We are all part of a community!

The days are getting shorter and I feel that time is passing faster and faster. Whilst still adjusting to the temperature drop, the warmth of the Preschool Classroom is definitely making it more bearable. I apologise for not posting last week and really appreciate that you all remembered to send in Show&Tell regardless. 

Unit of Inquiry

Preschool spent a lot of time working on their speaking and listening skills, doing an excellent job of identifying different ways in which they help at home and then acting them out to the class.

Helping with the cooking

Helping to build furniture in the house 

Helping to wash clothes and fold laundry 

They gained insight into the different roles people have in their own and their friends' families by looking at the family trees. Thank you for preparing those, they were all very proud to share!

From families, we moved to the classroom community and to the wider school community. By taking a tour of the school, Preschool identified a number of individuals who play an important part in the smooth running of the school. They were quick to realise that each member has more than just one job and that they belong to more than just one community!

Some of the people that make up and help in our school community. 

We finished creating our own Community, and it looks great, it is on display in the classroom if you wish to pop by and see their hard-work. 

Preschool created their own community with much creativity. 

Language

Since the half-term break, the pace of Preschool's Language development has really picked up. They have been able to play with words, practise speaking and play games to reinforce their learning, work with nouns and practise their letters as well as read and start to write their own simple sentences! I am extremely pleased with their progress!

November (sang to the tune of "Oh My Darlin' Clementine) 

Leaves are falling, winter's calling. 

We are thankful for our friends

NOVE-M-BER 

It's November once again. 

Maths 

These past two weeks, Preschool continued to practice adding numbers, impressing me with their ability to add big numbers.  We started looking at subtraction, which  is proving to be slightly more difficult but we are just warming up to it.

Cooking 

After a few parents have asked me for the recipes, I will start posting them on the blog, so that they are here for everyone. The ones we already did will be compiled in a book and I will send those out to you (aiming for before the break).

Ham and Cheese Muffins (last week's recipe) 

This was big hit with the Preschoolers, extremely easy to make, allowing them to take charge!

Ingredients (makes approximately 16 muffins)

300g white flour
100g ham (cubed)
200g Greek yoghurt
1dl milk
1.25 dl sunflower oil
4 heaped tbsp of grated cheese
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
season to taste (e.g. pepper and herbs)

Instructions

1) Preheat the oven to 200°C.

2) Add all the ingredients up to and including the baking powder. Mix well (approximately 2 minutes) with the mixer, until you have smooth, thick dough.
3) Add salt and season to taste.
4) Place dough in muffin tins.
5) Bake for 20 minutes in the middle of the oven.
6) Allow to cool on a rack before serving.

Reminders

• There will be NO swimming this coming Monday (November 23rd). Preschool will have regular P.E lessons instead, so please send in their P.E kits. 

• Show&Tell on Tuesday is free choice, so they can bring anything they wish to share with the class. 

• If you could send in tissue boxes for the class again, as we have gone through the boxes that you sent in at the start of the year, I would be most grateful. 

• Most of the students have run out of glue, so if you could provide them with new glue sticks. 

• Thank you for sending in the milk cartons, our finished community looks great! 

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email me. 

Wishing you all a lovely and restful weekend. 

Sabina Michelotti

...and just a few more pictures of Preschool enjoying some playtime after swimming at the park!

Helping hands, Autumn fun and so much more!

As much as I enjoyed my week off, something was missing and I was really looking forward to coming back, luckily it seemed that the Preschoolers were pretty happy to be back as well! :) 

They had a fantastic week at school, fully refreshed and reenergised!

Happy to be back! 

Unit of Inquiry

Transdisciplinary Theme: Where we are in Place and Time

Central Idea: People are connected through the different roles they play in the communities. 

This week in Unit, Preschool started their new Unit of Inquiry, focussing on Community Helpers. They did an excellent job in recognising some of the important members in our community. We prepared different stations, with each station representing a different Community Helper. Students were given flashcards with different names and pictures representing a variety of community helpers that they had to try and match with the correct station. Not only did they do a fantastic job of working independently, recognising and matching the flashcards with the correct helpers, they led an interesting inquiry based discussion explaining their choices. Some of the discussion points about the various Community Helpers included: 

• Builder- "makes a house, school, or school, or mansion."
• Vet- "a pet doctor." 
• Chef- "makes vegetables and pizza."
• Farmer-"takes care of animals. Grows vegetables."
• Police-"catch bad guys or robbers. Have a gun."
• Ticket conductor-"punches tickets and gives them back." 
• Shop assistant-"scans food: beep, beep, beep."
• Hairdresser-"cuts hair, combs hair and washes hair."

Our discussion then brought us to roles that were not represented in the classroom and what roles different people have in our families. It was a great start to the unit! 

Maths

In maths, Preschool was busy inquiring what the plus sign could mean, with one great guess being "the Swiss flag." They were extremely quick to grasp the concepts of addition and we practised adding numbers up to 10 (but all were able to go beyond that already!).

Reading"If I you were a Plus Sign," by Trisha Speed Shaskan, introduced the class to addition sentences and got them creating their own. Preschool practised adding by counting with blocks as well as challenging themselves with complex maths tiles! 

Next week we will continue to focus on addition before starting with subtraction. 

Reading "If you were a Plus Sign"

Language

Preschool has really picked up the pace regarding their language skills, although there are still reminders to speak in English at school, they are really beginning to join in during class discussions. They practised spelling CVC words, were able to read to their Grade 5 reading buddies, worked on writing sentences and presented during Show&Tell. 

Spelling

 Show&Tell 

Autumn Nature Walk

This week due to the bad weather on Monday, we postponed our planned Autumn Nature Walk to Wednesday, instead of cooking. Preschool got to spend some time observing their surroundings and how Rokko Island is changing, ready for the colder months. 

Preschool walked a nature trail and collected leaves, acorns and sticks!

Back at school, they used their findings to create their own Autumn Trees, which are displayed alongside their Autumn Wreaths (which they made earlier in the week) in the classroom. The Preschool windows are a display of Autumn colours and  wonders! 

Before I sign off and wish you a great weekend, here a few reminders for next week: 

• Show&Tell on Tuesday- as we were looking at the different roles in the family, I'd appreciate it if you could help your child create a simple Family Tree, or send in a few pictures of the members in their families. 

• Swimming on Monday-as it is getting colder, please send in a warm hat for your child to wear after swimming. 

• We will be creating our own model city as part of the Unit, so if you could send in empty milk cartons and kitchen rolls, that'd be most helpful (one or two are enough). 

• We will be cooking again as normal on Wednesday, so please send in containers. 

• Saint Martin will be on Friday, the 13th of November. 

Thank you and please contact me, in case of any questions. 

 Sabina Michelotti