June 6-10 2022

Week 38: How We Express Ourselves

Our final week in EY2 has been one of fun, joy and a wee bit of sadness as we say goodbye to our wonderful  EY2 students and Ms June.

We had lots of fun for our end of year party.

As a way of celebrating our time in EY2, we have made a short video about our favourite things in EY2.

Our Favourite Things in EY2

Thank you to everyone who made this year’s EY2 so fantastic.  We will miss you all.

Please check your seesaw messages as we will send you individual links to a google drive folder with photos of your child from their year in EY2.

Have a great summer and see you all in August!

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on June 6-10 2022

2nd June 2022

Week 37: How We Express Ourselves

A short but wonderfully busy week here in EY2

The children have been working on building our EY2 rocketship and it is beginning to look ready for take off!

We have managed to get our story bout Bob and Apple (Butterfly and Duck) completed with some wonderful ideas and narration from the students about the storyline and what happens next.

The children have been continuing to use their imaginations in our roleplay village but also in creating simple maths games where they apply ideas and make connections to previous earning. A simple game of rolling a stone and then measuring how far it went using footsteps became very popular this week.

This week we continued with the letter ‘Ee’ where we looked at all of the different words we knew that started with the ‘e’ sound and we realised that the letter ‘Ee’ can make different sounds and not just ‘e’ as in egg!

It was Ms. June’s birthday yesterday (1st June).  The children were very excited to make her a card and then go and surprise her with a beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday.

Today we went to see some a capella singers from Harvard University. They sang some Disney medlies just for us.

Next week we will have lots of fun and games as we prepare to say our goodbyes and finish off our last week in EY2.

Reminders

We will have our last swimming class next week.

We will have our EY2, end of year party on Thursday. The children can dress in party clothes that day and have their swimming suits on underneath as usual. More information will follow on the party as the children decide what kind of party they want.

 

June 9th: EY2 Class Party

June 10th: Last day of School-Early Dismissal (11:40 am)

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on 2nd June 2022

27th May 2022

Week 36: How We Express Ourselves

Another full and fantastic week of learning in EY2. Check out the slideshow below for a glimpse of some of the things we did.

We made a tv this week which the children are having lots of fun with as they create and act out different types of programs from sports,  cartoons to cooking shows.

The children have been expressing themselves through art in the playground and have created some wonderful pieces of art using chalk and masking tape.

We have been taking a familiar story of We’re Going on a Bear hunt and changing parts of the story to come up with our own.  The children in each group then got a chance to perform and retell the story to the rest of the class.

Some of the children have been digging for treasure and playing pirates so we decided to create some treasure maps and will soon go on a treasure hunt of our own.

Today was the house challenge and EY2 had lots of fun tackling the obstacle course,  They all participated with such enthusiasm and energy.  Lots of fun was had.

Next week we will continue letting their imaginations fly!

We hope to finish off our class story of Bob the butterfly and Alice the duck as well as use some of treasure maps created this week to go on a treasure hunt around the EY2 local environment. We will continue to explore the sound, formation and words connected to the letter ‘Ee’ as well as develop the EY2 space exploration program by working on the construction of our EY2 rocket ship.

Reminders

Next week is a short week as Friday is a holiday.

June 3rd: HM Queen Suthida’s Birthday (school & office closed)

June 9th: EY2 Class Party

June 10th:Last day of School-Early Dismissal

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on 27th May 2022

20th May 2022

Week 35: How We Express Ourselves

It was wonderful to have everybody in for SLCs this week. The children were so excited and took so much pride in being able to show their parents all that they do in class.

This week the children have been continuing to let their imaginations fly high as they create stories and new roleplay scenarios. It is wonderful to observe the different ways in which our students get creative. Some children use the roleplay village as a source of inspiration and then get creative and make props to support their play such as bracelets, walkie talkies and hats. Other children initially create objects from construction materials such as cars, planes and veterinary hospitals and then imagine stories and scenarios to go with their creations.

We have been busy building upon and co-constructing a story about a butterfly and duck. This week the children began to narrate and record the story and have brainstormed ideas for what will happen next. We are integrating IT with this project and using an app called Puppet Pals to record and animate their ideas.

