January 30, 2025

Hello Families,

We have had a fabulous week in kindergarten!

Thank you so much for the lovely staff lunch! It was both thoughtful and delicious, and we truly appreciate the time and care that went into preparing it. Your kindness goes above and beyond and means a great deal to all of us.

Important Dates

• Feb 2 – Fun Lunch 
• Feb 10 - School Council 
• Feb 12/13 - Teachers’ Convention
• Feb 16 – Family Day 
• Feb 24 – Report cards available to parents for viewing 
• Feb 26/27 - Parent Teacher Conferences 

Valentine's Day
Valentine’s Day is a wonderful time to celebrate the themes of belonging and friendship at school. On February 10th and 11th, students can distribute Valentine's cards to their classmates. Bringing in cards is optional. Labelling the cards with your child’s name and “friend” is helpful in kindergarten. If your child does bring in cards, please ensure that your child has a card for everyone in the class. Please know that there won’t be any class parties or food sharing of any kind. Kindly keep special treats for home time. Thank you!  

Monday/Wednesday: 19 students

Tuesday/Thursday: 21 students

Literacy: (Building Early Writing Skills with “Say It, Stretch It, Write It”)

This week in kindergarten, our students explored letters and sounds through a fun and engaging activity called “Say It, Stretch It, Write It.” This task helps children connect oral language with written words, laying the foundation for clear sentences, rich vocabulary, and early sentence structure.

Before writing, students focus on speaking and listening. Each day, we introduce a new letter—like B—and practice its sound together: “Today our letter is B. Say the sound with me: /b/.” Using sentence stems, students orally complete prompts such as:

• “A word that starts with B is ___.”

• “I like ___ that starts with B.”

• “I see a ___ that starts with B.”

By sharing ideas with a partner first, students are encouraged to think before writing, strengthening both oral communication and their ability to plan what they want to write.

Linking Sounds to Writing

After oral practice, students stretch out the words they want to write, connecting the sounds they hear to letters on the page. Students develop an understanding of letters, sounds, and words. Students build vocabulary and sentence structure through oral and written language. Students practice thinking before writing to organize ideas clearly.

• I can say the sounds in words.
• I can use words that start with the letter we are learning.
• I can share my ideas with a partner before writing.
• I can write the letters that match the sounds I hear.

By linking speaking, thinking, and writing, these learning tasks support students to develop confidence with words and sentences while having fun with letters and sounds. 

Math (Learning Through Play: Uno Flip)

In our kindergarten classroom, play is an important way students explore and make sense of math. One game we’ve been enjoying is an “Uno Flip” game using dice, designed specifically to support early number learning.

How the Game Works

Each player receives Uno cards numbered 1–6 and puts them in numerical order 1-6.

• Player 1 rolls the dice
• The player flips over the card that matches the number rolled
• Play then moves to the next player
• If a player rolls a number they have already flipped, they lose their turn
• The goal is to be the first player to have all numbers 1–6 flipped over to the “Uno” side

This simple structure allows students to focus on number recognition and counting while staying engaged in a fun, predictable routine.

This game supports key skills outlined in the kindergarten numeracy curriculum, including:

• Recognizing numbers 1–6 and connecting them to quantities shown on the dice
• Subitizing, or quickly recognizing small numbers without counting each dot
• Tracking which numbers have been flipped, supporting early problem-solving, and memory
• Understanding one-to-one correspondence as they match a dice roll to a specific card
• Comparing progress (which numbers are still needed) and planning next moves

Students also practice important learning behaviours such as taking turns, following rules, managing frustration when a turn is missed, and persevering and trying again.

Have a wonderful weekend!