As you know, we are online this week. I just wanted to give a quick bit of information for how to get onto Google Classroom.
Your child has been sent both their laptop and their tablets.
On the laptop there is a shortcut for Google Classroom – it looks like a big chalkboard. Double click this and it should take you straight into Ms. M’s class.
In the Google Classroom there a place where I can leave messages for the whole class or for individual students.
On the left hand side there is a link to the Google Meet. That is where we will meet for live video chat.
We will all meet for a live video chat at 1pm. The rest of the day’s schedule is explained on the “stream” (the area where I can leave messages).
If you have any questions please email me or contact the school office.
Another week has come to a close with some exciting learning happening.
We continued exploring the moon. We used moon play dough to look at the shape of the moon and craters on the moon. Then we wore our space suits and went to the moon jumping into craters, climbing over mountains, and crawling through tunnels.
We found moon rocks in the classroom and followed their path on a game of hide and go seek with one of the Moonbeams. The mama Moonbeam was hiding in our kitchen area! She told us we should investigate the rocks. So, we did. It was a great Maths connection as we looked at comparing the rocks by size and weight. We also counted the rocks and used 10 of them in a moon crater (hula hoop) to look at different ways to make 10 with some in and out of the crater. We also played some games with the moon rocks such as tossing them into a hoop, passing them around a little like hot potato, and seeing how tall of a tower we could make with them.
After all that, we began working on our space museum with a great literacy link practicing writing to make signs.
We then looked at vehicles and related that to vehicles used in space. Again we had an excellent maths connection sorting a whole box of vehicles by attribute. We drove our vehicles on a a yoga mat meant to look like the surface of the moon. And we drove moon buggies around the moon making sure we didn’t hit any mountains or fall into any craters. It was a fun time!
On World Book Day we read lots of books including Aliens Love Underpants and some books that the children brought in from home. If your child ever wants to bring a book in from home to have read in the class, that is something I greatly encourage.
Of course we had lots of play time. The students are incorporating some of our space play into their free play. They are forming new bonds with each other and working on problem solving.
This morning we began building a moon buggy that we will complete next week. Have a safe weekend. Stay healthy. And we’ll see you on Monday!
On Tuesday we had a very special day: TwosDay! The date was 2/22/22 and it was a Tuesday. We made crowns and did an Eye Spy coloring sheet looking for pairs.
We continued with our Blast Off unit and began our astronaut training. We trained our senses by exploring different paths from a rocket to planets on a sensory map. We used a “feely box” and tried to guess what was inside by touch alone. We honed our matching skills by lining up 2D shapes on a rocket control panel with their matching plastic shape. Our Maths link to IEYC continues to be 2D and 3D shapes.
For our PE, we also continued our astronaut training. We flew a rocket ship and controlled it by pressing the correct 2D shape and colour on the wall that the captain called out. Then we flew around in space landing on different coloured planets when the command center told us where to go. Finally we trained on an obstacle course.
Next, it was time to build our rockets. We used a variety of recyclable materials and the students planned out how the rocket would fit together. I taped it temporarily and we snapped some photos from different angles so we could put it back together after we painted the pieces which is exactly what we did! We then assembled a book explaining how we made the rocket – this was our literacy link focusing on sequencing.
With our rocket complete, we began to learn about the moon (which is where we’ll be heading). We looked at phases of the moon and talked about why the moon seems to change it’s shape. We read Eric Carle’s Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me and created a beautiful Eric Carle inspired artwork using large brush stroke in the background and glued 2D shapes in the foreground.
In with all this guided play we also had lots of developmental play. The students are beginning to show independent interest in books and are trying out reading to each other. That was wonderful to see!
And that wraps up Week 6. Week 7 will be spent exploring the moon (and, don’t tell anyone, we might meet the Moonbeams again!)
Wow! What an action packed week we had! We saw the Moonbeams off and began training as astronauts so that we can go visit them. Our Math link to IEYC continued to be 2D and 3D shapes as well as measuring weight and capacity and ordering by size. Before they left the Moonbeams let us know they were feeling lonely for the stars so we played with star sparkle play dough and used sponges to print a starscape. Some of the students really enjoyed looking at Google Sky to see the stars. On the day the Moonbeams left we packed their bags with clothes we made for them, we made sure they had food that was not too heavy for the trip and made jet fuel. After they left we made our space suits and practiced going on a space walk. That was a lot of work so we tried some astronaut food. The Moonbeams told us about the planets in our solar system that they had seen and we got to work making some planets from various media. We also made pizza planets! The students had a lot of fun with that but they seemed to find the pizza sauce spicy so it wasn’t their favourite.
In PE we played a game rolling a large sun ball to each other saying the recipient’s name. We played Red Light Green Light and Mr. Green joined us for that. We played Mountains and Volcanoes, did hula hoops, and of course, our hula hoop challenge.
With Ms. Jiyu absent, we were joined by Mrs. de Klerk for a lot of the week. The students really took a shine to her!
We also did some phonics and practiced making letters with dough. And of course, we had some play time. The students really amaze me with the skills they display when they’re playing.
The Moonbeams have gone back home and we are preparing to become astronauts to meet them in the future.
Tomorrow (Thursday) we will have a small snack of chocolate pudding (astronaut food).
