Task Boxes for December-Part 2

Here are some photos that highlight our other task boxes for the month of December. 

Students love this task box that not only requires them to verbally identify the letters on each tree, but they then get to explore forming the letter in the green sand. 

Students use their visual discrimination skills in order to match the letter magnets to the sheet provided. During this activity, adults elicit further skill development such as, letter and colour identification. 

Using pattern blocks, students build the Christmas-themed picture. This task is slightly more challenging as previous pattern block activities as students do not have the colour to guide them complete each sheet. Instead they must rely on their knowledge of the shape. 

 Students must place the gingerbread man into his correct letter house. 

Weekly Reminders:

Thursday December 19th- Special Lunch for students

Thursday December 19th- Last day for students

Friday December 20th-No School: Organizational Day for Staff

Monday January 6th-First day back to school after Winter Break

Task Boxes for December: Part 1 (Numeracy)

December not only brought more snow, it brought new task boxes for the students to explore in Room 7. Below you will find examples of the new December Numeracy task boxes. 

For this task, students are required to count the Christmas characters and clip the clothespin onto the corresponding number. Students must use one-to-one correspondence to count, must be able to identify written numerals, but also strengthen their fine motor skills by repeatedly squeezing the clothespins. 

 Some of our students are tasked with a similar activity as above, but must count characters from 10-20, further expanding their counting skills and understanding of number. 

This activity requires students to recognize the number on top of each tree and place the correct number of decorations on top of it. This requires students to recognize numbers to 10, use visual discrimination and fine motor skills to place objects on the tree, and use their one-to-one correspondence in order to ensure they have the correct number of decorations for each tree.  

Students are further strengthening their counting skills with the next task box by placing the correct number of snowflakes in the ten frame. 

For this task, students must roll the dice and count the dots. Using their visual discrimination and number recognition skills, they must place a snowflake on the correct number. 

 Some students are practicing their early addition skills by using two dice to determine the number of dots. We pair the counting of dots on each dice with a verbal equation (ie. 6+4=). Students are not only beginning to add numbers, but they are further developing their understanding of numbers 10-20. 

Thank you to all of our parents and families for attending our Parent-Teacher Conferences this week. It was wonderful to get to speak with you all about the wonderful progress your child is making in CSSI. We hope you all have a wonderful weekend. 

November's Bear Inquiry

In November, students in Room 7 explored bears, including their sources of food, habitat and their hibernation habits. Below are some photos of our exploration. 

Students explored using several art techniques and mediums in order to create bear art projects. 

For the project below, students used oral communication or gestures to indicate two paint colours of their choice. They then used forks to spread the paint, creating a textured effect. We completed these bears by cutting out eyes, noses and ears, each student practicing their individual cutting skills. 

This multi-step project began with students using 4 different water colours to paint a large sheet of paper. We then used our cutting skills to cut out a head, body, arms and legs. Using scrap pieces of black paper, we completed our bears by adding ears, feet, claws, eyes and noses. 

In addition to our art projects, students explored a variety of literature, both fiction and non-fiction to learn about bears. 

We also practiced our expressive language skills using the amazing books by Bill Martin and Eric Carle. Students were given the opportunity to explore these books during group story time, partner reading and individual book exploration. 

Students explored texture with a wide variety of materials in order to create our large classroom bear. Some of the materials available were: sandpaper, felt, fur, rubber backing, yarn, twine, tissue paper and bark. 

 Our completed project wall. 

Letter L

Last week students had the opportunity to explore the letter L. Tasks that reinforced letter and sound recognition of the letter L were woven into our daily learning activities. Below is an example of some of those activities. 

We began our exploration of the Letter L with a craft. Students were required to follow along as an adult demonstrated each step of our craft.

 Here, students are using materials from "Handwriting Without Tears" to build the letter L. 

After building the letter L, students used their finger and then a crayon to trace the letter. This tracing was paired with language that reinforced the correct formation of the letter L (ex. start at the top).

 Students were then given the opportunity to practice printing the letter on their own paired with colouring an image of something that starts with the letter L. 

In addition to daily desk work, exploration of the letter L, including learning the corresponding sound and discovering the variety of things that start with the letter L were explored during our daily circle and music times. 

After much practice, students were asked to trace and print the letter L independently in their Literacy journals. They were then tasked with picking a picture of something that begins with the letter L and finding that matching word in order to label their picture. 

We loved learning about the letter L. 

Weekly Reminders:

Tuesday November 19th: Swimming at Emily Follensbee

Friday November 22nd: No School-Professional Development Day

New Task Boxes for November-Part 2

Like last week's post highlighting our numeracy-focused task boxes, students also have the opportunity to explore literacy-focused task boxes each day. Below are some examples of our literacy task boxes for November.

For this task box, students are required to match uppercase letters in order to complete a simple bear puzzle. Oral language skills are practiced and reinforced with letter and sound recognition and discussion of colour. 

This task box requires students to use their receptive language skills. An adult will read the descriptor card and students must match the visual picture. Oral language skills are also reinforced as students name the animal card. 

This task box can be scaffolded depending on individual student skill. For some students, they use their visual discrimination skills in order to match the colour of the animal to the corresponding colour on the mat. Other students are tasked with using their receptive language skills as an adult will request a certain animal and students must match based on that oral request. 

This activity introduces early reading skills as students practice reading the sentence on each card. Numeracy skills are woven into the task as students must use one-to-one correspondence in order to complete each card. 

Students must use visual discrimination skills in order to find the shapes to complete each picture. Numeracy skills are woven into this task as some students are asked to count each distinct shape and print the corresponding written numeral. 

For this task box, students must use their visual discrimination skills in order to sort bears. Adults practice oral language skills by asking students to identify the colour of each category and the size of each bear. Counting skills are also woven into this task as students are asked to count how many bears are in each colour category. 

Reminders:

Tuesday November 12th: Swimming

Tuesday November 19th: Swimming

Tuesday November 26th: Swimming

Tuesday December 3rd: Swimming (This will be our last swimming session).