This was another busy week as we finished up before the holiday! In math, we looked again at the Groovy Grids, and worked out some strategies for how to figure out missing numbers. Some students counted in their head, others used a hundred chart or a number line. It helped many students to visualise the 'steps' between numbers in order to find the missing one. Students began creating their own and guessing each other's 'rule'. After the break, we will continue identifying patterns in different numbers and creating our own, before we move into a new math concept.
During Daily 5, students continued sorting, using and practicing their words, glueing them in on Thursday. We are also practicing our handwriting weekly, and students are encouraged to apply this practice in their daily writing, both at school and at home. Students changed their reading goal, and focused on specific strategies when reading to self. This is something students can practice over the spring break. We also had many wordless picture books that were explored during read to self and read to a buddy. Students continued to revise and edit their Journey writing. Then they read their stories to a teacher who typed them. Hopefully they will be uploaded to student blogs before the break. If not, they will be there afterwards. A display of their wonderful, descriptive writing will also be outside of our classroom after the break. I was very impressed with the time students took to examine each image, writing very detailed sentences and using descriptive language. Some students added dialogue to their stories. Others focused on starting sentences in different ways. It was a long process, but students should be very proud of their writing this term! On Wednesday, we went to the high school to view some Grade 10 art. Grade 2 students interpreted the artwork and Grade 10 students. Grade 10 students then explained the meaning behind their artwork. It was fun to have these discussions with artists, and then we came back to school and created our own meaningful art. Ask your child about the piece of art they created and why it is meaningful to them. We concluded the week with Pajama Day on Friday. Thanks to everyone who donated food or money. We also had a small swap shop at the end of the day, inspired by Kento! There will be no homework over the holiday, although students are encouraged to read daily! Advay kept a journal during the last holiday, and some students are eager to record their daily adventures during this break. Have a fantastic and relaxing break. Please remember we have a staff development day on Monday, 4 April, so students' first day will be on Tuesday, 5 April. Happy Friday! Ms. Luttrell
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This week was busy exploring patterns. We investigated patterns on the playground and thought about how these patterns help us. We also thought about grow and shrink (increase and decrease) and showed this concept in different ways. Most students made a 'staircase' and realized the pattern was counting by 1's. Then we challenged ourselves to create different patterns. Some ended up skip counting by 3's, 5's, 6's and 8's! At the end of the week, we worked with 'Groovy Grids'. There were several numbers missing and we had to think about the difference between certain numbers in order to fill in the missing ones and identify the rule. During Daily 5, we worked on predicting (making a smart guess about what we think will happen) and inferring (using our own experiences and clues from the text and pictures to make a good guess). Students chose new reading goals, and picked certain strategies throughout the week to help practice these goals. Free writing has been an exciting time lately, as many students are teaming up to co-write stories, draw characters and work together to use their imaginations. We also spent class time investigating word patterns, practicing each other and using them in different ways. During UOI time this week, we started off watching the story Journey, written by Aaron Becker. We had previously identified what we thought makes a good story. Ideas ranged anywhere from having action, being a mystery or funny, using interesting sentences or words and learning something new. We kept these ideas in our minds as we began to write our own stories, based on the images in the story, Journey. We met back throughout the week to have mini-lessons about looking at detail in the pictures, starting sentences in different ways, problems and solutions, and writing super sentences. As students began to finish, they continued with the writing process and revised, making changes to sentences or different words. Some students chose to work together with a buddy to have extra support. Most students have also finished editing, where they have checked conventions - spelling, spacing, grammar and punctuation. These stories will soon be typed up and shared on students' blogs, as well as inside or outside of our classroom. I am very impressed by the creativity, ideas and voice coming through in these writing pieces. We also spent time examining different images, noticing that many can have different meanings based on our perspective. We think the artist must have had an idea in mind when they created it, but our ideas might be a little different from their ideas. We will continue exploring, sorting, evaluating and creating images next week. We ended the week with a Grade 2 scavenger hunt. Teams worked together to find different items throughout the playground and school grounds. It was a fun way to team up with other students from the other two classes. Have a wonderful weekend, and I know many of you will be attending the Fun Fair on Sunday. I look forward to a fun filled and busy week before our Spring Break next week. Ms. Luttrell This week was our second week of a new unit. We made signs on the computer but first we made a poster. We guessed the other classes and wrote down what we thought about the sign. - Marin
