Saturday, June 1, 2024

Week in Review, May 27-31, 2024

 Click here to view more photos.

Please download any pictures you would like to keep by June 14th. 

Wow! We can't believe this year is already over! And what a great year it was! Thank you so much for all your support. Thank you for your kind and encouraging words. Thank you for your thoughtful emails and lovely gifts. Your children were a huge blessing and brought joy to us daily. We wanted to thank you one last time for sharing them with us. We can't say it enough, but this is a very special group. We hope you all enjoy your summer and hope to see you around next year. Don't hesitate to reach out if you ever have a question about your child's growth or education.  

For "V" Day we learned all about, built, and erupted volcanoes. On "W" Day we ate watermelon and painted with watercolors. On "X" Day we exchanged autographs. Students were super helpers on "Y" Day. We organized and cleaned up our community (year end cleanout) and then celebrated our amazing school year (year end celebration). On "Z" Day we zipped up our zippy and backpack one final time, zig zagged out the door, and zoomed home early. 

This week we co-wrote a realistic fiction script for a shadow puppet show, created the puppets and props, and performed it for friends. 

We also had our final Grade 1 Assembly, played some math review games and made a Father's Day gifts. We also played games, said goodbye to friends who are leaving (made them a book), and had a few extra Choice Times. What a fun last week! We hope the fun continues into your summer!


Upcoming Events: 

  • June 2-Summer Break! 
    • Summer Packets were sent home Monday. 
    • Report cards can be viewed in your Parent Portal.
  • August 13-14-One to One Meet the Teacher sessions for elementary school.
  • August 15-First day of classes for all students.
*For 2024/2025 School Calendar, click here.
*You can watch our Class Video here.

Saturday, May 25, 2024

Week in Review, May 20-24, 2024

For more weekly pictures, click here.

Thank you families for joining us Thursday for our Readers and Writers Celebration! We so enjoyed sharing our reading and writing progress with you!


Our ABC Countdown continues with only 4.5 days of school till summer! This week we enjoyed running games during Eagle Field Day, silly socks and sunglasses, a talent share (readers theater and writing celebration), and built forts under our desks.

Please watch for a Summer Learning Packed coming home in your Child's Zippy Pouch Monday.

In Writingwe finished up our Realistic Fiction Book Series. Students worked extremely hard on their series and had the opportunity to share them with their loved ones on Thursday. If you were not able to make it, please take some time to have your child share their work with you. Ask them about their character, settings, problems, and solutions. Series boxes were sent home Thursday. We also took our Post-Assessment/End of the Year Assessment for Realistic Fiction. Watch for a copy coming hope next week in the back of your child's Portfolio.

In Readingwe finished our Realistic Fiction Unit, Meeting Characters and Learning Lessons. We read several books and identified the lesson our characters learned. We also saw that we can learn lessons, from our characters, so we don't have to make the same mistakes. We also shared lessons we have personally learned, so we could learn from each other. We also participated in our Readers Theater. We did our best to read with expression and fluency. 

In Word Study, we learned to drop the "silent e" before adding a suffix and to change the "y" to an "i" before adding a suffix (but not when adding ing). Please learn the new heart words "sure" and "laugh".   


In Math,we reviewed Units 1-7 and then took our End of the Year Math Assessment. Watch for it coming home in the back of your child's Portfolio next week.

In Sciencewe took our final Post-Assessment on Light. Next week we will use what we have learned about light to make a shadow puppet show for our classmates. 

Upcoming Events:

*No more EAAs!

  • May 27-"V Day"-Volcano Erupting! 
    • Zoya sharing Birthday treats during PM snack. 
  • May 28-"W Day"-Watermelon and Watercolors!
    • Kaixin sharing Birthday treat during PM snack (sick last week during her share day).
  • May 29-"X Day"-X-Change Autographs!
  • May 30-"Y Day"-Year End Clean Out and Year End Celebration! 
    • Please send your child's swim bag to school to carry all their school supplies home after our clean out. 
    • We will be enjoying some treats during our PM snack today as part of the celebration!
    • We will also be saying goodbye to Savi, Terry and Jasper as they will not be returning to SAS next year. 
  • May 31-"Z Day"-Zip Up and Zoom Out of School Early (half day)! We will be eating lunch at school. 

Saturday, May 18, 2024

Week in Review, May 13-17, 2024

For more weekly pictures, click here.

Our ABC Countdown continued with only 8.5 days of school till summer! This week we shared magic tricks, selected new names, had a reading class outside, wore pajamas and enjoyed a popsicle, and had a quiz type competition. We also visited the Art Show and found our artwork on display.

