Notes and Reminders:

Monday: The children will need to attend Chinese lessons before the party, please remind them to bring their Chinese folders to school.  You might want to send a light jacket to school for the skating party at AMC.  Finally don’t forget their swimming kit for the pool party!

Tuesday:  Please join us for the parents appreciation tea at 1:30pm.  The children are reminded to bring along their instruments, music books, USB ports, costumes etc for the talent show.

Wednesday: Transition morning to learn about life in Grade 3 and to meet some of the teachers. Final Assembly of the year will be held at 10:55pm in the forum.

HOLIDAY WORK SUGGESTIONS:
A few parents have asked about holiday homework. I would recommend playing and lots of adventures for your child over the Summer. However, an hour of work each day would be a beneficial routine to get into.

Reading every day for 20 minutes or more. This can be shared reading, your child reading alone or reading Raz Kids.

Mathletics: this is a great resource, that the children will be able to play on and help further their learning over the Summer.

Primary Library website: Brittanica: a fantastic learning tool for you and your children to enjoy together at home.

Math Workbook: your child will come home with their math workbook that they are working on in class. I would recommend buying another math workbook over the Summer. The class have enjoyed their workbooks. Kumon produce good workbooks that you can buy from any good commercial bookshop. I would recommend 1-2 pages a day.

Writing: write a journal with photos of their holidays. Here are some writing prompts that you can use. http://thewritesource.com/writing_topics/more_topics/#away

Sharing the Planet: The children love this unit, so you could grow plants at home and record how they are growing. The children could go on a mini beast hunt and write and draw about their findings. The children have loved writing their fairytales, they could write another fairytale on Story Bird,  it can be accessed through the Primary Library website. I have set up a username and password for each child and they will write it in their diaries next week.

Hope this gives you some tips for the Summer.

Action:

To reinforce what we have been doing during math lessons this week, please talk to you child about using number operations to plan an event (i.e their party) and how multiplication and division can be useful in different situations.

Next Friday is our beach party, I hope to see as many of you there that can make it.

Read some fairy tales!

Literacy

Hannah is our last star of the year.

Spelling: An end of year review of doubling ff/ll/ss.

Writing focus: Thanks to the help of all the mom volunteers, we have proofread all the wonderful drafts of the children’s fairy tales.  Next week is all about finishing up the illustrations, frontcover on Kidspics and publishing their written work.  You will see a copy of your little author’s storybook inside the portfolio next Friday.

Reading: We will have our second round of book club with new book titles for each group.

Numeracy:

We will continue planning our math party and reviewing multiplication and division math facts to solve word problems.

Inquiry:

On Wednesday’s field trip, the children are going to use their observation skills by looking carefully to find examples of how plants, animals and human interact.  In pairs, they will be given a camera to take pictures as evidence. Later in the week, we are going to make a poster, in table groups, to demonstrate their understand of photosynthesis. Finally, we will wrap up the unit by writing reflections and putting our final section of the portfolio together.

(Nature Walk to Aberdeen Park at 8:15am.  Thanks to Jun, Hannah, Louise and Ida for coming along with us.)

Notes and Reminders:

Monday: All library books should be returned please.

Tuesday:  Our last swimming lesson of the year

Wednesday: Evening spelling test.  Nature Walk to Aberdeen Park at 8:15am.

Thursday: Razkids night.

Friday: South Bay Beach Party.  Please pack sunscreen, hat and water bottle in a small bag.  More information about lunch arrangements will be announced next week.

Three teachers from Ark Eden Foundation came to class this afternoon to teach us about sustainable living, shopping and composting of organic wastes. Composting is just one of the ways we can help our world and it has opened up questions about global warming, something that we will inquire into next week.

Action:

After today’s sustainability programme, the children will go home and teach their parents how to compost food scraps into rich fertilizer.

Read some fairy tales!

Literacy

Frances is our second last star of next week.

Spelling: An end of year review of plurals (s/es/ies).

Writing focus: We have successfully planned our individual fairy tale during writing and center time this week and finished writing the rough draft of the orientation.  Next week we will continue writing descriptions of the good, bad and minor characters in our stories by brainstorming a list of adjectives.  After that we will tackle the events leading up to the conflict and final resolution.

