Newsletter 13.01.17

Good Afternoon,

A few quick notes for you from the Chameleon class. 

Welcome back to the next term in the school year. We started back at school on Monday after a well deserved rest and were met with some fierce weather. As well as that pupils have got back into the routine of things remarkably quickly.

This week we’ve a started a number of new projects and topics across a range of subjects. Within Writer’s Workshop we began to look at writing non-fiction paragraphs, this will lead on to the new unit of persuasive writing. Children seemed excited when I explained this topic to them and I look forward to seeing how they become master manipulators!

Also, in Math pupils have started a unit on Time; all pupils have been brilliant at this topic so far. They have been following a pathway system similar to those done before.

We have also started a new topic of study in science; this is titled ‘The interconnectedness of Biomes’. For this topic well will be looking at and learning about 8 different biomes over two weeks. Once we have a good understanding of these we will begin an inquiry based around questions that pupils have selected themselves.

We were meant to have a bike training session this week; unfortunately due to weather this was postponed. This is planned to be rescheduled, as soon as I know anything I will pass this information on.

Below are the gradings recieved for the Realistic fiction Writing unit, completed before the break. Today pupils have been given their final grades for this unit. Please take a look through the assessment and return it signed within the next week. 

English Realistic Fiction Grade breakdown.

            1’s – 2

            2’s – 15 

            3’s – 5

Here is an overview of the areas of study we will focus on throughout the next week:

English:

We will continue to look at non-fiction writing, during writer’s workshop. This will involve taking a look at some fantastic persuasive letters and beginning to understand the layout of persuasive writing. Pupils will then start to write their own persuasive pieces.

I have completed another round of ORT reading assessments and with this information have put pupils into groups of similar reading levels. These groups will begin to work with an adult at least once per week, completing guided reading objectives.

Math:

Coming into next week I expect many pupils to be finishing the time pathway, once they complete this they are given the time to plan out a trip around Europe using a Europe wide train timetable. I will then be giving pupils the Time check in at some point next week. 

Science:

In science next week we will be looking at another 4 biomes, these are: ocean, freshwater, wetland and grassland. Pupils will be doing a similar thing to this week, which was to be placed into groups then given notes on a particular biome, each group would then digest these notes and create a small presentation to give to the rest of the class that made the information easy to take in. 

Art:

We are now creating the final piece of art for the art project that pupils were working on before the break. Some pupils might need to bring in materials, they each know what they need.

Deutsche:

Liebe Eltern der Chamäleon-Klasse,

ich hoffe Sie hatten erholsame Feiertage und ich wünsche Ihnen einen guten Start in das neue Jahr!
Bereits in der ersten Schulwoche des neuen Jahres waren die Schüler sehr fleißig. Zuerst haben sie Neujahrsraketen gebastelt, auf die sie ihre Wünsche für das neue Jahr geschrieben haben. Die bunten Kunstwerke schmücken nun die Klassenzimmer. Desweiteren haben wir eine Lesespurgeschichte gelesen und die Schüler haben viel über Pflanzen und Tiere im Wald erfahren. Im 2. Halbjahr werden wir immer wieder Sachthemen im Deutschunterricht behandeln, damit der Fachwortschatz der Kinder gefördert wird. Zudem haben die Kinder in Kleingruppen ihre Bücher für die Buchpräsentation vorgestellt. Auch die letzten Lernwörter wurden in dieser Woche noch einmal wiederholt (s. Anhang, diese wurden bereits vor den Weihnachtsferien ausgeteilt).
In der nächsten Woche beginnen wir mit der Vorbereitung der Buchpräsentationen. Insgesamt beträgt die Vorbereitungszeit 3 Wochen. Die Schüler erhalten neben der Arbeit am Wochenplan während des Unterrichts ausreichend Zeit, um ihre Präsentation vorzubereiten und eine Leserolle zu erstellen. Natürlich spricht nichts dagegen, dass ihr Kind den Vortrag auch zuhause übt. Die inhaltliche Vorbereitung sowie die Gestaltung der Leserolle erfolgt aber im Unterricht. Die Präsentationen werden in der Woche vom 6.-10. Februar gehalten und benotet. Die Note ersetzt eine Klassenarbeit. Bis Montag, den 16.02., sollte jeder Schüler den ausgefüllten Steckbrief zu seinem Buch dabei haben.

Ich wünsche Ihnen ein schönes Wochenende,
herzliche Grüße
Agnes Fojcik

Have a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely,

Mario Civico and the entire Chameleon team.