The students are very excited about the upcoming holiday, so what a great idea from ReJ to set up an airport at Discovery Time.
Making Passports
At Passport Control, getting a stamp
Scan your hand luggage please
This bag is heavy!
Come and take your seats on the plane!
If you are going off on a holiday or if you are enjoying the break in Singapore, here's hoping you and your family have a lovely time. Please do check the blue folders, as inside you will find a treat bag with yummy chocolates from Christopher, Agnes and Ante. It's been a busy, fun second term; I look forward to seeing everyone back in term 3!
The students were excited to see their plants growing. They could explain the steps they took: putting in the soil first, making little holes and planting the seeds, giving them water and sunshine. They checked their plants daily, carefully looked after them, and in only a few days, they could see the results...
Measuring their plants and sketching what they see
I was very proud of the students on Thursday. They took their role as the host class for Child@Street 11 seriously. The class suggested what activities we should put out for our guests to use: train tracks and wooden blocks, art table ("Put out some flower shapes" "And the glittery things" "And heart shapes"), home corner, butterflies on the light table, playdough, Lego, so many more choices and options! They suggested ways to make our classroom look nice ("Bring flowers!"). And they thought of words they could say that would make the other children feel welcome: "What's your name?" "Come and play with me!"
Before the visitors arrived we set up the classroom, getting the different play areas ready. Some students made pictures for the guests; others prepared menus, laid out the train tracks, set up the Lego zoo... they were buzzing with excitement and it was hard to wait for the Street 11 students to get here. Shortly after 9:00am the guests arrived. We quickly paired the children up, and away they went, enjoying Discovery Time together. After that we enjoyed a good book ("Pete the Cat, I Love My White Shoes" -and guess what? It's a book we were all familiar with!), shared a snack and went out to play together at recess. But it's true, all good things must come to an end, and the visit finished at 11am. We sang our visitors some songs; they sang us a song. We said our good-byes, but we know we'll see them again next Thursday at Discovery Time, when K1 KMu hosts them next week.
We have been very busy this week, reading Red Dot books and making up our own stories (lots of bad guys, crooks, and robbers!). The students really enjoyed book character dress up day and were eager to talk about their stories. We had Mrs. Males, our librarian, come and read us a story, but I think the highlight for me was having James, my former student, visit us and share with the class some poetry he wrote. It was lovely to see how much he has grown up!
Reminders
Don't forget to check out the K1 Head of Grade blog, which has handy links to resources and helpful information for you!
Our interest in buildings took us around the world this week. Several students tried sketching some famous places...
We tried building more tall towers...
And we used the app Repix to transform photographs of famous buildings and landmarks into works of art!
The original photograph
The transformation!
Mother Tongue Day took us to Japan, for a delightful book about a 100 story tower. Thank you very much to Yukiko for coming in and sharing that charming story with the class!
We were very fortunate to have a Student Teacher, Ms. Jessie, assisting the class this week (and next week). In her lesson she was focusing on a shapes review.
Our Student Teacher, Ms. Jessie, reading the story "Mouse Shapes" to the class.
It will be hard to properly showcase all the highlights from the wonderful week we had! From Monday's field trip to Chinatown, to Thursday's special Setsubun activities, to Friday's CNY celebrations, plus all the learning happening in the classroom... there's so much to talk about!
Monday -Chinatown Field Trip
Thank you, Jiang Laoshi, for organising the trip!
"I saw lots of red decorations."
Thursday -Setsubun Festival came to K1 CaM
Preparing their origami boxes
Listening to the story
The Oni!
Throw soybeans at him!
Chase away the evil, bring in good luck for the new year!
When we came back to the classroom the students were full of questions and wonderings about the Oni character:
"Does the Oni only live in Japan?" -Nadia
"Why are they scared of soybeans?" -Aidan
"I wonder why there are Oni?" -Agnes
"I wonder why the Onis want the girls." -Laura
"I wonder why the Onis want the girls instead of boys?" -Lyla
"Maybe because they're boys..." Liam
Can Onis be girls?
Friday -CNY Celebrations
Looking good!
The Lion Dance
The Mask Dancer
The students were fascinated!
Discovery Time
"How tall can you make your tower?" was all it took to get some students excited about building with the blocks this week. I was impressed with their sustained efforts, their determination to keep trying even when the structures frequently collapsed, their willingness to let others join in and help them. Through this collaboration the students achieved great results.
Now I couldn't help but notice that it was all boys in this area... I plan to show the students some famous buildings and landmarks from around the world. I'll make sure to feature the work of Zaha Hadid!
Tall towers everywhere!
Reminders:
Seesaw Trial
Most parents have responded to the initial Seesaw invitation sent through your email, and you should now be able to access your child's online journal. If you have not yet done so, or you aren't sure what to do, please just send me an email and I can help you -I wouldn't want you to miss out on seeing your child in action!
Any questions, comments and feedback about this digital platform are very welcome.
Parents, you can access Chinese Shared Resources through this link:
