This week, we revisited our mini-landfill sites to dig up the rubbish we buried almost a month ago. It was fascinating (and a bit smelly!) to see what had become of our waste and to compare and contrast our findings to the predictions we made all that time ago. It led to some very interesting and passionate discussions across the room and a realisation that this is something we need to continue to act upon long after our unit is "finished." Ashwin's sister, Aishoo, and her friend collected the soil from the buckets and took it down to the Garden By The Bus Bay.
Our “Action Station” is filling up fast and it is so heartening to hear all the stories of the children championing the ‘3 R’s’ outside of school. In light of this, we have decided to give you all some homework!!!! We are going to have a Reused Material Hat day in K2 and you are tasked with helping your child create their very own hat to wear on the day! We believe this will be a great way to finish our current Unit of Study, raise awareness and spread the word about ‘the 3 R’s’ across the school...and, hopefully, it will be a lot of fun! The children will need your support to source suitable materials and, to an extent, with the creative process. However, please be mindful that this is not a competition and it would be great if the children could do the majority of it themselves. We would then like to invite them to wear their reused materials hats to school on Wednesday 26th March.
This week, we have started to summarise and reflect on our learning throughout the unit. We considered two provocative questions, “Should we reduce, reuse and recycle?” and “Could we do more to help the environment?” and used these to guide our discussions. Towards the end of the week, we began recording our thoughts and ideas using the “I used to think… Now, I think…” Harvard Thinking Routine. This is something we will aim to complete next week, when we will also revisit our initial wonderings on the Wonderwall.
In Writing Workshop, the children are producing an impressive number of writing pieces and incorporating many author’s craft moves into their work. Next week, we will move on to the Revision and Editing stages of the Writing Cycle, where we will remember the adage, “When I’m done, I’ve only just begun.” Although the revision stage does not focus solely on writing conventions as the children are encouraged to check and change the composition element, we will concentrate on spelling, familiar sound patterns and digraphs and simple punctuation.
In Reading Workshop, the children have been reading play scripts in small groups, taking on different roles, following the text and joining in when it is their turn. They have practiced giving the characters appropriate voices and changing their voices to match the mood or feeling in the text...we are becoming very expressive! Towards the end of the unit, we even recorded some of our group read alouds using Doodlecast which we will be able to look back on in the future.
In Mathematics, we have continued to explore the idea of measuring with non-standard units. We have finished working in pairs to measure the length of the different parts of our bodies, recording our findings on a simple template. At the same time, we have continued with our ongoing Number Talks sessions. The children are becoming more articulate and confident at explaining their mathematical reasoning and expanding on their thinking. We are focusing on number facts to 10 and beyond and this is becoming a more instant process for many of the K2 children now.
One of the proposed projects for the combined K2/G1 Service trip to the Kuma School in May is to build a Sound Garden out of reused materials. We are planning to make it both environmentally friendly and cost effective for the school, which fits in really well with our ongoing inquiry. If you have any unused items at home that you are happy to donate, please bring them in to school and pass them onto Cheryll (the Infant school secretary).
We would greatly appreciate donations of the following small items:
*Small plastic flowerpots, car-parts, pipes and tubes, kitchen implements and utensils, smaller furniture parts, interesting objects and items made from rubber or plastic (e.g. flip flops). Any abandoned/old instruments will be put to good use as well.
As these items will be handled by children and will be hanging outside, please ensure they are well cleaned and free from hazards, damage, breaks, rust, sharp edges...and will be suitable for exposure to the elements.
If you would like further information, please contact Imogen Piccirilli (Infant Music) ipi@uwcsea.edu.sg
Lastly, a big THANK YOU for the ongoing support with cooking in K2BeM. The children absolutely LOVE their Wednesday morning sessions and always cheer when it is their turn to head to the kitchen! We know the amount of time and preparation that goes into making these sessions a success and it is very much appreciated... and it always tastes delicious too! This week's spanakopitas were no exception!
Have a great weekend.
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