During the week of November 4-8th, our SK2 students had a busy time learning about Remembrance Day. During our class discussions, each child took a turn to share their thoughts about Remembrance Day. Remembrance Day is the day we take time to think about all the men and women who helped in the many different wars to secure peace and freedom. It is the day we remember and praise God for their lives. Many soldiers, marines, air force personnel, medical team members, and others paid the ultimate sacrifice to ensure peace in our country and world.
To help our students understand Remembrance Day better, we provided children’s books about Remembrance Day on the display table. These were readily available during quiet reading time. We also read and discussed the books during our theme period. Remembrance Day posters, and pictures were also posted on our classroom walls for all to see.
On the first day of the week, Mrs. Chioconi was kind enough to bring her husband’s army uniform to class. Our students were very excited to see the uniform, heavy helmet, flashlights, and boots. Even the knapsack was big and heavy. Mrs. Chioconi asked for a brave volunteer to wear the uniform, and everybody raised their hands. She helped the student volunteer wear the big, bulky uniform and boots. Once done, everybody had a good laugh at how the volunteer looked, especially when he struggled to walk with it. Later that day, some of our boys and girls tried putting on the army uniform during free play. We extend a big thanks to Mrs. Chioconi for the experience.
We learned from our discussions throughout the week that soldiers show bravery, courage, cooperation, respect, resilience, patience, and hard work. With this knowledge, we tried to practice those characteristics in our classroom by doing a good job with all our classwork. We also incorporated this knowledge by playing group games during outdoor time.
Some other Remembrance Day activities that we completed in class to reinforce this topic were: reciting the poem – “Poppy, Poppy”, counting poppies, coloring pictures, making a class wreath, watching the Remembrance Day – kids version video, learning the song about peace, praying for our soldiers, and playing in the dramatic centre as doctors and nurses.
Learning about Remembrance Day has brought not only fun to the classroom but important knowledge for our young students. It has also deepened our gratitude to the men and women who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom.
Enjoy the photos!