This week we thought a lot about how we move safely in different ways. The children talked about signs they have seen on the roads and what they tell people to do. They explained that the signs stop cars from crashing and running over people so signs are important to keep us safe on the roads. This inspired the children to want to create their own road with signs to use with the bikes and scooters. They identified the different things they needed and who was going to create each part. They used their cooperation and listening skills to work in groups to design and then create their parts of the road. Finally, they tested it out, with some children holding the signs and others using the transport. Lots of fun and only one or two crashes! It was great to see the children apply their understanding of shape to their road inquiries, recognising the different shapes of signs and identifying curved and straight lines. They have developed their understanding of the properties of 2D shapes and have learnt songs to help them remember the names and what they look like. The children were encouraged to practise their songs in groups and to perform them, helping them to work on their presentation skills.
0 Comments
What a busy week we've had, celebrating stories and illustrations and even dressing up as our favourite book characters. We had a number of mystery readers and were joined by author Fleur Vella-Chang who read her story Mabel Moves to Singapore. The children enjoyed making connections to places they have been to in Singapore and food they have tried. They even had some illustration tips on how to draw the characters from her story. We also spent time working on our own Literacy skills, exploring letters and sounds in both reading and writing activities. It has been wonderful to see the confidence that the children are showing when reading books and the sense of pride and accomplishment that they have when reading with increasing independence. Our mathematics activities have allowed the students to explore shape and recognise the properties of different shapes. Through the use of different materials, the children have experimented with making different shapes, creating new ones, tessellations and creating pictures by identifying shapes in art and everyday things. During our Unit of Inquiry explorations, the children chose books about transport from the library to find out about different ways to move. They spent time looking at the pictures and thinking about why we use different transport for different things. Children then applied their knowledge of shape and transport to help them to make their favourite mode of transport from junk materials. Spatial awareness and safety were key skills the children thought about during their construction, whilst also demonstrating their creativity. As a class we have been thinking about being respectful to others around us. We all thought about ways that we can show respect to people -
Viggo received the Learner Profile certificate for showing the attitude of respect for applying the above ideas to his time at school this week. Well done, Viggo! This week we spent time thinking about reasons for moving in different ways. We were reflective and thought about the best way to get to the skatepark on our field trip. The children were asked to explain why they thought walking or taking the MRT was the best way and it was interesting to hear the differences in reasons why. Have a look at the videos below. We talked about other ways we could have got there, which included -
This week we were also visited by the lion dancers to celebrate Chinese New Year. The children were very excited and enjoyed watching the different ways the lions moved. "It's very loud." Said Olga "I liked their costumes." Said Vivaan "I liked their tricks." Said Daniyal. This week we began to explore different ways to move from one place to another. This ended with our field trip to the skatepark behind Somerset MRT and then a train ride back to school to find out what the best way to get there was. We talked about how to move safely and collaborated to create a set of 'safety rules' to make sure we were safe, had fun and learnt. On the way to the skatepark, we walked and followed our safety rules, crossing at the green man and staying in their group. There were lots of interesting things to see on our walk, including lots of dogs. This helped us to realise it is the year of the dog this Chinese New Year. At the skatepark, there was only one person scooting, but that didn't stop K1! They demonstrated their ability to move their bodies in different ways and to persevere with challenges as the played on the ramps and obstacles. Finally, it was time to head back. We went to the MRT station and bought our own tickets, applying our knowledge of letters by searching for the word 'Orchard' and our knowledge of numbers to pay the right amount of money. The children enjoyed the train ride but complained it was a little too short! It was a fantastic field trip and the children were very responsible throughout. Thank you to everyone who came to help.
Next week we will continue to compare the two ways of getting to and from the skatepark and see which way is the best. This week we were thinkers and inquirers in our Math work. We explored shapes and looked at how they can be arranged. Through this exploration, the children noticed the following things -
We continued to think about more and less and recorded our findings of the number of times different numbers were rolled on a dice. The children used a bar graph to record their findings and then explained what the graph showed. We also connected our Math work to our Unit of Inquiry and thought about how we move with different objects. We thought about positional language and created different structures to demonstrate how they could move over, under, through and around different objects. This was a great opportunity for the children to work on their cooperation skills and to show their creativity. This week we also began our own inquiries into our favourite movements during our unit work. The children shared their favourite sports and activities and began to look at books of the different ways people move when taking part in these activities. They recorded the new information they found on paper by either drawing pictures or making notes, working on their research skills. The children can take action with this by bringing in any examples of these movements from home. For example bringing photos or books with these movements in them.
This week we explored one of our lines of inquiry; ways we move. We also continued to think about the concept of form to describe what different movements are like. We reflected on our playscape exploration last week, thinking about the different movements we made when moving over the equipment. The children made a class book, with each child contributing a page about their movements. Click through the slideshow below to read our book! We also had a special visit from a yoga teacher who worked with the children to try new ways of moving their bodies. The children made movements for each letter of the alphabet, making connections to their learning of the alphabet and the associated sounds of each letter. Some children even created their own movements, demonstrating their creativity and application of shape and space. Have a look at K1 in action. Student Voice Reika - 'I looooooooooooove yoga!' Leya - 'I'm so sweaty now from exercising.' Ceyone - 'I was a risk taker. I tried something new.' Later, we talked about our experiences of doing yoga and how we moved our bodies. Many of the children said they would like to do it again! In number work, we made a class graph of our favourite poses and then talked about which poses had more people liking them and which poses had less, connecting our work on more and less with data handling. With our effort to develop independence in our students, we encourage them to complete routines and tasks, such as tidying up, packing their bags and getting ready, on their own or with teamwork for bigger tasks. It was interesting watching the students put their socks and shoes back on after yoga this week and to see them help each other with this task that was challenging to some. The children should be commended for the help and cooperation that they showed towards each other, and often display throughout the day.
