Final video and Goodbye!

Thank you EVERYONE for a fantastic year. I was very sad to say goodbye to the children today! Have a great break, see some of you in August!

Irish Dancing...

Arts Festival

Thank you for coming to our Arts Festival! Enjoy the photographs that were taken during the dress rehearsal.

Learning from Grade 1 Experts

This morning the K1AWh children visited G1KUp again to find out what they had learnt about endangered animals in the past few weeks. We learnt lots of new facts and about different animals from around the world. We also learnt some things about why they were endangered. Here is a video to show you the visit. 

Look forward to seeing everyone at the Arts Festival next week!

Gardens by the Bay

Gardens by the Bay

We had a fantastic trip to Gardens by the Bay last week! The children learnt a lot about some plants, especially cactuses, tulips and pitcher plants. They were excited to discover that the pitcher plant is actually carnivorous like some of the animals we have been learning about. 

Below is a slide show so you can see what we got up to there...

Metaproject

The class is still very interested in animals! We talked about it last week as a group and the children decided they wanted to learn more about endangered animals and what they could do to help. They also talked about different habitats and how many animals are losing their homes. We haven't talked about this too much during the course of the project so I assume some of these discussions have taken place at home. Over the next few weeks we will focus on this area, although some of our time will be taken up planning and rehearsing our Arts Festival!

Animal Experts

Over the past few weeks the children in K1AWh have been learning all about an animal of their choice. They have worked collaboratively to do this with the ultimate goal of being 'teachers' who could share their knowledge with others. I have been amazed at the interest and excitement that has been generated in the class in regards to this. Children have been bringing in books from home, excitedly sharing facts and gathering information. We have compared extinct and living animals...which has lead to discussion about endangered animals. Something I hope to follow up on next term if the children are still intersted in this area.

The class brainstormed ways they could share what they have learnt. Here were some of their ideas:

  
Here are the ways they chose to share what they had learnt:

Ethan's Doodlecast about Dinosaurs

Arricah, Armaan, Evie, Zara, Xanthe and Jack's videos about the animal they learnt about.

Sharing what we have learnt with G1's. The children that chose to make books have these in their blue folders today.

Finally a HUGE thank you to everyone for the amazing video you put together for Sue and I. We were very touched! Sherry asked that I share it on the blog as some of you haven't seen the whole thing. Here it is...

Visitors!

We have been so lucky in the past two weeks to have many visitors in our classroom to teach us about all sorts of different things. I've put together a little video to say thank you and share some of the activities that have been going on over the past couple of weeks. 

Here are some of the children's thoughts about the learning that we have been doing with our visitors...


It's nice to have new people in our class because you get to play with them. Myra

Its good too hear different languages from other people. Ava

We like to hear new things about people's countries. Diya

We learnt about different foods. It was fun and I liked tasting the new foods. Zara

I liked when Xander and Naia's family came in. I liked the sticky rice and the fruits. It was yummy. I liked the coconut milk. Nadine

I like people reading stories because I like learning things from stories. Armaan

I like people coming in. Its really fun to meet new people. Tallis

Miss Whitehead's sister came in and we learnt about New Zealand from her. Sam

Happy Chinese New Year, Inquiry Learning and 'World' books

Chinese New Year

Gong Xi Fa Chai!

K1 has had a busy couple of weeks celebrating the upcoming Chinese New Year in a variety of ways. We had a trip to bustling Chinatown which gave us a chance to practise our Chinese, we have had Jane and Shu Na in to help with some lantern making, today everyone is dressed in special Chinese New Year colours and we have visited a fair at school with our G5 buddies and seen a lion dance! A HUGE thank you to all the parents, Chinese teachers and of course our Grade 5 buddies that have helped us learn so much about, and celebrate this festival.

Please enjoy the following slideshow which gives you a snapshot of all the exciting things we have been up to (please read on for further information about the millipede/garden shots!).

Inquiry learning - our millipede 

As a sideline today, during morning tea we found a millipede in our eating area. The children were hugely excited so we took turns having a look and then brought it into our class. I searched on Google for some 'child friendly' information about millipedes and we also investigated the differences between millipedes and centipedes - one of the main being that the children should never touch a centipede as they can be poisonous. 

We discovered that the kind of places millipedes like to live are dark and damp, and that they eat rotting leaves. We then brainstormed where in the school we could release our millipede that would be safe and the children suggested one of our garden areas. We went over to one as a class and hunted for the perfect spot in the corner where our millipede would be safe, then released it. 

I wanted to share this with you as it is such a great example of 'inquiry based' learning where children are totally captivated and motivated. I could never have planned for this event to occur and the fantastic thing about working in K1 is that we were able to make room in our day to explore and discover something all the children were deeply interested in. This kind of learning can be done at home, on holiday, at school...any time your child finds something that they are really interested in and want to find out about! If you want some more ideas about how to do this let me know and I can share them with you. Although as parents, you may already be inquiry learning experts : )

If your children say "I wonder....." over the next few days please help them find out some information about whatever it is they are wondering about!

Holiday Books

The kids wanted to bring their books home again this holiday to record anything they learn about 'The World'! They are in their blue folders. If you are able to take them away on holidays with you that would be fantastic. If you are staying in Singapore I'm sure there will be plenty of exciting activities for them to draw about or record in some way as well. 

Thanks, have a great week!