"Santa Wear Your Shorts"!

Tinsel Time! Come join us while we sing several songs getting into the Holiday Spirit. Our main song is "Santa Wear Your Shorts!"

When: Friday, December 11th

Time: 1:15 PM

Place: Elementary Theater

We are looking forward to seeing you all there!

Holiday Cheers!

Rita's wonderful holiday

On Thursday morning we went to the Sience centre . We learned many sientific things ,like how Elva Edison made electricity and we learned some games and tricks.After that we wachted two movies called Bears and Under the sea.It was Magnificent!I learned how to protect the environment and animals!I had a wonderful time!

Investigation 3 - Making a Roller Coaster

Today we made our class roller coaster. Yesterday, we talked about the differences between rollers and spinners. We figured out that spinners rotate around an axis and rollers rotate around themselves. We also noticed that spinners can rotate in one position, but rollers move from one place to another. Next we got some Styrofoam tracks and we rolled marbles in it. We found out that the starting point had to be higher than the ending point. Then we connected a couple of tracks together and we made hills and guess what? We made loops. Someone came up with the idea of connecting all the tracks and making a roller coaster. Wow! We created many different ways to finally find the one track that the marble would roll all the way to the ending point. Our roller coaster had two loops!

Check out the pictures!

This weekend you can also make your own roller coaster by clicking on the sight below. Have Fun!

Make a roller coaster!

Charity Bazaar at The Japanese Association

On Saturday, 21 Nov, Mom brought Ben and I to the Charity Bazaar at The Japanese Association. We got to eat sushi and played race cars with Tamiya. Ben wanted to learn Origami and I wanted to know how to play Japanese Chess. An uncle showed me the strategies to play and win, it was very fun. Japanese Chess is very easy to play. I then played with Ben and also Mom and I won 3 times!

Mom then signed us up for Batik Painting. First I got to select a picture to paint. Mom said the picture is printed on a silk fabric, so I have to be very careful handling it. The picture was stretched and stapled onto a wooden frame.

I had to use a special tool to outline the picture with hot melted wax. It was so difficult so Mom helped me.

Next I painted in colors on my picture. At one point, I made a dab of wrong color and Mom showed me how to spread that out so it is no longer a mistake but part of the painting. Also the lolli helped.

After that I had to blow dry my painting.

Then a lady brushed a layer of hot wax over it. I asked, 'Why are you putting wax again?" but she could not understand me. I think she did not speak English. Mom said that she thinks the action will 'fix' the color onto the silk to make it permanent. Mom said we could find out more from the library or the internet.

Then another lady took my painting and slipped inbetween pages of newspapers and ironed over it. She said the heat will help the papers to absorb off the wax. Oh I get it! The wax will melt from the heat of the iron. The wax will melt onto the paper so that way, my painting will be just on silk with no wax!

Finally, another lady helped me fold my painting into a rectangle photo frame. She used a lot of tape.

Ta da! Here is my painting of the Merlion!

Oscar and Noah was also there ... but they came when we were about to leave. So Mom let us play another round of Japanese traditional games in the room upstairs.

After that, we took the shuttle to Orchard Road and then I got to play with my DS Lite on the way home!

Investigation 3 - Rolling Cups by Levi and Edward

Today we explored rolling cups on the ramp. First the cups turned left and right because one side is bigger and one side is smaller. Then Ms. Analu asked us to try to make it roll straight. So we taped the cups together and it started rolling straight because it was the same size of wheels. Then we started to make it go faster. You put two sharpeners inside the cups and it was rolling faster. Sometimes the sharpeners came out without anyone pushing the cups. Then the cups rolled the same speed.

Check out the pictures!

The PTA Book Fair is next week!! Come join us!

We will be going to the Elementary Gym for the PTA Book Fair on Wednesday, November 25th from 12:30-1:30 pm. Here are a few options for how to buy the books:

1. Meet your child at the gym at 12:35 pm to buy books together.
2. Send cash in a labeled envelope with your child's name and amount of money. I'll be happy to help him/her purchase the books, but you will want to talk over what types of books you want your child to purchase. (S$20 would enable your child to buy approximately 2 books or so.)
3. Take your child to the book fair before or after school and he/she can just browse around during our class time.

Have fun!!!

Investigation 3 - Rollers

What's a wheel system?

You put 2 big red wheels on an axle. By Tess

How would you make a wheel system that will go straight?

You put big red wheels on each side of the axle. They have to be the same size.

by Yoony and Edward

How would you make a wheel system that will turn?

You put one red on one side and a small yellow one on the other side of the axle.

by Matthew T.

Check out the pictures!

Happy Birthday, Ms. Nora!

Yesterday we celebrated Ms. Nora's birthday. We made heart cards and ate yummy muffins. We love you, Ms. Nora. We hope you had a great day!

Cheers,

Ms. Analu and her Wonderful Kids

An adult and a child measured the same thing with their FEET. Why might they get different answers?

Please answer the question of the day!

Check out the pictures of our students measuring things with their feet and the standard foot measure.

