KG Class Blog

KG On the Road to Jim Thompson’s House

Posted on February 19, 2019 by ashley

Dear Parents,
Our trip today was a great success. The students had a really fun time exploring a beautiful setting and experiencing a whole range of connections to Thai culture/identity. These ranged from the architecture of the buildings to the furniture inside and the different artifacts that Jim Thompson had collected.

Please click on the link below for a brief history of Jim Thompson.
https://www.jimthompson.com/jims-story

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Week #24: Feb. 18th – 22nd, 2019

Posted on February 18, 2019 by rachel.dr

If you are viewing this message via email,
please click on the link below to view the full content of this week’s blog post:
https://klearning.ict.kis.ac.th/kblog/kg/

* * * * *

Field Trip Tomorrow: The Jim Thompson House
Students are to wear their house shirts on Tuesday for our field trip to Jim Thompson’s house.

Please ensure they also have a water bottle and are at school before the 7:50am bell.
Please click the link for details regarding the KG Trip to Jim Thompson House
Thank you for your support.

* * * * *

UofI #3 Family Histories: Family Photos
Thanks again, parents, for sending us your family photos. We have received pictures from 13 families so far.

Please provide as much detail as you can about the people in your photos, where they are from, what languages they speak, etc. We will use these photos to continue to make connections to family histories.

Remember, they can be old family photos and/or more recent ones. Feel free to send in more than one. They can include extended family as well (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.)

* * * * *

International Mother Tongue Day
On Thurs. 21st Feb., KIS will be recognizing International Mother Tongue Day.

In connection to this KG would love to have some guest speakers in the KG class to share either their favourite story/book or a time-line of their life where it documents the different cultural elements in their family and where they came from. We have found in the past that guest speakers are a powerful learning tool. We plan to run this starting Monday February 25th until Friday March 1st. If you can’t make it that week it can be the week after, we would just like to get as many different experiences for the students as possible.

Please contact a teacher ASAP if you would like to be a ‘Risk-Taker’. We have many different times available so we can accommodate many different options.

We look forward to many positive responses.

* * * * *

Sports Day
Thank your for coming out to support and cheer for your children for Sports Day last Wednesday. The students had fun and worked hard to earn points for their houses.

* * * * *

Exploring Elements of Identity Through Stories
Over the last couple of weeks, students have been making connections to our current unit of inquiry through stories. One of the stories, My Name is Yoon, is an inspiring story about a little girl finding her place in a new country. Here is the link:

Stories give students the opportunity to make connections to themselves, other stories we have shared, or even their classmates.

How many elements of identity can we see in this story?

* * * * *

Library Books
Since there were no classes last Friday, students may keep their library book folders until this Friday 22nd February. Please return the folders by Friday. Thank you.

* * * * *

Important Dates

Tue. 19th Feb.	KG Field Trip to The Jim Thompson House
Thu. 21st Feb.	International Mother Tongue Day
Mon. 25th Feb. – Fri. 1st Mar.	KG Classroom Speakers (please consider volunteering)
Tue. 23rd Apr.	World Book Day (details coming soon)
Mon. 6th May	H.M. The King’s Coronation (NO SCHOOL)

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KG Classroom Speakers

Posted on February 13, 2019 by rachel.dr

Dear Parents,

Thursday February 21st is “International Mother Tongue Day” at KIS and Grade 1 are running an initiative for parents of all grades to read on the day their favourite story in their native language to a range of different classes. Please sign-up for this if you are interested.

In connection to this KG would love to have some guest speakers in the KG class to share either their favourite story/book or a time-line of their life where it documents the different cultural elements in their family and where they came from. We have found in the past that guest speakers are a powerful learning tool. We plan to run this starting Monday February 25th until Friday March 1st. If you can’t make it that week it can be the week after, we would just like to get as many different experiences for the students as possible.

Please contact a teacher asap if you would like to be a ‘Risk-Taker’. We have many different times available so we can accommodate many different options.

We look forward to many positive responses.

KG Team

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Week #23: Feb. 11th – 13th, 2019

Posted on February 11, 2019 by rachel.dr

If you are viewing this message via email,
please click on the link below to view the full content of this week’s blog post:
https://klearning.ict.kis.ac.th/kblog/kg/

* * * * *

Short week…This is a reminder that there will be NO SCHOOL for KIS students this Thursday 14th and Friday 15th February.

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UofI #3 Family Histories: Family Photos
Thanks again, parents, for supporting your children to select artifacts for our Unit of Inquiry. We have a new request for you now to send us copies of family photos (email or printed). The photos can be old or new family photos with extended family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.), or they can be more recent ones.

Please provide as much detail as you can about the people in the photo, where they are from, what languages they speak, etc. We will use these photos to continue to make connections to family histories.

