First graders are doing great! They have just finished letters Aa-Zz and phonics. Most of the students have no problems writing Aa-Zz in the correct order; however, listening and writing (e.g. phonics) is the harder part. They are encouraged to spend more time practicing after school. Second graders are learning about changes of life. We talked about changes of a child, changes of a caterpillar and changes of a tadpole. The students are amazed by how a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly and how a tadpole transforms into a frog. Of course, watching them being able to explain the process is the best part of all! Keep up the good work! Midterm Week And Some Reading And Writing FunSince this week was midterm week, all students from third to sixth grade were busy making preparations for midterms. In the middle of all this, we were able to have some fun with some review games , reading practice and writing practice. The third graders have been working on perfecting their grammar and writing skills. We have had some simple writing activities to help them develop their own ability as writers. Most students have shown great imagination in their writings and it is always interesting to see what they produce. For most of the classes, we have been trying to boost their confidence in speaking up by having speaking workshops where they talk about their own experience related to the topic being covered. So far, the students are doing very well and adjusting well to their new grade. The fourth , fifth and sixth graders have been working hard on their reading and writing skills. Grammar has been a major focus for all three grades as some students still find some basic grammar challenging. We will continue to work through the problems and hopefully they will improve over time. Writing workshops have also been incorporated into the lessons to help the students be more creative. Topics were given out and students were asked to do an essay. Most of the students are able to create really good work and others with some guidance from the teacher.
Grade 1: Making Moves with Motion Sun and Moon have been making some moves this semester! We had a paper airplane competition and some planes made it above the rope while others below it. We even created our very own motion song and dance. We learned our first big science word: COLLIDE. Check out this colorful drawing. Grade 2: Getting Energized! Energy in the form of electricity, light, heat, and sound are now no longer being taken for granted by Huron and Ontario. They have been successfully learning what things use these forms of energy. They understand the limitations of light; go ahead, ask one of the students if light will reflect off of them or not.Here are some second graders using light to create one of mankind’s oldest games: shadow puppets This week, we are mid-completion on our Electricity Adventure books. Parents, stay tuned as your kids will soon be authors of their very own science graphic novels! Grade 5: Energy, energy… Where art thou? Fifth grade has been learning all about where and how our energy works. It works all around us, it works in different ways. Here are some boys and girls showcasing their results of transforming electrical energy into thermal energy with some panda toast! We dived deep and broke sound energy down into pieces. Here is Eason drawing the sound energy he hears in the form of a wavelength. As we moved onto the capabilities of light, Lisa showed us how light bends, or as we now call it, refracts. Science Review Week With Teacher FalineStudents in grades 3, 4, and 6 have been reviewing for the midterm this week… but not without having a little fun while doing so! Grade 3 students learned about mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and birds. They answered questions in the style of Jeopardy to earn points. Grade 4 students learned about photosynthesis and how flowers and conifers pollinate. Grade 6 students learned about plant and animal adaptations. Students worked hard on the review sheet, and we played some team games as means to incorporate a little fun while preparing for the test. Great work everyone, and good luck on Monday for our Science Midterm!