We did Chinese paper cutting. - Kaya The symbols were about happiness, double happy. They use it in a wedding. - Joe The other symbol that we did with paper cutting was spring. So it was happy and spring, so happy spring! - Tudor We did patterns in math. We drew a pattern and we wrote where we see the patterns. - Kento Today and yesterday we were looking at some pictures. We were writing stuff on paper about the pictures. We thought about connections, reflections and function (the purpose). - Carmella In math, after we made patterns, we were writing down ideas. - Advay In Daily 5, we looked at some pictures. Ms. Luttrell gave us a picture. We wrote down what we thought the picture was trying to say. Then we were trying to make the story with all the pictures. Finally we read the story, but some of the things were a little different. We noticed that we can make our own story. - Marin On Friday, 18 March 2016, there is going to be a pajama day. If you want to wear pajamas, you must bring something for the FoodBank or bring $3 or more.- Alik Today in Mandarin, we did some paper cutting, and we made a carrot and a spring onion. Some people thought that it was really hard to cut and some kept on falling apart. - Carmella Today Ms. Luttrell put Jurassic World music Hero on so that I could dance. - Advay At assembly today, Valencia got the award and they announced pajama day. A person from the food bank talked to us about what we should do for the food bank. - Odemar A few notes: As a reminder, the Family Fun Fair will be Sunday, 13 March. Thank you to those families who have volunteered to help. The sign up sheet is here in case you'd like to sign up. Please make sure the delicious goodies, plates and napkins are brought to the stall at the beginning of the fair, so that they may be sold throughout the afternoon. Pajama Day will be Friday, 18 March. If students would like to come dressed in pajamas, they must bring either $3 or some food to donate to the FoodBank in Singapore. For more information about how your family can help out, please visit their website. Have a great weekend, Ms. Luttrell We have continued to explore both 2D and 3D shapes this week, along with symmetry. We used rubber band boards, tangrams and other shape pieces when combining to form other shapes. We looked at similarities and differences in 2D shapes, and the relationship with 3D shapes. Students worked with partners to become an 'expert' on a particular 3D shape and will be sharing their knowledge with the class next week. Mathletics has also had some fantastic games and learning experiences to help consolidate their understanding. Next week, we will move onto a math unit which focuses on pattern and function.
During Daily 5, students have worked on predicting. We've been reading a novel about Pee Wee the guinea pig. He started out as Robbie's pet, but ended up in the park. We have been working to find evidence within the story to support our prediction. Some students noticed we could use text and others noticed pictures are also useful. We will continue predicting next week, as well as inferring. Our writing focus will shift toward story writing as we begin to explore setting and character development before the holiday. We began our firth unit of inquiry this week: How We Express Ourselves. Students started the unit by exploring different symbols. They identified what they thought these symbols meant and we watched a short video discussing the specific use of colour and shape for certain international symbols. Students have been working to create their own symbol and will be predicting the meaning of the other Grade 2 symbols next week. Individually, students worked to unpack the central idea. They highlighted important words and unknown words, and then worked together to look up definitions in the dictionary. Our central idea is: Images express meaning. A letter was sent home today (Friday) about next Wednesday, 2 March. During Mandarin class, students will be participating in a paper cutting workshop. Students will explore another form of image: symbols in Chinese culture. Instructors from One Event Company will be demonstrating and then students will have the chance to create their own symbols using the paper cutting technique. The cost is $11 per student, and we ask that payment comes to school by next Tuesday, 1 March. Have a fantastic weekend and we look forward to another fun week, Ms. Luttrell This week was full of excitement, even though we only were in school for two days. Thursday morning started with the Lion Dance on the playground. It was a very exciting dance to watch, and was a nice. way to welcome everyone back after the long weekend. Over the last few weeks, we've recorded our observations about different buildings and their features. This week we worked together to categorise buildings based on their features, thinking about what culture they might represent. We are starting to be able to look at a structure and identify where it could possibly be from, based on the features. On our field trip last week, we noticed there were several buildings that looked British, and we found out more information about Raffles and why these buildings are here in Singapore. We will begin to wrap up this unit of inquiry with a field trip to The National Museum of Singapore next week on Tuesday, 16 February. The cost is S$6.60 per child, and the permission slip has gone home with each child on Friday.