* * * * *

Sports Day this Wednesday
We will be having Sports Day this Wednesday 13th February from 8:00 am – 9:40 am. Students should wear house shirts, PE shorts, and running shoes on that day. Parents are welcome to attend. KG students will join G1 and G2 students in a variety of relays/races.

If you can, please come and cheer on our students as they take part in various activities and earn points for their houses.

Students are free to go home after Sports Day activities. Please be sure to sign your child out if you are planning to take them home before the regular dismissal time.

NOTE: There will be no after-school classes on Sports Day.
A make-up class will be scheduled at a later date for any clubs that are regularly held on this day.

* * * * *

100 Days of School
Thank you parents and students for participating in our ‘100 Days of School’ by sharing your creative ideas.

We now have 2 books to add to our class library from our 100 Days in school: one with a collection of country flags and the other with the ideas that you shared with us.

* * * * *

Chinese New Year 2019
Last Thursday KIS celebrated Chinese New Year. Many students dressed up in red or traditional Chinese dress and some visitors came to perform a Dragon Dance on the football field. Here are some pics from that day.

* * * * *

QLB (Quality Learning Behaviour) Awards
Last Friday we said thank you to students who have been displaying a variety of quality learning behaviours.

Congratulations to Michael from KGA, August from KGB, and Shao Xuan from KGC.

* * * * *

Field Trip Next Tuesday 19th February
Please click the link for details regarding the KG Trip to Jim Thompson House

* * * * *

International Mother Tongue Day

Dear Families,

On Thurs. 21st Feb., KIS will be recognizing International Mother Tongue Day. We will celebrate by reading books and telling stories to the students in different languages. We are asking for your support to come into KIS and read or tell a story to a group of students in your first language.

If you sign up, you will be reading or telling stories for about 10 minutes to a range of students from EY1 to Grade 2 in the AudiBox. These students may or may not include your own children. Each session lasts for 40 minutes and will be shared by 4 adults – so about 10 minutes each. Please refer to the schedule at this link to sign up. Translation into English is not necessary. We will have a computer and projector available if you would like to share a story on a screen.

If you do want to read to your own child’s class in their classroom, please speak to your child’s teacher in addition to signing up in the schedule.

* * * * *

Library Books
Since there are no classes this Friday, students may keep their library book folders until next Friday 22nd February. Please return the folders on this day.
Thank you.

* * * * *

Important Dates

Wed. 13th Feb.	Grade School Sports Day (KG – G5)
Thu. 14th Feb.	Professional Development Day (NO SCHOOL)
Fri. 15th Feb.	February Long Weekend (NO SCHOOL)
Tue. 19th Feb.	KG Field Trip to The Jim Thompson House
Thu. 21st Feb.	International Mother Tongue Day
Tue. 23rd Apr.	World Book Day (details coming soon)
Mon. 6th May	H.M. The King’s Coronation (NO SCHOOL)

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House Spirit Day (rescheduled)

Posted on February 6, 2019 by rachel.dr

In lieu of the House Spirit Day that we missed due to the emergency school closure last week, we have rescheduled it for next Monday 11th February.

Students should wear house shirts on this day.

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Week #22: Feb. 4th – 8th, 2019

Posted on February 4, 2019 by rachel.dr

If you are viewing this message via email,
please click on the link below to view the full content of this week’s blog post:
https://klearning.ict.kis.ac.th/kblog/kg/

* * * * *

UofI #3 Family Histories: ARTIFACTS
Thank you, parents, for supporting your children to select artifacts for our Unit of Inquiry.

It has been wonderful to have the students sharing their artifacts with the class and telling us how these artifacts connect to their families.

We still have a handful of students who haven’t yet brought in an artifact yet. If your child is still not sure what to bring, remember, an artifact can be anything that connects to your family or your family’s history. You may be able to get some ideas from the examples in the slideshow above.

* * * * *

Wed. 6th February is our NEW 100th Day of School.
Please remember to either send in or email us a photograph/video of your idea(s) of how to show the number 100 and we will share them with the class.

We look forward to seeing your ideas.

* * * * *

Chinese New Year
This Thursday 7th February will be our dress-up day for Chinese New Year. Students are welcome to wear Chinese traditional dress on this day. There will be a Lion Dance at 12:40pm. KISPA will be hosting some lunch time activities in the atrium as well as lantern making and calligraphy.

Note:
It is still our regular swim day, so please remember to have your child wear/bring their swimming supplies on that day.

* * * * *

Literacy and Numeracy Connections
Our new Daily Data now allows students the opportunity for greater independence in sentence-writing (Today is…) as well as illustrating subtraction using an image of base 10 blocks.

They are beginning to make connections to number bonds that equal 10 as well as extending patterns and creating one of their own.

* * * * *

KG-G2 students will have Sports Day on Wednesday 13th February from 8:00 am – 9:00 am on the Football Field. Parents are welcome to attend. Please come and cheer on our students as they take part in various activities and earn points for their houses.

