Week 4

This week, we have been thinking about the many different communities we all belong to. We started to investigate the people who help out in different communities, such as firefighters, police officers, doctors, vets and so on. We played “Community Helper Charades” where the children were invited to act out different community roles for their peers to guess. We are now concentrating on our school community and the many people who help us meet our specific needs at UWCSEA East. We enjoyed exploring the campus, identifying, photographing and interviewing certain individuals who help us in order to find out the specifics of their position in our school. Next week, we are hoping to meet our Boarder Buddy, Lana, and find out about life as a boarding student at UWCSEA. 

In our Grade Assembly on Monday, we introduced the idea of a Grade One community and our shared responsibility to each other. Together, we created “Essential Agreements” which we will soon display in the Pod for all to see. In time, the children will add their “signatures” to these agreements to show that they understand their role in honouring them.

In our Reading Workshop unit, we have been thinking about who we are as readers, our favourite kinds of books, places we enjoy reading and people we enjoy reading with. We are also being mindful that readers love to think and talk about their books and share their ideas with others. 

In Writing Workshop, we are always thinking about how to improve our pieces and have been learning the mantra, “When I’m done, I’ve only just begun!” This involves checking and changing words, adding more detail or labels to pictures and words, including another idea on a page or thinking about dialogue, emotion and action. 

This week, we have been focusing on comparing numbers. “Compare Dots,” “The Mountain of Countin'” and “Staircases" are all hands-on, minds-on games where the children are encouraged to interact with number…and each other. These games encourage quick, mental computations and support the children’s developing appreciation of the many ways to count a given total and, in time, how to choose the most effective method in each case.

Lastly, we have now all shared our Mystery Bags. It has been wonderful to gain a little insight into each other's lives and, hopefully, helped the children realise that, although we are a community, we are all individuals too and this is something to be celebrated as well.

Reminders and Requests

*SWIMMING STARTS NEXT WEEK

*Wednesday 16th September-Meet the G1 Language Teachers-3.30-3.40pm-Language Classrooms

*Friday 18th September- Forest Adventure

Have a great weekend