Numeracy:

A review that multiplication and division are inverse operations.  Multiplication starts with groups and combines to create the whole and division start with the whole and breaks it down into groups.  Then we will have a small formative assessment to find out where each child is at in their learning of this math strand.  We will continue to plan our multiplication party.

Inquiry:

Following the Ark Eden workshop the children will reflect on what they have learned during Friday’s programme.  Some of the seeds we have planted in wet napkins last week have sprouted so we will plant them into soil  to grow under different conditions i.e. sandy soil, dirty water etc. We have made inquiry into photosynthesis and most of the children now understand that plants are able to convert water, sunlight, nutrients into energy for growth. Next week we will find out how global warming is causing our climate to change, deforestation, less oxygen and so on.  It is bad news to people and  plants; we will learn what we can do to help.

Notes and Reminders:

Monday: All library books should be returned this week.

Tuesday:  PSPE and swimming lessons.

Wednesday: Evening spelling test.

Thursday: Razkids night.

This week, we started our new UOI, Sharing the Planet, and a stand alone fairy tales unit. Please study the information brochures that have been sent home about these units.  The 3D Lorax was a great way to tune into the unit.  The children were very engaged in the movie; I could not believe how 125 children could be so quiet in the cinema!  We had a scavenger hunt to explore and learn about story elements in five well-know fairy tales and read some great tales on the BBC website. In the new UOI, we will be doing lots of plants experiments.  Today, we have just observed and sorted different types of seeds and have planted our baggy gardens which the kids will make observations and record its growth in their laboratory books next.

Action:

Read some fairy tales!

Literacy

Jonathan is our star of next week.

Spelling Rule: Compound words.

Writing focus: We will begin planning our individual fairy tales on Monday by thinking about the orientation (setting and characters). Please ask your child to share their ideas with you at home to help them develop their ideas further.

Numeracy:

In centers, we will continue playing multiplication games to help develop automatic recall of the times tables. Then in small groups of 8, we will begin to plan the math parties using our multiplication and division skills.

Inquiry:

We will continue inquiring into the importance of plants. Besides caring for our pot plants, we have also planted different seeds in soil, half of them are set under direct sunlight and the other half in a dark place. Later on in the week, we will observe seeds growing under different conditions such as sand/soil and clean/dirty water. The children will observe the different results and record their observations over the next three weeks. Making basic  inquiry into global warming and the process of photosynthesis will be the focus of our computer lessons.  Teachers from Ark Eden will be visiting our classroom next Friday to teach us a programme called Kickstart Sustainability.

Notes and Reminders:

Monday: Return library books, it’s our last week to borrow books.

Tuesday: Please remind your child to bring their swim kit for swimming lesson.

Wednesday: Evening spelling test.

Thursday: Razkids night.

Friday: DDD is animal theme.  Donations go to WWF.

We have had a full week of art activities to celebrate the Festival of the Arts.  On Wednesday, we created a collaborative batik fabric using hot wax and on Thursday we designed our Beijing opera masks, both of which were taught by local artists.  We also went to two student showcases to be entertained by all our talented schoolmates especially our very own Lauren who closed the Festival with her amazing singing.  Finally, we finished making our Mother’s Day surprise to our moms. Happy Mother’s Day ladies!

Action: Please go shopping with your child to find a plant this weekend in preparation for our next UOI, Sharing the Planet. The children will need to bring the plant to school on Monday and leave it here until the end of the unit so it is important for them to know how to care of their plant.  Please help them fill out the Plant Record (care) sheet.

Next Week:

Literacy

Melody is our star of next week.

Spelling Rule: Homophones

Writing focus:  Introduction of Fairy Tales and their story elements: set in the past, fantasy or make-believe, food and evil, magic comes from people, animals, objects, involves magic or good versus bad, comes in threes or sevens, happy endings based on resolution. The children will also think about characters and settings they are familiar with in Fairy Tales they have read to help them plan their own stories.

Numeracy:

Multiplication – continue to work on meaning of multiplication and division. The expectation of the Grade 2 children is that they will know their 2, 5 and 10 times tables going into Garde 3.  If your child has already memorised these tables, then they can of course move onto the rest of the tables and I am extending them accordingly in class.

Inquiry:

We will be pre-assessing the children’s knowledge in sustainability. Then, we will discuss our central idea, practices can be established to sustain the earth’s resources and how plants are important to humans and other living things.

