Starting on Sunday 26th February, all students are required to bring an extra t-shirt, shorts and running trainers to their next swimming lesson in order to participate in the House Aquathlon competition. To find out more information about this competition and also see the live results over the next fortnight, please visit the Swimming Weebly page - http://gwaswimming.weebly.com/elementary-aquathlon.html
We will ensure that this activity is safe and accessible for all, thus students may complete the swim in the small pool or with the use of aids. Thank you very much in advance for your support… have a great day! Lottie Lucas Aquatics Director Student-Led Conferences on March 1, 2017
On Wednesday, March 1, all of Elementary will be holding their yearly Student-Led Conferences. This is your child’s opportunity to lead you through their learning journey up until now. The students will be going through their learning experiences with you to model, explain, and share what they have been learning and exploring throughout this year. This experience is your child’s day and it is not meant for parent-teacher interviews or conferences. Showing their learning journey can be done in their home language and gives students opportunities show their evidence of learning through many different ways. It also involves your child bringing you to their different learning spaces around the school, like the gym, music rooms, EAL class, Arabic class, etc. More information will be sent out on 23rd in the Thursday Newsletter, including how and when to sign up which is open from Tuesday 21st February. Click here to access the link: https://www.ptcfast.com/schools/GEMS_World_Academy_Dubai_Elementary. Finally, it’s important to note, that during this day, students will only be at school for their conference and learning tour, after which they will return back home. Students are also expected to wear their school uniform and any or all family members are invited to share in their conference. There will be no bus service for Elementary students on that day. Dear parents, you are invited to support your son / daughter in their annual sports day. Please ensure that they have a water bottle and are wearing their house coloured T-shirts. GWA colours can be bought in the uniform shop. Please be advised that there will no food or juice allowed on the track and field. Please contact your parent class representative to get details of how you can contribute refreshments that can be consumed in the classroom after sports day. Grade 2 8.00am – 10.00am Tuesday 7th March Best regards, PYP PE Department I hope you have had a nice break and had time to relax. My husband and I went to Kerala in India which was a wonderful place to relax. We spent two days on the Backwaters and a few days in Munnar at walking round the tea plantations. Literacy Spelling- to recognize and spell common prefixes and how they influence word meaning -de & re. Writing- we are continuing to develop our skills on writing explanations. Children will be explaining how to use a pair of scissors and other objects with an emphasis on using causal connectives. *Will are also working on our handwriting, checking that we are holding the pencil correctly and forming our letters in the right direction. Reading-The children will be reading lots of different examples of explanation texts. Maths First part of the week: Consolidating our knowledge on fractions. Checking that we understand a fraction is part of a whole. Extending our skills to be able to use our knowledge of skills to find fractions of numbers. Some children will be finding out equivalent fractions for example: 1/2 = 2/4 = 3/6 = 4/8 = 5/10 Second part of the week: Introducing standard and non-standard methods for measuring the length of objects. UOI Children have been finding out about the six simple machines and how they make work easier for people. The have been experimenting by making and testing the simple machines. Can you ask you child to identify examples of simple machines around your home? Below are some pictures from before the holiday when the class went to the Maker Space to explore levers and inclined planes. Dates for your diary
Wednesday 1st March- Student Led Conferences Tuesday 7th March - Gr. 2 Sports Day 8:00 to 10:00 Thursday 23rd March - Close for Spring Break Sunday 9th April - School re-opens Thursday 23rd June - End of Grade Dear parents,
I hope you had a lovey vacation, as we are still working on (my house) in our unit of inquiry. I would appreciate if you can send me printed photos for different rooms in the house so that the students can describe their rooms in Arabic. Thank you for your support. Have a lovely day, Mona Happy news On Thursday I shared some exciting news with the class. My husband and I are expecting our first baby on the 3rd July. We are both very excited (and nervous) about how our lives will change. I will be working up until the last day of school (22nd June) and therefore it will not effect the class. I have had a little talk with the children in the ways that they can help and be more careful in the classroom. They had some lovely questions that were both heart warming and funny. I am sure you will start to notice as now I am finally starting to show! Any advice or tips for the first few month will be most appreciated - even though I've worked with children for 11 years from ages 3 to 10 year olds, my husband and I realise we are a little clueless about babies! Amy More wonderful news... On Thursday I was called urgently to the music room where the children were having their Strings lesson. After rushing and worrying about what might have happened, I was greeted by an excellent performance from the class! Miss Angela wanted to share the classes progress and hard work. It was wonderful to listen to the children and see how much pride they had when playing. Well done to all of the children in 2AO for their commitment to learning to play the different string instruments. Next time I shall video them in order to share with you. Learning for this week... Literacy Spelling focus: To recognise and spell common prefixes and how these influence word meanings – un & dis. This week I have sent home a challenge activity linked to their words. All student's had a go at this challenge with different words last week and are aware of how to solve the puzzle. Writing focus: This week we are moving onto Explanation texts. This follows on nicely from procedural writing as the children are already aware of the importance of order, flow and structure. During this week and over a few weeks after the February break the children will learn how to structure a explanation about how something works. They will be focusing on the following: Maths Fractions Children will explore fractions and how they are connected to everyday life. We will all be working with 1/2, 1/4, 1/3, some will be extended to 1/5, 1/6, 1/8. We will learn: Children will start with exploring fractions of shapes and objects and then extend to understanding how to use their knowledge of fractions to solve fractions of numbers. Ideas to consolidate learning at home (OPTIONAL) UOI How the World Works Central Idea: Machines serve a purpose and meet needs in innovative ways. Lines of inquiry:
This new unit started with a BANG! Children had to work collaboratively and co-operatively in groups to build an IKEA flat pack stool. They had a great learning experience where challenges came and were solved. There were problems with the construction of the stool and problems with working together. They were left to figure these problems out for themselves. Problems that arose include:
In the end, every group managed to successfully build their stool. They were so proud with themselves and put any problems they had behind them. Afterwards each group created a photo/video story reflecting on the process and any problems they had. These will be uploaded onto the Seesaw accounts in due time. This week we will be learning about forces and the six simple machines. Children will be taking part in experiments to find out about forces and how successful simple machines are at moving objects. Dates for your diaries
Monday 6th - Thursday 9th February - DSIB inspector in school Tuesday 7th February - Cross Country (selected children will leave school at 2pm) Wednesday 8th February - Term 1 report home Thursday 9th February - Close up for Midterm Break Sunday 19th February - School re-opens Tuesday 7th March - Gr. 2 Sports Day 8:00 to 10:00 Thursday 23rd March - Close for Spring Break Sunday 9th April - School re-opens Thursday 23rd June - End of Grade 2 |
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Amy O'DonnellArchives
June 2017
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