This week, we have been doing lots of reflecting, thinking back over our unit and revisiting the many things we have discovered. We have put the finishing touches to our “I used to think...Now I think…” Thinking Routines as part of our Summative Assessment. It is fascinating to see just how far our thinking has come and how deep our understanding of ‘the 3 R’s’ now seems to be. The children are still sharing stories and photos of the action they are taking at home and this highlights just how profoundly this unit has resonated with the children across the grade. If you have not already done so, please take a look at our ‘Action Station’ at the entrance to the K2 pod.
We are SO excited about the Cardboard Arcade at tomorrow's Family Fun Day. The fact that this has all come from the children is testament to how deeply this unit has resonated with them. The games they have created are fantastic (even though some of the rules are quite confusing!!), so, PLEASE do take the time to drop by their stall tomorrow and try them out. Good luck!
Do not forget that next Wednesday is ‘Reused Material Hat Day’ across K2 and the children are invited to come to school wearing a hat made (at home) from reused materials. This is not a competition and there are no prizes, it is just an opportunity to celebrate the end of our unit together and raise awareness of ‘the 3 R’s.'
At the start of the week, we decided to create something useful out of all the old newspaper in our art cupboard and set about making papier-mache pencil holders for our tables. However, things did not go quite to plan and, by Thursday, things had started to get a bit mouldy and a whole lot stinky!! Still, we live and learn and we will have another crack at this next week.
The trip to the Botanic Gardens was a resounding success. The children did us proud and were a credit to the school. We collected some beautiful natural materials around the gardens and the collaborative creations looked fantastic...Andy Goldsworthy himself would have been proud! Thank you to all the parents who came along to help on the day. Apologies for the 120+ photos in this slideshow but this is the edited version...I went through over 500 photos on the iPod Touches!!
In Writing Workshop, the children have moved on to the Revision and Editing stages of the Writing Cycle. We are adding more detail to our illustrations and text, thinking about more interesting ways to say things and introducing more action, dialogue and emotion. We are also checking and changing our words, thinking about familiar sound patterns and trying to remember punctuation and spacing.
In Reading Workshop, the children have revisited their ‘Fluency Self-Check’ lists, comparing their reading of a Just Right book now with the initial reading a few weeks ago. They were encouraged to concentrate on fluency and expression, reading smoothly, chunking and changing their voice to match characters or to reflect the mood of the text.
In Mathematics, we have been practicing and consolidating the skills we have developed over the course of this ‘Addition and Subtraction’ unit. After the break, we will begin our next unit on "Data Handling and Probability."
Next Thursday and Friday, I will not be in school as I am going to the EARCOS Conference in Bangkok. So, if you have any queries or requests (particularly re. pick-up), please make sure you write them in the Communication Book for Ida to check or else email her directly.
Lastly, the Junior School Student Council is organising another school Spirit Day on Friday 28th March. It's favourite sports day! Come dressed as your favourite sport or athlete. How creative can you be?
Reminders
*Family Festival-Saturday 22nd March (TOMORROW!)-Mr. Morley's Dunk Time is 2.15pm!!!!!!
*K2 Trip to the Dover K2 Arts Festival-Tuesday 25th March
*K2 Reused Material Hat Day-Wednesday 26th March
*Spirit Day-Sporting Heroes-Friday 28th
*Last Day of Term 2-Friday 28th March-SCHOOL ENDS AT THE NORMAL TIME
Have a great weekend.
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