Chinese Song About Body Parts by Mr. Pearson's Students

Chinese Version of Hair, Shoulder, Knees and Feet - By Mr. Pearson's Students

The Three Billy Goats Gruff - Literature Based Math Unit

The students worked in small groups to retell the Three Billy Goats using story maps and models of goats and trolls they created. To introduce this unit, we read several fairy tales. We then talked about the ones that included three characters that were the same. The children named several of them including, The Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Three Billy Goats Gruff. We did a Venn diagram to compare the Three Billy Goats and the Three Little Pigs. We talked about setting, characters, problem and solution in stories. We then got our scripts of the Three Billy Goats' readers' theater to practice reading with expression and fluency. During our math class, we used some of the skills we learned in our Every Day Mathematics program to build bridges, make goats and trolls. The mathematical skills the children practiced during this unit include sorting, weighing and comparing, estimating and verifying, calculating, handling money and measuring. Although the purpose of the project was to create props and characters so the children could dramatize the story, each of the unit's components involved problem solving, mathematical reasoning and communication. The result of this learning is shown in the videos below. Enjoy!

Check out some of the pictures of this unit as well.

Writing a Small Moment about the Eco Garden

On Wednesday, we visited the Eco Garden at the high school. We took our clipboards and a 4 senses chart. The garden was beautiful and full of interesting things to see, feel, hear and smell. As we walked around, we filled our charts with all sorts of words. We then went back to the classroom and wrote a small moment capturing all we experienced at the garden. Wow! The books are just amazing! To make sure the recounting of our morning adventure was real, we added some really interesting describing words and we stretched those sentences. Here is a sample of a great one!

The Eco Garden by Raine Florendo

Today we went to the Eco Garden and we saw different things. I saw a yellow flower on a green stem. It was very pretty. Then I went to the bridge and saw two turtles. They were so cute. It had a medium size head. Then I heard crickets. They were not so loud, but it was a nice sound. Then I almost put my foot in the bath, it was a little bit itchy. Then we went back to the class. It was great!

Pictures of our visit to the Eco Garden

Friday Nov. 6

Boys and Girls,
It was so exciting for me to be in your room today. I saw how hard you have all worked and I love how you used your imagination and writing skills to produce fabulous stories! Keep it up you are all amazing authors and illustrators!.......Mr. Schunk

Spinners - Twirlers by Carmen and Tess

We learned that many things spin. Some need force like tops and zoomers. But some of them spin by themselves. We got this piece of paper, and then we folded it on the dotted lines. And then we put the paper clip at the bottom. Then you go on a chair and you let go of the twirler and see if it spins or not. It spins when the air is pushing the wings. It spins when the gravity is pulling it down and the air is pushing it up.

Check out more pictures of our students making twirlers.

Writing Celebration - Small Moments by Levi and Aman

Today we shared our books with everybody. We invited Mrs. Donaghey and Mr. Schunk. We sat down with a group and we read our books to each other. After listening to stories, we made comments about their stories. The illustrations were nice. Some stories were funny. We got a gold medal like the Caldecott Medal because the pictures went with the writing. Then at the end, we drank punch and we ate cookies. We cheered, "Wonderful Writing!".

Check out the pictures of our Celebration.

Oscar's PIano Concert

On Tuesday night, I played the piano at a Charity Dinner Concert organized by Pistorio Foundation at Shangri-La Hotel. I played Hungarian Dance No.5 composed by Johannes Brahms. There were so many people at the Ballroom and I was nervous. When Ms. Vernetta Lopez introduced me, I was ready to go and bowed to everyone. I took a deep breath and started to play. Although I made a mistake in the middle, I managed to keep going and finished nicely. I received big claps. I didn’t get any prize this time, but my Mom told

me the money goes to build schools in Cambodia, (Tibet) China, Thailand and Africa. I hear they raised $100,000 just for one night – that is a lots of money, don’t you think? I am glad I helped some kids.

Sincerely, Oscar

Spinners - Zoomers by Matthew N. and Declan

Family Math Night

Hello Everyone! We would like to thank all families that were able to come to our Family Math Night. What a fun evening! The purpose of the night was to give you a snapshot of our Everyday Math lessons. As you experienced yesterday, at the beginning of each math class, we get the students to start thinking mathematically by quickly answering some Mental Math problems. They use their slates and math tools to solve different types of problems. Then they share the "how" they got their answers with a partner. After that, we share the"hows" out loud so everyone learns a different way to solve a problem. Following the Mental Math, we have our mini lesson for the day. We then play games to practice the skills learned. At the end of the class, we gather on the carpet to talk about what we learned that day. While answering math problems at home, remember to always ask, "How did you solve this problem?"

You can also play the same games in your computer at home. Use your ID card to login.

https://www.everydaymathonline.com/

Here are some pictures of the night.

Trick or treat!

This Saturday I went trick or treating at Woodlands. I got a bunch of candies there. Even though it was raining there where still a bunch of kids. I dressed up as a fasion model with fake jewelry. I had so much fun with all of my friends. I will definitely go back to Woodlands next year for Halloween. Thanks to Nicholas and his mom for letting me and my family come over.

Suhani