Newsletter 19.05.17

Good Afternoon,

A few quick notes for you from the Chameleon class. 

In English this week children wrote their reason paragraphs fully, I was able to meet with a lot of children and ensure that they understood the writing process well. I’m pleased with what I have been seeing and I feel confident that all children will be ready to hand in published copies on time. Children are able to work on their English at home if they wish, however I urge parents not to give too much support as this will be formerly assessed. 

We started the week by completing the first part of the math assessment, this was in the form of a short test which checked their knowledge of geometry vocabulary. Then, on Wednesday, I introduced the next part of the assessment to children. The next section involves becoming a city planner and designing four different districts in a city onto a grid. Each district has specific geometric and building specifications that children need to follow as they design it. This will be assessed by me asking them to point to the specific geometric terms as they are shown on their design. Children will also need to identify the area and perimeter of all the shapes drawn on their districts. Students seem to be really enjoying this activity and I’m excited to assess this with them. Due to the fact that this is a formal assessment, children cannot work on this at home. 

In science this week we introduced our scientific method project. We took a look at the scientific method again and the 8 step process which is consists of. Then, using a work booklet provided, children started to plan out their investigation. They had to first choose an area to study that was related to the following topics: states of matter, weather or erosion. Children then spent some time on the computer researching their chosen area and write a hypothesis that they would then test with an experiment. All children should now have spent time writing up the experiment that they want to undertake. Children will now be able to start conducting their experiments in school or at home depending on what they need. For those performing their experiments at home, they will need to video or photograph the process and results. 

Over the past few weeks in ICT we have been getting used to using a program called Scratch2. Scratch2 is a piece of software that easily and intuitively allows children to create games, animations and stories. We have started to understand and apply some basic things in Scratch2 and I’ve been amazed at what some children have produced. Some children asked to be able to work on Scratch2 at home so here is the link https://scratch.mit.edu/ .

In sports we have been practicing for the Bundesjugendspiele, I am really impressed with the focus and self-direction that children have been showing during these training sessions. Children have been pushing themselves to try and beat their personal bests to ensure they are ready for Wednesday.

Thank you to those who handed the Wegscheide letters in on time, if you would like your child to go to Wegscheide I need to know by Monday. 

Below are a number of dates that you should be aware of in May and June.

Important Dates:

-         

-          May 24^th – Bundesjugendspiele (weather permitting)

-          May 25^th and 26^th – School closed.

-          May 29^th – June 2^nd – Formal Math conference of Geometry Project

-          May 29^th – June 2^nd – Published Literary Essay to be handed in

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

Next week:

Due to the fact that we will only realistically have Monday and Tuesday next week with any real lesson time and the fact that both the English published piece and the formal math assessments are due in on the week of the 29^th, I will be allowing children to choose what they would like to work on out of English, Math or Science during the lessons on these days. I have trialled this before in single sessions and the Chameleons have been excellent at staying motivated and choosing appropriate work to work on. I explain to the children that this is an excellent way for children to get used to managing their own time whilst still in an established environment, a skill which will be vital for Wegscheide and further schooling after grade 4. I will still offer guidance to children and will be conferencing to give support in all lessons. 

There will still be a couple of mini-lessons on Monday which focus in on how to write the conclusion of their literary essay and how to correctly calculate the area and perimeter of some irregular shapes. 

German:

Liebe Eltern der Chamäleon-Klasse,

in dieser Woche haben die Schüler eine Personenbeschreibung (Bild: Lehrerin) geschrieben und diese in einer Schreibkonferenz mit ihrem Partner und mit Hilfe eines Überarbeitungsbogens verbessert. Die verbesserten Aufsätze habe ich anschließend korrigiert und letzte Tipps vermerkt. Zudem haben wir die Zeitformen Präsens, Präteritum, Perfekt und Futur in verschiedenen Übungen und Spielen gefestigt.

 Zur Erinnerung: Die letzte Klassenarbeit schreiben wir am Montag, den 22.05.2017 (Themen: Personenbeschreibung / Zeitformen Präsens, Präteritum, Perfekt und Futur I).

 Im Anhang finden Sie das Bild der Lehrerin (Übungsaufsatz) sowie ein weiteres Bild zur freiwilligen Übung. Desweiteren finden Sie im Anhang einen Bogen mit den Bewertungskriterien zur Personenbeschreibung.

Ich wünsche Ihnen ein erholsames Wochenende!

Agnes Fojcik

Enjoy the long weekend.

Sincerely,

Mario Civico and the entire Chameleon team.