January 12-16, 2026

This week we learned about penguins and how animals survive in winter. We read two fun stories about penguins and watched videos about real penguins. We had lots of curiosities and observations about penguins.

We did a directed draw of an emperor penguin.

We created a story response to Lost and Found about a boy who discovers a penguin at his door. Thinking the penguin is lost, the boy rows all the way to the South Pole to return it. In the end, he realizes the penguin was not lost at all—it was lonely and looking for a friend. Instead of being lost, they found friendship.

Here are some penguin facts we learned:

Penguins do not wear clothes like Tacky the Penguin.

Penguins live in Antarctica and in other parts of the world.

Penguins cannot fly, but they are excellent swimmers.

They have flippers, waterproof feathers, and slide on their bellies across the ice, a movement called tobogganing.

Ask your child to share a penguin fact with you!

Using Over and Under the Snow, we explored hibernation, migration, and adaptation. Each student created an animal for our winter display, placing it over or under the snow depending on where it lives. The display will continue to change as we learn about the seasons.

We read Time to Sleep, a story about forest animals preparing for hibernation. “Bear sniffed once. She sniffed twice. ‘I smell winter in the air….” In the coming weeks, we will continue learning how animals adapt in winter and why some animals hibernate and others do not.

 Students drew January self-portraits, adding more details such as eyelashes, eyebrows, and also the patterns and designs on our clothing.

MATH This month, students will practice representing numbers 1–10 using pictures, tally marks, ten frames, dice, and blocks. You can support this at home by asking your child to show numbers in different ways using their fingers or household objects.

Our classroom has an account with the Scholastic Reading Club!

 We have no expectation for families to place orders, but wanted to share our class code just in case, as we can earn points toward book purchases for our classroom when families place orders! 

Our classroom code is: RC210876

January/ February Digital Flyer

***Our next classroom order will be placed January 16th @ noon!*** 

Please reach out to Mrs. Sutherland if you have questions!

Link to our school  calendar: Simons Valley School Calendar

Friday Class Schedule

Library Day is Tuesday, January 20, 2026! 

Thank you for helping your child to remember their library book AND plastic protector BAG each Tuesday!!

Important Kindergarten Dates...

Tuesday, Jan. 20 - Library Day - Return books in their plastic bag

Friday, Jan. 23 - PM Class Attends (9:02-11:58am)

Our Emails

 If you have any questions or need to contact us, our emails are:

Mrs. Oster: rdoster@cbe.ab.ca 

Mrs. Sutherland: klsutherland@cbe.ab.ca 

Mrs. Wiskar: mjwiskar@cbe.ab.ca