​In our last week of Kindergarten 1, we spent a lot of time reflecting - on our growth, on our learning and accomplishments, and on our favourite experiences and activities. 

We discussed our favourite memories of Kindergarten 1 and recorded them on a big piece of chart paper. Throughout the week we continued adding as we remembered different things. 

​Each of us chose our personal favourite part of Kindergarten 1 and created a watercolour painting: 

On our second last day in K1, it was pouring rain which meant we could not go outside to play. Instead we decided to have a fancy lunch! We read the story Fancy Nancy​ to give us some ideas of what it means to be fancy and then prepared our lunches, tables, and outfits! We also picked out some "royal music" to listen to while we ate our lunches - in a very fancy way of course! 

Today we visited Kindergarten 2 to ask them some questions and participate in some of their favourite activities. Our visit taught us a lot about what we can expect in K2 next year if we are staying at ISS. 

On Tuesday, we visited the Big Eyes, Big Minds Children's Film Festival to see the programme 'My Perfect Adventure'. We got to view 11 short films that we loved...and one of them was even made by children like us! 

After the films, Mabel (the organizer) asked us some questions about the film. We did a great job of remembering details and answering confidently. Back at school, we discussed our favourite films, making a chart, and drawing and writing in our journals.  

Today we were fortunate to have another author visit. This time from Fleur Vella-Chang, who is also an illustrator! She shared her board book Afternoon Tea at Raffles Hotel Singapore, explaining how she got the idea for the story and how she thought of the words and illustrations. 

This story helped us to make connections to one of our lines of inquiry: 'How stories relate to our world'. We noticed many animals that are native to Singapore or live at the Singapore Zoo, as well as many Singapore landmarks, like the Merlion, shophouses, and the Botanic Gardens. 

​Today K1 visited the Singapore Repertory Theatre for a special storytelling experience. We watched the story of Hanuman: The Superhero Monkey come to life through acting, singing, dancing, film and set work. The show was a big hit and the children were immediately excited to start retelling the story in different ways! 

Back at school, we reflected on our favourite parts and characters, as well as how the story made us feel. Next week we will explore the different storytelling formats observed and see if we can apply this to some of our own storytelling projects that we have on the go! 

Happy Earth Day 2016! This year's theme is Trees for the Earth. Today we spent some time reading about and exploring the trees around our school campus. With the help of Grade 3 we learned about 8 well-known Singapore heritage trees and tried to find them around our campus. We looked closely at the trees through magnifying glasses and sketched our observations. We also collected some things that we found on the ground that had dropped off the trees like seeds, leaves, and bark. Drawing inspiration from The Great Kapok Tree, we also observed many different life forms (other plants, ants, birds) using the trees as homes and food.

Have you looked closely at the trees around you lately?

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​This week we participated in our very first Student-Led Conferences. This was an opportunity for us to be the leaders as we guided our parents through some of our best work and favourite activities. Thanks to all the mums and dads who came out to support us. We had a great time celebrating our learning and showing how independent we are.