[T1W4] English

Dear parents,

Thank you to the parents who attended the briefing on Friday. I hope you have learnt more about the scope covered for each subject.

Like I have mentioned earlier in the year, my plans for P3A is to maximise their learning and to nurture them to be independent learners. As such, we have started the use of the "English Self-study notebook" where they can take down notes on their own for easy reference.

Updates for English:

1) STELLAR

We have started on the big book "The Wolf's Story" where the familiar story of the three little pigs is written in the perspective of the wolf. This book aims to teach pupils to look at things from different perspective, and demonstrates how misunderstanding can occur when different people interpret an event differently. It is a fun book where other characters gave their testimonies of what the wolf actually did!


2) Spelling / Dictation

A gentle reminder that spelling and dictation is conducted every Wednesday. In the event that your child is not around when spelling/dictation is conducted, I will do the make-up spelling/dictation during the Friday lesson.

Spelling feedback:

• Look carefully at the numbered boxes and write the words in the correct space provided.
• For the fill-in-the-blanks questions, pupils have to understand the meaning of each vocabulary word to select the right word. Also, read each question carefully to find clues in context.

Dictation feedback:

• The P3 English teachers have decided to do without a grade for dictation. We will be marking dictation based on the number of correct completed sentences.
• As long as there is one mistake (spelling/punctuation/grammar), your child would need to write out the full sentence as correction.
• Reminder to pupils to bring their foolscap paper for dictation, and to leave a line in between their writing so that they have sufficient space should they need to insert missing words.
• Several pupils got mixed up between the homonyms "when"(indicates time) and "went"(indicates action & past tense of 'go'). It is advisable that they should know the difference in its pronunciation and meaning.

3) Topical Test

Please note that your child will be having his/her English topical test on Tuesday, 2 Feb.

They will be tested on Tenses and Subject-Verb Agreement.

We have done revision for SVA in class using the Grammar Workout book. I will return the books to pupils for revision on Monday. Please remind your child to bring the book back for lesson on Wednesday.

Also, your child would have written their notes on SVA in their self-study notebook.

Below is taken from Qi Zhen's notebook (very neat work!):

4) Grammar

We have also discussed about demonstrative pronouns (This, These, Those, That) and their uses based on here or there, and singular or plural nouns.

The pupils also learnt about Affixes (Prefixes and suffixes) as parts added to a word to change its word class and/or meaning. They worked with their 3 o'clock buddies on Friday to look closely at the suffix -ful which gives the meaning of filled with or full of. After a 10 minutes working time, each pair shared a word with the class and we have compiled an incredible list of words!

You may like to continue this activity at home to encourage your child to include more words into his/her list.

I will be uploading more pictures of notes taken from the pupils' notebook this week, together with a few resources for your child to learn at home.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Ms Cindy Chan

[T1W4] Science

Dear Parents/Guardians,

This week, pupils started learning about the diversity of plants around them. Pupils were brought to the eco-garden in school to observe and explore the types of plants found in the school.

In line with inquiry-based learning and to promote the learning of Science outside the classroom, you may also help your child/ward to further deepen his/her understanding by getting him/her to point out characteristics of plants he/she sees around him/her outside school, eg: by observing the diversity of plants and identifying the different plant parts.

~

Two of the key process skills introduced to pupils this week are Observing and Comparing. The sample question shown below was shared with the class earlier this week. 

For this type of questions, pupils should note that the question requires them to answer based on what they observe in the diagrams shown. Hence, their answers should be based on what they see in the diagrams, and not be based on their own prior knowledge.

For (a), some possible answers include “They have tails. / They have legs.”

For (b), some possible answers include “A has a long nose but B does not. / B has spots on its body but A does not.” For questions that involve pupils to identify differences, pupils must show a comparison between the two animals (in this case). Pupils should not just state their answers as “A has a long nose. /  B has spots.”

Thank you.

Ms Natalie Chan

Administrative updates + Additional Similes resources

Dear parents/guardians,

Some updates regarding administrative matters for P3A.

1) Supplementary and Remedial Classes

Supplementary lessons (MT/Math) are encouraged for all pupils to attend as activities and games are planned to stretch their learning and to work on Math concepts. It is not compulsory.