Monday is Eagle Day (field day). Please come to school in your play clothes/shoes (can get wet). Sunscreen should also be put on before coming to school. The only thing that will be taken down to the field will be a water bottle. Your child needs to be wearing everything else (hats, glasses, bug spray/patches, etc.). Please send a towel and a change of free dress clothes/shoes for your child to change into following. A pizza lunch will be provided, by the PTA, for lunch. 

Reminder, that this Thursday, May 23, is our Readers Theater and Writers Celebration. Please come join us in the classroom from 1:30-3:00. We can't wait to show you what great readers and writers we have become! Note, the Senior Walk is taking place at 2:00 so parking might be hard to find. Come early and be ready to park in the HDB carpark just off campus. 

In Writing, we finished up our final book to complete our series and took some time to fix and fancy up our books. We also designed a book box to house our series in and created a paper doll of our main character. We will use our paper doll to give you a detailed introduction to our main character next week. 

In Reading, we took a couple final assessments and prepared for our Readers Theater by making hats, backdrops, and practiced reading our parts with expression. Students are excited to read for you Thursday during our Readers Theater. 

In Word Study, we learned when to add a double consonant, to the end of a word, before adding "-ed", "-ing", "-er", or "-est". If a word has only one vowel (it will be short) and one final consonant, you double the final consonant before adding the suffix. If you don't double the consonant, the added vowel (in the suffix) is too close to first vowel (short) and will change the sound (make it long...vowels impact other vowels). Please practice the new heart words "busy", "build" and "built".


In Math, we learned how to relate time to a daily schedule and how to tell and write time in hours and half hours. We also took our Unit 7 Assessment and reflected on our feelings about math. Please watch for a copy of the Unit 7 Assessment coming home next week.
 


In Sciencewe did a cause and effect investigation and saw that light can also reflect, refract and can be separated into its 7 colors. We also completed our final light project. Students used the design cycle to build a lighted communication device. Projects were sent home Thursday. Ask your child what their device communicates.    

Upcoming Events:
  • Only vendor led EAAs till May 24. The following students will still be going to EAAs this week.
    • Monday-Junyoung, Jake, Rowan, Kaixin, Duru, Matty, Ena, and Ina (everyone)
    • Tuesday-Kaixin
    • Wednesday-Lionel, Shiv, and Kiki
    • Thursday-Liam, Junyoung, Rowan and Matty
    • Friday-Miya, Kaixin, WXY and Ena (everyone)
  • May 20-"R Day"-Running and Relay Games!
    • Eagle Field Day!
      • Come in your Field Day dress/shoes and wear sunscreen (optional-hat, sunglasses, bug spray/patches), water bottle, a towel, and a change of free dress clothes/shoes.
      • A pizza lunch will be provided by the PTA today (1 slice of pizza, popcorn & water). Please send a home lunch if your child can't have pizza or needs a bit more to eat. 
      • For more information on our Field Day, click here
  • May 21-"S Day"-Silly Socks and Sunglasses!
    • All Library books due!
  • May 22-Vesak Day! No School!
  • May 23-"T Day"-Talented Explorers! Come watch our Readers Theater! Reading and Writing Celebration! Parents, please join us at 1:30 for a Readers Theater and Book Series share. 
  • May 24-"U Day"-Under the Desk Day! Bring sheets, blankets and pillows from home to build a fort under your desk. 
    • Last day of EAA for everyone! 
    • Kiaxin sharing Birthday treats during PM snack.
  • May 27-"V Day"-Vesak Celebration and Volcano Erupting! 
    • Zoya sharing Birthday treats during PM snack. 
  • May 28-"W Day"-Watermelon and Watercolors!
  • May 29-"X Day"-X-Change Autographs!
  • May 30-"Y Day"-Year End Clean Out and Year End Celebration! 
    • Please send your child's swim bag to school to carry all their school supplies home after our clean out. 
    • We will be enjoying some treats during our PM snack today as part of the celebration!
    • We will also be saying goodbye to Savi, Terry and Jasper as they will not be returning to SAS next year. 
  • May 31-"Z Day"-Zip Up and Zoom Out of School Early (half day)! We will be eating lunch at school. 

Saturday, May 11, 2024

Week in Review, May 6-10, 2024

For more weekly pictures, click here.

Our ABC Countdown continues with only 14 days of school till summer! This week we wore hats, our clothes inside out and kicked off our shoes for the day. We told endless jokes and enjoyed a lolly. 

