. This is one of the many perks of MCS. Teachers have the freedom and trust to teach to the students’ interests.
My friend, Lori, came in December to paint snowflakes with students. Lots of students know her from the community and she has lots of teaching experience, so it’s been fun to watch her work with groups of children with grace and ease during this busy time of year.
Leo will be starting homeschool in January. We are going to miss him and welcome him, and all former students, to visit whenever he wants. We will get a new student starting in January, William. If you see a new face, please say hello and introduce yourselves. Interactions outside the classroom translate into an even more cohesive class culture.
In Writers’ Workshop, the Kinders continue to build a stronger community of writers. Over the past month or so we have been working on making our writing more readable. We have practiced using some new tools to help us tell our own stories–and practice reading with writing buddies. Our tools include:
- Rereading our words and phrases
- Using spacing between words
- Using our word wall of sight words or commonly used words
- Using the movable alphabet to build our words as we work on fine motor skills to write legibly
- “Taking a picture” in our mind, and trying to recall in our own minds
- Remembering the details that make our stories exciting and interesting to read
Thank you to all who attended our publishing party. Our students love to share their progress and their stories!
We hope you had a wonderful winter break filled with all the things you need.
Sincerely,
Cheryl and Ellie