Friday for lunch we will be making individual, vegetarian (with cheese) pizzas. Optional toppings include: green bell pepper, corn, olives, and pineapple. Your child will be allowed to choose freely (or just have a cheese pizza).
If you have any food allergies/concerns that would cause your child not to participate in these activities, please let me know ASAP.
As Friday’s lunch is meant to be pizza you may only wish to pack a light lunch in case they don’t like the pizza.
Wow! What an exciting week back to school after the Seollal break it was!
Can you believe ALIENS crash landed in our Hall and came to live with us? They learned our routines at school. We made maps to show them around. We built them a house out of 3D shapes. They missed their friends so Ms. M was able to get some pictures of their friends who just so happened to be 2D shapes! We even made our own 2D shape aliens to keep the Moonbeams (that’s the aliens names) happy.
In IEYC we’ve started our new unit called Blast Off! And we’re going to be learning all about space after meeting our alien friends. This week our focus was on getting to know each other and our routines. We also tied Maths learning into our play with the Moonbeams as we used 2D and 3D shapes.
In PE we used our Comet Balls to keep with our space theme. We also tried out a balance beam, hula hoops, and of course, our hula hoop challenge. They’re getting better and better at that every week!
We are still keeping with our phonics as usual but we’re looking for more ways to integrate it into our play such as Thursday when we made playdough letters!
We had lots of fun exploring and playing when we weren’t active with the Moonbeams. That time is so important.
And no, I didn’t forget about 100 Day! We had a lot of fun. The students made necklaces of 100 Froot Loops, 100 Crowns, had a 100 dance party and received their certificates for making it through their first 100 days of school.
Thanks for a great Week 4 and Week 5 is shaping up to be awesome!
Tomorrow is our 100th day of school and we will be having a 100 party. The students are very excited and we have lots of great activities planned.
This is just a quick reminder that I have asked the children to come dressed as if they were 100 years old. This can be interpreted any way you and your child see fit. Be creative!
We began our week in Maths doing whole-group instruction using rekenreks to practice counting teen numbers. We moved on as the week progressed to a more individualized Maths instruction which is the direction we are moving FS 1/2 towards. As the children had playtime, I pulled each child away to spend some time one on one working on Maths concepts (still teen numbers). As the term goes on more of our instruction will take this form.
In Phonics we began working with CVC words focusing on the short vowels A and I. We practiced writing some words as well as using magnets to spell. We also spent a lot of time segmenting (taking a word apart to hear all its sounds) and blending them back together.
In our Morning Meetings we continued working on mindfulness and ways we can calm our amygdala if it overwhelms us. We tried a few simple yoga poses.
In IEYC we took a plane trip to the grasslands of Africa and learned about various animals. Our toy animals drank at the watering hole, we painted spots on a cheetah, and we made giraffes. We also learned that an adult male giraffe can grow to be three Mr. de Klerk’s tall!
We also had lots of play time. The students have been exploring different themes in their play and even reading to each other!
There are some very important days coming up after the holiday. We have been counting each day of school and are quickly approaching 100. The 100th day of school will fall on our first Friday back. The students are waiting for our 100 Day party with great anticipation. I would like to ask the students to dress up as if they were 100 years old for our 100 Day party. We’ll have a great day full of all kinds of 100-themed activities.
And of less excitement to the students, we are having parent-teacher conferences during that first week back. The school has designated Thursday from 4pm-6pm as a time when we will be available. Conferences are in 15 minute blocks. Please contact me to reserve your spot. If Thursday evening does not work for you I am also available Wednesday from 1:45-2:30 and Thursday from 1:45-2:30. I look forward to meeting with you to discuss your child’s progress. Appointments are on a first come first serve basis. I can be reached at mariemcclellan@hyundaiforeignschool.com
I hope you have a wonderful holiday next week and I look forward to another great week of learning when we get back!
We did a small painting activity in IEYC today and some of the students got a spot or two of paint on their hanboks. It is water based paint and should come out in cold water.
I just wanted to update you all so you were aware and could get it in the wash as soon as possible.
Pictures to follow in tomorrow’s update! We had a great day today.
We had such a fun-filled week with lots of creative learning.
We finished off our Unit 2 Phonics with the letters W and Q. And in Writer’s Workshop we continued to tell stories that had special meaning to us.
In Maths we continued learning about teen numbers. We practiced grouping objects by a group of 10 and then counting on to get a teen number. This skill is tricky but the students are starting to understand. We also practiced our estimating skills by looking at a pile of snap cubes that I made which was exactly 10 and then tried to grab enough snap cubed to make a teen number.
In IEYC we continued looking at jungle animals. We played that a crocodile was in the river and we had to get the animals across safely; we built bridges! Then we moved like different jungle animals with our jungle animal hats. We looked at beautiful tropical birds and used feathers to create our own bird. We also learned about a crocodile who didn’t want to share his river but as it turns out, he just had a toothache that was making him cranky! Once we solved his toothache, all the animals were allowed to come play in the river.
The children also showed great teamwork in their play this week. They worked together to create fantasy lands such as restaurants that made smoothies and cupcakes. They continued an ongoing game of “mommy and daddy”. They also worked very hard at problem solving such as doing their best to make a puzzle together. And of course, they continued to play animal doctor from our introduction to our Animal Rescuers IEYC unit.