We have been reading a book called ‘This is not a Box’ and the children in response are using their imaginations to think about what our big cardboard box will become. They then drew pictures to communicate their ideas.

Next week we will continue with our story of Bob the butterfly and Alice the duck. We will look at letter ‘Ee’ within our phonics sessions and will explore the sounds and words associated with this letter. We will further explore the properties of 2D shapes and take our investigations outside into our KIS environment as well as continue to create a variety of shapes within the class.

Reminders

Next Friday will be house shirt day.

Please send in any big cardboard boxes that you may have at home as the children are excited to get creative with big boxes and have a myriad of ideas.

June 9th: EY2 Class Party

June 10th:Last day of School-Early Dismissal

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on 20th May 2022

May 13th 2022

Week 34: How We Express Ourselves

A wonderfully busy week with the EY2 students really immersing themselves into our new ‘How we express ourselves’.  We see the children joyfully using their imaginations to create and generate a myriad of different stories and situations in our new reimagined EY2 roleplay village which now incorporates  a Police station, hospital, shop and restaurant. Our cartoon/comic book character dress up day really inspired the children to use their imagination and take on roles of different characters.

We have continued with our choral reading of the familiar story of ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’ where the children know the repetitive phrases and text well enough to read together and do the actions. Many children have also been busy in the creation station making binoculars as a prop for the story.

We have started to create our own stories and think of the range of characters we can add as well as the setting. Together we have thought about all of the Disney characters but more importantly the children have given thought to their own original characters such as animals, monsters, kitty fairies, vampires, Kings and Queens as well as knights, dragons, captains and robots.

 

In maths we have been exploring simple 2D shapes and their properties. The children have been creating shapes from different media and also making connections to shapes in the world around us.

They have been thinking about the different centers that they want to show parents for next week’s Student led Conferences. The children have been taking ownership of creating signs and labels for the SLCs.

We have been working on our letter formation of the letter ‘n’ and have introduced the ‘Kk,Cc’ sound.

Next week we are looking forward to welcoming parents into our classroom. We will continue with our exploration of the Kk and Cc sound and recap over all of the letters and sounds covered so far in EY2.

We will continue with creating a class story and work on developing our characters, settings and plot. The EY2 Roleplay village will take center stage as the children continue to create and imagine new stories and play scenarios.

Our exploration of shapes will continue as we take our investigations outside into our KIS environment as well as create a variety of shapes within the class.

May 16th: Student Led Conferences

June 9th: EY2 Class Party

June 10th:Last day of School-Early Dismissal

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on May 13th 2022

May 6th 2022

Week 33: How We Express Ourselves

A short but busy week for us in EY2.

 

We have been finishing off our science experiments on materials and have begun tuning into our new unit of How We Express Ourselves: Engaging in imaginative play develops our creativity.

Our lines of inquiry for this unit are:

  • An inquiry into imaginative play

  • An inquiry into exploring our imagination through stories 

  • An inquiry into how our creativity extends our imaginative play

Our role play area has now been changed to include dress up clothes and other items to further stimulate our student’s imagination and creativity.

We have been reading the story ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ by Michael Rosen and have been catching on to the the repetitive text and actions, and associated sounds.

Click on the link below for the Storytime video of We’re going on a Bear Hunt

Storytime with Mr Rich. We’re going on a Bear Hunt

We have begun to think how we can use our imagination to change the story and have already had ideas such as: We’re going on a lion hunt, dragon hunt, monster hunt, Pikachu hunt, jellyfish hunt, lava hunt and even a hamster hunt.

We have introduced the letter Nn this week in our phonics sessions and have been listening to the sound it makes and brainstorming words that begin with Nn.

Next week we will discuss with the children what activities they would like to show their parents for the SLC’s on the 16th May. We will introduce 2D shapes within math and discuss their properties as well as recap the letters and sounds we have covered so far. We will introduce the Cc and Kk sounds also.

Reminders

On Monday we are asking EY2 students to dress up as their favourite cartoon/comic character.

May 16th: Student Led Conferences

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on May 6th 2022

April 29th 2022

Week 32: How the World Works

It has been a wonderfully busy week for EY2.

