This week we commence our new unit, How We Organize Ourselves. Our Central Idea is: Signs and symbols are part of human-made systems that help local and global communication.
We will focus on the following lines of inquiry over the next 5-6 weeks:
- Signs, symbols and icons
- Specialized systems of communication
- How visual language facilitates communication worldwide
In language this week, we will continue with Show Me, Not Tell Me as we wind down our focus on descriptive language. Unfortunately we did not get through this comprehensively last week. As we wrap that up, our new unit will focus on procedural writing and focusing on giving instructions clearly. More to come on that next week. week in language we are focusing on instructions.
Today we also learned about and practiced some spelling rules which I will continue to reinforce and expect students to be attentive to since many of the students are now experimenting with them in their written work.
Spelling – Basic Spelling Rules – Doubling Final Consonants
Unfortunately some words simply don't follow the rules. However, the above is a solid guideline. We also know that words that end with y and w (regardless of the preceding letter) tend not to double up. For example, play becomes playing and grow becomes growing.
In math over the next two weeks, the children will be focusing on time, measurement, and data handling interchangeably. We will be learning how to tell the time to the hour, quarter past, quarter to and half past. In addition to this they will find the difference between two sets of time and also apply this to word problems. We will also be looking at different ways data is collected, real-life applications of data collection, creating bar graphs and charts to represent data. The idea is to understand how to analyze data and extract information for the most, least, the difference between, combined data sets, more than, fewer than, etc. I will be adding time and data analysis skills to IXL next week after we get a change to practice some basics.
In UOI, we are now moving on to How We Organize Ourselves (please find the curriculum map on the school website). This week the children will be delving into what is a sign and symbol? Where do they find them? Why are they there? They will participate in a hunt around the school to find symbols and signs in their everyday environment.
Announcements/Reminders:
- On Monday, the children’s pick up will be from the classroom to allow GWAPA to set up the National Day celebrations.
- National Day celebrations are on Tuesday 29th…the children are asked to wear National dress or the colours of the UAE flag. It should be a very fun day!
- Thursday 1st December school is closed as advised by KHDA for Martyrs Day.
- Second round of MAP testing for 2BS will be on Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th of December.
- Class Winter Celebration will likely be on Sunday 11th. More information to come from Marwa, our class parent representative.
- Swimming on Day 4 will be discontinued moving forward. Period 1 Day 4 will revert back to being a P.E. session. Swimming on Day 2 will continue for the rest of the year.
- We are collecting toys for the underprivileged. If your child has old toys that are in good condition that aren't being used anymore, please send them in for a good cause along with a piece of paper with your child's name and house color/name. Thank you!
- Last week we sent home envelopes for the upcoming book fair. Your child should have had an envelope for money should you wish for your child to purchase a book at the school fair next week. Alternatively, you are welcome to partake in the with your child before or after school.
- Spelling focus for the next 2-3 weeks will be on reviewing spelling features we have already learnt. Students will be told which spelling word features to revisit for practice at home. I will send this information in their home learning books as well.
- Extra resource for independent writing at home: The following website is a fantastic resource which you can access for free. It has short clips or exciting images that you can watch. In addition to this it also gives you examples of writing that the children can do independently. http://www.literacyshed.com/the-adventure-shed.html
As always, thank you for your continued support at home.
Warm regards,
Bhavna