For English remedial, only selected pupils need to join the sessions. We will be working on Grammar and Synthesis & Transformation. If you would like to include your child in the English remedial, please feel free to let me know.

2) ClassDojo

I have started using the ClassDojo system in my EL class to motivate the children (and they like it very much!). I will be sending you individually your child's sign up code for their account as well as for you, which is optional.

To find out how ClassDojo works, you may look at the link here: https://www.classdojo.com/about/


Below I will be providing some help for you regarding the sign up.

Step 1: Please go to this website – https://student.classdojo.com/#/login and click on ‘Sign up with a code’.

Step 2: Using personalized code which I have issued to you, please key in the code. A blue check mark should appear.

Step 3: Choose a username for yourself. The blue check mark will indicate the availability of your username (i.e. the username is available). The password panel should appear where you can set your password. Re-type your password and then click ‘Create Account’.

Step 4: Do note down your username and password for future access. You may like to get pupils to note down in their handbooks should they forget.

Step 5: You can guide your child to customize their avatar. (P.S. this is their favourite part!)

… and we’re done!

Pupils can see their progress for this week and the points they have earned.
You may like to set up a parent account for yourself which updates you about your child’s progress on Fridays.

Hope this quick tutorial helps! (:

3) Similes additional resources

Recap:


Similes are a useful tool to help in composition writing as they help to add depth to the language.

They make the language more descriptive and enjoyable, and allow the writer to emphasize what they want to convey to their readers.


1. List of similes that your child can revise at home: 
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/simile-examples-for-kids.html
https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/figures-similes-list.htm (recommended)

2. Flashcards of similes where they can learn and spell:
https://quizlet.com/7407370/similes-100-similes-and-examples-flash-cards/


Thank you!
Sincerely,
Ms Cindy Chan (:

[T1W2 update] English and Science

Dear Parents/Guardians,

This week for English, we have started on the big book "Fearless Phil" and looked closely at the language features of the book.

For Grammar, we looked at the unit on Past Tense and some grammar rules to follow when changing a base verb into its past form.

We also did a feature focus on similes. A simile is part of figurative language that compares two things that are alike in some way, and is characterized with the use of 'as' and 'like'.

I shared a book titled "My Best Friend is as Sharp as a Pencil" as an introduction to similes, where the pupils get to picture how a character looks like or behaves based on the author's description using similes. 

We also read a poem titled "Predictable" by Bruce Lansky where the poet used many similes in his poem. The pupils then worked with their 6 o'clock buddy on their poem and they tried to use rhyming words in their poem.

~

Science - by Ms Natalie Chan

For some of you, this is the first time your child/ward is taking Science as a core subject in the school curriculum. The updates provided on this blog will help you to support your child/ward in the learning of Science this year.

It is now Week 2 and pupils have already started learning about the concept of classification and living/ non-living things.

By now, pupils should be able to:

·         Classify objects into groups based on their similarities

·         State the characteristics of living things (Please refer to the summary below that was shared with pupils in class. Pupils should focus more on the characteristics highlighted in bold)

 

Concepts will be reinforced to pupils next week. As Science is a new subject for your child/ward this year, do constantly remind your child/ward to ask questions if he/she is unsure about what is being covered in class.

Thank you.

Sincerely, 

Ms Cindy Chan & Ms Natalie Chan

Hello!

A warm welcome to the class blog of P3-Adaptability 2016!

In this class blog, I will be sharing about the activities done in class, some strategies to help the pupils with learning, as well as some resources to extend their learning at home. Also, I will publish pieces of pupils' work through the blog as encouragement to celebrate the every step of success.

The class blog will double up as a platform for pupils to share their ideas and practise the ICT skills that they have learnt in specific blog posts designated for them. Through the ICT-infused lessons in class, they can contribute to the content of the blog using different media such as pictures and videos.

I would seek your understanding that I may not be able to update as regularly during examination periods or my CCA competition periods. Thus, I would suggest that you subscribe to the class blog to avoid missing out on the updates.

Thank you!

Sincerely

Ms Cindy Chan