In Writing, we continued practicing "showing not telling" by adding details to our character's feelings and speech. We also worked to fix our capitalization and punctuation and share important details through our illustrations. We also wrote and shared our "Summer Bucket List" and are excited to share our summer hopes and dreams with you during our class celebration on the 23rd. 

In Reading, we worked to understand our character's feelings by making inferences. We also reviewed how to give a really good realistic fiction retell and voted for our favorite Big Splash book. Follow these steps to give an amazing realistic fiction retell:

  1. Characters-Who are the main characters? Use their name in the retell!
  2. Setting-Where does the story take place?
  3. Beginning-What are your characters doing? 
  4. Middle-What is the problem?
  5. End-What is the solution?
*Make your retell sound like a story. See below for an example:

Once upon a time there was a daddy bear, mommy bear, baby bear, and a girl named Goldilocks. One day Goldilocks was walking through the forest and found the house of the three bears. They were not home. She was hungry and tired and was having a hard time finding food and a bed that was just right for her. She tested all the porridge, chairs, and beds in the house and eventually found ones that were just right for her. In the end the bears came home and found her sleeping in baby bears bed.

In Word Study, we learned about suffix "-ly" and prefix "un-". Suffix "-ly" means like or manner of. Words that end in suffix "-ly" are usually adverbs. Prefix "un-" means not or opposite. Please practice the new heart words "honest", "honor", "truth" and "truly". 



In Math, we compared the size of halves and fourths of the same shape and worked to understand that for halves and fourths, partitioning a shape into more equal pieces creates smaller pieces. We also learned how to tell and write time to the hour and half hour. We saw we can relate halves of circles to half hours.
In Sciencewe did two cause and effect investigations to prove that light is transparent, translucent and/or opaque. Students tested given objects, in a dark room, to see how much light could pass through the object. Students made a claim and then worked to prove their claim. Then they made a Cause and Effect Model to share their claim and proof.  

Upcoming Events:
  • Only vendor led EAAs run till May 24. The following students will still be going to EAAs till the 24th:
    • Monday-Junyoung, Jake, Rowan, Kaixin, Duru, Matty, Ena, and Ina (everyone)
    • Tuesday-Kaixin
    • Wednesday-Lionel, Shiv, and Kiki
    • Thursday-Liam, Junyoung, Rowan and Matty
    • Friday-Miya, Kaixin, WXY and Ena (everyone)
  • May 12-Happy Mother's Day!
  • May 13-Our class is going to the "Art Show" with our Art teacher from 12:40-1:20. We would love for you to join us! Please meet us in our art room, C100, at 12:40 (very last class down the art hall). Your child will have a couple of pieces on display! If you can't make it, feel free to come one day after school and walk through with your child (May 8-15). 
    • "M Day"-Magic Trick Day! Bring a trick to school to share during Morning Meeting or drop a video (under 1 min.) in this folder for us to watch on the big screen.
  • May 14-"N Day"-New Name Day! Come with a name you want to be called all day.
  • May 15-"O Day"-Outside Class! Let's enjoy a class outside!
  • May 16-"P Day"-Pajamas and Popsicles! Wear your PJs and be ready to enjoy a popsicle. 
  • May 17-"Q Day"-Quiz Day! Jeopardy (Grade 1 Review) anyone?
    • Rowan sharing her Birthday treat today during PM snack!
  • May 20-Eagle Field Day! Read the flyer for more information. 
  • May 22-Vesak Day! No School!
  • May 23-Reading and Writing Celebration! Parents, please join us at 1:30 for a Readers Theater and Book Series share. 

Saturday, May 4, 2024

Week in Review, April 29-May 3, 2024

For more weekly pictures, click here.

Our ABC Countdown continued with only 19 days of school till summer! This week we had a dance party and enjoyed donuts (thank you Matty and family), had an exercise day, enjoyed some extra free choice time, and played some fun games. We also had our Musical Mosaic on Tuesday. Here is the recording for your viewing pleasure. 

In Writing, we continued adding to our Realistic Fiction Book Series. Students worked to apply what we learned about character traits to the characters in their stories. We also learned how to show (not tell) characters' strong feelings in pictures and words and make a pattern of 3 ("he worried about....he worried that....mostly he worried...").

In Reading, we continued in our character study. Students learned how to use evidence to grow their ideas about their characters. They learned how to find evidence to support their character's traits and emotions.

In Word Study, we learned about suffixes "-s", "-es", "-er" and "-est". A suffix is added to the end of a word. Suffixes "-s" and "-es" can be added to a noun to make them plural and to verbs to change the tense. Suffixes "-er" and "-est" can be added to adjectives to when making comparisons. Suffix "-er" means more than and "-est" means the most. Please practice the new heart word "answer".   