We have very quickly got back into our routines in K1 and are fully involved in our new Unit of Inquiry, exploring how 'we move for different purposes.' This week we explored the Key Concept of Form when thinking about how we move ourselves. We connected our learning to our exploration of dancing last week and created sculptures out of wire, thinking about what the different parts of the body look like when they are making different movements. Can you guess what movements they are representing? Come and see our sculptures outside of the classroom from Tuesday to find out! During our Literacy activities this week, we have been thinking about fine motor skills, strengthening fingers through a range of activities, and applying their skills when using different tools such as scissors, pencils, paintbrushes and hammers. We have been looking at letter formation when writing names and other words and have begun to blend sounds together to read simple CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words, such as cat, sit and dog. In our number work this week, we were thinking about the concept of more and less and compared quantities of objects. Children used their estimation skills to suggest which pile of marbles had more and suggested strategies for finding out if their estimation was correct, such as counting or arranging the marbles next to each other to compare the length. They also worked on ordering mixed up numbers and number formation. Finally, this week we have been thinking about what it means to be Principled. We have been thinking about making good choices, taking care of our classroom and friends and to lead by example. Sammy was noticed for being a principled student this week and received the Learner Profile certificate in assembly. Well done, Sammy!
We had a great first week back! The children were refreshed and happy to see their friends again after the holiday. This week we introduced our new Unit of Inquiry, thinking about the Central Idea that 'we move for different purposes.' The children were asked what they thought this meant and what we might find out about and they came up with the following ideas -
The children were given a mannequin to explore and think about how it moves. They talked about the different sports or positions they moved the mannequin into and made connections to their own bodies and experiences. Inspired by their ideas of different ways to move, we explored books and pictures of dancers. Some children shared their own experiences of dancing and talked about the different pictures they liked. They then recreated these movements on the mannequin and with playdough and recorded their favourite moves on paper. On Friday, we worked with Mr Orgee to explore different ways to move in PE. The room was set up with different equipment and obstacles and it was exciting to see the children's confidence develop throughout their experience. Many tried different ways of moving and showed that they were risk takers and creative thinkers. Finally, Anjali received this week's Learner Profile certificate for demonstrating excellent thinking skills when tuning into our new Unit of Inquiry, Well done, Anjali!
I think this semester went as fast as the speed of light, which is quite fitting with our unit this term! What a fantastic semester it has been and we celebrated our time together and all the learning and fun that has taken place at our party on Thursday. The children enjoyed different craft activities and delicious snacks provided by the families. It was wonderful to see so many parents getting their hands glittery and helping to lead the activities. I know this was a very special time for the children. At the beginning of week, we attended the Grade 5 market. The children in Grade 5 made their own stalls and products to meet the demand of the customers. K1 enjoyed looking around at the different stalls and activities. The food was a particular hit! This experience also gave the children the opportunity to pay for items and receive change, developing their understanding of how money is used. We also spent some time this week reflecting on our Unit of Inquiry and thinking about how light behaves in different ways. The children were given time to apply their understanding to their play and it was really exciting to hear them use specific and accurate vocabulary and to see them carry out their own investigations. We looked back at our wonderings from the beginning of the unit, and talked about whether we had answered all of our questions. This is what the children said:
This week we also referred back to our height chart that we completed in term 1. It was exciting to measure each other and to see how much we'd all grown. The children counted each centimetre and shared their change in height with their friends. That's it for Semester One! I look forward to welcoming the children back in the new year, rested and ready to enjoy all the experiences that await them in Semester Two! Have a wonderful holiday!
As we near the end of this Unit of Inquiry, the children were interested to find out about how light changes through an investigation into rainbows. The children explored how rainbows are made and the colours they produce. We visited the science lab to talk to an expert and found out about how light reflects and refracts. The children had the opportunity to experiment with light, prisms, mirrors and coloured plastic, and were confident using the vocabulary they had learnt over the course of the unit, such as transparent, opaque, reflect and shadows, as they explored. They also explored to see what happened to a colour wheel if it was spun very quickly. Although the experiment didn't go to plan (as many scientists encounter) the children were intrigued to try again to see if by spinning the colour wheel, the wheel turns white. Let us know if you try this at home and it works! This week the children increased their stamina with Read to Self and managed 10 minutes independent reading! Today we enjoyed sitting outside to read our books. The children enjoyed some gross-motor development activities to work on their coordination, balance and spatial awareness. This form of play also helps to develop cooperation and teamwork; vital life skills. Finally, we celebrated Zoe receiving a certificate for showing the Learner Profile attribute inquirer. Zoe often refers to herself as a detective and has shown a thirst for knowledge and a deeper understanding of how the world works. Well done, Zoe!
|
AuthorWe are a class of 4 and 5 year olds who go to an international school in Singapore. we learn by playing, inquiring and having fun. Our teacher is Ms Cass. Archives
May 2018
Categories |