This week the children have been true scientists as they tested different materials such as plastics, paper, fabrics, silver foil and cotton to see if they were waterproof or absorbent. They used scientific skills of observation, classification, prediction and inferring to determine the properties of the materials at hand and they continually asked lots of related questions as they carried out their experiments. As the children tested materials they recorded their results into a T chart to show their findings. 

The children have been making slime these past few weeks as part of our ‘Materials’ unit. They have been able to observe the properties of different materials at various stages as the ingredients are mixed.

We have thought about jobs within the class that the students can be responsible for and this week we brainstormed ideas such as librarian, light monitor, line leader, caboose (back line), table and floor checkers, gardener as well as a stationary boss.

Within maths we have been doing lots of active counting up to 20 and have been looking for patterns within groups of objects to make our counting easier. The children have been using the balance scales to measure weight and we have introduced the concept of using non standard units to help us measure. This is where we use objects of the same weight or size to measure other objects.  So we used small paper clips or same sized blocks to measure a book or in the case of weighing we used small bears of the same weight.

Next week is a short week as Monday and Wednesday are public holidays. We will explore properties of 2D shapes as well as continue with our focus on number and counting. We will continue with tuning into our new unit of “How We Express Ourselves as we talk about how engaging in imaginative play develops our creativity. We will also further explore the C and K sound.

Reminders

As mentioned last week, Ms. Lisa has organised a Cartoon Character drawing competition for May 9th. Please see the flyer below for more details. we have sent a large sheet of drawing paper home with your child today.

In EY2 we encourage the students to come to school on Monday the 9th May dressed as their favourite cartoon/comic character.

Student Led Conferences: On Monday, May 16th, we will be holding the Student Led Conference for the first time in 2 years! This conference provides an opportunity for your child to share his/her learning with you. The Student Led Conference is not a regular school day, however, students will be expected to arrive in their school uniform for their scheduled conference time. Each conference will be scheduled for up to an hour during which your child will share a variety of classroom learning experiences with you. The school will be sending out the sign-up sheet next week. We are very excited to welcome all of you to our classroom for the first time this year!

May 2nd: Labour Day substitution (School closed)

May 4th: Coronation Day (school & office closed)

May 16th: Student Led Conferences

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on April 29th 2022

April 22nd 2022

Week 31: How the World Works

It has been wonderful to reconnect with students after the Songkran holiday. They have returned back to school eager to learn, displaying wonderful listening skills and have really taken on our EY2 Essential agreement of being principled and caring.

Our role play area has been a heavily visited center this week with the hospital being a popular choice and a new interest in further developing our police station. The addition of some police uniforms, hats and handcuffs have really got the children engaged and we are currently building a police car from cardboard to include in our police station.

We have been discussing more about materials and considering their uses in relation to their properties. The children have been hunting around the classroom to find objects made of certain materials and have noticed that many objects are comprised of more than one material.

This week we have introduced the letter Ii, and the sound it makes.  We have looked at the letter formation as well as brainstormed words beginning with the ‘i’ sound.

Next week we will test different materials to see which have waterproof and absorbent qualities. We will continue to think about whether some materials are suitable for certain purposes/uses. With these ideas in mind we will create a challenge where the children have to construct a boat that floats and does not sink.

Within Maths we will continue to explore measurement and begin to use standard units in comparison of length, height and weight.

We will explore the sounds that the letter ‘C’ and ‘K’ as well as continually revise the sounds we have previously covered.

We will also begin to tune into our new unit of  How We Express Ourselves.

Reminders

Please help your child to bring 1 new artifact for them to share next week.

Ms. Lisa has organised a Cartoon Character drawing competition for May 6th. Please see the flyer below for more details

May 2nd: Labour Day substitution (School closed)

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on April 22nd 2022

April 8th, 2022

Week 30- How the World Works

Building, making, creating, and having fun! Those words sumarize another great week of learning in EY2! The children showed much enthusiasm this week as they worked cooperatively to complete various learning engagements. 

