Wednesday 23 January 2013

Our First 'We Can See' Book from Shelter Bay PS

I am happy to announce that Mississauga, Ontario now has TWO schools taking part in the 'We Can See' Project! Thank You to Ms. Fynes of Thornwood PS for introducing me to how exciting being part of a blog can be. I have been following this blog for awhile, but never really saw myself as someone who would be part of a blog. It is interesting how thing change!

As our first year together in Full-Day Kindergarten, we (the students, the DECE and myself) have been on a learning journey together. We are experimenting with new ways to engage the students in inquiry projects, are trying out new documentation methods, and now, thanks to the support of my new iPad, are taking learning to a whole new level! The students have been engaged in taking photos, writing about their experiences, and even picking things such as font and text colour. I truly am amazed at where this project is going, and am excited to see where it will lead us next!

After taking the pictures for our book, we read the story 'The Story Day' by Ezra Jack Keats. It was interesting to see the connections that the students made to our own snowy pictures, and the content in the book. This truly shows the importance  of authentic learning and literacy experiences. With the VERY cold weather this week, we have not spent much time outdoors, but the students have enjoyed revisiting the pictures we took to connect themselves back to the outdoors.

5 comments:

  1. Hello Shelter Bay!

    It was a pleasure to read your book today. My morning friends were very curious about their dear teacher's new school and new kindergarten friends! I used the critical thinking prompts I saw modelled here, in posts by the teachers at Bond Lake and Lorna Jackson schools. I have since introduced the idea of responding to books, movies, and other media shared in class by asking students to offer compliments, make connections, and to ask questions.
    There were many comments that came up as we read your book together.

    Compliments:
    S.S.: I love your pictures. I love your book.
    All: We love your book!

    Connections:
    E.V.: Ms. Metcalfe was my brother's teacher. He's in grade one now.
    (looking at the snowy mountain):
    N.A.: I remember when it was winter, me and my brother and my dad and my mom were snowball fighting.
    (looking at the fish cloud):
    E.M.: It reminds me of when in the spring, in the field, when we were playing - Ms. Metcalfe's class - we lay on the ground and looked up at the clouds, and used our imaginations about stuff.
    S.S.: When I was in Las Vegas, I saw a dinosaur cloud!
    J.A.: It reminds me of the time we were rolling down the hill and we saw something. It looked kind of like a person in the sky. Two children, a boy and a girl.
    (looking at the footprints):
    R.S.: When I went to the mall, I saw footprints of birds, and a dog.
    S.A.S.: When I (went) somewhere, I saw frog footprints.
    R.S.: I see tracks, like a truck makes tracks.
    (looking at the circles in the snow):
    All: We have that!
    (looking at the park):
    E.V.: They have a park. That kind of park reminds me of my old home. I think it's close to my old home.
    M.K.: We have a slide.
    S.S.: The circle is like our smiley face.
    E.M.: There's letters and numbers on the wall.

    Questions:
    J.A.: Do they have eyes and a smile in their circle (on the ground)?
    M.H.: Do they play at the park?

    Thank you for sharing your picture story with us. We will write again when we share with our afternoon friends.

    Ms. Fynes’s AM Kindergarten Class

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  2. Hello Ms. Fynes' Class,

    Thank You for the words (comments) about our book. We liked to share our book with you! We liked reading your story too!

    To answer your questions, no we do not have a smailey face on the ground. And yes, we go to the park sometimes, when it is summer.

    Love,
    Miss Metcalfe and Mrs. Huang's Class.

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  3. This is a beautifully created book!

    I will be sure to share it with my class this week!

    Thank you for posting it!

    Joanne

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  4. Hello,

    We are from Lorna Jackson Public School.

    We have lots of things that are the same as you at your school:

    We have lots of trees. - L.D.
    We can see a fence. - V.D.
    We can see a park. - T.B.
    We can see houses. - A.C.
    We can see trees. - I.D.
    We can see basketball nets. - A.M.

    We don't have a baseball court. - J.S.
    We saw that you don't have a box. - T.B.

    What do you play with at recess?
    We play with balls, frisbees, and snow!

    From,
    Ms. Schmidt & Ms. Theis' Kindergarten Class
    Lorna Jackson Public School
    Woodbridge, Ontario

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  5. i m so glad to see how much effort and thinking you and your little geniuses are putting in :) i hope our children will learn and have fun and will find these skills helpful throughout their lives :) we appreciate and we enjoyed it a lot
    Ami(mom) and Baba(Dad)and Alisha (sis)
    of Abeeha Zehra
    urs Student :)

    ReplyDelete