With the beginning of our new unit on Imagination, the students’ ideas and creativity have run wild! With integrations from music and art, they have been really learning about how they can express themselves in different ways through the use of their imaginations. In art, the students created their own Superheroes along with super powers, background stories, and masks! Great job, preschool 5 superheroes! 😀
Celebration of Learning & International Day :D
Preschool 5 did a fantastic job of preparing for, and presenting their Celebration of Learning on our unit on Cultures and Traditions. They worked hard to research and create projects about their chosen countries of interest. The students did an excellent job of presenting their projects to their parents, and also sharing their learning with the Dinosaur and Panda classes! They also learned songs and dances from several countries like Mexico, Argentina, Spain, and Qatar. The students shared their learning about their countries, China (Pre 5A) and Austria (Pre 5B), through traditional songs and dances, which they performed during International Day. Thank you to those of you who were able to attend and celebrate your student’s hard work! Wonderful job, Preschool 5!!! 🙂
Field Trip to Souq Waqif
Preschool 5 students had a fantastic field trip to Souq Waqif last week. The children demonstrated the attributes of an inquirer – they were asking questions, making observations, collecting evidence and later drawing conclusions from what they witnessed. The children were especailly interested in the animals of Qatar, and luckily on this trip we were able to meet horses, falcons and camels!
Back in the classroom , the students reflected on their experiences on the trip and were able to draw conclusions about cultures and traditions of Qatar through discussion, observation and inquiry. The students used the experience to learn new things about the culture of Qatar and also,direct future learning about other cultures and traditions from around the world. It was a fun and educational experience. 🙂
Below are some samples of the evidence collected by the students themselves.
100 Days of School Celebration
The Preschool 5 had a great time celebrating 100 days of learning. They several activities, including counting and writing to 100, making an art project out of the number 100, collecting and counting out 100 snacks, and doing physical activities like hula hooping, bouncing basketballs, throwing frisbees, and bouncing on the big ball. Fantastic job, Bunnies and Ninja Turtles! Keep up the great work the rest of the days you have left of Preschool 5… 🙂
Light and Shadows
The preschool 5 have been doing a great job experimenting and learning about Light and Shadow. They have learned about the Scientific Method steps to conducting their own experiments and have been showing the knowledge they have gained through the experiments. They have learned that light is made up of all the colors of the rainbow and that light is important because it gives us heat, energy, and helps us to see! Keep up the great work, Bunnies and Ninja Turtles.
Sports Day 2016
Today was the PYP Sports Day! Preschool 5 did a fantastic job of working collaboratively with their teams in all sporting activities. There were 7 stations: The Arrow Hoop, Fairy Blue Bear Picking Mushrooms, The Maze Runner, Baton Energy, Super Dooper Jumper, Tug of Peace and Football Penalty Challenge. We had a great day! 🙂
Measuring Fun!
Preschool 5 have been doing a great job exploring measuring with non-standard units of measurement. The students have been developing a concept of length through exploration, discussion and using appropriate vocabulary. The children have estimated, measured and recorded the length of various objects using lollipop sticks, buttons, cubes, counters, themselves, the footsteps and many other non-standards units. Keep up the great work Bunnies and Ninja Turtles!
Buddy Reading with Grade 3 :)
This week the Brilliant Bunnies and the Ninja Turtles had their first session of buddy reading with the students from grade 3. Each child was paired with a student from grade 3, and they took turns reading to each other. The Brilliant Bunnies and the Ninja Turtles had a lot of fun and really enjoyed displaying their fantastic literacy skills with their new buddies! 🙂
Listening to older students read will help develop a love of reading and a greater motivation to read among the Preschool 5 students. By reading to their older buddies each week, the younger students will develop a sense of accomplishment while they build fluency. Buddy reading provides success in literacy, which encourages all students to become more positive about their ability to read and will also improve reading skills.
Reading Strategies
This week, we continued to talk about making predictions during reading. Students used various aspects of books like pictures to make guesses about what will happen next in the story. We also began to talk about making connections. When students make connections to themselves, the world, and to other texts, they have a deeper understanding of the story and it becomes more meaningful to them. Please encourage and work on using these strategies at home, too.
Hour of Code
This week, both Preschool 5 classes took part in ‘Hour of Code’. The Hour of Code is a global movement, which introduces computer sciences to children of all ages, worldwide. Coding helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. By starting early, children are given a foundation for success in developing skills and math concepts, needed in the 21st century. We used Bee-bots and the Bee-bot app to practice our coding skills. As well as learning, we had a lot of fun!
If any parents would like to learn more about the Hour of Code, please follow this link: https://hourofcode.com/us
Well done Preschool 5!