The children continued their investigation into the properites of materials and how they can be used in different ways by making a volcano, resources for the airport, decorations for the Songkran Door Challenge and measuring the length and height of objects and people. 

The EY2 students got their hands dirty this week when making paper mache and painting decorations. Allowing the children to play with glue and paint helped them develop different vocabulary words for the materials, understand their properties better, as well as helped them create new nerve connections in their brains. Sensory play helps the brain develop new connections in the brain pathways, which in turn help the children become stronger problem solvers and thinkers. You can read more about the importance of sensory play here. 

 

 

Along with using paper to create paper mache and decoratoins, the children also used paper and other materials to make things for the airport. They made passports, an airplane, and things for the medical clinic. The children continued to practice their social and communication skills throughout the day as they played and had fun!

 

The children further strenghtened their understanding of materials and how they can be used in different ways when they used nonstandards units to measure the length and height of each other and other things in the classroom. The children used everyday objects such as paperclips and pastic toy chains to practice measuring and comparing people and objects. 

 

The EY2 students were great thinkers this week as they inquired into various concepts and ideas. The students continuted to explored the form and function of the letter ‘P’. They reviewed the sound the letter stands for, as well as how to correctly form the letter. They practiced forming the letter on their peer’s back and on paper. The children also learned more about Songkran and how it is connected to Thailand. The children wore traditional Songkran clothing, as well as completed Thai learning engagments to help them develop a deeper understanding of the special celebration. 

 

This week, our EY2 commuity had to say farewell to a great friend. They spend the last day together playing, eating popcorn, watching a movie, and having ice-cream. This is what our friend wanted to do on his last day of school. We wish him and his family all the best on their new adventure!

       

When we return after the holidays, we will have 2 new friends join EY2. We will spend the week getting to know them, as well as continue with our investigation into How the World Works. The children will recap the letters they learned these past few weeks, as well as continue exploring measurement and materials. 

We wish everyone a well deserved holiday and safe and happy Songkran. We wish you all health and happiness during Songkran and all year!

April 11th-15th- Songkran Break

April 18th- Back to School

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on April 8th, 2022

April 1st, 2022

Week 29- How the World Works

It has been another week of exploring and having fun in EY2! The students were busy making slime, Ooblek, and a volcano to help them better understand the concept of form- What is it like? While working with peers and teachers, the children listened to directions and shared their understanding of various vocabulary words connected to texture, such as slimy, stretchy, hard, soft, squishy, and rough. What wonderful communicators busy investigating!

.  

In math, the students began to inquire into measurement by playing with balance scales and water, and comparing lengths of various objects. The children discussed the meaning of measurement and shared ideas on how to measure and how different materials compare to each other- are they longer? shorter? lighter? heavier? The students were thinkers when trying to solve problems connected to measurement- which is heavier and what makes you say so? How do you know your material is longer? Way to go Thinkers! 

In Language, the students celebarted Book Week by listening to various stories told in different languages. At the end of the week, the children displayed their enthusiasm for reading by dressing up like characters from different tales. If you would like to see more of our PYP Book Character Day, please visit the paddlet here. What wonderful costumes!

 

They also communicated ideas creating a new space to play in. The children did a wonderful job creating an airport that has a shop, medical clinic, and police station. They brainstormed ideas of things each part needed, and began adding resources such as an Xray machine and price tags. The children also began to inquire into the letter ‘P’ using the Jolly Phonics song, ‘Puff Out the Candles’. We will continue investigating this sound and letter next week. 

.        

The children also have the opportunity to visit the Grade 5 PYP Exibition. They were principled by making good choices when visiting and observing different presentations. They were also communicators by listening to various students talk about their action and learning. It is hard to believe that in 6 years our EY2 students will be the ones presenting! 

        

Next week, the students will continue investigating materials by making paper mache, as well as using materials to make different resources for their new playing space. The children will also help decorate the classroom door for the Songkran door competition. On Thursday, all students are encouraged to wear their Songkran traditional clothing. 

April 6th- Chakri Day- No School

April 7th- Songkran Dress Day

April 8th- Last day of school- Songkran Break start

April 11th-15th- Songkran Break

April 18th- Back to school

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on April 1st, 2022