The Last Week of School!

I want to clarify the schedule for the last week of school as there were a few questions about this. 

May 28th - 1/2 day only for graduation and recognition 

May 29th - 1/2 day only for report card issuance - no parent teacher interviews

May 30th - 1/2 day only. This is not a mandatory day for the students to attend. This is only if you would like your child to come. 

I have had a few parents mention to me that they will be leaving for vacation after the graduation. If this is the case for your family, please just leave me a note in the communication book so that I know whose report cards I need to prepare a day earlier. Also If you do not intend on sending your child to school on the 30th could also please let me know. I will prepare small activities and want to know how many kids I need to plan for. 

Lastly, the foot and mouth virus is going around, so this means I am being extra cautious about keeping the kids hands clean. Please help your kids get more sleep, and be aware of them.washing their hands more at home. If they do get this virus, please make sure to contact the school right away. If they have a fever or are not feeling well, it would be best for everyone for your child to stay home so not to pass this terrible virus on. I hope everyone stays healthy! 

Thank you, Ali

Week 36 and Homework

Hello,

We are getting so close to the end of the school year, so there are a few things I need to go over. Sorry, in advance, for the long post.

First, a few parents have suggested that we have a party. I have certainly planned this. I would like to invite you all to come. We will have this party on the afternoon of May 23rd at 3. I will purchase pizza and some drinks, which will be lots for the kids to eat. If you feel inclined to bring something, to share, please consider a treat that can be brought home and be eaten at a later point. I know the party is early, but the following week will be busy and will not provide the time.

In the morning of the 23rd, we will have our May Crowning and closing mass. K1, along with K2, will be the sponsors. For K1 this simply means that a few of the students will walk down the aisle and deliver offerings of flowers, bread and fruit to the Father. I will be sure to tell which students will make the offerings in case you would like to attend.

May 28th, in the morning, is the K2 and G5 graduation as well as the recognition ceremony for the other grades. The students will be dismissed to go home after the ceremony.

May 29th, the students will come in the morning and they will receive their report cards and be dismissed at 12.

May 30th is an optional day of school,  essentially a play day. They are not expected to attend school, it is your choice. The students will again be dismissed at 12.

This week in writing we reviewed nearly all of the previously learned words from the year.

In phonics we reviewed more of the learned words, sight words and we also read some more advanced decodable books.

In language arts we continued to write sentences. This isn't easy for them, but they are doing well figuring it out.

In math, we did many different counting activities, and number order activities.

In social studies the students learned about holidays,  and the names of different holidays in Taiwan.

In science we talked about this that are the same and things that are different based on size, shape and how we use them.

Finally, for homework, please complete pages 33, 45 and 48. On page 33 they need to write 'I like       ' and tell me something they like. They should be able to write 'I like' by themselves, but will need help with the other. You can make the sound of each letter and they should be able to figure it out one at a time. Page 45 they can write A or M for the words that start with those letters. The words are monkey, ax, alligator, motorcycle, mittens and ambulance. Page 48 they need to connect the sense with the proper item. Nose - flower. Hand - cactus. Eye - fireworks. Ear - trumpet. Mouth - ice cream. Finally write a sentence saying ' I smell      ' and something they smell, or taste, see, hear or touch.

Have a good weekend everyone, let's hope the weather clears up!

Week 35

This week was a bit of a long week... A lot of the kids were feeling sick - coughing, sneezing, running noses. Please help your kids get some rest this weekend so they can feel better soon.

In writing we wrote vest, watch, xray, yogo and zebra.

In phonics we reviewed the words we had previously learned. That is what those sheets were that the kids brought home. They can just slide the first letter to the end sound.

In language arts we learned about sentences. They know that words are made with many letters and that sentences are made with many words. They wrote a few sentences with prompting.

In math, we reviewed some past material - left and right. We also started learning addition.

In social studies, the kids learned about the passing of time referring to seasons.

In science we started learning about matter - solids, liquids and gases.

For homework this week, please your child compete p. 41 and 46. On 46please help your children read the sentence about taste and touch. They can then draw one picture of something they can taste. Help them write this. On page 41 they can write like or I, then circle the thing they like best. Help them to read the sentence.

I wanted to let everyone know that I will not be returning next year, but also, Ms. Scott will not be either. At this point I do not know who the K2 teacher will be, but i will be sure to let you know as soon as I hear.

