Starting the Day Off Right

We have added a new element to our morning routine in KG-B, which involves being mindful and finding balance. We have been using the amazing resource "GoNoodle" in our classroom from day one as we find we need to get up and move or need to refocus. This week we began to use this website to help us calm our bodies and minds and get ready for the day. Through the use of short one to two minute videos, we have begun to learn how we can change our mindset.

Today during our morning greeting we went around the circle saying the chant, "Hey, hey (name), how are you doing today?", and we noticed that many responses included the vocabulary 'sad, angry, or tired'. We realized we had come to school with a lot of strong emotions. It was quite serendipitous that the video "Find Joy" was already queued as our mindfulness video of the day. You would have been amazed to see the seriousness with which we approached our video, and then at the transformation that happened after taking this one minute to reflect. So many more smiles were present after opening our eyes, and the room was filled with quiet chatters of "I feel better" and "Now I feel happy". To take a look at this video and others, click here.  

Taking this moment even further, Anastasia quickly jumped up after the video and grabbed the learner profile poster for "balanced" off the wall. She excitedly exclaimed, "We were doing this!!" What a wonderful, authentic introduction to this word.

We Celebrate Literacy

Our current unit of inquiry focuses on sharing ideas through literacy, and one of our lines of inquiry is "we celebrate literacy". Today during reading workshop we entered a new phase as we were introduced to reading fairytales. To celebrate this new, exciting time we each were given a special book to unwrap.

Ms. Winta - our special deliverer!

Our faces were filled with grins as we unwrapped our books to see which one we were given. We  excitedly shared them with our reading partners.

Tomorrow we are very much looking forward to celebrating literacy in two more ways. In the morning we will gather with another kindergarten class to celebrate our writing and share our own books. Then in the afternoon we will have a reading parade during our KG/Grade 1 assembly to show off some of our favorite books. Stay tuned for more photos!

We Are Inquirers

The hail storm today provided a perfect opportunity for us to be introduced to the Primary Years Program (PYP) learner profile trait inquirer. We were amazed to see, in Anastasia's words, "the sky raining ice". We wondered why this happened and from where the ice came. We are interested in seeking answers to our questions. We will use this word a lot during our journey through the PYP and invite you to use this vocabulary at home as well.