Notes and Reminders:

Lower School Transition Event:  Wednesday June 13th, 2012
The Lower School will once again hold a Transition Event for all students in Pre-Reception to Grade 5, to provide students with some orientation to their Grade level next year.  This important event has 2 main goals:
•    For students to see the faces and places for the 2012/2013 school year
•    To learn about the key program features and opportunities that will be new and unique to the grade level.

The event was very successful a year ago, and it provides a positive, forward-looking focus for the students as we close out this year.  It will take place on the last day of school, Wednesday June 13th from 8-9:20 am. (Pre-Reception and Reception parents please note the date for this event is still tbd)

Rob Grantham
Lower School Guidance Counsellor
Canadian International School of Hong Kong

Monday: Return library books.

Tuesday: Please remind your child to bring their swim kit for swimming lesson. Field trip to see the Lorax.

Wednesday: Evening spelling test.

Thursday: Razkids night.

During the Significant Persons Showcase, the children had the opportunity to use their oral communication skills to explain to their audience why their individual is a significant person.  Please watch some of the highlights:

Significant Person

Action: Please help your child to find his/her favourite fairy tale and bring it to school in preparation for the next fairy tales writing unit.

Next Week:

Literacy

Harriet is our star of next week.

Spelling Rule: Contractions

Reading Focus: I will be doing individual reading assessment of the children while they read and share some of the fairy tales to be brought in next week. We will also begin our leveled reading “Book Club”.  Small groups of students who read on the same level will read together then discuss their responses to books.

The children will plan and write a letter to their next year’s teacher about themselves. This piece of writing will be an indicator to the G3 teacher of your child’s literacy level at the end of G2.

Numeracy:

A newsletter will be sent home today about our stand-alone math unit on multiplication and division. We started the math strand with a pre-assessment today and will continue to work on counting in equal groups and in equal rows (arrays).  Later in the week, the children will then work on strategies to equalize 2 amounts (division).

Inquiry:

To wrap up the unit, the children will complete the unit’s summative and peer assessments, finish their individual oral presentation in class, reflect on the unit and put their portfolios together.

Notes and Reminders:

Lower School Transition Event:  Wednesday June 13th, 2012
The Lower School will once again hold a Transition Event for all students in Pre-Reception to Grade 5, to provide students with some orientation to their Grade level next year.  This important event has 2 main goals:
•    For students to see the faces and places for the 2012/2013 school year
•    To learn about the key program features and opportunities that will be new and unique to the grade level.

The event was very successful a year ago, and it provides a positive, forward-looking focus for the students as we close out this year.  It will take place on the last day of school, Wednesday June 13th from 8-9:20 am. (Pre-Reception and Reception parents please note the date for this event is still tbd)

Rob Grantham
Lower School Guidance Counsellor
Canadian International School of Hong Kong

Monday: A visit to the LS art gallery. Return library books.

Tuesday: Please remind your child to bring their swim kit for swimming lesson.

Wednesday: Evening spelling test.

Thursday: Rec-G2 Student Showcase Performance in Forum at 1:45. Razkids night

Dear Parents,

The children will be presenting their significant person next Thursday.  Over the weekend, can you please help your child to do any last minute research on their individual and practise their speech. I am sending home a typed copy his/her speech and a checklist of oral communications skills as a reminder when they are presenting.  On the Research Sheet, please see the section on Plan Your Costume and help your child with what to wear and what props to bring on Thursday.  We will make our speech palm cards and finish the presentation board on Wednesday.

Notes and Reminders:

Wednesday: Back to school. Return library books.

Thursday: Significant Person dress up day. Razkids night, then the children will take a checkup quiz.

Dear Parents,

Judging by your Two Star and a Wish reflections, I think you would agree with me that the children did an amazing job during the SLLR on Wednesday.  I hope that you now have a better idea of what they have been learning in the recent months and see how much they have matured and blossomed.

Action:

Mr G and Mrs Fung came into the classroom today to talk about personal safety on the internet.  Please play the following game with your child and discuss your home computer rules to show them how to be a responsible computer user.

Cyber Safety

It’s not too late! Please consider sending entries to the Festival of the Arts,  The Lower School Gallery welcomes any artwork by students and parents.

Next Week:

Literacy

Tiana is our star of next week.