It is my pleasure to meet and work with these students! In social studies, we talk about rules and being a good student. I work with the book, so that students become familiar with textbooks—which is a good skill for them to learn as soon as possible. Furthermore, I have the students use these rules for the real classroom and how they should behave at Er Xin. Lastly, I am teaching test-taking skills, and I am pleased at how Grade 1 is adapting. For now, they're working together on pictures that describe their community. I am so happy to get to know the Grade 2 students! They are eager to learn and they make some great efforts. We are working on what it means to be a responsible community member. I am also impressed at how well the students are working with reading fluency; Reading fluency is the ability to read as smoothly as possible. My students have done a good job in understanding this, and they're learning more about social studies. I have had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with Grade 5! I am always so happy that they speak in class. For the first part of class, we have talked about maps. For the second part, we are talking about culture, namely counterculture and how it fits in with mainstream culture. We will continue the discussion about counterculture, and we will watch The Addams Family, a classic movie about counterculture. Moreover, the students will learn more about pragmatics in English. Pragmatics are the uses of language in the right situation. Thanks for your time, and I always look forward to teaching these brilliant learners! All About Maps With Teacher Betty!It's my pleasure to work with the Grade 3. We learned a lot of map skills such as map keys and scales. We also learned many concepts from an interesting song. It was easy to remember concepts this way for many of the students. Stone Tools With Teacher StevenThis week, the grade 4 students in their social studies class learned a little bit about lithics (stone tools). We spent some time reviewing about the quiz they did and right after they finished, we watched a short video about a bonobo making and using a stone tool. The video was to give them an idea about how our early ancestors might have used rocks as tools. I took them up stairs where we have lots of space to do a little demo. I have prepared some rocks for this demo but please, DO NOT try this at home. I showed them the most basic form of tool making that was used by our ancestors millions of years ago. After I showed them an example of how sharp the tool I made could be, I let some students tried out for themselves. The finished product wasn't perfect because the rocks that I had prepared were not ideal for tool making but nonetheless, the students should have an idea of how hard it is to make stone tools and they should appreciate the difficulties that faced our ancestors long time ago.
Due to the graduation trip, only one grade 6 class had social studies class this week. They learned about the history of World War II and the reasons why the war happened. This lesson should give them some idea about what the world was like 80 years ago and the terror of Nazi Germany and why we should never repeat the mistakes of history. The Third Graders have been working very hard in Art Class! I have been enjoying each moment getting to know them better and watch them grow. We have been reviewing color theory and the value scale in class. The students have created various projects including Ted Harrison style seascapes, primary color monsters, and tertiary color wheels. Everyone tried their best on the quiz and I am so proud of all of them. Way to go Third Graders! The Fourth Graders have been working very hard in Art Class! I have been loving watching them grow in skill and getting to know more about them. We have been reviewing color theory, art mediums, style, and symbols. The students have been working carefully on completing Loretta Grayson style trees using oil pastels and water color. Everyone tried their hardest on the quiz and I am so excited to see their hard work pay off. Keep up the hard work! The Fifth Graders have been performing wonderfully in Art Class! It has been a joy watching them learn and grow while getting to know them. We have been learning about and reviewing color theory, art mediums, artistic subjects, and Johnathan Harris's work. The students are working skillfully to recreate Johnathan Harris style Birch trees using tape and watercolor resist. I am certain the class will put all their effort into taking the quiz and I cannot wait to see the success they will have. Keep going Fifth Graders! The Sixth Graders have been showing their wisdom and experience while working in Art Class! I am learning more about them and their skills each time we meet. We have been learning about and review the 7 elements of art through various activities. The students amazed me with their effort on the first quiz and I am so excited to see what else they can do. Great job Sixth Graders!
In the 1st grade, we have been learning about art supplies which are the things we need in art class. Before the first graders start to make art, they are supposed to know what the tools are and how to use them. Also they should know what we do in art class and what supplies are used to do certain things. We have been working on these through some visual materials and games that can motivate them to learn. Using those tools to make art is the best example of practical application of learning this project. We started talking about the things we can see in nature since we are going to create landscape paintings in the next few weeks. Can’t wait to see their artwork! In grade 2, they have been learning about color theory which mainly focused on color mixing. The students know the relationships between primary colors and secondary colors. Over summer session, they did a color experiment by mixing red, yellow and blue icing to make secondary colors- green, purple and orange. They know primary colors can’t be made by mixing other colors and secondary colors are made by mixing two primary colors through this experiment. Besides, they really had fun while making “rainbow cookies” with colorful icing. After building up the basic knowledge of color mixing, the lesson was constructed deeper understanding based on warm and cool colors. The students know colors have temperature. For example, warm colors make us think of fire and cool colors make us think of water. Also colors are able to express their feelings in artwork, for instance, warm colors show the feelings of happiness , cool colors are for sadness. In this project, they made masks using warm and cool colors for a happy and a sad face respectively.
|
Archives 紀要回顧
四月 2024
Er Xin Reporter
|