Wednesday April 30, 2014

Hi all,

We had a great day today. This morning we focused on Phonics and after lunch we helped each other correct some addition and subtraction review pages. Following, I gave students a two page Unit Test to work on. They all did fantastic including a few students who got 100%! Way to go!

In Social Studies we talked about festivals of culture and looked up photos to see what food and clothing looked like around the world. It was interesting to compare and contrast with what we know in Taiwan. =)

In Science we talked about forest rangers.

Just a reminder that we have library tomorrow so students should bring back their books so they can exchange them for new ones.

Math Homework Page 62: Word Problems
Remember to show your work!

Tuesday April 30, 2014

Hi all, 

Happy Tuesday everyone!

We had some fun reading this morning and had an extended math period after lunch. I gave students a chunk of review pages to work on individually to finish up the unit. I have marked all of them and am overall very impressed with their understanding. Good job Grade 1's!

No homework tonight. They worked very hard in math and science this afternoon so I think they deserve a night off. :)

Enjoy!

Friday April 25, 2014

We made it! Congratulations Grade 1's you have successfully completed your first Science Fair! I am SO proud of all you. Thank you for all of your hard work and patience, I know it has been a long and busy week. Enjoy your weekend and get lots of rest and play time. I handed out a Science Fair Reflection sheet for homework. Please do your best to complete it by Monday.

Sorry everyone, in all the Science Fair excitement I forgot to post the spelling words for next week. We have been practicing them every morning in class though so they should be fine for the test on Monday 04/28.

Spelling Words

took

science

eat

room

friend

beagn

idea

ideal

Thursday April 24, 2014

Hello all,

We had another successful Science Fair experience today. I am so impressed with our Grade 1 students. They have been eager to share their projects with others and during downtime at the fair I am happy to say they were very well behaved. Great job!

We had a busy afternoon learning about more likely, less likely, and equally likely in our probability chapter of Math. During Library we took out new books and some of us read a book about Rosa Parks together. During Science we talked about Prairie environments and compared them with Arctic and Alpine tundras. During Pastoral Care, we were all a little tired from the long day so we watched an episode of The Magic School Bus and ate snack before heading home.

Homework tonight is just to continue practicing the oral presentation component of the Science Fair and get a good rest! Looking forward to seeing you all again tomorrow. 

Wednesday April 23, 2014

Today was the first day of the Science Fair where students set up their stations and showed their projects off to other members of DISK. Tomorrow we will open up the fair to parents and guests. Please feel free to join us from 10:00-11:30am.

Homework Math Page 60-61

Tuesday April 22, 2014

Hi everyone,

I am sorry I was away yesterday I had some food poisoning on my way home from Indonesia. It's great to be back today though. It seems like all the kids have grown an inch! =)

This morning Grade 1 hosted Easter Mass. They did an absolute wonderful job with the readings and the offerings and listening respectfully throughout. Way to go! I was VERY proud of them.

After Mass the school put on an Easter Egg hunt for the students. Please enjoy the photos below.

Our DISK Science Fair starts tomorrow. A couple students still not have brought in their boards. They absolutely need to be at school tomorrow morning. Please find the fair schedule below.

Science Fair Schedule

Wednesday April 23rd

·        Time: 13:00 - 15:30

·        *This day will be for DSK students only and be used for preparation, set-up, as well as walk-around.

Thursday April 24th

·        Time: 9:00-12:00

·        * Parents and St.Paul students can come in during this time to look at projects.

·        * Students must be at their stations from 10:00-11:30 to do presentations

Friday April 25th

·        Time: 13:00-16:00

·        *Another day for parents and St.Paul students

·        * Students must be at their stations from 1:30-3:00 to do presentations

·      *  From 15:00-16:00, we will be giving out awards and cleaning up.

Friday April 11, 2014

Hi everyone,

Just a reminder to finish up your science projects over the break and bring in your completed boards on Monday. We will practice our oral presentations Monday and Tuesday and the Science Fair will be Wednesday-Friday. Don't forget the last step, which is to write about what you learned from your project.

Have a great break and i'll see you all in a week!

Thursday April 10, 2014

This morning we used graphic organizers to help us sort through our ideas for our story. We completed a character map, a conflict map, and a resolution map. The students continued to offer great ideas with enthusiasm. We watched a video of lanterns being set off into the sky and tried to imagine what it would feel like to come to Taiwan and see this for the first time. Some of the adjectives the students came up with were, "magical, amazing, exciting, cool, and beautiful."

In the afternoon Mr.Chang and I spoke with the rest of the students about their Science Fair Projects. I love their enthusiasm! =)

We will have some special school activities tomorrow afternoon so we are asking students to bring a small treasure of theirs. Nothing too expensive or valuable but something small that means something to them. =)

Homework English Page 67

Wednesday April 9, 2014

We had a great morning.

In Reading we started a new story about a caterpillar. We prepared for the story by learning some new vocabulary words. The students picked one of the words out of a bag, read it aloud, and then made a sentence with that word. I then wrote sentences on the board and students had to decide which vocabulary word to fill in the blank.

