Week 7

Dear Parents,

This week we covered the following work:

English:

· Listening to Poems

· Writing Poems

· Writing Correct Sentences

· Exclamations

· Titles for People

Reading:

· A Fine Time! – Base words with ending –s, -ed and –ing

· Words to know - High-Frequency Words

· Words to know: about, because, draw, happy, teacher, part, tiny, tells, loves, planted, added

· Interesting Plants – Story Vocabulary

· A Forest Visit – Comprehension Check

· Forest Life – Categorize and Classify

· Adding –s to Naming Words

· Match It Up! – Compound Words

· Busy Times – Grammar, Action Words

· We read: The forest, by Isidro Sanchez

· Grade One did really well on their Reading Assessment this week!!! J

Maths:

· Lesson 13.8 – Months

· Lesson 13.9 – Using a table

· Chapter Review/Test

· Introduction to money

Science:

· Readers’ Theater – Rock Stars

Music Treasure Hunt

On Tuesday Grade One competed against Grade Two in the Music Treasure Hunt. Unfortunately the Grade 2’s came out victorious but Grade One gave their best and I am proud of them.

Work for Next Week:

Spelling Words:

How, now, brown, cows, snow, mow, show, low, glow, grow, slow, house

Words for Sentences:

Secret, snack, solo, spine, slash, squirrel, steer, breeze

Dictation:

The brown cows mowed the lawn while the squirrel sang a solo in the breeze.

International Day:

On Thursday, March 31^st, 2011, we will be celebrating International Day at school. Every class has chosen a country and will celebrate the day in their own special way. Grade 1 has chosen Mexico and the class is very excited which has resulted in them putting in a lot of effort to make it a great day. Richard and Evelyn’s mom will be joining us on Thursday to help us make some yummy Mexican food. We have rehearsed a short dance, so it will be great if you could join us from 12:00 of Thursday. Come learn something about Mexico with us! It is going to be FUN, FUN, FUN!

Oral Presentations

This week your child presented their "Ocean/Forest/Desert" posters. When you are helping your child prepare for their presentation, please remind them to look at the class and not at the poster. A number of children looked at their posters during their presentation. By doing this, they project their voice straight into the white-board and it is difficult to hear. Please avoid giving your child a piece of paper to read from, again they focus on the paper and they do not project their voices. I grade them on their spoken English and not their reading ability. They are more than welcome to bring a small card, with a few key words written down. Please ensure that your child has their presentation at school on the appropriate day, as there is not always extra time in the week for them to do it after the allocated time. From this week your child will not be given a second chance should they not have their presentation ready on the appropriate day. Those that presented on Thursday, I have video clips of their presentation, if you would like me to e-mail it to you.

Important Dates:

29 March: Mexico Project and Presentation

31 March: International Day

31 March: Spelling and Dictation Test

1 – 10 April: Spring Break, No school

If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me. Have a good weekend.

Robyn

Week 6

Dear Parents,

Spirit week added an extra exciting dimension to our week this week.

This week we covered the following work:

English

· Writing a Description

· What Makes a Great Description?

· Using Your Senses

· Topic Sentences

Reading

· That Looks Like Fun! – Sounds for oo as in book

· A Good Cook – Sounds for oo as in book

· Help Bear Find the Way – Compound Words

· Who Was Lost? – Comprehension Check

· Where Are We? – Comprehensions, Sequence of Events

· The Vowel Sound in book – Spelling

· Many Meanings – Vocabulary, Multiple Meaning Words

· Name It! – Grammar, Proper Nouns for Places and Things

· Words to Know – afraid, any, bear, follow, most, tall, water, idea, look, good, books, someone, anything, inside, outside

· We read: Lost!

Maths

Lesson 13.1 – Order Events

Lesson 13.2 – Estimate a Minute

Lesson 13.3 – Hour

Lesson 13.4 – Half-hour

Lesson 13.5 – Elapsed Time

Lesson 13.6 – Practice Telling Time

Science – Looking at Our Earth

· Vocabulary – natural resource, mineral, soil, humus

· Water Resources

· Land and Air Resources

· Comparing Rocks and Minerals

Work for next week:

Spelling words – Test 25 March:

After, camper, shower, over, mother, father, hurt, burn, turn, furry, hurry, person

Words for Sentences:

Pitcher, pottery, really, report, rescue, sandbox, scar, scissors

Dictation:

After I played in the sandbox, I took a quick shower and then my mother poured me some sour lemonade out of the colorful pitcher.