* * * * *

KG Field Trip: Jim Thompson House
Tuesday 19th February will be our field trip day to The Jim Thompson House in connection with our Family Histories unit of inquiry. A letter from the SEA will be sent to parents with the final details next week.

* * * * *

Library Books

Please return library book folders on Friday morning.
Thank you.

* * * * *

Important Dates

Feb. 4th – 8th	PYP 3-Way Conferences
Wed. 6th Feb.	100th Day of School
Thu. 7th Feb.	Chinese New Year dress-up day
Wed. 13th Feb.	Grade School Sports Day
Thu. 14th Feb.	Professional Development Day (NO SCHOOL)
Fri. 15th Feb.	February Long Weekend (NO SCHOOL)
Tue. 19th Feb.	KG Field Trip to The Jim Thompson House

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KG Emergency Shutdown Post

Posted on January 30, 2019 by ashley

Dear Parents,
To keep the KG program running during the pollution closure please access the following tasks that are included in your home learning packs (pictured below) that were sent home to all students this afternoon.

Unit of Inquiry – Artifacts: Quite a number of students are still to select an artifact for our inquiry “Family Histories”. If your child is yet to select theirs please do so during these next two days. If your child has already selected and brought their artifact into school then could research another artifact and bring it to school after the shutdown. Their second artifact could represent another element of identity/culture. The elements of identity we have researched are Plants, Games, Dance, Language, Music, Art, Clothing, Money, Food, Animals, Flags and Buildings. Additional shutdown research task…….Have we missed any????

Home Learning Package (contents)
Unit of Inquiry:
Each student received 2 blank country flags to colour in and then to research 2-3 facts about that country. The flags/research need to be returned to school and we will use the flags to celebrate 100 days in school.

Literacy
ORT Reading Books: Extra home reading books have been sent home. These books represent a higher reading stage than normal for your child. It will give them the opportunity to further explore how to gain meaning from story illustrations and to tackle unfamiliar text. These books are meant for fun reading explorations and can also be used for adults to read to children.
Oxford Reading Tree can also be accessed online for further explorations and reading inquiry https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk

Kids A-Z: The next 2 days will be a great opportunity for students to further explore Kids A-Z. All students should know their passwords to login to their personal accounts (if you get stuck with a password email your teacher for help). Reading this way gives teachers the opportunity to track which books students have explored and to feedback on their progress.

Specialists & ICT: All specialist classes can be accessed via their blog pages, in addition Mr. Eric has extra resources that can be accessed here
https://klearning.ict.kis.ac.th/kblog/ict/

Letter Formation: Students will have received a handwriting practice sheet with high-frequency words on both sides. Remember to use finger spaces and keep the letter shapes within the lines.

Numeracy:
Students received a sample Daily Data sheet with information to be completed for Thursday and Friday.

Thai:
The Thai Department have included Home Learning for both Thai and TAL. Please open the relevant documents.TAL KG-Home Learning (1) TAL Unit-Our School (KG) Learning Slide Thai Home Learning KG 2087_001. Please click on the relevant class to access.

Please return all contents of the Home Learning Package on Monday.

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Week #21: Jan. 28th – Feb. 1st, 2019

Posted on January 28, 2019 by rachel.dr

If you are viewing this message via email,
please click on the link below to view the full content of this week’s blog post:
https://klearning.ict.kis.ac.th/kblog/kg/

* * * * *

UofI #3 Family Histories:
KG Cultural Showcase
Thank you, parents, for taking the time to prepare for and host our Cultural Showcase last Tuesday morning. It was a very rich sensory experience for the students as they got to see/hear/taste/feel and learn about many aspects of the different cultures of their classmates’ families.

We couldn’t have done it without you all. It was a great way for the students to tune in to our current unit on Family Histories.

ARTIFACTS
Thank you to the students who have already taken action to bring in an artifact for our current unit. Artifacts are a critical part of the students’ learning as they help them make connections to the unit of inquiry.

If you haven’t yet brought in your artifact(s), please do so no later than this Thursday 31st January.

* * * * *

Literacy and Numeracy
Practicing sight words through songs
Students have been practicing recognizing some sight words using visual media. Here is one example of a song the students enjoy singing together:

Demonstrating subtraction
During our morning meetings, students continue to make connections to our daily attendance and are learning to figure out how may people are present in a variety of ways.

First, we count how many people are absent (A) and late (L), and we add these two numbers together. Then, we subtract this from the total number of students in KG to find the value for P (i.e. how many people arrived on time). So far, students have practiced counting backwards to find out how many Ps there are, but most recently we have been using Base Ten Blocks to demonstrate subtraction.

We will soon be incorporating this into our Daily Data booklets.

* * * * *

House Shirt Day
This Thursday 31st January is House Shirt Day.

