Week 3 - Sensing our World

First Grade got busy using their senses on a walk around the school. We thought about ways to record and describe what we sensed.

We were lucky to find basil and rosemary growing so we could think about how they smell and taste!

In arts, we used our sense of sight to do a still life drawing like the painter Paul Cézanne. We will add paint next week.

In literacy we had a very special visitor to help us roll our our literacy centers where we each practice skills that are just right for us. 

In maths we thought about combinations of ten using more than two addends by playing Game of Totals. In this game we have an opportunity to count, add, keep track of totals, and use visuals to see the sum. We considered what quantities we will need to reach a total of 10. We are still considering how to create a strategy to reach ten before our partner. Ask us how to play! Make sure you only pick from the numbers 1, 2, and 3.

Have a great weekend!

Week 2 - Beginning our Who We Are Unit

This week in First Grade we started to tune-in to our Who We Are Unit of Inquiry on Senses.

Here are the things we connected to the unit in our chalk talk after watching this video. 

Central Idea
Our senses help us to learn about and interpret the world around us.

Lines of Inquiry

• how we use our five senses
• how people can live without one or more of the senses
• keeping our sensory organs healthy 

Concepts

• function
• causation
• responsibility

Approaches to Learning

• Communication Skills
• Self Management Skills

Learner Profile

• Caring
• Open-minded
• Communicator

Learning Goals/Success Criteria

• Understand how we get information from outside and make sense of it
• Child can empathize with others who don't have all their senses - songs using sign language as an example
• Be able to explain how to take care of our senses and keep ourselves healthy
• Grade 1 one - two senses
• Grade 2 three or more senses

Action 

Actions are best when student-initiated but some actions we have seen before are:

• students creating a model of the sense they are interested in
• students learning some sign language 
• students writing books about the senses

If you child takes action at home, please be sure to record it (writing, video, or photo) so we can share it with the class!

How to support your child at home. 

• Noticing what senses you are using during a particular activity.
• Talk about ways things taste, smell, feel, sound and look to build their vocabulary in these areas.
• Note any questions they have and encourage them to bring those questions to add to the wonder wall!
• English language learners basic vocabulary video.

Drawing What We Know about the Senses:

Beginning to generate questions about our senses:

Home learning:

We began our Readers Workshop this week and students should begin to bring home books to read independently and/or with someone else nightly. 

This week we talked about the -at family of words and students will bring home their Word Work book to practice reading a poem for fluency. Ask them what words rhyme! Then they can draw a picture of what image they visualize when they read the poem.

Show and Tell

First grade is ready to get back into Show and Tell. Due to health precautions I won't be sending home a bag like last year, it will be the student's responsibility to bring something the next day when it is their turn. At home please practice with them three clues about how it LOOKS, SMELLS, TASTES, FEELS, or SOUNDS. 

Looks	Sound	Taste	Feel	Smell
Round, Square...	Loud	Sweet	Hot / Cold	sweet
Red, Green...	Quiet	Sour	Rough / Smooth	strong
Colorful	Squeaky	Bitter	Soft / Hard	fresh
Like a...	Musical	Salty	Dry / Wet	fruity
See-through (transparent)	Rings	Spicy	Slimy	spicy

First Week Report

We had a wonderful week (and 2 days) in First Grade!

We began the year learning, practicing, and filming The School Cone Tree to welcome the incoming Preschool class upstairs!

In literacy, we have begun our Reader's Workshop routine and built our stamina with a ten minute independent reading time. We also got to tour and explore the new and improved library organization thanks greatly to a Grade 1 parent giving a lot of her time over the summer. Please remember to return the books borrowed on Monday.

In maths, we began exploring the manipulatives we will be using and have been reviewing some of the maths concepts taught in first grade like: counting, skip-counting, addition, and story problems. We also investigated what exactly a meter is as the students are being asked to keep a meter apart from each other. 

In Unit of Inquiry, we started exploring How We Express Ourselves by creating self-portraits.

See you next week!

Welcome to First Grade!

It is my pleasure to be taking our class up to first grade! I am looking forward to welcoming you all back at 8:45am on Thursday, August 20th!

As we are still maintaining a COVID-19 safety protocol, please review the Coronavirus Health and Safety Policy August 2020 (attached in today's email). Grade 1 will be lining up outside of the yard gate (same place as in June) with the other lower primary students:
 

Please arrive at 8:45am when we will begin temperature checks to avoid a lot of time spent milling around outside. Remember students need hats and plenty of liquids to drink during the day so please send adequately sized water bottles. I would recommend a 1-1.5L bottle. They have ones with straps that are easy for the student to carry along with their backpack like this. Also, our school is not centrally air conditioned, so please have your child dress in cool, loose clothing so they will be comfortable.

SUPPLIES
Also very important is due to the safety protocols for COVID-19, students should not be using shared resources. Please make sure your student comes to school with the following supplies:

• colored pencil set
• 2 pencils
• 1 eraser
• 1 glue stick
• marker set

Sometimes it is helpful to have a box for them to keep their things organized in their cubby like this cardboard box or this plastic box.

Parent Night! Friday, August 28th at 6pm. 

