Literacy Centres

Friday, November, 16 2012

            Time keeps flying by and we have already begun to practice our Christmas performance.  It will be December 14^th at 6:30pm.  If anyone cannot attend could you please let me know A.S.A.P because I will have to adjust the performance accordingly. 

            This week we have begun to speak only English during our literacy and math centres.  This is the first step in our goal to only speak only English when inside the classroom.  It has been very easy for the students to accomplish this goal and even throughout the entire day I rarely hear any Chinese spoken.  

            I have started word rings in the class.  They are all of the sight words that the students learn put onto a metal ring.  Since we learn one or two new words every week the word ring will grow and grow.  On occasion these word rings will go home and could you please quiz your child on the words.  High frequency words are essential to know and use in both reading and writing.   When children have a number of high frequency words under control they can read them in text and then focus their attention on solving new words.  The same occurs in writing.  Please return the word rings after a few days at home so we can add more words to them.  Also, each word has a corresponding hand signal I do for them.  If you child gets stuck on a particular word you can come and see me and I can show you the corresponding hand signal.

Reading Tips

Read Every Day

Children love routine, and reading is something that you and your child can look forward to every day. By taking the time to read with your child, you show him or her that reading is important and fun to do.

Try to read with your child as often as possible. It's the best thing you can do to help him or her learn at school! It also allows you to spend time together in an enjoyable way and to build a strong and healthy relationship.

·                       Start reading with your child when he or she is very young.

·                       Set aside a special time each day when you can give your full attention to reading with your child.

·                       Choose a comfortable spot to read, where you can be close to your child. Make it your "reading place"! Set aside a special shelf in that area for your child's books.

·                       Choose a variety of books.

·                       Vary the length of reading time according to your child's age and interests. For young children, several short sessions (of 10 minutes each) may be better than one long session (of 30 minutes).

·                       Read slowly so that your child can form a mental picture of what is happening in the story.

·                       Praise your child for his or her ideas and participation!

·                       When you and your child are away from home, take along books, magazines, and books-on-tape for your child to read and listen to.

·                       Keep reading to your child even after he or she has learned to read. By reading stories that will interest your child but that are above his or her reading level, you can stretch your child's understanding and keep alive the magic of shared reading.

What we did in our centres this week.

Literacy Centres

1.      Computer story “Little Red Riding Hood”

2.      Roll and say board game

3.      Phonics book Ii

4.      Acting out the story “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”

Math Centres

1.      Goldilocks and the Three Bears board game

2.      Computer:  Geometry Game

3.      Making block towers and then drawing them

4.      Shape monster booklet

Word of the week:  an

Student of the week

The student of the week is Winston.  Recently Winston has emerged as a strong leader within the Pre-K class.  He is speaking a lot more English and was able to do Treasure Bag this week without any help!  Ms. Vicky and I are very pleased to see this outstanding growth.

Reminders and Notices

1.      Please return the word rings after a few days

2.      November 22  American Thanksgiving lunch at school

3.      November 29^th Field trip to Story Paradise

4.      November 30^th Monthly assembly

5.      December 4-7 Literacy week

6.      December 4 School book sale

7.       December 6^th Caves book sale

8.      December 14^th Christmas concert

9.      December Monthly assembly

10. December 18^th Half day and start of Christmas vacation

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

                          Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere

Chinese Proverb

Fun Day Groups

Weekly Centres

Chaline's Birthday Party

Friday, November, 8 2012

            Thanks to all the parents that came out for our Halloween party.  It was great to see everyone dressed up and in the Halloween spirit.  The trick and treating around the school was a big success and all of the students were able to receive a lot of candy.

            I want to give another big thank you to everyone who came to the parent teacher interviews this week.  I always like sitting down and going over all of the progress that the students have made.  

            Time just keeps passing and we are now already into November.  This month our unit is nursery rhymes and we will be covering Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs (maybe) and the Gingerbread Man.  In Math we are studying sequencing, basic shapes and representing whole numbers to 10. 

            This month I have started to implement English inside the classroom.  We are going to start very slowly and gradually build up our stamina. For some it will be very easy while others might have some difficulties.  Could you please talk to your son our daughter about speaking English during designated times.  Our first step is only speaking English during literacy centres.  At lunch and recess or anytime outside the classroom I will allow them to speak their native languages.  This is a very important step in learning English and it will benefit the students immensely. 

Reading Tips

Read Every Day

Children love routine, and reading is something that you and your child can look forward to every day. By taking the time to read with your child, you show him or her that reading is important and fun to do.

Try to read with your child as often as possible. It's the best thing you can do to help him or her learn at school! It also allows you to spend time together in an enjoyable way and to build a strong and healthy relationship.

·                       Start reading with your child when he or she is very young.

·                       Set aside a special time each day when you can give your full attention to reading with your child.

·                       Choose a comfortable spot to read, where you can be close to your child. Make it your "reading place"! Set aside a special shelf in that area for your child's books.

·                       Choose a variety of books.

·                       Vary the length of reading time according to your child's age and interests. For young children, several short sessions (of 10 minutes each) may be better than one long session (of 30 minutes).

·                       Read slowly so that your child can form a mental picture of what is happening in the story.

·                       Praise your child for his or her ideas and participation!

·                       When you and your child are away from home, take along books, magazines, and books-on-tape for your child to read and listen to.

·                       Keep reading to your child even after he or she has learned to read. By reading stories that will interest your child but that are above his or her reading level, you can stretch your child's understanding and keep alive the magic of shared reading.

·                        

What we did in our centres this week

Literacy Centres

1.      Computer story “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”

2.      Roll and say board game

3.      Phonics book Hh

4.      Making the alphabet from Lego

Math Centres

1.      Goldilocks and the Three Bears board game

2.      Making bowls, chairs and beds for the Three Bears (big, medium and small)

3.      Making block towers

4.      Goldilocks and the Three Bears cut and paste sizing activity

Word of the week:  this

Student of the week

The student of the week is Joshua.  Every week he is learning a lot of English and this week when we started speaking English all the time during literacy centres he did an amazing job.  Ms. Vicky and I are so proud of you.  Keep up the great work Joshua!

Reminders and Notices

1.      Mini books that get sent home (My Aa, Hh, etc.) need to be brought back to school

2.      November 14 Fun day

3.      November 22  American Thanksgiving lunch at school

4.      November 29^th Field trip to Story Paradise

5.      November 30^th Monthly assembly

6.      December 4-7 Literacy week

7.      December 4 School book sale

8.       December 6^th Caves book sale

9.      December 14^th Christmas concert

10. December Monthly assembly

11. December 18^th Half day and start of Christmas vacation

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

“Nature was my Kindergarten”

William Handy

October 19^th 2012

Dear Pre-K Parents,

In November we will start learning about nursery rhymes and to end our unit I am planning a field trip to Story Paradise in Jubei.  This will also be a great way to begin the school wide literacy week which starts the following Monday. At Story Paradise they will read/act two stories, perform a puppet show and complete an activity.  The date for this field trip will be Thursday November 29th.

We would leave school around 9:00am and return around 12:30pm.  Our transportation will be by bus and we will be having a snack at Story Paradise.  The cost of the trip will be 550NT.  This includes transportation, admission and insurance.

Please fill in the reply slip below and return it to school along with the money ASAP, so that we can make the necessary arrangements.

http://www.storyparadise.com.tw/index.html

Cheers,                                                         

Mr. Sharp