Queridos Padres:
When the Dalai Lama was asked the most important thing to teach children, his response was (reportedly) “teach them to love the animals and insects”. Regardless of whether they have feelings or not, both animals and insects are an incredibly important part of our planet. They are a food source as well as pollinators (and not just bees), soil aerators, disposers of waste, control other pests and provide fertilizer. Insects specifically are the largest and most diverse group in the animal kingdom.
Teaching kindergarten students about animals and insects during the month of May will be and exciting and engaging unit. Incorporating a variety of activities and teaching strategies will ensure that students gain a thorough understanding of the topic.
The students will:
Our unit on animals will provide a great opportunity to expand students' vocabularies. We will use proper terminology when teaching students about the various parts of different animals. For example, we will introduce the three body parts of an insect as the head, thorax and abdomen, as opposed to the top, middle and bottom. Students will enjoy learning the technical terms for things they may already be familiar with, such as canines or the proboscis of a butterfly. Kindergartners are developed enough to begin to learn advanced vocabulary.
Students will not only learn about animals during science class. To provide them with increased exposure to the topic, we will integrate activities involving animals into other subjects such as reading, writing, math, Phys. Ed and español. When reading books featuring animals, we will emphasize language arts skills (English and Español) such as summarizing, making predictions while asking students to recall previously learned information. As well, the students will identify/read letters or words. In math, students will complete simple graphs, patterns, addition/subtraction problems and learn poems/songs that deal with the number of legs, wings, marks, or antennae on a given set of animals.
Part of the reason animals are such a good topic for kindergarten is because of the accessibility of hands-on learning experiences. For instance, for the Insects Unit, we are going have a bug hunt in our school grounds; this is a great way to learn about habitats, classification, animal conservation and nature. Students can examine insects with magnifying glasses or observe them in their natural environment.
Simple Questions About Bugs:
Weeks
From May 4th to May 29th
Inquiry learning questions
Are the insects on our planet helpful or a plague?
When we look at insects what things do we have in common?
When we look at insects what things do we not have in common?
Do insects have feelings?
Target skill
Analysing
Differentiation and discrimination
Comparing and contrasting
Evaluating
Making judgments about the value of ideas
Defending points of view
Phonemic awareness
Print, name and sound of letter in the ABC´s pattern.
Spanish Language
Insects’ vocabulary
Songs, rimes and poems related to the topic
Basic phrase formation related to the topic-“La mariposa grande”
Review of basic commands around the classroom-“Toma tu pegamento”
Math
Addition-adding doubles
Different ways to represent the same number as an introduction to addition
Simple subtraction equations
Subtraction games, stories, rimes and songs
3D geometrical shapes
Social Studies
Government elections
Democracy
Hierarchy in the insect world
Mother’s Day
Science
Animals’ life cycles.
Insects’ descriptions.
Fine Motor Skills
Chopping tomatos, spreading beans on fragile surfaces (hard shelled tortillas)
Grabbing small insects with tweezers
Painting small details on little rocks
Origami insect-making
Formal letter formation (pencil grip, orientation, direction, spatial skills, paper position)
Letter forming with models
Reproducing letters on paper
3D shapes tracing
Using clothespins for math and reading activities
Proper scissor holding and cutting motion
Social Skills
Values of the Month:
Being polite -- saying, "please," "thank you," and "excuse me," and look for chances to extend acts of courtesy.
Smiling and asking, "How are you?" Expecting a real answer to the question, listening to it and making eye contact.
Support, respect and love to Moms.
Spanish Culture
5 de mayo
“Día de las madres”
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
When the Dalai Lama was asked the most important thing to teach children, his response was (reportedly) “teach them to love the animals and insects”. Regardless of whether they have feelings or not, both animals and insects are an incredibly important part of our planet. They are a food source as well as pollinators (and not just bees), soil aerators, disposers of waste, control other pests and provide fertilizer. Insects specifically are the largest and most diverse group in the animal kingdom.