In Language class we have started to learn about the writing process. We are very excited to start writing a class story. During step 1, prewriting, we planned our writing. We brainstormed ideas about what our story could be about and then voted to make our final decisions. We have decided to focus on culture, since that is what we have been learning about in Social Studies. We will write a story about a boy named Ben who moves from Canada to Taiwan and joins the Grade 1 class at DISK. We will explore his transition into a new culture. The students were SO enthusiastic coming up with ideas and celebrating when their favorite ideas received the most votes. I think we will have a lot of fun with this project!

This afternoon we continued to talk about fractions focusing 1/2 and 1/4.

Later, Mr.Chang came to our class to talk to the students about what to expect for the Science Fair. Afterwards, him and I split up to conference with students about their projects. Basically we were just looking to see that they had a good understanding of their projects and would be able to explain them at the fair. So far so good! Thanks for all your hard work everyone! (Any student who did not have a chance to speak with Mr.Chang or myself today will get a chance tomorrow =) )

The display boards must be ready to bring to school after the break next week. On Monday April 21, 2014 we will be practicing the oral presentation part of the projects. Please bring them in by 04/21 at the latest. I know how hard everyone has been working so thank you so much for your support!

Math Homework Page 58-59

Wednesday April 9, 2014

Hi everyone,

We had an incredibly busy day at school today. For homework, students need to finish their Whistle for Willie handout. We have gone over all of the questions in class so they should be fine to do it on their own. 

Have a great night and see you all tomorrow!

Monday April 7, 2014

Important SCIENCE FAIR information:

Below I have posted a picture of the sticker which comes along with the standard poster board that you can find at any 9x9 stationary shop. It has a dimension of 60 x 100 cm, and I think it is easier to use this as a standard size for our projects.

Depending on the amount of material needed to be displayed, students can purchase three boards and assemble them together (see the other image of the Mars Project for a general idea). Some students may only need two boards, and can cut one of the two boards in half to use as the "wings". In short, let's set the official limit to the size of three boards (not exceeding 180 x 100 cm). For those who have already started with their boards- don't worry about it.

The science fair is coming up very soon. We have this week to help finalize ideas/conduct experiments/answer questions/etc. Hopefully by the time the students come back from the holiday, we can help them practice for their oral presentation. 

SPELLING WORDS

mile

river

car

feet

care

second

book

carry

Tuesday April 1, 2014

Hi everyone,

Please be sure to take a look at the previous post as there is a ton of important Science Fair information. For the rest of this week students should finalize their hypothesis and do their experiment. They need to record their hypothesis, procedure, materials used, and their observation of what happens during their experiment. Takes lots of pictures to decorate your boards!
**I sent the science booklet home with students today. Please send them back on Monday April 7 =)

Journeys Reading Homework Page 104-105 (All students, except those who are away, have already completed page 104.)

Tips for 105:

CAUSE 1. Peter wished he could whistle. EFFECT 1. Because he saw a dog run to a boy when he whistled.
*Please complete 2 more of your own cause and effects from the story.

Important Note: Christian Living 4th Quarter exam will take place next Tuesday April 8 because Father Prudencio will be out of the country for the rest of the school year.

I hope you all have a wonderful week off and enjoy lots of sunshine and rest and play! Remember to HAVE FUN doing your Science experiments and take lots of photos. I can't wait to hear all about it on Monday. =)

April 1 SCIENCE FAIR INFORMATION

Hi everyone,

IMPORTANT SCIENCE FAIR INFORMATION

The Science Fair is quickly approaching. During the next few days off, please get together in your groups and do your experiment. You should take some photos of the process (to put on your display board) and keep a record of what you observe.

The Scientific Method
1. Ask a Question
2. Research your Topic
3. STATE YOUR HYPOTHESIS
4. TEST YOUR HYPOTHESIS

Currently we are on steps 3 and 4 of the Scientific Method. Today I worked with students to help them work out their hypothesis for their project. You may need to go over this with them. After they have a clear hypothesis, they are ready to put on their scientist hats and do their experiment! Make sure to write out all the steps involved in your experiment. This will be your Procedure and it will need to go on your display board.

Reminder:
Your display board must have the following sections:
Question
Hypothesis
Materials Used
Procedure
Results/Observations
Conclusion (what you learned)
+ photos of your experiment, before, during, and after is best.

Hypothesis Tips:

• A hypothesis is an educated guess about how things work.

• Most of the time a hypothesis is written like this: "If _____[I do this] _____, then _____[this]_____ will happen." (Fill in the blanks with the appropriate information from your own experiment.)

• Your hypothesis should be something that you can actually test, what's called a testable hypothesis. In other words, you need to be able to measure both "what you do" and "what will happen."

*http://www.sciencebuddies.org/ is a great resource to help. It is definitely beyond our Grade 1 reading and comprehension level, however, so you will need to help them.

For example, for the experiment we did in our own class, our hypothesis could have been:

If I give a plant water and air, but no sun, then it will still grow tall and healthy.

Procedure

This is an example of the procedure for our class experiment. Yours should show all the steps from the start to finish of your experiment.

1. Fill 4 cups with soil.

2. Put 2 seeds into each cup.

3. Decide which cup will get water, sun, air, or all three.

4. Make signs for each cup.

5. Put the signs on the cup.

6. Put the cup with no sun in a box.

7. Put the cup with no air into a plastic bag.

8. Put the cup that will get all three (sun, air, water) into the window.

9. OBSERVE