In Math, we drew squares and rectangles based on defining attributes and recognized that a square is a special rectangle. We also determined whether shapes were partitioned into equal pieces and worked with circles and rectangles to partition them into halves and fourths and describe one piece as "a half of", "a fourth of" or "a quarter of" the whole shape. 

In Sciencewe learned about the properties of light. We learned that light can be natural or artificial, that light travels very quickly in straight lines called rays and light rays can't curve around corners. 
However light can be blocked by objects. If no light can pass through the object it is opaque (& we will see a shadow), if some light can pass through it is translucent and if all the light can pass through it is transparent. 
We sorted transparent, translucent, and opaque objects by shining a flashlight on the objects to see how much light passed through. Watch the following videos for a quick review and have conversations at home about the properties of light. 

Upcoming Events:
*Last week for teacher led EAAs! Vendor led EAAs run till May 24. 
  • May 6-H Day! Hat Day!
  • May 7-I Day! Inside out day-wear your close inside out. 
  • May 8-J Day! Joke Day-bring your best joke and be ready to share it. 
    • Ina sharing B-Day treats during PM snack.
  • May 9-K Day! Kick off your shoes today! You can send slippers to wear in the classroom.
  • May 10-L Day! Lollypop and letter writing! 
  • May 12-Mother's Day!
  • May 13-Our class is going to the "Art Show" with our Art teacher from 12:40-1:20. We would love for you to join us! Please meet us in our art room, C100, at 12:40 (very last class down the art hall). Your child will have a couple of pieces on display! If you can't make it, feel free to come one day after school and walk through with your child (May 8-15). 
  • May 20-Eagle Field Day! Wear your water shoes and clothes that can get wet (swimsuit under clothes works too) and bring a towel, a change of clothes and dry shoes for after. 
  • May 22-Vesak Day! No School!
  • May 23-Reading and Writing Celebration! Parents, please join us at 1:30 for a Readers Theater and Book Series share. 

Friday, April 26, 2024

Week in Review, April 22-26, 2024


For more weekly pictures, click here.

What a FUN week! We started our ABC Countdown and enjoyed the company of a stuffed animal at school, came to school in backwards dress, and crazy hair. Our ABC Countdown continues this week with only 23 days of school till summer!


In Writing, we learned fun ways to end our story (by having a lesson learned, sharing how characters feel, or by making our reader laugh). We fixed and fancied up Book 1 and are ready to start book 2 next week. We also learned how to do the following, to bring our stories to life:

  • Unfreeze people-make them move and make them talk.
  • Bring out the inside-make feel and think.
  • Tell small steps.
  • Add POP-OUT words.

In Reading, we picked a character for our Character Study. Over the next couple weeks we will be reading all the books in their series to get to know them even better. This week we worked to identify some traits of the character we have been looking at for our Character Study. We also learned how to find evidence of our character's feelings (making inferences).

In Word Study, we learned diphthong "ou" and "ow". They make the same sound. The "ou" spelling can come at the beginning or end of a word, like in the word "out" or "loud". The "ow" spelling can come in the middle or end of a word, like in the word "town" or "now". We also learned about the silent letter in the following combinations: "kn", "wn" and "mb". Please practice the new heart words "eye", "heart" and "about". 



In Math, we sorted and described two-dimensional shapes. We also learned how to draw two-dimensional shapes based on shared attributes. We zoomed in on the defining attributes of the triangle, rectangles and squares. We learned that a square is a special kind of rectangle. 

In Sciencewe used what we've learned about sound and vibration to design a musical instrument. Student went to the STEAM Lab, and used the design process, to construct their instrument. We also conducted our final sound investigation. Students worked to prove that sound makes material vibrate.
 

We also started the light bend of our Sound and Light unit. We entered a dark Science Lab on Monday and found a note over the light switches that read, "Do NOT turn on the lights! We are experiencing an electrical circuit issue!" We found that we couldn't see in the dark and brainstormed some ways to see. We found some flashlights to help us complete our lab work. We learned that we need light to see (light illuminates objects).


Upcoming Events:

  • April 29-D Day! Donuts and Dance Party!
  • April 30-E Day! Exercise Day!
  • May 1-No School! Labor Day!
  • May 2-F Day! Free Choice Time (extra)!
  • May 3-G Day! Go Noodle and Games!
  • May 11-Mother's Day!
  • May 20-Eagle Field Day!
  • May 22-Vesak Day! No School!
  • May 23-Reading and Writing Celebration! Parents, please join us at 1:30 for a Readers Theater and Book Series share.