Have a great weekend!

Homework and Apologies

Good luck in the science for also to Betty's and Sean's brothers, G1 Benson and G3 Anson!

The homework this weekend will be pages 43 and 50. For page 50, the images are toaster, table, window, tea, ladder and telephone. They only need to write for the words beginning with T. Page 43 they write the word 'see.' Then you can read the short sentence and have them repeat after you. Finally, you can read a story with them.

Have a good weekend.

Week 34 - April 21-25

Welcome Back!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful week off. We are now into the final weeks of school. Only 5 weeks left!

This week Tim won the Angel of the Week. He has been doing a great job encouraging his friends and classmates when they are sad, or when they do a good job. Thank you Tim.

The kids enjoyed an Easter Egg Hunt. Good job to Jinny, who found the special golden egg!

Starting today, the upper grades are putting on a science fair. Good luck to the older brother of Allen in G3 and Kevin's sister Grace in G1! We will be sure to stop by to visit to wish everyone luck and see what everyone has done. This is something that the K1 students will be doing in 2 short year!

This week in our lessons the kids will be learning:

Language Arts - words that describe when things happen: this afternoon, tonight, in the morning, this weekend.

Math -we are counting to 11 and 12 and reviewing counting all the way up to those numbers.

Writing -  we are practicing writing the whole word for: queen, ring, swing, tent and umbrella. They are practicing leaving a space between words and making sure they can use the whole line.

Phonics - we are learning words that end with -ad: bad, dad, had, mad, pad, and sad. I think that they are starting to understand how to sound out every letter and put them together.

Social studies - we are continuing with using a calendar to identify different holidays.

Science - we are also continuing with moon phases. The only phases they need to know are full moon, half moon and crescent moon.

Finally, today I am sending home the kids Wild Things and the dream catchers we made last week. The book we have read is "There is an Alligator Under my Bed." This was a story about something a child is afraid of at night. We talked about what they are scared of at night. The dream catchers are from the aboriginal people of Canada and the United States. They are said to catch bad dreams and only let in good ones if you hang it close to a bed at night.

Have a great week, and maybe we will see you at the science fair!

Homework

Hello everyone,

This week the kids worked hard on learning to read words that end with -am. On the right side of the page are the first letters in the word. They have to draw a line from the letter to the matching picture the images are ram (the goat), Sam (the bow), Pam (the girl), yam (sweet potato), ham (meat) and jam. I have helped them by putting one hand out to say the first sound, another hand out to say -am and hands together to say the whole word 'r, am, ram.'
Then you can read the book together.

Have a great long weekend everyone! 

Week 31 - March 24-28

Hello,

Another successful week. It was nice to meet with those parents who were able to make it in to the parent teacher interview. To the parents who were not able to make, please know I'm always available to meet by appointment if you have any concerns that come up.

As we are really starting to get into reading now, I am finding that most students need some extra work remembering the sounds of each letter in the alphabet. I looked in to some phonics games for iPad. The app that I read about that sounded good is called 'Hairy Letters.' I am not able to try this, so I hope it is good for your children.

Next week we are only at school for Monday and Tuesday.

This week for their motor skills we wrote the words 'eggs, fish, goat, hat and igloo.' All of your children have very strong hands now, and are writing very neatly. Good job K1.

In phonics, the students learned to read words that ended in -at. Rat, mat, bat, hat, cat, and fat. By the end of the week, each student was very successful at recognizing these words.

In math we did numbers 7 and 8. We also did review of counting all other numbers up to 8.

In language arts we discovered different words for sounds - howl, roar, whistle, drum, growl, tweet, meow. The kids did a good job coming up with the sounds of other objects, or animals, like the sounds we make when eating, car sounds, ambulance sounds, etc. We also came up with different words for how this feel - rough, soft, cold, hot, bumpy, crinkly, sticky, wet, dry and squishy.

In social studies, we learned about calendars. Calendars show months, and days and weeks. They have numbers and they have different pictures, or symbols, to show special days.

In science we identified things we see in day skies and night skies. We talked about the colour of day skies and the colour of dark skies.

Finally, in story time, we are reading a book called "There's An Alligator Under My Bed." The kids really like this story. We will keep reading about it and the scary things they think are under their beds, and what they can do to get rid of them.

For the homework this week, please help your children complete p. 36 and 44.

Have a good weekend!