It has been a wonderful semester, full of learning, laughter and the children's hard work. We celebrated International Day last Friday. As a whole school, we enjoyed watching various musical and dance performances and the International Parade. Each Elementary class was then paired up with a High School class to explore one UN Sustainable Development Goal in more detail. We were joined by Ms. Sit and some lovely Grade 12 students to think about Goal #10 Reduced Inequalities. In pairs, the students randomly drew coloured shapes which determined what resources they had access to. They then had to make a picture that represented what International Day meant to them. Later we raced- boys against girls, Grade 12 against Grade 2, hopping against running. Then the students reflected and made some pledges based on what they had learnt. Comments included: being fair, letting everyone have a turn or a chance, letting everyone run, sharing what you have, teaching others what you know. We don't have to all BE the same but we should all have the SAME CHANCES was what we agreed on in the end. The day ended with the usual delicious buffet- a definite highlight of the year. This week the children have shared their picture books with K1 and K2, their poetry with G5, including attending their poetry recital. We also enjoyed visiting the G5 Market Day which showcased all of the Grade 5 students' creativity and dedication. Back in class, the children have explored symmetry. They spent time creating their own symmetrical designs, sculptures, games, patterns and art-works and then shared these in a small class gallery. We added feedback to art displays around the school and finally reflected on our unit and semester. We sadly bid farewell to Julien and wished him bon chance for his move back to Belgium. We will miss his quick smiles and laugh, his knowledge, ideas and energy. Finally, who could forget the joint Grade 2 end of semester dance party!
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The children have begun to explore the connection between words and images, as well consider the purpose behind them. They have been asked to create a picture book for K1 and K2 and are working to decide: 1. what kind of book they want to make (information, persuasive or entertainment) 2. what kind of text they will use (poetry, comic, story, explanation etc..) 2. what kind of images they will use or create (paint, drawing, collage, photo etc..) As a group we created a picture book using our tangram characters. In groups the children thought of what might happen at each stage of the story and then individually illustrated sections of the text. We explored similes and adjectives as a way to add detail to our writing and create images in the reader's mind. Here are some of the similes we came up with: "I'm crazy like a dancing snake." Fedor "I'm a climber like a monkey." Hyuga "My mom is as busy as a bee." Jiahna "A cheetah is as fast as the speed of light." Hugh "I am as hungry as a panda and a lion." Julien "Daily 5 is as peaceful as the sea." Yuuki "A shark is as dangerous as poison." Shoichi "My dad is as quick as a cheetah." Yuma "The Earth is as lovely as heaven." Maria "I'm as funny as a monkey." Charlie "I am as sleepy as a koala." Erica "A volcanic eruption is as shaky as an earthquake." Sara "The construction site is as dangerous as a poisonous snake." Ray The children have also been independently inquiring into different forms of poetry including shape, acrostic, diamante, rhyming couplets and limericks. This has been supported by our thinking about Word Choice and how we Organise our writing. In Maths, we used 2-D shapes as templates to create a 3-D image. The children all showed fantastic concentration and perseverance as they worked on these beautiful creations. They were also observed being supportive and helpful as they figured out what to do together. They continue to develop their use of specific geometric vocabulary to name and describe shapes, through shape bingo and other games. We were invited to a Grade 7 performance this week, where we enjoyed both solo and group songs. We also joined in with the Global Hour of Code by first exploring what a code is. The children described code as "tell something or give information", a "pattern", "like in Egypt" (hieroglyphics), "a computer code".
They first created their own Morse Code initial sign and then connected their thinking to the Scratch app on the ipads, which requires the students to give a series of sequenced instructions to move a character. |
AuthorGrade 2.1 are a class of 7 and 8 year old students who attend ISS International School in Singapore. We learn together and play together and enjoy sharing our discoveries with you. Archives
June 2019
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