Phonics, tanabata and counting galore!

Well, it has been short and sweet and the last 3 days have gone by quickly. In Pre K B this week we learnt more about short and long a, e, i , o and u sounds by sorting pictures into the 2 categories. The children worked with a partner to glue them onto the correct sheet and we have displayed them in the classroom. Some students are still struggling to differentiate short vowel and long vowel sounds so we will go back to short vowels and practise that some more next week.

Yesterday, I tested the children on their ability to count from 1 up to 100 and from down 10 to 0. Many children can count up to 29 confidently so we will practise that more. Everyone can count from 10 down to 0 using their fingers which is great! I also checked the student's gross motor skills in their gym lesson and the majority of then can kick a ball from a moving position and everyone can kick a ball from a stationary position. Many of them can do a forward roll by themselves which is excellent to see.

For Japanese, the children wrote their tanabata wish on a piece of paper which will be attached to the wishing tree next week for Japanese Culture Day.

I'm going to visit the beaches in Wakayama and buy some pickled plums so I hope you enjoy the 4 day weekend!

So much counting during numeracy week!

This week we learnt about the Long /e/ and /o/ sounds by watching some cute videos and doing some colouring activities.
Watch here: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsPPggEUaak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjj_eK5fAt8

As the children’s handwriting is getting better, I will choose different letters to practise writing each week that are a little tricky, such as G and H.

I decided to get them to practise writing their numbers more often and we are confidently counting up to 100 now. We played a memory game with fruit where the children had to find the matching pair. They enjoyed that a lot. During the week, the children earned money for participating in our math lessons and answering math questions. So today there was a shop on level 10 and children could use their money to buy a toy or pencils.

A little game for spelling we have started playing is 'Guess the word',  where I write a simple word on the IWB and draw a volcano or a crocodile. They have about 8 chances to save the person before he reaches the top of the volcano.

For inquiry, we have been talking more about being principled as the children haven't been listen to myself and Ms Yui very well this week. So we acted out a few scenarios that were based on things I have seen in the class and given explanations of why that was not principled and how can it be done the right way.
For example, how do we treat books with respect so they don't get ripped or bent?
How do we walk nicely on the footpath so others can pass us and we are safe?
How can we play in the classroom in a safe way?

In Japanese, they learnt more hiragana, this week:

な、に、ぬ、ね、の

Thank you for all the maths related photos and the costumes some of the children wore today.

The handwriting homework is letter Y and Z. Please return it on Monday. Have a nice weekend!

Learning about responsibility

This week we have been learning about responsibility as part of our focus in the IB unit of inquiry: Communication with others impacts relationships. As we have been learning about teamwork, we decided that explaining why we should all work together at home and at school is important. Many children said they do jobs to help their parents and sisters and brothers at home which is great! 

Ms Yui and I talked about the responsibilities we have in the class such as helping to clean up toys, sitting safely on our chairs, being safe when we are in the school and walking to the park. 

Next week I will be challenging the children to clean up without the teachers helping them as it is their responsibility, not Ms Yui's or mine. 

In math, we have been using our crocodile popsicle sticks to learn about greater than and less than (numbers that are bigger or smaller than another number). We counted all the way up to 100 and have continued practising skip counting in 2s and 5s.

In literacy, we learnt about the long A and I sounds and watched some cute phonics videos. We also revised writing letter B and D. 

On Wednesday we went up to the gym and played Dinosaur Treasure with Mr Ben's class. The children showed great teamwork with Preschool A.

Finally, thank you to all the parents who came to our open day and helped do the watermelon craft!