Spelling Rule: /oi/ in coin.  Usually followed by a consonant sound.

The children will continue to take jot notes for their presentations and focus on their oral communication skills.  The grammar focus will be to review past tense when we write our presentation. In the middle of the week, we will begin to prepare palm cards to use during our speeches.

Numeracy:

We will continue with the geometry workshop during centers time. On the computer we will practise using KidPix to draw and name as many 2D and 3D shapes as possible. Then there will be a geometry assessment to end this math strand before we start the operation of multiplication. During the next little while, we will learn how multiplication and division are related to each other and how they are used to solve problems.

Inquiry:

We will finish making a horizontal or vertical time line of our individual for the oral presentation and reflect on how well we have done our jot notes research. Lower School IB coordinator, Mr Woods, will come in to help us with jot notes taking and help the children who are ready to write their speeches.

Notes and Reminders:

Tuesday: Please remind your child to bring their swim kit for swimming lesson. Kindly drop me an email if he/she is not able to swim for any reason. Return library books.

Wednesday: Evening spelling test.

Thursday: Razkids night, then the children will take a checkup quiz.

Friday: DDD, this month’s animal theme is to raise money for WWF.

Dear Parents,

Harriet and Tiana are this week’s bloggers and they would like to tell you about their week:

We are happy to come back to school after the Easter holidays. We liked the guest speaker today talking about Sir Edmund Hillary.  We had fun making the SLLR presentation boards and we are looking forward to showing them to our parents.  We have been doing research on our significant people and how they have changed people’s lives. We commented on our significant people on Voicethread but it took a long time.  We also had fun making 3D shapes in math centers.

Action: As you know, a focus of this unit will be oral presentation skills. When possible, please encourage your child to practice such things as speaking clearly and confidently, maintaining eye contact, explaining in clear and logical ways. While we are working on these skills in class, it would be very helpful to have them reinforced at home as well.

Next Week:

Literacy

Marco is our star of next week.

Spelling Rule: /ou/ in house.  Usually followed by a consonant sound.

The children will continue to take jot notes for their oral presentations and focus on oral communication skills, for example, selecting relevant facts, speaking in chronological order, using appropriate volume and pace etc.  They have been working diligently on preparing their SLLR presentations and finishing recording their Voicethread which they will play for you on Wednesday.

Numeracy:

Math focus next week is to analyze and use what the children know about 3D shapes to describe and work with 2D shapes. We will begin by building nets to identify the shapes on solids.  We will have a geometry workshop consisting of solving mystery blocks and exploring how many 2D shapes it takes to fill a 3D shape during centers time.  There will also be a math assessment on addition and subtraction with regrouping to end this math strand.

Inquiry:

The children are still inquiring into how significant people have changed our lives through reading biographies during centers and doing research on line.  Next week, they will learn to make an on-line time line of important events in their individual’s lives.

Notes and Reminders:

The upcoming Festival of the Arts is online at the LS website, please check it out. 

Tuesday: Please remind your child to bring their swim kit for swimming lesson.  Return library books.

Wednesday: SLLR

Thursday: Razkids night.

A note from Ms Parnsalu regarding the SLLR:

Dear Parents:

Student-Led Learning Reviews are fast approaching (18 April Pre Reception-Grade 6 & 19 April Pre Reception & Reception).  This is an exciting opportunity for students to take ownership of their learning and guide their parent(s) through their learning process and experiences.  It is a highlight of our assessment and reporting practices in the Lower School and students prepare diligently beforehand.  Please ensure you have your appointment booked for the appropriate day and arrive promptly with your child.  A gentle reminder that students are to be in uniform and parents are asked to have siblings wait at home or outside of the class during another child’s SLLR as well as to turn off mobile phones during the SLLR.

Linda Parnsalu

Dear Parents,

Just a couple of notes before the holidays:

-There is no school on Monday, April 9.

-Tuesday, April 10 is our first swim day, please prepare your child’s swim kit.

-Grade 2 Let’s Make It Happen Concert DVD is now available for purchase at the LLAC.

-For holiday math homework, the children have to solve the Tangrams problem we started in centers today.  They must return with 7 pieces and the tracing of the completed puzzle to show the class.

Have a lovely, safe and restful Easter break!

Warmest regards,

Anne