Week 11 - Motion inquiry

This week we continued tuning-in to our Forces unit by exploring motion and different ways things move:

Then we thought about what we had observed and recorded in our research, asked a friend and read a definition to create our own definition of what motion is:

Have a great weekend!

Cups and Plates Project

Grade 1 was so fortunate to have our class PTA representatives Mrs. Moriishi and Oxana teach them how to decorate plates yesterday. Students took their time planning their plates and carefully selecting stickers. Everyone enjoyed the project! Take a look at what we created here!

These beauties will be available for purchase after they have been baked. Please watch for an email from the PTA with more information about this and where we will be donating the funds raised. 

Thank you PTA and Oxana and Mrs. Moriishi!

Swimming Notice

Swimming will begin Monday 16th November. We will continue to develop skills associated with the major swimming strokes. In addition to this we will be learning about safety around water, developing confidence around water and having fun while playing games in the water. We are fortunate to again have the expertise of Miho as part of the DSKI teaching staff. 

It is imperative that students are extra aware of appropriate behaviour when walking to and from school to the swimming pool at the Entente Fitness Club. Students must be mature enough to be able to change by themselves without supervision. While teachers at the pool are in close vicinity of students when they are getting changed, they will not be directly in the changing rooms.  

Students who do not follow the appropriate instructions when walking to and from the pool, misbehaving while getting changed or when swimming in the pool, will be met with consequences. This includes the possibility of being banned from the pool for the following swimming lesson. 

Please ensure that your child has the following items below packed and ready for a successful swimming lesson on Monday 16th November.

• Bathing suit  
• Towel
• Swimming cap
• Goggles

*There will be no swimming - just regular PE on Monday the 23rd due to the Japanese public holiday.

 

Pick-up Gate and Supplies

 Please pick up your student from the playground gate in the afternoon (where they are dropped off in the morning) from now on.

Please check to be sure your child has the following items at school. Many students do not have glue. 

Week 10 - Tuning into forces

This week we began to tune-into our How the World Works Unit on Forces by visiting the local park, playing and thinking about forces and motion. Students noticed pushing, pulling, spinning, up and down.

Reaction to Door Decoration Winning

Unfortunately the Halloween celebration schedule wasn't decided/shared until after Parent-Teacher conferences were scheduled so I was in a conference when the winners were announced but thanks to the PTA volunteers we can see the student's excited reactions:

Week 9 - Egg Drop and Halloween

Halloween!

First grade worked very hard to decorate the spookiest Halloween door. Ms. Shirai made a sky and ground backdrop and put up spider web then the students brainstormed what might be found in a Halloween scene. They came up with ideas like jack-o-lantern, cat on broomstick, gravestones, haunted houses, monsters, and bats. Then they all got to work making things to put in the scene. We are so proud of what we created!

Before (Ms. Shirai sets the scene with a student-made moon):

After (all student made!)

And....we won the door decorating contest!

Our texture monsters where we explored the elements of line, pattern and texture enhanced our Halloween mood.

Us!

Egg Drop

This week the students did the egg drop STEM challenge!

Skills:

• define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool
• develop a simple sketch to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem

Problem:

To create a container that will prevent a raw egg from cracking when dropped from a high place. 

  

Steps

1. Design your own egg protector.
2. Put your designs together as a group to create a group design.
3. Write about how you used the materials and possible problems.
4. Build!
5. Look at each device and predict which will protect the egg and which might not. Write why.
6. Drop!
7. Inspect and note which predictions were correct and which weren't. Think and talk about why.

This challenge is to get our brains beginning to think about our next Unit of Inquiry: How The World Works. 

Home Learning

A common question during reading conferences was how to structure the 20 minutes of reading time every day. I suggest choosing 2 ways to read from below and doing about 10 minutes of each:

• independent reading
• listening to reading 
• reading together with a parent or older sibling (if possible)
• reading to a younger sibling

Some options for listening to reading:

Kids A-Z

EPIC has a 30 day free trial

Storyline has celebrities reading picture books.

Audio books can be found at Storynory

International Children’s Digital Library: "A library for the world's children," this site contains thousands of books in more than 60 languages.

Don't forget to check out the blog post on the weekly Word Study homework routine please!

Have a wonderful Fall Break!