Culture Week

Culture Week March 26 - 29 We will be having a week filled with fun activities, celebrating all the cultures in our school! More information to follow next week but - we are looking for parents to help out! You can - Show or teach games / sports / toys from your country Play a traditional instrument, teach a song, or create arts and crafts Teach the students a dance or movements special to your country Prepare a native dish with the students If you are interested please let your homeroom teacher before March 8 (Friday).

DSKI BOOK DAY

DSKI Book Day Thursday 7th March We will be having a lot of fun reading and book activities for the students to enjoy, helping build and foster a love of books and reading. We also invite your children to wear their pyjamas to school. Getting into pyjamas and reading at home just before bed is something a lot of children do. So, coming into school in their pyjamas and reading will be a good way to connect this and promote the fun and joy of books. Parents - during the day we would like to invite you to come in and read to the children. You can do so in any language that you would like to! Please bring some books from home you would be happy to share. just let your child's homeroom teacher know. Email them to organise a time that works for both teacher and parent.

Being creative with simple machines

This week, we explored complex machines and simple machines that comprise them. We look at their uses and how they are helpful to people. The culminating part of our unit exploration is making their own toy/game showing at least one simple machine in it. They chose to work on their own or with a partner. They are not yet done with it but are really excited to try and play with them. They also would like to share it with the community.

Our Innovative Solutions - STEM WEEK 2024

This week, Grade 1s worked thoroughly on their STEM WEEK project. From the concerns they shared and brainstormed with their group members, they chose one to give priority to and thought of innovative solutions to address the problems. Through their mini booklet, they described the nature of the problem, answered why it is a problem, enumerated solutions they tried at home and the suggested solutions they got from friends. Among the suggested solutions, the groups decided on the final solution and materialise the model of it. As we are exploring simple machines in our unit, some gorups incorporated their learning by adding simple machine/s to their work. Some even used the terms as they explained how their innovations work. Take a look at the result of their hard work, patience, collaboration and active engagement.

STEM WEEK PROJECTS

Next week is our much-awaited STEM WEEK. This is when the learners are given the opportunity to apply the attributes of the learner profile: being an inquirer, risk-taker, knowledgeable, reflective and open-minded, and others. For this event, the Grade 1s will work in groups of 3-4 members. They reflected on the following: - What concerns or problems or challenging works do you haveat present (may be at school or at home)? - Is there any work or task at home or at school that you want to be solved or make it easier to do? - Have you tried ways to solve these concerns? Did they work? Why not? Out of the concerns they brainstormed, they chose one problem to focus on. Then they discussed and further explained why it is a problem. Then their classmates from other groups offered possible solutions. On Monday, the groups will look into the solutions suggested by their other classmates. They may choose one to apply. They may also combine solutions from the given options or come up with their own if they have a better idea as a group. This is an independent work and is to be done by the learners with minimal guidance from the teacher. We would like the students exercise their voice, choice and eventually own this project. Through this, we are hoping to see lifelong learners take action.

How the World Works

Grade 1s are now exploring a new unit under the transdisicplinary theme, How the World Works. This unit, we are going to explore the centra idea, Machines are used to make work easier. We will look into the different simple machines and complex machines, and investigate how they work and how they make life easier and better for the people. We will also check on the how's and why's of innovation and its impact to people's lives. To begin the unit, we gauge their prior understanding of machines. First, the Grade 1s answered the question: What are machines in your own opinion. We cleared the hindrance from a lot of Grade1s who always hesitate to speak up by telling them that opinions are neither right nor wrong. The following are what we got from them: "Machines are electronic or anything that needs energy to make life easier." "Machines help us make work faster." "Machines help us save time." "Machines are in big factories." Second the Grade 1s worked in groups and drew/wrote examples of machines and NOT machines in a T-chart format.

In their work, we can see that most of the Grade 1 learners connect machines with robots, factories and modes of transportation. We are looking forward to plan trips for this unit and invite guest speakers to show them interesting machines and its parts and use. We welcome any invites and volunteers. 😊

Making Healthy Choices

This week, we wrapped up the unit by reflecting on our choices and planning on some changes. First, we looked at our habits, food we eat or activities we do after school. Guide questions such as: - Do I eat junk foods often? - Do I drink enough water? - How much time do I spend for screen time (TV or gadgets)? Is that ok? - Do I finish my food? - On my plate, do I have fruits and vegetables? - Do I exercise often? - Do I wash hands regularly? The Grade 1s suggest some changes that they would want to do in order to make their lifestyle better and healthier.

Grade 1s also worked on making their own warm up and cool down exercises that they may do before and after their PE class or at home in the morning and before bed time.

The steps and even the song choice were done collaboratively. Parents may also want to try these at home. 😊