Reading Strategies Part 2

Posted on 11 June, 2015 by shannaalbert

This week we introduced two more reading strategies. Students began to use the Chunky Monkey strategy, which encourages students to look for small words inside big words, and the Skippy Kangaroo strategy. The Skippy Kangaroo strategy encourages students to skip the word they do not know, read the rest of the sentence, and come back to the word they did not know to try and read it. Additionally, students practiced their sequencing and inference skills. Please see the anchor charts that we use in class pictured below. We would appreciate it if you encourage your children to use these strategies at home.

Student Led Conferences

Posted on 24 May, 2015 by shannaalbert

Thank you for joining us for our second annual student led conferences. The students greatly enjoyed sharing their portfolios and reflecting on their learning. Students whose parents were not able to join us were glad to have the opportunity to present their portfolios at home. Your children have made great progress during their time in preschool 5 and loved having the opportunity to show it! It’s hard to believe that the school year is almost drawing to a close.

Preschool 5 Watches Robin Hood

Posted on 7 May, 2015 by shannaalbert

This week preschool 5 had the opportunity to watch a production of Robin Hood and the Al Ryaan theater. Students greatly enjoyed the performance and were glad to have a real life example of a play. Students discussed the elements of a play that they saw during the performance. They were inspired to incorporate some of the ideas into their own plays. Below are some highlights from the show:

Book Week

Posted on 22 April, 2015 by shannaalbert

Thank you for joining our book week celebration! Students loved dressing up as their favorite book characters and they looked great! After participating in a small assembly where Middle School students read Eric Carle books, the students completed a finger painting activity in the library. Additionally, students participated in a whole school parade where they were able to show off their costumes! Thank you to all the parents who volunteered to read in our classrooms. The students were excited to have guest readers! On Thursday students attended an assembly to learn who won the bookmark and short story contests. They also heard a story written by our very own Mr. Ali. Finally, students who chose to participate were able to switch one of their old books with another student. It was a great week!

The Super Stars at Destination Imagination

Posted on 24 March, 2015 by shannaalbert

Some of the preschool 5 students, grade 4, and grade 5 students attended Saturday’s Destination Imagination event at the Qatar National Convention Center and did a great job! Students have been working hard to create a play about an animal who woke up one day and was in the wrong habitat. Our team decided to write a play about a dog, Henry, who rolled into the ocean while he was sleeping and had to learn how to live there. Students constructed the backgrounds, costumes, and puppets. They created the entire play themselves and were not allowed any help from their teachers. It was a fun day and exciting to present all of their hard work! Great job, Super Stars!

100th Day Celebration

Posted on 4 March, 2015 by shannaalbert

The students greatly enjoyed our 100th day celebration! They participated in a variety of activities including making 100 day mix with 100 different items, building 100 using unifix cubes, seeing how many times they could jump, run, etc in 100 seconds. We also used the number 100 to make art projects. Some students made playgrounds, others made glasses, and some made race cars. The ideas were limitless. Students also completed a 100 numbers chart, wrote about what they would buy with 100 Riyals, and making a 100 days smarter certificate. The highlight of the day was looking at all of the creative costumes as students dressed up and pretended to be 100 years old. Check out the pictures from our celebration:

Science Experiment Excitement!!!

Posted on 18 February, 2015 by shannaalbert

Our students have really enjoyed conducting science experiments during this unit. In our next unit our focus will not be on science but we would like to encourage students to keep up their enthusiasm and conduct experiments of their choice at home. Below are links to great resources with ideas for simple experiments that the whole family can enjoy. Please try to do at least one experiment with your children. Students can bring in pictures of them completing the experiment for show and tell!

Science Bob

Zoom Kids

Science Experiments for Kids

Kidz Zone Science

Science Projects for Preschoolers

Education.com

For our last experiment, students tested the affects of acid pollution on sea shells. We filled one cup with water and the other with vinegar. Next, we chose two similar looking seashells and placed one seashell in each cup. Students then observed the seashells throughout the day and recorded their findings. Here are some pictures of our investigation.

A Look at Week 17

Posted on 29 January, 2015 by shannaalbert

Students enjoyed their week at school. We were busy working on summarizing and predicting while reading stories in English class. We also completed another science experiment as we inquired into how humans can change habitats and the affects of pollution. Our classes loved trying to clean the oil off of their animals. The Lion class also had their library session and practiced summarizing The Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly. During math, we learned the touch point strategy to add two numbers together. Great job this week Lions and Tigers! We hope you enjoy your holiday!

A Look In Our Classrooms

Posted on 17 January, 2015 by shannaalbert

This week we began to discuss the scientific method as we conducted experiments in class. Students really enjoyed working on the experiments as well as our introduction of the unit. We “polluted” our classrooms so that students were able to make a connection with problems of pollution in the ocean. Their reactions were great! Our classes really did not enjoy working in a messy environment and tried to clean it as quickly as possible. We also had the opportunity to practice coding by using our Bee Bots. Students made a quilt of different story settings and programmed the Bee Bots to travel from one setting to another. Our classes really enjoyed the challenge! Students had to practice spacial awareness and thinking skills to figure out which directions to give the robot. In English class students practiced identifying the story’s plot (beginning, middle, and end) as well as the setting and character. During our UOI, students compared and contrasted fresh water and ocean water habitats. Students also began to use the scientific method to conduct experiments. Our classes loved having the opportunity to conduct experiments! For more on the scientific method, please see our post. Below are some pictures documenting our learning.

Scientific Method

Posted on 15 January, 2015 by shannaalbert

Students were thrilled to begin learning about the scientific method and conduct science experiments. Below are screen shots of the posters we use in class to explain the scientific method. Please feel free to use the same language at home when explaining them. We are also attaching photos of the students conducting the experiments. This week we inquired into the differences between fresh water and ocean water.