Friday February 1, 2012

We all had a great time at the zoo yesterday.  I want to give a big thank you to Ms. Wu (Jasmine’s mom) and Ms. Ang (Chaline’s mom) for coming with us.   The weather was great and we got to see many different animals.

Next week is Chinese week and we will participate in many exciting activities to celebrate the year of the Snake.  On Wednesday please dress your son or daughter in red and on Friday please send in a set of chop sticks for us to eat lunch with.

Since next week is the beginning of the semester there will be some new things starting in the Pre-K class.  Starting Monday we will begin Winnie the Pooh’s writing journal.  It follows a similar format as Treasure Bag as it goes home once a day with a different child.  Each student will get the opportunity to write a sentence or two and draw a picture of something they did with Winnie the Pooh.  Instructions will also be inside in both English and Chinese and please only assist your child complete the journal entry.  I have some examples and notes to help guide you and your child.

The Pre-K class is growing again and Rachel is the newest member of our team.  Please welcome her in to the Pre-K family as you all have done with the many new students that have joined us over the past few months. 

One last note, if your son or daughter wants to change their drink at lunch please let me know.  The choices are: chocolate milk, white milk, drink yogurt and grape or orange juice. 

What we did in our centres this week.

Literacy Centres

1.      Computer story “Wolves”

2.      Roll, say, write game.

3.      Phonics book the letter “P”

4.      Painting animal masks

Math/Science Centres

1.      Write the room, numbers

2.      Making 3D shapes from magnets

3.      Greater than, less than, equal to games

4.      Making zoo’s with the  small blocks

Word of the week:  it, we

Student of the week

The student of the week is Jasmine.  She has only been with us for a short time but Ms. Vicky and I have seen tremendous growth.  She has begun to speak a lot during circle time and enjoys sharing her experiences from home.  Furthermore, she is always speaking English inside the classroom.

Reminders and Notices

1. February 1^st School Assembly
2. February 5^th 100^th Day of School Party
3. February 4-8 Chinese Week – Year of the snake (little dragon)
1. February 6^th wear the colour red to school
2. February 8^th bring chopsticks to eat lunch with
4. February 8 HIS Valentines Day
5. February 25- March 1 International Week

As always, if you have any questions or concern you can always write me an email at bsharp.his@gmail.com or come by and speak to me in person.

Cheers

Vicky and Braedon

One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child. 
Maria Montessori 

At the Zoo

At the Zoo

At the Zoo

Birthday Parties, Friday Centres and Reading with our Buddies

Animal Scavenger Hunt

Friday January, 24 2012

Another week is behind us in the Pre-K class and we took advantage of the warm weather.  We are still investigating zoo animals and on Thursday we had a safari animal hunt.   The students found many animals and then graphed their results.  This was a great way to do some cross curricular learning between social studies, language and math. 

Next week I am asking every child to bring in a stuffed animal to class.  We will be doing another graphing activity with zoo animals.  Please try to send in a zoo animal (no dinosaurs, dolls etc.) Thanks.

As everyone is aware next week is our annual zoo trip to the Hsinchu zoo.  If it is raining we will postpone it for another day, but lets all cross our fingers.

Lastly, I will be sending home the word rings this week.  Since our class is growing I will be sending home 8 at a time then once they are returned I will send out the next 8.  Please practice the words with your child and if you want to know the corresponding hand signal come and see me.  

What we did in our centres this week.

Literacy Centres

1.      Computer story “Penguin, Penguin”

2.      Alphabet animal game

3.      Phonics book the letter “O”

4.      Making animal masks

Math/Science Centres

1.      Write the room, numbers

2.      Making 3D shapes from magnets

3.      Animal tangrams free choice

4.      Finishing the cut and paste one to one correspondence activity

Word of the week:  look

Student of the week

The student of the week is Irene.  For the past few weeks Irene has been going out of her way to help others.  She will console her friends, help them finish an activity and do whatever she can to help.  Furthermore, she does it all speaking English.  We are so proud of you!!

Reminders and Notices

1. January 31 Pre-K Hsinchu zoo field trip

2.      February 1^st start of semester 2

3. 3. February 1^st School Assembly
4. February 4-8 Chinese Week – Year of the snake (little dragon)
5. February 8 HIS Valentines Day
6. February 25- March 1 International Week

As always, if you have any questions or concern you can always write me an email at bsharp.his@gmail.com or come by and speak to me in person.

Cheers

Vicky and Braedon

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or four. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. 

Henry Ford

Weekly Centres and Playground Fun with our Buddies

Friday January, 18 2012

            I hope everyone had a relaxing holiday.  I have heard through the students that you all had some great adventures and fun over the break.  I want to thank everyone for their understanding and support last week while I was away.  It was the longest I have ever been away from my class and I am very excited to be back.

            This month in literacy and social studies we are investigating zoo animals and to cap it off we will be going to the Hsinchu zoo.  Please keep bringing in those permission forms and money so I can prepare.  For this trip I am asking for one parent volunteer.  If you have time and would like to join us could you please let me know? 

 

I am also planning on a few other field trips throughout the rest of the school year because I believe that there are many learning opportunities to be had outside of the classroom setting.  In math and science this month we are investigating greater than, less than and equal to and various 2D and 3D shapes.

As some of you are aware the Pre-K class has grown this week.  We have two new students, Hatsumi and Nozomi.  If you see them or their parents please welcome them into the Pre-K family.

Happy New Year and stay warm!

What we did in our centres this week.

Literacy Centres

1.      Computer story “Animal: Black and White” and “Animal Camouflage”

2.      Alphabet ordering game

3.      Phonics book the letter “N”

4.      African Animal books

Math Centres

1.      Monkey scales (greater than, less than, equal to)

2.      Making 3D shapes from magnets

3.      Animal tanagrams

4.      Cut and paste one to one correspondence activity

Word of the week:  at

Student of the week

The student of the week is Alyssa. S.  She has been very kind and helpful to the new students in the class.  Alyssa will always go out of her way to help them and make them feel welcome.  We are very proud of you Alyssa and it has made Nozomi and Hatsumi easily adjust to Pre-K. 

Reminders and Notices

1. January 31 Pre-K Hsinchu zoo field trip

2. February 1^st start of semester 2
3. February 1^st School Assembly
4. February 4-8 Chinese Week – Year of the snake (little dragon)
5. February 8 HIS Valentines Day
6. February 25- March 1 International Week

As always, if you have any questions or concern you can always write me an email at bsharp.his@gmail.com or come by and speak to me in person.

Cheers

Vicky and Braedon

Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves.  ~Abbé Dimnet, Art of Thinking, 1928