Division 18 Newsletter

septembre 2015

Bonjour dear families! Welcome to our first newsletter of the school year. I hope you had some time for relaxing
a doing a few things with family and friends during the summer! We have a very fun and educational month
ahead here in division 18. Here are some of the things to keep in mind for the month of September.

Le franais (Language Arts)

Ami du jour (Friend of the day) I plan on beginning this program late in September or early October
depending on how the class is progressing. Once it takes off you will be able to see when your childs turn will be
as I will send out a monthly schedule. The friend of the day will also be having their show and tell turn on their
special day. Show and tell will always have a theme and I will provide you with some ideas about what your child
can bring to show the class.
Les themes This September we will be studying the colors in French. Each week we will look at a different
colour and learn some new vocabulary by learning the colors of many objects and their names. We will also begin
to learn about rhymes. Recognizing rhymes is important in kindergarten as it is the basis of phonological
awareness: understanding that language is composed of words, syllables, rhymes and sounds (phonemes). You can
help at home by discussing what the colours of objects are in French, and asking for French vocabulary that your
child has learned. You can also work with rhymes at home by reading nursery rhymes or other rhymes in English
and asking your child to identify them.
La lecture Try to 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 will be studying ourselves this month in the contexts of our home life, family and
daily lives at school. We will learn about the correct ways to act at school, why it is so important to go to school,
and learn about the different people at school who can help us when we need it. We will also learn about
responsible and caring behaviour towards our immediate environment (school) and learn about our
responsibilities at school. You can help at home by asking your child about their day at school and asking them
how they are behaving with their classmates and teachers.
Les sciences naturelles We will not be starting a unit in science in September per se but will begin to talk about
fall, apples and leaves. We will also begin to learn about weather in general. You can help at home by asking
about the French vocabulary that your child has learned with regards to fall and weather.

Les mathmatiques
Les regularities (patterns) We will begin our unit on patterns. We will also learn new fun math games. You
can help at home by asking your child to identify patterns he or she while at home or outdoors with you (example:
a fence, the dotted line on the road, the streetlamps, etc.)
Le nombre Number sense activities and math vocabulary will be incorporated in the classroom daily routine,
math centers and occasionally during teaching times. 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.

Lducation Physique (PE)

In September we go over how to play safe during gym time. Students learn when it is okay to be walking/running
and when they should be still. Students will also become familiar with some of the gym equipment and learn how
to play with it safely. Eventually, students will be using this equipment to move through activity stations to learn
new skills. 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 each day for students to dance and move about with music
and the help of an older student leader. As it is a tradition at Riverdale to run and be fit, we will be running
outside several times per week.

La planification personnelle (Health and Career)

We will be learning about our jobs and responsibilities at home and school. We will also be learning about the
various sources of support available at school. You can help at home by asking what types of jobs and
responsibilities your child has at school.

Les arts plastiques

We will be focusing fall, apples and leaves using different tools and mediums. 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:

Socks and Shoes: Please explain to your children that they must wear socks and shoes at all times while
the classroom. The only time they are allowed to take shoes off is while changing shoes to go out or come
in (but they must keep socks on).
Change of clothes: Please ensure your child has a full change of clothes at school.
Please check your childs communication folder each night and carefully 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 time to be completed correctly. If there are
papers you do not want in the communication 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 folder.
The home reading program set up by our teacher librarian will soon begin! For those of you who are
completing the form, may I please ask you to keep it at home until it is complete? I keep my own

childrens on the fridge. That way it wont get lost and it wont get mixed up in other paperwork that may
be in the communication folder.
Please ensure your child goes to the bathroom just prior to coming to school. This way we avoid a
long line up at the one bathroom we share with the class next door. The less disruptions we have the more
learning can take place

Class Calendar

Sept. 25th SOAR Recognition Assembly 10:45 am. Each month we will take the time to recognize
students from each class for their hard work and efforts. We will contact you if your child is receiving an
award at this assembly. You are always welcome to attend regardless.
Sept. 28th Pro-d Day. Have a great day with your child!
Sept. ? Still waiting to hear about date for individual photos. Will let you know as soon as I am
informed.

Calling Parent volunteers!

Play dough I am looking for volunteers to make play dough throughout the year. To start I would need
volunteers to make play-dough for:
The week of Sept. 21st Two different coloured batches of fall coloured play-dough (such as red, yellow,
orange, brown, etc.)
Please e-mail me if you are interested and I will get back to you if you are making it for the 21st. There is a recipe
for play-dough posted on the class website or you can look one up online as there are many variations. There will
be plenty of opportunities to help out by making play-dough and in other ways throughout the year so please don`t
be disappointed if you are not the first to make a batch!

Scholastic book orders

I will be sending home the scholastic catalogue on a monthly basis. If you wish to purchase some books
please fill out the form and return to me by the date indicated with a cheque for the total, or order online.
The prices are very good, the French choices are age appropriate and diverse plus the shipping is free!
Your order will come to the school a couple of weeks later and I will send it home with your child. With
each purchase you make our class gets a credit with scholastic to buy more books for our classroom

Class website:
http://laclassedemmemcdonald2015-2016.weebly.com
Please check the site regularly for upcoming events, schedules, newsletters, calendars and class photos!
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