News from our Elementary Vice Principal, Sofia Lyons
Dear Parents
The summer break is nearly here, which means we’re all soon going to be in different parts of the world and on totally different schedules very soon. Summer also means being away from school for a long period of time. With this in mind, we would like you to encourage your child to continue writing over the summer break. Studies show that if kids aren’t reading or writing throughout the summer, they are likely to fall behind when they head back to school.
So how do we get our children to voluntarily engage in writing and enjoy it? Here are some ideas to support your child’s writing over the summer break.
Please have a look at the “Write” grid below. Maybe you can encourage your child to have a go at some of these ideas for writing over the summer break.
Regards
Sofia Lyons
The summer break is nearly here, which means we’re all soon going to be in different parts of the world and on totally different schedules very soon. Summer also means being away from school for a long period of time. With this in mind, we would like you to encourage your child to continue writing over the summer break. Studies show that if kids aren’t reading or writing throughout the summer, they are likely to fall behind when they head back to school.
So how do we get our children to voluntarily engage in writing and enjoy it? Here are some ideas to support your child’s writing over the summer break.
- Ask your child to tell you stories, and help them to structure the stories into a beginning, middle and end format. Your interest will inspire him/her to want to add the details that make it a story, and telling stories is an important precursor to writing stories.
- Tell your child stories - ones from your childhood - He/she will love hearing about your life, and listening to stories will help develop the understanding of how to tell stories
- Share any form of writing you do with your child-lists, notes, letters - they all help children realize the importance of writing.
- Give your child opportunities to tell you about what they know. If your child is an expert at Legos, encourage him/her to tell you about it. The more organized the explanation, the better, as this practice will help him/her develop informational writing pieces.
- Encourage your child to persuade or argue with reasons and evidence. Need a pair of shoes? Convince me! Why do you need a new pair of shoes, and how can you tell? What will happen if you don’t get a pair of new shoes? How will your life improve? This sounds silly, but this type of thinking and speaking will dramatically help your child when she/he’s learning to write opinion pieces.
Please have a look at the “Write” grid below. Maybe you can encourage your child to have a go at some of these ideas for writing over the summer break.
Regards
Sofia Lyons
Students in 1G collaborated in small groups to independently, plan, organize, a community with needs and wants for our Unit of Inquiry: How we Organize Ourselves. Students took risks with their creative designs, and enthusiastically shared their communities in front of the class. In the end of this unit, students were reflective in their process and shared thoughtful and constructive feedback to one another. It was a lot of fun!
KG Corner
This week in KG1 we were looking at shadows, and how they are made by an object blocking light. We looked at shadows outside and we noticed that they move depending on the suns position. We recorded our findings and discussed it in class with our peers.
We have started our new unit of inquiry in KG2G. Students have been inquiring into different spaces and have begun to design, create and build their own using a variety of materials.
KG1 students continue to explore light in the Library and Makerspace. They have been playing with artificial light, and manipulating light to create rainbows, reflections, shadows, and explore transparency. We read The Black Rabbit by Philippa Leathers and The Dark by Robert Munsch to engage in discussion about light and shadows.
KG2 students have been exploring 2D and 3D shapes by building, and thinking about how shapes can be used to build designs. We read Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak to initiate a shelter building challenge.
As the students explore the central idea “Spaces provide us with opportunities to make connections and establish a sense of community” in the How We Organize Ourselves unit, they are being thinkers by observing why and how the Library might be organized.
As the students explore the central idea “Spaces provide us with opportunities to make connections and establish a sense of community” in the How We Organize Ourselves unit, they are being thinkers by observing why and how the Library might be organized.