Posted in General Studies, Jewish Studies, Math, Reading, Reminders

Highlights of the Week in SK

Posted on by Andréa Black

It’s been a wonderfully busy week in SK.  Here are some highlights of the week and some important reminders of upcoming events…

Both classes had their first meetings with their Grade 5 Reading Buddies this week!! Each child is paired with one or two Grade 5 students and every few weeks, we will meet in the library to read together, get to know each other, and to participate in some fun, community-building activities.  Be sure to ask your child to tell you about their new buddies!!

This week has been all about a favourite fall food, APPLES!!!  SK has learned about the Life Cycle of an apple, participated in a variety of apple math activities and we even did an apple taste test, comparing how 3 different kinds of apples look, smell, and taste, and of course choosing which one was our favourites; then we put the results in a graph.  The favourite in SK-A was Golden Delicious and the favourite in SK-B was Red Delicious.  They have also been talking about les pommes en francais…. Madame Maryse will share more about that later.

Today, JK and SK participated in a special Tashlich ceremony in preparation for Yom Kippur.  We gathered in the front yard, read the story “Tashlich at Turtle Rock”, and then each child drew a picture of something they wanted to throw away from this past year.  Then they balled up their drawings and threw them into the water to enter the New Year with a clean slate.  Thank you to Morah Susan and Morah Jaqui for organizing this meaningful activity.

In case you missed it, the video of our SK Back to School Night presentation and the slideshow are now uploaded to the “Back to School Night Videos” tab at the top of the Blog’s main page (and linked here for easy access now)…. Apologies that Morah Jaqui’s section is not in the video, but you can review the slides provided and send any questions you may have her way.  Thanks to everyone who was able to join us.  Once again, if you have any questions please feel free to reach out to any of us!!

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

Monday, Sept. 25 – Yom Kippur (NO SCHOOL)

Tuesday, Sept. 26 – OJCS Terry Fox Run

Friday, Sept. 29 – Orange Shirt (Dress Down) Day

Shabbat Shalom and G’mar Chatima Tovah!

Posted in Reminders

Picture Day is tomorrow…. and other reminders

Posted on by Andréa Black

Tomorrow, Wednesday, Sept. 20th is Picture Day at the OJCS!!  Please ensure that your child is wearing their white collared OJCS shirt.  SK will be having their pictures taken as early as possible!!

You may have noticed a few new faces on the playground over the last week or so…. We are very excited to welcome Emeleigh McLean, the EA in SK-A to our team.  As well, we have Felix, a first year DSW student from Algonquin College, doing his field placement with us on Mondays and Tuesdays until the middle of October.

In case you missed it, the Grade 8’s have begun their first Grad fundraiser.  Starting today, they will be selling Bad Monkey Popcorn after school (outside the front door). While the older grades will be able to purchase this snack at recess as well, for the SK students, we are asking parents to participate at the end of the day, should you wish.  This is a CASH ONLY fundraiser.

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

Tuesday, Sept. 19 – Back to School Night at 7:00 pm (in person!!)

Wednesday, Sept. 20 – PHOTO DAY! Please wear a white collared uniform shirt.

Monday, Sept. 25 – Yom Kippur (NO SCHOOL)

Tuesday, Sept. 26 – OJCS Terry Fox Run

Friday, Sept. 29 – Orange Shirt (Dress Down) Day

**If you haven’t already, please complete and return the Emergency Card that was sent home in your child’s Note Tote as soon as possible**

We look forward to seeing you all this evening for Back to School Night!!  For those that cannot attend, we will be posting a video of the evening shortly.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out!!

The SK team

Posted in Reminders

Welcome to the Senior Kindergarten Blog!!

Posted on by Andréa Black

Welcome parents and friends to the Senior Kindergarten Blog!!!

Moving forward, this will be your main source of communication from us at school.  It is on this page that we will post important information, special events and dates, updates on what is happening in the classroom and of course, pictures!!!

It is hard to believe that we have already finished two weeks at school!!  Between all of the fun activities in our class and getting to know each other and our new environment, time certainly has flown by!!  Check out the pictures below to see some highlights….

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

Friday, Sept. 15 – NOON DISMISSAL for Erev Rosh Hashanah (pick-up is at the front door area, not the playground)

Tuesday, Sept. 19 – Back to School Night at 7:00 pm (in person!!)

Wednesday, Sept. 20 – PHOTO DAY! Please wear a white collared uniform shirt.

Monday, Sept. 25 – Yom Kippur (NO SCHOOL)

Tuesday, Sept. 26 – OJCS Terry Fox Run

Friday, Sept. 29 – Orange Shirt (Dress Down) Day

**If you haven’t already, please complete and return the Emergency Card that was sent home in your child’s Note Tote as soon as possible**

Wishing you all a Shana Tovah U’metukah!!