Please have your child wear his/her house shirt on this day.

* * * * *

Monday 4th February is our 100th Day of School.
Can you think of a creative way to show 100 of something? Please either send in or email us a photograph/video of your idea(s) and we will share them with the class.

We look forward to seeing your ideas.

* * * * *

PYP 3-way Conferences: Feb. 4th – 8th
Sign-up sheets are now posted on the bulletin board outside the KG classroom. If you haven’t yet signed up, please do so as soon as possible.

If for some reason you are unable to attend that week, please email us to let us know so that we can schedule for another date.
Thank you.

* * * * *

Library Books

Please return library book folders on Friday morning.
Thank you.

* * * * *

Important Dates

Thu. 31st Jan.	House Shirt Day
Feb. 4th – 8th	PYP 3-Way Conferences
Date to be confirmed…	KG Field Trip to The Jim Thompson House
Wed. 13th Feb.	Grade School Sports Day
Thu. 14th Feb.	Professional Development Day (NO SCHOOL)
Fri. 15th Feb.	February Long Weekend (NO SCHOOL)

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Research: The importance of practicing reading

Posted on January 25, 2019 by lisa.di

Research: Why Reading Practice Is Essential for Literacy Growth

More reading equates to greater vocabulary gains…

Renaissance Learning. (2019). What kids are reading: World’s largest annual study of K–12 reading habits: 2019 edition. Wisconsin Rapids, WI:

A huge gap exists between the number of vocabulary words learned by students who read for less than 15 minutes daily versus 30+ minutes per day—a difference of almost 12,000 words. Students who read under 15 minutes per day over the course of their schooling learned an estimated 1,909 new words, whereas students who read for 30+ minutes per day learned a whopping 13,866 words.

Unfortunately, the data show that the kids who read for a half hour or more daily represent less than 20% of students— about 50% of students read under the 15-minute mark.

Why is reading time so important? When kids practice reading, they are not merely repeating the words on the page. They are decoding as they read, sharpening their reading fluency, using context and other clues to determine meaning, simultaneously gaining and using background knowledge, learning about structure and voice, learning new vocabulary, and so forth.

While reading, students will acquire roughly one new vocabulary word for every 1,000 words they read (Anderson & Nagy, 1993). Thus, students learn thousands of words over the course of their schooling from reading practice alone— not from spelling tests or looking up words in a dictionary.

As a result, how much time students spend reading each day determines just how many thousands of words are learned. And learning new vocabulary, in particular, plays a key role in determining whether students understand the text they are currently reading and the texts they will encounter in the future.

… and greater gains in reading achievement In addition to monumental vocabulary growth, the more time kids spend reading, the higher they score in reading. Research has shown “reading volume is actually central to the development of reading proficiencies” (Allington, 2014) and that independent reading helps students improve achievement in reading and other areas of study (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1991; Stanovich & Cunningham, 1993).

In the 2017–2018 school year, students who read less than 15 minutes per day experienced reading achievement gains of only 3 percentile rank (PR) points (49 PR to 52 PR). Those who read 15 to 29 minutes per day started with the same average PR (49) but ended 7 points higher at 56.

Students who read 30+ minutes per day started with a slightly higher average PR of 50, and then grew 9 PRs to land at 59. These students made triple the gains of the kids who read for less than 15 minutes per day. However, only about one in six students read the 30+ minutes per day needed for maximum PR gains, while two in six kids read for 15 to 29 minutes per day.

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KG Artifacts

Posted on January 23, 2019 by ashley

Dear Parents,

Thanks so much for the wonderful Cultural Showcase yesterday in KG. It showcased all of our student cultures in such a visual manner. A special thanks to our KISPA reps for taking the organisational lead on the event.

It is now time for your child to select an artifact for our inquiry ‘Family Histories’. Artifacts should showcase your family’s culture. Yesterday gave many students support in identifying the different connections that can be made and the different items that could be used as artifacts. It could be as simple as bringing a flag to represent your culture or two flags if your culture is a combination of different countries. When your child has selected their artifact please help them to complete this google survey to explain their artifact in more detail. The two questions they will need to answer are;

Key Concept; Form – What is your artifact?
Key Concept; Connection – What culture does it represent? (A Thai flag would represent Thai culture)

Submit your child’s artifact information on the google form here.

We can then celebrate all of our cultures in the KG classroom.

Thanks,

KG Team.

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KG On the Road to Jim Thompson’s House

Week #24: Feb. 18th – 22nd, 2019

KG Classroom Speakers

Week #23: Feb. 11th – 13th, 2019

House Spirit Day (rescheduled)

Week #22: Feb. 4th – 8th, 2019

KG Emergency Shutdown Post

Week #21: Jan. 28th – Feb. 1st, 2019

Research: The importance of practicing reading

KG Artifacts

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