Division 18 Newsletter

January 2016

Bonjour dear families! I wanted to get this newsletter out to you before the winter break so you know what to
expect for the return to school. I wish you all a wonderful break with lots of opportunity for family time! I will
miss your children dearly and will look forward to seeing them all again in the New Year. Here are some of the
things to keep in mind for the month of January.

Le franais (Language Arts)

Ami du jour (Friend of the day) This is your childs special day at school. They are invites to lead calendar
on their special day. They also have the opportunity to choose activities first and be the teachers special helper
for the day. Show and tell (montre et raconte) also happens on their special day. For this session of show and tell
we are still reviewing our colours but also talking about sizes. We can ask questions like: Est-ce que cest gros?
(Is it large?) Est-ce-que cest moyen (medium)? Est-ce-que cest petit (small)? Please do not send your child to
school with toys for show and tell (no toys from home are permitted at school in case they get lost or broken).
Les themes We are still working our way through the alphabet. For each letter your child will learn a song and
action to help them remember the sound the letter makes and will practice printing that letter. Each week we will
have activities around the letter of the week. I have posted the letter songs on the class website so please be sure
to visit it often! We will continue to learn about rhymes but will begin to focus more on segmenting words. This
will help your child learn that words are made up of several sounds and that we can break the words into
sounds. We will be moving onto a unit about weather Quel temps fait-il? This unit not only teaches us about
the weather but gives us the opportunity to explore the concept of change which is important to grasp in
kindergarten. It also gives us the opportunity to expand or vocabulary about clothing! You can help at home by
asking your child to describe the weather and tell you what they are wearing - in French! Also, practice the letter
sounds with your child and identifying words that start with that letter when reading. You can also work with
rhymes at home by reading nursery rhymes or other rhymes in English and asking your child to identify them.
Identifying words (orally) that rhyme while reading, listening to music, or just talking is also a great exercise to
do at home.
La lecture Read to your child every day. One way to keep track of how much you are reading is to use the form
provided by our school librarian.

Les sciences humaines et les sciences naturelles

Les science humaines We are finished with our unit on community helpers and will be focusing on Science this
month. See les sciences naturelles for further information.
Les sciences naturelles We have learnt about weather in general during our calendar time but will now begin to
explore the vocabulary as it pertains to different weather and will focus on how the weather changes and how
these changes affect us and other living creatures. We will also begin learning about matter closer to the end of
this month if there is time! You can help at home by asking about the French vocabulary that your child has
learned with regards to weather. You can ask your child about what matter is and how it can change and have
them practice telling you in French.

Les mathmatiques
Le nombre We will continue with activities around numbers up to 5 this month; however our focus will shift
towards the unit on geometry and measurement. In this unit your child will learn to identify 2D and 3D shapes in
French and learn how to sort them according to attributes. We will also begin to explore how to measure things:
we will look at size, length, volume and weight. You can help at home by encouraging your child to practice
counting out loud in French and making groups of objects and learning to identify how many objects are in the
group made. You can also have your child sort objects at home using one attribute (ei.: things that are round,
things that have a flat side, things that have a sharp edge, things that have a point).Comparing items it terms of
size and length is also a good way to practice measurement at home.

Lducation Physique (PE)

As we are just starting school up again we will review the rules in the gym about safety. Students will have the
opportunity to practice their skills at many different stations that will mainly focus on jumping to get ready for our
jump rope for heart event in the school during the month of January. You can help by discussing the importance of
staying active and by asking what we have been doing in PE.

Daily Physical Activity

Riverdale has a daily physical activity time set aside most days for students to dance and move about with music
and the help of an older student leader. We also practice our running skill: running safely, not cutting corners and
how to keep track of our laps.

La planification personnelle (Health and Career)

We will be learning more about health and safety later on in the year.

Les arts plastiques

We will be creating artwork themed around winter and Carnaval (A French Canadian Winter Festival). Students
will also have the opportunity to create art using the shapes they are learning about in math. You can help at
home by encouraging you childs interest in arts and crafts and by asking what we are working on at school.

Other:

As we are beginning another term, please ensure that your child has a pair of inside shoes that fit
comfortably and a change of clothes in their locker. You are welcome to come in and check in the
morning if youd like.
Please check your communication folder each night and carefully and take the time read and
complete pertinent paperwork. It takes quite a bit of time for teachers to check paperwork and it can be
time consuming to have to send paperwork home a second to be completed correctly. If there are papers
you do not want in the blue folder please throw them out at home. This way I can spend more time with
your child and less time sorting through various papers in their file.

Class Calendar

Jan 4th First day back at school after the Christmas Break.
Jan 18th Field Trip to Fort Langley for Festival des Voyageurs.
Jan 29th SOAR Assembly at 9:00 in the gym.

Calling Parent volunteers!

Play dough I am looking for volunteers to make play dough for January. Please e-mail me if you can help.
If you havent bookmarked it yet, please check out our class website for info about schedules, calendar and
learning! http://laclassedemmemcdonald2015-2016.weebly.com
If you have any questions or comments. Please feel free to send me a note, talk to me after class or contact
me by e-mail at mcdonald_s1@surreyschools.ca. Please note that may not get around to responding to e-mails on
a daily basis so please be patient and I will try my best to respond within 48 hours. If you have something time
sensitive to communicate it is always best to give the school a call.

Thanks for reading!

Mme McDonald