Week 18

Dear grade one parents,

This week we went on an organic shape hunt for our inquiry project. Students found many interesting shapes!

We then sorted them with our geometric shapes. At first, students put the circular organic shapes in with their circular geometric shapes and rectangular geometric and organic shapes together. However, some organic shapes reminded students of both rectangular and circular and the class became divided. So we went back to the drawing board, and finally we came out with organic shapes and geometric shapes separated.

 Then we traced our geometric and organic shapes to make a picture!

In maths, we have been finishing up our shapes unit. We did some fun tests to see what can be stacked, rolled and what objects slide!

This week, we also looked at fiction and non-fiction books. So, this weekend please ensure your student is doing a book review on a fiction book.

Today, we had our suisha activity where we are getting the gym ready for the art exhibition. Its going to look great!

Kind regards,
Sara Matthews

Week 17

Grade one parents,

This week we started off by sorting our shapes. Students were given two pieces of paper and asked to sort the shapes they found into two groups.
This required students to use their discussion skills as they tried to find a way to sort all the 3D and 2D shapes that we had found.
The shapes we are learning are:

cube /cubiod / triangular prism / pyramid  /cone / sphere / rectangle / square / circle / triangle

Key vocabulary are:

face / side / corner

In language time, students have been working on their Words of The Week. The four words this week were:

Sky  Why  Ask  Help

Students were also learning about the blend "sk" sound and introduced to periods (full stops).

We also had a Suisha activity this week where students got together and painted for the Jinsho art exhibition.

In inquiry, students have been learning about geometric and organic shapes. We learned how to draw our own organic shapes by closing our eyes and moving our pencil to the sound of music!

For guided reading, we have continued reading with grade 2 on Friday.

Have a good weekend!
Sara Matthews

Kanji and Katakana

In this term, Grade 1 students finally start learning Kanji and Katakana.
We have already talked about when we use Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji.
When I asked students where they think Kanji came from, they were saying so many countries' names like Australia, New Zealand,Turkey etc.
After guessing, we learned that Kanji came from China about 3300 years ago.

Grade 1 students will have Kanji homework on Monday and submit those papers on Thursday or Friday before Kanji test.
Thank you so much for your support at home.
I was so happy to see that students were very excited to write Kanji!

Week 16

Grade one parents,

This week we have been starting our new term and our new inquiry!
In math, we are introducing 3D shapes!

Today we went on a scavenger hunt for 3D shapes in our school! Stay turned next week for our shape sorting!

We have started our new unit of inquiry: how we express ourselves. Our central idea is how feelings and ideas can be shared in different ways.

For inquiry time, we worked in groups and chose a picture that we really liked. Together, we made our own story using our narrative skills we learned last term. We then shared the stories during inquiry circle.
The stories were really imaginative and creative! 

We have also been looking at shapes and symbols in art, and this week we looked at creating our own ideas using only four shapes, and symbols in Maori art.

In language, grade one have been really improving in reading. This term, we will be collaborating and sharing our reading comprehension skills by doing buddy reading with grade two!

See you next week,

Sara Matthews
Grade 1 teacher

Week 15

Dear grade one parents,

This was the final week for term 1!
Thank you all for attending the Celebration of Learning Winter Performance yesterday. The students had been working hard to learn to play and sing their songs.

This week we focused on practicing our performance and finishing off our retell stories. Students finished their books and today they read them to kindergarten. They are all so proud of their work and were excited to share it.

I hope you all enjoy your break and have a happy holiday!
Kind regards,
Sara Matthews

Oshougatsu(Japanese New Year's Day)

Grade1 students have been learning Japanese tradition about New Year.

Their song for the Celebration Of Learning is really nice and they like practicing that song.

I hope you will enjoy the song at home, too!

Students got some Japanese homework for Winter break.

For the reading homework, they can read any parts from their textbook.

I hope you have a great holiday and a happy new year!

Week 14

Dear parents,

This week has been really busy for grade one. We have been working diligently on our final project. We are creating a storybook that retells a story from the country we chose to inquire about.
Students have been learning about pop-up books and other ways to display their information.

 

We have also been practicing our performance for the winter celebration of learning. Students have really enjoyed learning to play and sing songs for special days of the year.

In maths, students are now working in groups to use all the addition and subtraction skills they have learned over the term!

Enjoy your weekend,
Sara Matthews