The SK Team

 

Posted in General Studies, Jewish Studies, Math, Reading

SK Summer Review

Posted on by Andréa Black

You thought you were done hearing from me, didn’t you?? Here’s one last post before I sign off for the summer…

When you receive your child’s report card, you may notice some suggestions and next steps to ensure your child is prepared for the start of Grade 1 in September.  I’ve collected some ideas and resources that you and your child can access through the summer to avoid the “summer slide”.  All of these are absolutely optional, but they are here should you wish to use them.

My Summer Workbook – a collection of review worksheets for rainy days.

LITERACY

OJCS Summer Reading Challenge

Brigitte, our wonderful librarian, has created this amazing reading challenge that even SKs can participate in with their families.  Please review the document below for all of the information about which books to read and how to win your prize in September.

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Clear the Board – Summer Edition: Uses this fun bingo board to read in a variety of ways throughout the summer.

Teach Your Monster to Read   This app is available for purchase on the App store ($6.99), and you can also download a desktop version that is free, though there may be some differences in the program.  We used this app in class and the kids absolutely love it!!  It covers everything from letters and their sounds to reading full sentences and short stories.

Kids Learn! Sight Words   This app is designed for iPads and is available for free on the App store, though there are additions available for purchase.  It combines fluency, vocabulary, spelling, and comprehension practice with entertaining, engaging graphics in a fun learning format.

Spelling Games for Kids   This app is designed for iPads or iPhones and is available for free in the App store.  It helps to hone your child’s spelling skills through a variety of games that feature over 900 words.

MATH

IXL – You can go back to this blog post in case your child has not already been accessing IXL at home.  They can continue working through the Teacher Suggested Skills or they can access the Diagnostic Arena to tailor activities to their skill level.  As a reminder, here is how to login:

https://ca.ixl.com/signin/ojcs

Username: [firstnamelastname] – all lowercase, no spaces (ie. andreablack)

Password: math123

 

MathGames.com  – This site has a lot of free options without having to sign up (though that could be an option as well) that can be divided up by grade level or by skills.

Check out Mrs. Cleveland’s amazing Mindful Math Resource page for more ideas and activities (please double-check the grade level as this page includes resources for K-8).

SCIENCE

20 Outdoor Science Experiments – Turn your backyard into a Science lab with some of these ideas.

After building bird’s nests with Let’s Talk Science, there may be some budding ornithologists out there…. Your child can document the different birds they find in this printable Bird Book.

Find and draw all of the beautiful plants you find this summer in this Plant Observation Journal.

HEBREW

My Jewish Games.com has some fun free games to practice vocabulary.

Here is a Padlet that has a variety of Hebrew stories that kids can listen to and if you can read Hebrew, there are some activity suggestions under each story as well.

Practice Hebrew vocabulary and listen/watch short stories found at this Learning Channel for Kids playlist.

HAVE THE BEST SUMMER AND HAPPY REVIEWING!!!

Posted in Reminders

Last Day of School Tomorrow!!!

Posted on by Andréa Black

It is hard to believe that we are actually at the end of the year and I am writing this blog post…. What a year we have had in SK.  I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to share in a small snippet of your amazing kids’ lives and I look forward to watching them grow as they move up through the grades here at the OJCS!!

There is a lot of work and other stuff being sent home today, so please ensure to empty your child’s backpack tonight as we have more to send tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will be having a full school assembly in the morning, so we ask that you drop your child off between 8:30 and 8:45 am.  Dismissal tomorrow is at 12:00 pm.

Stay tuned for the “SK Summer Review” blog post coming later this week which will include links to websites, resources, games, and other activities for your child to engage in at home this summer.

Lastly, on behalf of the SK team, I want to thank all of you for the immense support you have provided to both your children and to us, the morahs, through this wonderful Senior Kindergarten year. It has meant so much to us to watch your children learn and grow through our time together. Thank you for sharing them with us!!

Have a fabulous and fun summer!!

Morah Andréa

Posted in General Studies, Math, Reminders

SK Measures Up!

Posted on by Andréa Black

Over the last few weeks, SK students have been busy investigating and exploring the concept of measurement!!  We started by using non-standard units of measurement to measure and compare the length, height, and width of different objects found around our classroom.  We even had a special Measurement Hunt where the kids chose different objects around the room to measure with their chosen unit of measurement (cubes, legos, paperclips, shoes, etc.) and then they documented their findings in a chart.  We also had the opportunity to try measuring with rulers and many students were able to find the measurements quite accurately!!  We also explored others types of measurement such as weight, capacity and temperature; through sensory and hands-on experiments, the kids compared a variety of objects and determined if they were heavy or light, empty or full, hot or cold, and so on.  Check out the photos below….

This Friday, June 23rd is our last Dress Down Day of the year!  We will be following the JKs lead and collecting tzedakah for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation.  Don’t forget your loonies and toonies!!  That afternoon, we will be joining the whole school to watch the Grade 8s vs Staff Baseball Game.  Please ensure that your child has a hat and is dressed appropriately for the weather as we will spending a good part of the afternoon outside!

Next Tuesday, June 27th, by popular request, SK will be having a special Pyjama Day to celebrate the end of our year together.  The kids can come to school in their summer cozies, bring their stuffies, and we will have a special treat!!

