Category Archives: Poetry

The Legacy of Powerful Picture Books by bell hooks

“Life-transforming ideas have always come to me through books.” ~ bell hooks 2021 has seen the loss of beloved children’s authors including Eric Carle and Lois Ehlert. They are now joined by bell hooks (1952 – 2021), who added some wonderful … Continue reading

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Creative Canadian Women: Five Extraordinary Artists Celebrated in Picture Books

“You’ve got to keep the child alive; you can’t create without it.” ~ Joni Mitchell Women’s History Month takes place in March, and allows us to celebrate the contribution and achievements of women throughout history to the present day.  I … Continue reading

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Remembrance and Rangoli: November, Dark and Light

“Unless we remember, we cannot understand.” ~ E.M. Forster This past week in our classroom we took time to honour Remembrance Day and Diwali. At our virtual assembly, we joined the world in a moment of silence to show our gratitude for the peace … Continue reading

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Kindergarten Planning 101: Ways Parents can Teach at Home During Self-Isolation

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” ~ William Butler Yeats This post is for parents wondering how to address their child’s concerns about COVID-19, and make their well-being a priority while ensuring that learning … Continue reading

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Pride: Poems, Paintings and Patchworks for Black History Month

“I can be anything…because I CAN and I want to.” ~ Mari Evans, from the poem “I Can” For the past few weeks in my classroom, we have read many books and explored different art forms including poetry, painting and … Continue reading

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WANTED Posters: The Art of Self-Esteem

“Kindness makes you the most beautiful person in the world no matter what you look like.” ~ Unknown For several weeks there has been a focus in my classroom on well-being, kindness, and what we like about ourselves.  We have looked at … Continue reading

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Music Resources that Encourage French Language Learning

“Music is the universal language of [hu]mankind.” ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow It has been one of my deepest regrets in life that I was not brought up bilingual.  Given that I have both British and French-Canadian roots, it would have … Continue reading

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A Bouquet of Beautiful Books about the Garden

“Songs of soft petals, and songs of leaves, we dance all the blooms in our breeze bouquet.” ~ George Shannon, Dancing the Breeze With the climbing temperatures and the children’s growing interest in flowers, leaves and living things, I felt … Continue reading

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The Magical Power of Poetry in Kindergarten

“I have always liked the magic of poetry but now I’m just starting to see behind the curtain of even the best poets, how they’ve used, tried and tested craft to create the illusion. Wonderful feeling of exhilaration to finally … Continue reading

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A Valentines Day STEM Challenge

  “I’m like the kid in kindergarten; I really do send Valentines to everyone.” ~ Susie Bright Children at my school participate in a lot of STEM challenges.  For those unfamiliar with this concept, STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and … Continue reading

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