A few new word games were introduced during Daily 5's Word Work, and students read, wrote, and listened to reading very independently. This week we were working on asking questions before, during and after reading. New words will go home next week. The book character dress up parade was a fun way to start Friday. We also used the Chromebooks to add pictures to our online portfolios. Students added pictures from our shared folders and wrote captions to accompany each picture. We will continue to add more pictures and reflections to our ePortfolios in the next few weeks. Author week is next week. On Wednesday, we will be having a visit from the Australian author, Catherine Carvell. More pictures to come next week. Have a wonderful weekend, Ms. Luttrell The highlight of the week was our field trip on Friday. We spent a few hours in the morning down in the city, near Marina Bay Sands, looking, observing and noticing different features of different structures. We saw old buildings but many noticed that the older, 'less shiny' buildings were being overshadowed by the taller, shinier metal and glass skyscrapers - the more modern buildings. We've started to realise that there are many structures from all over the world in Singapore. We can tell some of these structures apart based on their characteristics. However, many modern buildings are hard to place, as they could be anywhere! In math, we spent a few days exploring maps. We looked at what maps are, what maps can help us to and the features of maps. We also explored the concept of change in relation to our unit of inquiry. As structures and land change, certain types of maps must change as well. I had sent parents three links to some mapping games, which can be played at home as well. We have moved onto exploring different types of 2D shapes and will continue with shape for the next few weeks. Tangrams proved to be challenging for some students, especially when using the tans to create a design using only a silhouette. Students have had their word sort for two weeks, a we feel this allows them to have more time to work with their words, understand the meaning and work on the spelling patterns in different ways. There will be no new words or homework next week, as we only have two days of school. The last few weeks, we have spent exploring opinion writing. We have read and examined important features in different books and have written our own opinion pieces based on the book Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Students did a fantastic job or working through the writing process - drafting, revising, editing and publishing - very independently. Well done! During Daily 5, we are paying more attention to our personal goals, and selecting a specific reading strategy to practice during read to self. We are also becoming more independent with Daily 5 and keeping track of our choices throughout the week, to help us become even more balanced. On Thursday and Friday, we selected a few pieces to add to our paper portfolios. We will add more to our online portfolios in the next few weeks hopefully. Mr. Gallagher worked with Grade 2.1 students on Tuesday to create a maze for a beebot. Students worked with their table groups to measure the distance a beebot traveled. They then worked as a team to draft their maze, and then transferred their ideas to a larger maze. They tested their first few squares of the maze and made adjustments before moving on. Students worked on using their cooperation, problem solving and communication skills during this measurement activity. A few notes about upcoming events: 8-10 February: No school for students 11 February: Students can wear red as we will be having a Lion Dance that day. 12 February: Book fair and book character dress up day. Students can come dressed as their favorite book (not movie) character. 15-20 February: Author week - more information to come. I wish you all a wonderful and relaxing Chinese New Year weekend. Ms. Luttrell We started looking at shapes. We connected the hexagons if the words matched. - Marin We used Scratch to make squares and circles. We also did a race with cards and the cards you picked meant how much centimeters you had to draw on your line. Whoever reached the end of the paper wins. - Tudor We learned about capacity and volume. - Advay We used different kinds of bottles and first we had a piece of paper and then you could write which order you think which one had the less water all the way to the most water. Then we tested it out, and when I tested the milk container, it could hold more water than the green bottle. It surprised me because it was a small container and I thought it would go second. - Carmella We did dancing on PE. We did something on Go Noodle. - Tudor We listened to songs and then we start to listen to the sound. It was a rain sound, a storm. The rain was falling down and made a lot of sound. - Joe In music, we also danced. It was Star Wars music. We learned the musician and he was called John Williams. Harry Potter was also by John Williams. - Marin and James In PE, we did a little performance. It was we had to act it out, and there were all different groups - a tree group, an animal group, a hunter group and a children group. I was in the children group. It was fun because we got to go in a circle and feed the animals and water the trees so they would go, but the hunters didn't have fun, because they had