Please mark your calendars for our online class parent meeting at 6pm Friday, August 28th at 6pm. At this time I will go over what you can expect this year, answer any questions, and we will decide our Class Representative and Deputy Representative for the PTA! The Class Representative is the liaison between our classroom and the PTA and would attend the 1-hour, monthly meetings. If they were not able to attend any meeting, they would then call on the Deputy Representative to fill-in. We will first ask for volunteers and if everyone is too shy, we will draw lottery style.

I am so excited to learn with you all!

Congratulations Preschool!

Wow! The year has ended! What a year it has been, too! The events of the world forced us to be resourceful, risk-taking, self-motivated learners. We learned a lot about technology and ourselves during this time but Preschool never stopped trying!

Some fun statistics for you:

Last week alone, Preschool we commented on each others learning 101 times!! We posted 64 learning engagements!
And...drum roll...since we began remote learning three months ago, you all posted 1,640 posts of learning, creations, discoveries, and sharing!

Preschool dancing in celebration of their awesomeness!

I look forward to learning with you again in first grade! Until then, I will leave you with this borrowed poem and wish you a healthy and fun summertime!

First Week Back!

Preschool returned to school this week with bells on! Everyone remembered the rules that keep each other safe and did their very best to keep their distance, wash their hands, not share, and clean up.

Thinking, writing, and drawing about how we feel:

Learning together but at a safe distance in the next room with Ms. Faye:

Playing in the new yard at a safe distance:

At the end of a successful first day back:

Next week we will be in school on Tuesday and Friday again for half-days with no snack. Please dress appropriately (light clothing and running shoes) as we have recess outside and are not using air conditioning due to the need for proper ventilation. Also don't forget a hearty, healthy breakfast to hold the students over until lunch time. Online learning will slow a bit to give space for our student-led conferences. Please book your conference if you have not already.

The last week of school we will be in school on Monday the 15th from 9am-12pm with no snack. The last day of school (Tuesday, June 16th) will be a final time to meet with the specialists (PE, German as a Foreign Language, Japanese・こくご) and we will have one last online meeting to celebrate all they have done in Preschool! I will send an invitation with the time once the specialists have confirmed their schedule.

Coming Back to School!

We are so excited to see you all on Monday! We will still be continuing online learning the days we are not in school but we will be mostly focusing on preparing for Student Led Conferences next week.

This post is packed with information about the return to school and reminders of things already sent via email from the office. Please take the time to read through the information here and be on the lookout for a personal email with the books your child should be returning to school next week! Thank you always!

In this post:
When Are We In School?
Safety Procedures
What to bring?
Student Led Conferences
Yearbook Photos

When are we in school?

Monday, June 1st
Thursday, June 4th
Tuesday, June 9th
Friday, June 12th

Safety Procedures

As we all know, COVID-19 is still circulating so we have to take precautions to allow students to return to school. Please discuss these things and why they are important with your child this weekend so they are mentally ready to return. Practicing keeping a safe distance and how far 1.5 meters is at home will also be helpful. Think of creative ways together that they can connect with their friends from afar - air high fives or hand symbols, etc.

Please arrive at school between 8:50am and 9am. We will begin checking temperatures and open the gates at 9am. All students need to line up 1.5 meters apart outside of the yard gate in the morning. Please stay with your child until we begin temperature checks as they might need reminding not to play close together. For more information, please see the Parent Information letter emailed to you May 27th and uploaded in your child's Google Classroom.

In school they will be asked to stay a safe distance (1.5 meters) from others. To avoid the spread of germs, they will not be able to share items. Most students have colored pencils and pencils at school, but if you think your child doesn't, please send those along with a glue sick to school with them. This also means they will not be able to use shared items like blocks and legos while in school. Thank you for talking about why this is important with your child.

What to bring?

1. Mask 
1. must be worn at all times - practice removing using the strap behind the ear for drinking
2. Pencils, colored pencils, stick glue if none left at school
3. Zipper Bags with readers
4. Library Books (I will send an email with a list)
5. Water Bottle (we will not be allowing use of the fountains so please make sure they have enough water for the morning)
6. Math game brought home February 28th (I will send an email with picture)
7. Weather appropriate, comfortable clothing and hats (we plan to play outside, if the weather is nice and we will have windows in the classroom open for circulation.

Please note we will not be having snack in Preschool during the half-days back. Also, please keep the calendar binders at home for now as they will be keeping up with them for the next 2 weeks. The students can return them to school on Friday, June 12th.

Student Led Conferences

Please choose a time for you and your child's student led conference here.
All time slots must be booked a week in advance so please book as soon as possible. For example, if you want to book the conference on Monday, June 8th, you need to book it by Monday, June 1st.

Please read the Student Led Conference Guidelines sent to you via email and posted under Documents for Parents in your child's Google Classroom.

Yearbook Photos 

For our Yearbook, we didn't have a photographer visit us so - We need your child’s picture with a happy face, head and shoulders size. Please make sure to save the picture by your child’s name.

• Size - 1mb minimum
• Style - Passport but smiley face!

Per the email sent to you earlier in the week, this is due by May 30th at 11am.
For security--- You need to access the folder via your child's email account you use for Google Classrooms---PLEASE DON’T USE YOUR PRIVATE EMAIL ACCOUNT
Upload the photo here please. 

Whew! The last two and a half weeks of school are here and I am so proud of Preschool and all we have accomplished!! The next two weeks will be focused on giving everyone an opportunity to catch up with anything missed as well as preparing for Student Led Conferences. Thank you always for your support and I look forward to seeing everyone on Monday!