Important dates for this week:

· 22 March - Music Treasure Hunt. For more information please visit Ms Fay’s blog at http://his-musicclass.blogspot.com/

· 24 March – Present Forest, Desert or Ocean poster. If you would like me to send your child’s poster home for them to practice with it, please can you e-mail (wood.his@gmail.com)

· 25 March – Spelling Test

· 25 March – Math Test

· 1 -10 April – Spring Break

· 13 April – Pottery Day

Sports Day

Sports Day was cancelled for the following reasons:

1. Fear of radiation

2. The weather

3. There are a number of teachers and students who are sick.

Sports Day will be held at a later date.
Thank you for all the trouble and your support.

Spirit Week

Thank you for all the effort that you put into helping your child dress up each day, there was great excitement each morning, when the children compared outfits. There were six children who dressed up everyday. Hopefully next year the whole class will dress up everyday.

I am sure that you all received the e-mail on Friday from Ms Lines. Mrs Lines and Ms ShuFen are unable to be at school due to family issues. During this period Mr Clint Harris will move into an administrative role in the elementary office, alongside Ms. Debbie. Mr. Lines will be in when he is not at the hospital. The school has already contacted a substitute PE teacher so your child will continue to have PE and Computers. If you have any questions please feel free to ask Mr Harris, Ms Debbie or myself.

Regards,

Robyn Wood

Week 5

Dear Parents,

This week we covered the following work:

English

· Adjectives: Taste and Smell

· Adjectives: Sound and Texture

· Adjectives with er and est

· Opposites

Reading

· Words with oa and ow

· Words to know:again, both, gone, or, want, turn, hard, toad, road, hoptoad, know

· Sort it Out! – Story vocabulary

· And Then What? – Comprehension Check

Math

· Lesson 12.3 – Algerbra Readiness: More Than, Less Than

· Lesson 12.4 – Even and Odd Numbers

· Lesson 12.5 – Find a Pattern

· Chapter 10 Test

· Chapter 11 Review/Test

Science

· Introduction to Where Plants and Animals Live

· Lesson 1 – What lives in a Forest?

· Lesson 2 – What Lives in Oceans and Wetlands?

· Lesson 3 – What Lives in a Dessert?

Important Dates for this week

· Friday, 18 March – Spelling Test

· Friday, 18 March – Science Test

Work for next week:

Spelling words – Test, 18 March

Use, cute, lucky, up, pump, grump, ugly, dunk, come, from, some, munches

Dictation:

When I am grumpy my mom tells me that I am cute and gives me some muffins and peaches to munch. I also drink lemonade.

Words for sentences:

· Hydrant, ignore, lemonade, mantel, mix, muffins, peaches, pilot

Sports Day:

Sports Day is coming up on Saturday 19 April. Students have been divided into three teams (RED, BLUE and GREEN). They have to wear their team color (RED, BLUE or GREEN t-shirt) on Sports Day.

Please could you look at the list below and make sure that your child has that color t-shirt for sports day.

· Red Team – Masatoshi, Finn, Imogen, Evelyn, Victoria

· Blue Team – Michael, Wilson, Makoto, Allyson, Yvette

· Green Team – Richard, Aoi, Clément, Mami, Ayane

Please ensure that you child is at school by 8.00

Thank you

· Thank you for sending the money for pottery to school. J We look forward to the day.

SPIRIT WEEK:

We will be celebrating Spirit Week from March 14 – 18. Please dress your child appropriately each day, (see below). Although this is not a compulsory event, in the past the children have enjoyed dressing up.

· Monday: Funky Hair/Most Colorful Clothes

· Tuesday: Nerd Day

· Wednesday: Students be your teacher/Teachers be your student

· Thursday: Green Day (St. Patrick’s Day)

· Friday: Favorite Character – from book, movie, your hero… you choose

Regards,
Robyn Wood

No Sports Day today

No Sports day today because the track is too wet from the rain last night..

I hope that all your loved ones in Japan are safe!

Have a great weekend and see you on Monday with Funky Hair.