to feed the animals. - Carmella We looked at the textures from Hundertwasser. They were very colourful buildings and some of the buildings weren't straight, because he hated straight buildings and straight lines. - Rajananta We've been writing opinion sentences and we had to make as many as we could, and then we had to write three reasons about one of your opinions. - Lizzie On Monday, was the best day, because Ms. Luttrell put Aladar Hero, the dinosaur song on so we could listen. - Advay We did designs in art. We did our own Hundertwasser designs like onion domes and all sorts of lines. Then we created our own Hundertwasser building. He wanted to be close to nature so we did plants on top. - Tudor We sorted pictures of buildings. We looked the structures. We had to write the number and what is it for and where we think it's from and what we see. - Hakim We also have to look at all the structures and we start to see what's the difference and what's the same and sort it out. Then we write what the difference is on the sticky note. - Joe We tried to guess where they were from, the structure. - Tudor This week was a busy one with lots of exploring in measurement (temperature and weight). Next week, we will explore capacity. Students are beginning to have a better understanding of facts and opinions, and we will be doing more writing with opinions next week. We also spent time looking at how adjectives help us become more descriptive in our writing, and how they help explain what something looks like, such as buildings. The pictures of structures students have brought in have been placed around the room, and they are beginning to think about where these buildings might be from and how do they know?
Students have been on the lookout for others who are demonstrating the learner profile attributes and attitudes and will be nominating anyone they see for a weekly award. This week's winner was Hakim for being caring and principled. Well done, Hakim! His certificate will be displayed on the board in the hallway for the following week. Kid quotes: "It's so fun in assembly." - Alik "I enjoyed learning kilograms and grams this week" - Lizzie "I enjoyed learning and having fun." - Rajananta "I liked doing PE because we can learn how to do other sports." - Jasmine "Fact and opinions are fun." - Joe "I learned kilograms and grams." - Kento "This week I learned the temperature from web sites called Math is Fun." - Marin "I enjoyed learning about grams and kilograms." - Advay "I liked learning about temperature." - Carmella "I liked when we walk around the room to find structures. I learned how to measure." - Hakim "I liked that we talked about fact and opinions and structures." - Tudor "Dancing in PE" - James "I learned Celsius and Fahrenheit." - Adra Well done also to Carmella for being a risk taker at this week's assembly. She presented a poster with her sisters, explained why it's "nice to be nice" and sang a song! More pictures coming next week! Have a wonderful weekend, Ms Luttrell Welcome back and Happy New Year! Students were energetic and excited to be at school this week. We spent the first few days reviewing our routines, including Daily 5, and I was amazed at how quickly students got back into the swing of things.
There's been a lot happening in Grade 2.1 in the past few weeks. We've had fun with technology - taking a 'field trip' to the moon using Google Cardboard. We also were able to experience what it would be like on top of snowy mountains and deep in the ocean. Mr. Gallagher also spent a morning with our class, teaching us about coding. Students then were able to use the computers to practice coding. If your child would like to practice more coding, they can access Code Studio. Students have been investigating their misconceptions about the earth, moon and sun using non-fiction text, and websites and videos using the Chromebooks. We have been working hard to take notes in our own words, and record the source of our information. Next week, students will be applying their newly gained knowledge in order to make a non-fiction book about their misconception. We have also been exploring the form and function of text features, noting which are important and helpful when finding certain types of information. In math, we have been consolidating our understanding of telling time to the hour, half hour and quarter hour. We have also been collecting data about wake up and bed times, organising data and interpreting different graphs. When reviewing days of the week and months of the year, students worked together in groups to discover how many weeks make up a year. They realized they could move 'extra days' that weren't in a 7 day week into groups of 7 to make full weeks. I was impressed with students' ability to work cooperatively and to take on a variety of different roles. Next week will conclude our third unit of inquiry. We will also be adding to our portfolios and reflecting before the end of the year. Tonight is the Elementary School Concert, and the students are so excited to perform for family and friends. They've been working extremely hard and are ready to sing and dance! Have a relaxing weekend and see you tonight, Ms. Luttrell |
AuthorWe are 7 and 8 year old students who live in Singapore. Our teacher, Ms. Luttrell, will be helping us write blog posts throughout the year! Archives
June 2016
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