End of the year already!
Well...another year has come and nearly gone! Only a week to go. These years just seem to fly. One moment, I'm getting to know my class. The next I making memory books for them to complete. I'll be sad to say goodbye to this class. It's been a marvellous year.
Also said sayonara to the best teaching assistant I've worked with. She's off to retire in her homeland of Thailand, with her husband and mother-in-law. Will meet up with her at Christmas when we go to Chiang Mai for Winter break.

Here's a spelling activity I've just made. It can be used with any spelling words.

Make a Sentence

I've just added this image of the document the easy way. I took a screenshot of my pdf document on my  mac using the command-shift-4 and selecting only the document. I then uploaded it as an image. Easy!

Well, it's been such a long time since I last did a blog entry, I don't know where to start! I won't bore you trying to fill in the gaps, though.
I've just finished the reports for this trimester and that's a load off the mind. These reports are great for informing parents about their child's learning but take quite a while to complete. Anyway...they're done now so no moaning.
Our present unit of inquiry seems to be enthusing the students. It's all about MATERIALS AND DESIGN. I've integrated literacy and numeracy with it and they are enjoying the new learning.
Some of the activities for literacy are:

• Adjectives - describing a material using adjectives and its properties, such as shiny, smooth metal. 

• They've chosen materials that would be suitable for a teddybear's house, window, shirt, boots and bowl, such as laminating film for a window because it's transparent and waterproof. 

• They've described their perfect item using these words, such as soft, woolly scarf. 

• They've completed a 'Guess My Object' using sentences that describe, such as, 'It's hard' or 'It's flexible'.

Some of the numeracy investigations have been:

• Finding the bounciest ball by measuring, in centimeters, how high four different balls bounce.
• Measuring, in centimeters, and comparing to find the length of the 'stretchiest' elastic band.
• Comparing paper to find the strongest paper by adding 10 g weights until it rips.

Pinterest is the place I always go to first to look for ideas. I recommend you start there rather than googling.

Growing carrots in a 2L bottle so the students can watch them grow.

I saw this on Teachers Marketplace facebook page and thought it was another great idea!!

What a great idea this is! I saw it on Teachers Marketplace today. How simple but effective using a CD case. I must remember it when I do living things or plants or any unit of inquiry that deals with growing and caring.

I made a document for my Grade 1 class to complete on the first day back at school after the Winter Break. The students have been reflecting on their learning all year so far and this will guide them and give themselves goals for the rest of the school year.

New Year's Resolution for 2013.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday. I'm off to Vietnam. I've never been there before but have been told it's great. It'll be a nice change from the cold here in Japan. Here's to seeing you in the new year.

We're staying at the Nikko Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City. Hope it's as good as it looks.

I just saw this posted on facebook and just had to repost it here. I agree with most of what they say but also realise that the teachers have to be the best they can. They have to keep their professional development up and their qualifications. Many of the primary school teachers have their doctorates and all should strive for this.

http://www.businessinsider.com/finland-education-school-2011-12?op=1

Our current Unit of Inquiry is 'Taking Care of Yourself'. The children are looking at how and why they get sick, but also how what they do may make others sick. They've done some investigations and research about germs and we've put some of this information on charts to share with others. We're still working on their responsibility to not spread germs and I'll post that chart when it's complete.

Just made these trying out if it works.
These are a couple of signs I made to display in my room for reading. We're going to start work on identifying the main idea in text and the supporting details. These are signs to help them remember what we are looking for.

Main Idea and Details Signs

Just learnt how to do this after reading another person's blog. They could be used for numerous things, such as birthday tags and displays. There are different shapes you can choose from or you can import your own shape to use. Great idea! Thanks, 123Teach and A Turn to Learn.

This greeted the children and parents when they first came to my room. I've kept it up since and the students regularly read a word on it. I've explained that they are all these people when they come into my room. At some stage while they're here, they'll demonstrate the characteristics of all of these people.

Our Grade 1 classes recently began a PYP Unit of Inquiry titled 'Taking Care of Yourself'. Our Tuning In activity was a presentation by the school nurse about the correct way to wash your hands, and importantly, to use soap when doing so. The children learnt how to do this and have practiced in the class each time before they eat or after they use the bathroom. We also learnt in Writer's Workshop what a procedural text is, when it's used, the characteristics present, and how to create one. Putting these 2 learning experiences together, we decided that we should make signs to display so that everyone in the school would know the correct way to wash their hands and that way the germs wouldn't be spread from person to person. Working together, with minimal input but ready support from me, the students worked out what to include in their procedure. They wrote, revised and edited their work before finally settling on the final text. The students worked out where to place the signs and they were taped to the walls outside the toilets on the first and second floors. They were very proud of their effort and the comments they have received from those who have seen them. Immediate validation and acclamation of their work in two connected learning areas.

Where to find resources

I have found many wonderful resources through this site which is by teachers for teachers. Check it out. You'll be amazed.

A typical Fall scene in Japan.

A beautiful Fall scene often observed in Japan.

Welcome to my first blog!
I've visited so many over the years and especially this year when I changed grades from kindergarten to grade 1. You wouldn't believe how many marvellous, creative, innovative, informative and eye-catching blogs are out there. Some of the pages I follow are on the left. Full of ideas!