Dear Parents,

This week we covered the following work:

English

• Revise Your Story – editing
• Proofread Your Story
• Publish Your Story
• We wrote a story about Frogs

Reading

• Vowel Pairs ai and ay
• Words to know:
• Rain Forest Adventures – Story Vocabulary
• Whose on the Menu – Comprehension Check
• What Happens Next? – Making Predications
• Vocabulary – Parts of the Body
• Grammar – Naming Words for One or More

Math

• Lesson 11.1 – Order Numbers
• Lesson 11.2 – Ordinal Numbers
• Lesson 11.3 – Use Ten to Estimate
• Lesson 11.4 – Algebra Readiness: Greater Than, Less Than
• Lesson 11.5 – Using Symbols to Compare Numbers
• Lesson 11.6 – Problem Solving: Reasonable Answers
• Chapter Review/Test

Science

• What Do Living Things Need? – Categorize and Classify
• Review and Test Prep

Important Dates for this week

• Monday, 7 March – Please bring to school a book that you have read so that we can write a book report.
• Wednesday, 9 March – Sports Day practice; please ensure that your child wears closed shoes that they can run in as we will be going to the track. Please ensure that your child has a water bottle.
• Thursday, 10 March – Math Test Chapter 11
• Friday, 11 March – Spelling Test
• Friday, 11 March – Science Test

Work for next week:

Spelling words – Test, 11 March

Home, nose, joke, spoke, own, so, also, coat, boat, goal, float, goes

Dictation:

I put on a coat, left my home and went for a hike. I got in a boat and floated down the river as I spoke and told jokes to my friend.

Words for sentences:

Glide, greedy, grin, hairy, hard, heal, hide, hike

Sports Day:

As you know our annual Sports Day is coming up on Saturday 12 April. Students have been divided into three teams (RED, BLUE and GREEN). They have to wear their team color (RED, BLUE or GREEN t-shirt) on Sports Day.

Please could you look at the list below and make sure that your child has that color t-shirt for sports day.

Red Team – Masatoshi, Finn, Imogen, Evelyn, Victoria

Blue Team – Michael, Wilson, Makoto, Allyson, Yvette

Green Team – Richard, Aoi, Clément, Mami, Ayane

The day will start at 8:00, but we will send you more details before the big day.

Thank you

Thank you for helping your child with their Research Projects. There were a number of great posters. It was good to see that a number of parents assisted their children. However please remember that this is your child’s poster. When helping them, please keep the work child and age appropriate.

SPIRIT WEEK:

We will be celebrating Spirit Week from March 14 – 18. Please dress your child appropriately each day, (see below). Although this is not a compulsory event, in the past the children have enjoyed dressing up.

Monday: Funky Hair/Most Colorful Clothes

Tuesday: Nerd Day

Wednesday: Students be your teacher/Teachers be your student

Thursday: Green Day (St. Patrick’s Day)

Friday: Favorite Character – from book, movie, your hero… you choose

HEALTH SNACK

As part of our class routine, we have a healthy snack break at 10:15 am daily. Please help to promote good eating habits by providing your child healthy snacks such as fresh fruit or vegetables, crackers, cheese, seaweed snacks, sandwiches, or granola bars.

MR HARRIS’ BLOG

I have added Mr Harris blog address to the “useful links” in the top right hand corner of this blog. On Mr Harris blog your child will be able to access the websites that they use during computer class.


Regards,
Robyn Wood

Pottery

Dear Parents,

Hello. We are excited to offer your child the opportunity to create a unique piece of pottery on April 13^th. Pottery instructors from Yinge will be coming to our school again this year with ten pottery wheels and lots of clay for your child to explore. Your child can create a bowl, a mug, a vase a plate, or anything their imagination allows, and then decorate it with tools and extra clay.

It is a great time for everyone whether you have never done it or have done it several times. The children get quite enthusiastic and their creativity really shows.

If your child is interested in doing this activity, the cost will be 250NT. Please enclose this amount in an envelope with your child’s first and last name and his/her grade written on it clearly and please have your child bring it to me in the Kindergarten room by Friday, March 11^th. This is so we can tell the Yinge instructors how many students will be participating, and then they can begin to prepare for our successful day of pottery.

Thank you and we all look forward to seeing the students’ creations this year!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Willis