Teaching kindergarten students about animals and insects during the month of May will be and exciting and engaging unit. Incorporating a variety of activities and teaching strategies will ensure that students gain a thorough understanding of the topic.
The students will:
- Learn about the animals’ families (classification)
- Describe similarities and differences in the appearance of animals (e.g., size, shape, body coverings)
- Distinguish similarities and differences in how animals grow and behave
- Identify major structures of animals (e.g. arms, wings, legs, beaks, claws).
- Compare various habitats of animals
Our unit on animals will provide a great opportunity to expand students' vocabularies. We will use proper terminology when teaching students about the various parts of different animals. For example, we will introduce the three body parts of an insect as the head, thorax and abdomen, as opposed to the top, middle and bottom. Students will enjoy learning the technical terms for things they may already be familiar with, such as canines or the proboscis of a butterfly. Kindergartners are developed enough to begin to learn advanced vocabulary.
Students will not only learn about animals during science class. To provide them with increased exposure to the topic, we will integrate activities involving animals into other subjects such as reading, writing, math, Phys. Ed and español. When reading books featuring animals, we will emphasize language arts skills (English and Español) such as summarizing, making predictions while asking students to recall previously learned information. As well, the students will identify/read letters or words. In math, students will complete simple graphs, patterns, addition/subtraction problems and learn poems/songs that deal with the number of legs, wings, marks, or antennae on a given set of animals.
Part of the reason animals are such a good topic for kindergarten is because of the accessibility of hands-on learning experiences. For instance, for the Insects Unit, we are going have a bug hunt in our school grounds; this is a great way to learn about habitats, classification, animal conservation and nature. Students can examine insects with magnifying glasses or observe them in their natural environment.
Simple Questions About Bugs:
- Why are bees important?
- What do bees do when they land on a flower?
- Where do they take the pollen?
- What happens to it?
- Talk about the good things that different bugs and insects do and how they work.
- Which types of bugs have wings and fly?
- Which bugs just crawl?
- Which types of bugs jump?
Weeks
From May 4th to May 29th
Inquiry learning questions
Are the insects on our planet helpful or a plague?
When we look at insects what things do we have in common?
When we look at insects what things do we not have in common?
Do insects have feelings?
Target skill
Analysing
Differentiation and discrimination
Comparing and contrasting
Evaluating
Making judgments about the value of ideas
Defending points of view
Phonemic awareness
Print, name and sound of letter in the ABC´s pattern.
Spanish Language
Insects’ vocabulary
Songs, rimes and poems related to the topic
Basic phrase formation related to the topic-“La mariposa grande”
Review of basic commands around the classroom-“Toma tu pegamento”
Math
Addition-adding doubles
Different ways to represent the same number as an introduction to addition
Simple subtraction equations
Subtraction games, stories, rimes and songs
3D geometrical shapes
Social Studies
Government elections
Democracy
Hierarchy in the insect world
Mother’s Day
Science
Animals’ life cycles.
Insects’ descriptions.
Fine Motor Skills
Chopping tomatos, spreading beans on fragile surfaces (hard shelled tortillas)
Grabbing small insects with tweezers
Painting small details on little rocks
Origami insect-making
Formal letter formation (pencil grip, orientation, direction, spatial skills, paper position)
Letter forming with models
Reproducing letters on paper
3D shapes tracing
Using clothespins for math and reading activities
Proper scissor holding and cutting motion
Social Skills
Values of the Month:
Being polite -- saying, "please," "thank you," and "excuse me," and look for chances to extend acts of courtesy.
Smiling and asking, "How are you?" Expecting a real answer to the question, listening to it and making eye contact.
Support, respect and love to Moms.
Spanish Culture
5 de mayo
“Día de las madres”
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
- May 6th - KBAM Presentation of Mr. Fish 1:15 PM
- May18th - Academic Sharing Night from 4:00 to 7:00 PM
- May 25th - All 5 Kindergarten Classes Field Trip to the Calgary Children's Festival