Tuesday, September 22.
I hope you have a safe and relaxing 4 day weekend!
Grade 1 Birthday Parties
On Thursday, September 24th 2:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. we will be celebrating grade 1 birthdays for the months of August and September! Items donated for our party will include store bought juice and treats.
Weekly ECA (after-school clubs)
We just finished our second week of ECAs. The students have been enjoying their clubs and look forward to them every day!
If your child has an ECA, they can bring an extra snack to eat at the end of the day.
Students in soccer club, British Football Academy club, and track & field leave early on the bus/van every Wednesday.
Soccer Club & BFA: leave at 3:00 p.m.
Track & Field: leave at 3:05 p.m.
Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you!
UST Monthly Maths Competitions
Dear UST Parents,
Yes, it's back! The monthly maths competition is now up and running for this year. We had a great response to these competitions last year so let's keep it up, try to win prizes and become the 'Maths Champion of the Month'!
Each month, there are new but challenging questions for the children in Grades 1 - 6. Questions for Grade 1 - 3 are on the message board on the 4th floor and those for Grades 4 - 6 are on the board on the 6th floor. These questions are also posted on the School Council Weebly page.
The children should answer all the questions clearly, writing their answers on a piece of paper along with their name and class, then hand their submissions to their class teacher along with ¥50 to enter.
The first piece of paper from each grade that is pulled out and has all the correct answers wins!
Children can enter as many times as they wish, but there is still the ¥50 entry fee.
Entries for this month will be drawn on Friday 2nd October and announced in the monthly assembly that day.
If you have any questions, please do let me know!
Happy calculating!
--
Mrs. D
[email protected]
UST Grade 3A Homeroom Teacher
School Council Lead
UST International Children's Day
Friday, September 25
Dear UST parents,
Every year we share and celebrate the diversity of our school with UST's International Children's Day, which will be on September 25th. This year's theme is:
The Geography and Nature of my country
'My country' means different things to different people. It could be the country you were born in, where your parents or someone else in your family is from, a country you spent a lot of time in and consider a home...it is whatever it means to you!
Clothes
For the day, please have your child come dressed in clothes that are associated with your country (traditional dress, for example). If they have PE, please bring something which is easy to change into or out of (depending what time of the day your child's PE lessons are)
Food
Due to Covid-19 safety measures, we cannot share food in the way we usually do. If it is possible to find traditional snacks from your country which are shop-bought and individually wrapped, please bring them in to share. Please send your child in with a healthy lunch as usual.
Presentation
Grade 1 students will not have regular homework next week. Instead they will need to create their International Children's Day slideshow at home with parent support using the PechaKucha website. These presentations will be shared with the class on Friday, Sept. 25th during our school's event.
PechaKucha invitations were sent today, so you should have received an email to create your own account and start your child's presentation. If you provided two email addresses to the school, please take a moment to check BOTH email accounts to see if you received the invitation.
G1 students were introduced to PechaKucha this week and they are excited to get started! Each student will need to create a 10x10 slideshow presentation. This option allows students to upload 10 photographs and talk about each photograph for 10 seconds. If your child wants to use one photo twice in the slideshow to share more information about it, that's okay too (example: slide 1 and 2 - photo A, 20 seconds total).
The presentation can include information about:
- animals or plants native to your country
- weather and climate
- rivers, mountains, and other geographical features
- cities and towns
https://www.loom.com/share/263f6ba8871144a1ad9dd19d99ebf88d
SPECIFIC PRESENTATION INSTRUCTIONS
We have also attached a quick list of Dos and Don'ts to help you get started. If you have any troubleshooting queries, please email as follows:
K1-K3: Ms. Claire - [email protected]
G1-G6: Ms. Wood - [email protected]
Enjoy creating your first PechaKucha!
Thank you,
Callie Wood
Grade 6 teacher
Windshield Check
Student Self Assessment
Our class has been introduced to the Windshield Check. Students will use this to help show their understanding of concepts being taught. For example, if our class is learning about solving addition stories, after the lesson I will say, "Windshield Check! How do you feel about what you learned?" Students will show one of three responses: clear, buggy, muddy. It's a great opportunity for students to reflect on their own learning and understanding! While they are working at their desk, they can also show the buggy or muddy signal to let me know they need help.
Social Studies
Why Is It Important to Learn from Each Other?
During social studies our class practiced talking and listening skills. The "talker" held up a piece of paper with a mouth on it and the "listener" held up a piece of paper with an ear on it. We practiced inappropriate and appropriate ways to talk and listen.
Appropriate Ways
How should we talk?
- make eye contact
- speak in a normal voice
- talk only to your partner
How should we listen?
- don't make sounds
- face the speaker
- make eye contact
Students also drew pictures and wrote about themselves:
Each of us is special.
__________ makes me special.
We are good at different things.
I am good at ________________.
You can learn from me.
I can help you _______________.
I can learn from you.
You can help me ____________.
Math
*Number Bonds
*Addition within 10
Our new math chapter focuses on addition. This week we related number bonds (part, part, whole) to addition (part + part = whole) and learned that one way to add is counting on from the greater number.
Counting On:
5 + 3 = ___
“5…6, 7, 8”
4 + 6 = ___
"6...7, 8, 9, 10"
Math Vocabulary
Add
Plus (+)
Equal to (=)
Addition Sentence
More than
Writing
Sentences and Paragraphs
During writing students were introduced to writing a paragraph. Our class learned that a paragraph is a group of sentences about the topic and paragraphs include a beginning sentence, middle sentences, and an ending sentence.
Writing a Paragraph (5 sentences)
- Beginning Sentence: tells the main idea (1 sentence)
- Middle Sentences: tells more about the main idea and shares
details (3 sentences) - Ending Sentence: adds one last thought (1 sentence)
Students also started their first writing piece! They will follow the writing process to write a 5 sentence paragraph: prewriting, write, revise, edit, publish. This week they brainstormed three topics, chose one, and drew pictures to gather details to complete a story map (who, what, where). After prewriting, students used their story maps to start writing their first draft. Next week we will revise, edit, and publish. Once their work is published, each student will read their final writing piece to the class and we will put their writing on display in the classroom.
Below are the writing pages we use to help students follow the writing process in Grade 1. During each writing unit, the prewriting page will look different, but we will use the "writing hamburger" throughout the school year. The "writing hamburger" helps students organize their sentences before writing their paragraph on writing lines.
Spelling
Spelling Notebook - Homework
Next week I will staple an Editing Marks page to the front of the spelling homework notebook. Students will use these editing marks at school during writing and can use them at home to check and edit their spelling sentences each week.
Reading
Sometimes while we're reading, we get distracted and stop reading. This week students continued to practice how to refocus by going back and rereading to remember the last part they read. We also learned different ways to reread a book.
Ways to Reread
- Reread to refocus
- Reread with your best storyteller voice (not too fast, not too slow, don't sound like a robot)
- Reread by finding something new in the pictures
- Reread by finding something new in the text/words
Recess
- Ms. Allison