As we wrap up our year in SK, we will be sending home the kids’ work and other things at school between now and next Wednesday.  If you know that your child will be ending the year a few days early, please let us know so that we can ensure that everything gets where it needs to go!

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

Friday, June 23 – Dress Down Day for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation

Tuesday, June 27 – SK Pyjama Day

Wednesday, June 28 – Last Day of School (NOON DISMISSAL)

Party Popper Emoji (U+1F389)HAPPY BIRTHDAYParty Popper Emoji (U+1F389)

to Jacob K who turns 6 on June 21st

and to Morah Dawn who celebrates on June 29th!!

Posted in Reminders

JK Lemonade Stand Tomorrow!

Posted on by Andréa Black

One of the JK students is registered for the 2023 Lemonade Standemonium and he will be bringing his lemonade stand to the OJCS tomorrow (Tuesday, June 13th) at pick-up time. His family has generously donated supplies for JK to make lemonade and they will be selling lemonade from 3:30 pm until about 4:00. Any and all donations are welcome and proceeds will be donated to the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation.

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

Friday, June 23 – Dress Down Day

Wednesday, June 28 – Last Day of School (NOON DISMISSAL)

Party Popper Emoji (U+1F389)HAPPY BIRTHDAYParty Popper Emoji (U+1F389)

to Jonah who turns 6 on June 15th

and

to Jacob K who turns 6 on June 17th!!

Posted in Chagim, Jewish Studies, Reminders, Shavuot

Post-Shavuot post and other reminders…

Posted on by Andréa Black

We hope everyone had a Chag Sameach and a lovely weekend!!  Did you know that SK performed in the Shavuot assembly last Thursday??  Their Grade 5 Reading Buddies taught them a Shavuot song and dance over our last few meetings and they performed it together.  Here’s a video of the performance:

The chag may be over, but you can still try out the yummy recipes we collected for our OJCS Shavuot Recipe Book at home!!

We also had another special treat last Thursday…. no, not the yummy Menchie’s (although that was special too!!), but Amelia and Isadora’s aunt Melanie, who was visiting from New York, treated the JK, SK and Grade 1 classes to a special performance of her show “Opera Mouse”!! The kids absolutely loved the singing and the puppets.  A huge thank you to Melanie for sharing her talents with us!!

With the weather getting warmer and summer creeping closer, a reminder that hats and sunscreen are highly encouraged for our recess/outdoor time.  If you are sending sunscreen to school, please ensure that your child is able to apply it independently (sprays or roll-ons are really helpful!).

Just a reminder about the OJCS Maccabiah Games coming up this Friday, June 2nd!!  The teams are listed below and your child should come to school wearing their team colour and ready to show their RUACH!!!

 

Posted in Chagim, Jewish Studies, Reminders, Shavuot

Shavuot Celebrations are tomorrow and Maccabiah Games are coming soon!!

Posted on by Andréa Black

Just a reminder that we will be celebrating Shavuot tomorrow at school.  We are asking that all students wear their white uniform shirts.

Also, tomorrow will be the last day that we are collecting non-perishable foods and other items for the Ottawa Kosher Food Bank, so please make sure to send in any donations you may have and a big thank you for those that have already.

Yesterday’s Rosh Chodesh assembly ended with a surprise – the 2023 Maccabiah break!!  The Maccabiah Games is a colour-war styled day where the school is divided into 4 teams to complete activities, sports, cheers, etc… all while following the OJCS North Star of RUACH (spirit)!! This year’s Maccabiah Games are taking place on Friday, June 2nd. The theme is Fairy Tales and the teams are Blue Cinderella, Green Peter Pan, Red Little Red Hiding Hood and Orange Goldilocks.  Students are encouraged to dress in their team colours and to be as creative as they can to get ruach points for their team!!

The SKs are divided into the following teams:

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

Friday, May 26 – Shavuot (NO SCHOOL)

Friday, June 2 – Maccabiah Games

Posted in General Studies, STEAM

Let’s Talk Science…. Nifty Nests!

Posted on by Andréa Black

This morning, Senior Kindergarten participated in our final Let’s Talk Science lab of the year.  This time, Farah and Madalina, students from the University of Ottawa, introduced the topic of nests to the kids and we were astounded by their ideas and observations as they discussed what kinds of animals build nests and what materials they use to build them.  Then we played a Guess the Nest game and even though some of the questions were really tricky, these super-smart kids got most of them right!!  To wrap-up our learning, the kids were tasked with building their own bird’s nest out of the materials they were provided, but with the extra challenge of using a clothespin (to simulate a bird’s beak) instead of their hands.  Check out some pictures of the process:

You may have some blossoming birdwatchers on your hands now as Farah and Madalina challenged the kids to look for birds’ nests around their neighbourhoods or to build an outdoor next and see if any creatures make it their home….. If your child finds or builds any nests, please share the photos in the comments!!

I want to send a huge thank you to Farah and Madalina for all of the amazing sessions this year and for inspiring our little scientists!!