Hi! My name is Shrisha and I would like to tell you what happened on World Read Aloud Day. World Read Aloud Day was Wednesday, February 24, 2016. My class was paired with a class in New Zealand. I was picked to read, and the book I read was called Yoko. The class in New Zealand read us a book called, How Maui Slowed the Sun. Each person in their class got to read a part of the story. In my class only three people read the story, and that was me, Rina, and Erica. The class in New Zealand really loved our book.
I was really proud of myself because I tried my best and I read everything correctly. I am also proud of myself because I read with lots of expression. I am proud of my classmate Erica, because she also used lots of expression, and she read clearly, nicely and carefully. Rina also read really good, so I am proud of her too.
I was so happy on World Read Aloud Day because my friends in New Zealand were really happy with the book I read. I really love the book Yoko, and the book that the class in New Zealand read to us. I really, really, really, really loved World Read Aloud Day, it was so exciting! That night I went home and told everything to my mom. It was so fun!
In 1B during our Unit of Inquiry, we have been learning about how things have changed from the past through visits from parents.
Thank you so much for coming in! We have been able to make some very personal connections with our unit.
Yura’s mum talked to us about clothing from the past and how the use of Kimonos has changed. We learned that America told the Japanese to wear Western clothing after World War Two because it was cheap and convenient.
Khadija’s mum talked to us about how life in Nigeria has changed in terms of buildings, clothing, family life and making food. We learned that buildings used to be small with wooden windows. Now they are bigger because people have more money.
From Marina’s dad we learned that families in the USA used to be much larger with many children and that many families lived with animals because there were no supermarkets. They got milk and meat from the animals. We also learned that many families from the time of Marina’s great grandmother travelled all the way from England and Ireland to start a new life.
From Makiko’s mum we learned that Japanese women in the war did not usually go to high school but that Makiko’s great grandmother did. She became a school teacher because men had to go and fight in the war. She could teach even though she had no teaching license. Also we learned that after a wedding ceremony women entered the husband’s’ family's’ house by the back door because going through the front door means being seen as a guest and a bride was not a guest anymore!
From Luna’s dad we learned that most houses in the USA in the past had real fires to keep them warm. Because there were no supermarkets, they grew their own vegetables. Luna’s dad grew up on a farm so he has had a very different life to Luna!
From Mei’s dad we learned that her great uncle had no choice and was sent to war where he died. People in Japan are not forced to go to war now. We also learned that Mei’s great grandfather still liked to wear kimono after World War 2 because it was still comfortable clothing. Other people were not wearing it so much but he still felt comfortable wearing it.
From Camille’s parents we learned that she only had one photo of her great, great grandfather because it was so expensive and special to get a real photograph taken 90 years ago. We also saw how her great, grandfather changed over one lifetime - when he was a young man there were no glasses and when he was old glasses had become available. We also learned that because Camille’s grandfather moved to the USA, Camille’s dad learned English and that is why Camille is now also studying at an English speaking school.
Grade One students have been inquiring into dances of long ago. They started learning dances from different periods of history to see if they could see how dance has changed. One of the first dances students learned was the minuet. Can you imagine going to the palace with a beautiful dress and wig? The king has asked G.F. Handel to write some special music for a celebration.
We've been working on the waltz, a dance that became popular in Vienna. We can do a waltz by counting 1-2-3. We can make it a little more difficult by doing the "Box Waltz." Here's a close-up of how to move your feet. How will you practice it to get better?
Do you know the Macarena? This dance was popular in the 90's. Perhaps some moms and dads, or maybe even Grandmas and Grandpas know this dance. We've just started learning it. How do you think dancing has changed from the minuet?
Do you have a dance that you can share with us?
Please contact Ms. Kampa, Ms. Meyers, or Mr. Brigham.
We are now over half way through the school year and the Grade 1s have been doing a great job of learning new skills in PE classes since they started in the elementary school. Units they have been learning these skills in include cooperative games, target games, kicking games, striking and fielding, gymnastics and health related fitness. Even though the weather has been cold outside, the girls have been keen to get out on the field for lessons and their enthusiasm and energy is very encouraging. Great work girls! ~Mr Hawkins
1B doing animal movements as an introductory fitness circuit
We would like to congratulate all the girls who submitted manuscripts (story writing and pictures) for Seisen's 2016 Elementary Picture Book contest and announce the winners.
Grade 1 Winners
Author: Karin Sugiyama Book Title: Girl and Boy Married Excerpt: Lisa showed him the shell and asked, “Do you remember this shell?”
Author: Shrisha Mishra Book Title: When You Were Born Jesus Excerpt: Earth is a place to share, love and live in PEACE.
As soon as the books are published, a copy will be available for checkout from the ES Media Centre.
As a whole Elementary School goal we are aiming to provide parents with more insight into the teaching and learning across different subject areas. As well as keeping you informed on recent events and classroom learning engagements through regular updates on grade-level blogs, we would like parents to access the curriculum learning outcomes for all areas. You can download these learning outcomes for Grade One by clicking on the link below. Alternatively, you can download the learning outcomes from all grade levels from our website here.
For their How We Express Ourselves end of unit summative assessment, the students in Grade 1, all invented their own celebrations. To supplement this task and extend their learning, the students worked together to plan and implement a celebration for their 100th Day of School.
To begin, students brainstormed ideas for the
celebration independently in their inquiry journals.
Next, students shared their ideas and worked together as a group to decide which
ideas were the most suitable (and realistic) for their 100th Day Celebration.
The students continued revising and editing the details of their celebration until the day before the event. All of the students' planning and prepping resulted in a memorable celebration and an amazing learning experience.
This past week was one of the busiest weeks we have had so far in Grade 1. We participated in Freeze and Read, House Lunch, Pyjama Day and Crazy Hair Day. We also celebrated the 100th Day of School and Valentine's Day.
FREEZE AND READ
Freeze and Read was a week long event put on by the Library Staff and Elementary School House Captains to promote the joy of reading. Each day, there was a special announcement telling us it was time to take a break from our regular activities and enjoy reading for 15 minutes. During Friday's Freeze and Read we sat and read with our House teams.
100TH DAY OF SCHOOL
Since the beginning of the school year, the students in Grade 1 have been keeping track of the number of days they have been in school. This daily routine has allowed the students to consistently practice the math concepts of place value, subtraction, and data management. This past Thursday, February 11th, the students in Grade 1 reached their 100th Day of School.
PYJAMA & CRAZY HAIR DAY
In addition to being the 100th Day of School, Thursday, February 11th, was also Pyjama & Crazy Hair Day. This event was organized by the Asama House Captains as an opportunity for students to win points for their house teams, and as an opportunity to raise money for St. Raphaela's school in the Philippines. Prizes were awarded for the most unique, the most creative, the funniest, the most colourful and the cutest hair and PJs.
HOUSE LUNCH
On Friday, February 12th, we had our fourth House Lunch of the year. A House Lunch is a time for students to bond with the members of their house team. The Grade 1 girls love House Lunch days because they get to wear their house colours and make new friends within their house teams.
VALENTINE'S DAY
Valentine's Day is a time when people celebrate love and friendship. While both Class 1A and Class 1Btook time to celebrate Valentine's Day this past week, they did so in slightly different ways. Class 1B had a food and drink party with a craft and some games, and Class 1A created and exchanged valentines with each other, and with their friends around the world.
Class 1B wore their fanciest red dresses and enjoyed some yummy treats.
Class 1A began celebrating Valentine's Day on Monday by
making valentines to mail away to their friends in Ohio.
On Tuesday, 1A received a message that their friends in Ohio had worked
during their recess time to make Valentine's Day cards to send to Tokyo.
The students in 1A also exchanged virtual
valentines with their partner class in Maine.
On Friday, the students in 1A all shared the
Valentine's cards they had made for each other.
We are in our second week of our new unit Where we Are in Place and Time. This unit has a historical focus with the following central idea:
Learning about previous generations can help us understand
the relationships between past and present.
Our three lines of inquiry are:
Ways of Finding out about the past
How the past influences our lives now
Why some practices have changed over time
You can see the different learning outcomes in this grid:
At the start of the unit, students completed a pre-assessment task so they and the teachers can see what they already know about the past, a sense of chronology and what they understand about significant events (events that mean a lot to them).
Pre-assessment tasks such as this are important as they allow students to revisit their initial ideas later in the unit and reflect on how their thinking has changed. They also help to get students thinking about the central idea and start to formulate their own questions.
We asked the students to sort the images below. Why not have a go yourself and discuss how you would sort them and compare your answers with your daughter!
To better understand the central idea, students worked
together to look up and explain some of the key words.
In 1B the learners looked at the central idea to see what they already knew and what they needed to find out. The learners looked up unknown words in a dictionary and added that to the paper. During the unit and at the middle of the unit, they will revisit the central idea to see how their understandings of the concepts have changed.
The students in Grade 1 recently revisited the Thinking, Talking, and Exploring activity that they did at the start of their How We Express Ourselves unit of inquiry. For this activity, students discussed whether or not they thought different events were a cause for celebration.
While many of the events were placed in the same categories as before, there were some changes (see below). Winning an argument and winning a war were moved to the "Is Not A Cause for Celebration" category, because as one student pointed out, "wars and arguments are not happy things". There was a lot of discussion about whether or not getting something new was a cause for celebration. A few students argued that getting something new was an exciting and special time, while others argued that we get new things every time we go to the grocery store (i.e. oranges, milk, etc.), so it is not very special. Students all agreed that an event should have some kind of belief or value associated with it, in order to be placed in the "Is Cause for Celebration" category.
Congratulations Grade 1. It was wonderful to have you in the MC so we could all share your Skype call to a school in India. You answered the questions about pets thoughtfully and asked your questions about celebrations with passion! Hope to see you again soon. -Ms. Lea
The formation of personal, positive attitudes is one of the essential elements of Seisen's IB PYP programme. Since the beginning of the school year, the students in Grade 1 have been working on the development of their personal attitudes towards people, towards the environment, and towards learning. The attitudes that the students have been encouraged to demonstrate include: appreciation, commitment, confidence, cooperation, creativity, curiosity, empathy, enthusiasm, independence, integrity, respect, and tolerance.
While you will find examples of the students' efforts to demonstrate these Seisen and IB PYP attitudes in their semester one report cards, it is also important that the students are able to recognize and explain these efforts themselves. Below you will find examples of the ways the students believe they demonstrate the Seisen and IB PYP attitudes.
To celebrate the 100th day of school, next Thursday January 11, Ms. Meyers' class is trying to get 100 "Happy 100th Day" tweets on twitter. If you are on Twitter, please follow us @MsCMeyers and send us a Happy 100th Day tweet #1A100thDay. If you are not on Twitter, but would still like to celebrate with us, leave us a comment below.
We learned so much about the way people celebrate from our How We Express Ourselves: Celebrations & Traditions padlet project. We received messages from England, South Korea, Hong Kong, India, Canada, Spain, and several different states in the USA (New York, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin, Alabama, South Carolina, and North Carolina). Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to post, we look forward to working with you again in the future!
