Evan's Plantastic Acrostic Poem

Puffed up fruit
Unusual
Mushy
Perfect
King of all plants
Incredibly tasty
Nice to eat

By Evan

Vansh's Plantastic Acrostic Poem

Colorful sometimes

Offers food to use

Rain is what they need

Nice to eat

By  Vansh

World Peace Day!

Today is World Peace Day! The students spent some time this morning discussing the importance of world peace and wrote some statements encouraging world peace. All of the children had fantastic ideas and I wanted to share them:

• Please have peace and don’t fight.
• Give peace to the whole world.
• Please stop the rage.
• Please don’t have war.
• Please no violence.
• Please less rage.
• You should talk about your problems.
• Please have peace in the world.
• Please wait and cool off.
• Please live in peace and joy.
• Stop fighting and be friendly.
• Can you please stop using guns and use your mouth?
• Guns never, peace always.
• Use your brains instead of fists.
• Please don’t have war.
• Let’s make peace in our world.
• Give peace to the world.
• No war, no guns, just peace.
• Stop making all that racket and talk it out.
• Stop fighting and be friends.

After writing our statements, we hung them in the canteen to share with everyone and send our message to the world.

At break, the whole school formed a huge circle and did an activity to encourage world peace. We sang a song, did a little dance and had some fun. If you would like more information, please go to this website.

Snack Party Photos!

Last Friday we had an end of unit Healthy Snack Party. Each student was assigned to one of the five food groups and had to bring in a healthy snack to share. Some of the highlights were fruit kabobs, vegetable salad, plantains and sauce, yogurt, popcorn, barbequed chicken and sausages.

Thank you to the families who provided snacks and for the parents who came in to help. Another thanks goes out to Amanda and Vicki for taking photos.

 

 

Step Up To The Plate Unit Wrap-Up

This morning we wrapped up our Step Up To The Plate PYP unit of inquiry. The students completed the class K-W-L chart by filling in what they learned over the course of the 5 week health and nutrition unit. We came up with 31 different facts that we learned and I wanted to share them here.

• You shouldn't eat too much of the same food
• Don't eat too much oil
• Keep your body clean
• Try different foods
• Burn calories and do exercise 60 minutes per day
• Don't do too much exercise
• Don't eat too much
• Brushing your teeth is important to your health
• You can ride your bike for exercise
• You can eat sweets, but just a little
• You should get 8-10 hours of sleep
• If you eat good food, then your body grows
• Wash your hands before eating
• Meat and beans give you protein which helps to build your body
• Eat fruit and vegetables
• Don't eat too many fats
• Food can come from plants
• Vegetables have minerals in them
• Avocado has fat in it
• You should eat more vegetables than fruit
• You should keep a healthy diet
• You need a little fat in your diet
• Wash your hands for 30 seconds each time
• Brush your teeth for 2 minutes (you can time it by singing the ABC song 4 times)
• Wash your hands after touching a pet
• Don't play too many video games
• Say how you feel
• Talk about your problems
• Try not to fight with friends
• Don't brush your gums too hard

Yikes, what a great list! Good work Ms. Rorey's Roaring Leopards! I am proud of you.

Partial Sums Addition Algorithm

With Everyday Math, I teach many different algorithms for math computations. This past week, we have been practicing some algorithms for addition. One of those taught was the Partial Sums Addition algorithm. Here is a great video to help you understand this algorithm for when you are doing your homework at home.

Video courtesy of youtube.com: Love2TeachU

Miss Rorey's Room Uses Raz-Kids

Hello everyone! I have some exciting news. Today I set up Raz-Kids for every child in the classroom. If you are unfamiliar with Raz-Kids, it is an online subscription to an internet based reading practice site. The great thing about Raz-Kids is that it is set up for each individual student with their reading level. This means that students can practice reading "just right books" at home and complete activities related to reading comprehension as well. When the child chooses a book, it reads the book to them and then they can complete a short assignment.

Raz-Kids is a great way for your child to do more reading practice at home. Please email me if you do not have access to your child's log-in and I will assist you.

Thanks and happy reading!

Family Fun Game: Beat the Calculator Addition

Today in math I introduced a new game from the math curriculum we use, Everyday Math. The game is called Beat the Calculator. You can play with 2 or 3 people. Give it a try at home and let me know what you think!

• Materials
1. number cards 0-10, four of each number. (idea: use a deck of cards with the face cards pulled out of them)
2. calculator
• Directions:
1. Shuffle deck and place it in front of the players.
2. Assign roles. One person is the "Brain" and one person is the "Calculator." If you have 3 people, make someone the "Caller."
3. The "Caller" (or one player, if you only have two players) picks two cards and places them face up on the table.
4. The objective is to say the solution the fastest, using the following rules: The "Brain" has to use their brain to solve the problem with mental math, and the "Calculator" must use the calculator to complete the problem. 
5. The cards go to the person who solved the problem the fastest.
6. After 5 turns, switch roles and keep playing.

As a variation, you can use subtraction (but make sure you say the bigger digit first.) In class, we do not focus on the person who wins. It is more important to play the game fairly and have fun while learning.

Spelling Practice Online

Today the students took their first spelling test and I can proudly say that everyone got a 60% or better... congratulations! This is a big accomplishment since spelling in Miss Rorey's room works different than it might work in other classes.

At the start of the week, students take a pre-test. Any word that they already know how to spell on the pre-test is not included in their spelling list for the week. This means that all of the students should be learning 10 brand new words every week.

One online tool I want to share with you to help you study your spelling list is a site called Spelling City. You can find it at http://www.spellingcity.com.

Once on the sight, you can enter your spelling words into the site and practice your words by playing games. It creates individual games from the list you entered.

In addition, you can search our school, International School of Tanganyika, or search my name, Aurora Risdon, to find a list I have included on the site. These lists will often correspond to the unit of inquiry we are teaching or be tailored to students who are new to English.

Check it out and let me know what you think..... and most of all, keep up the good work with your spelling!

Homework Signatures

Hello families! I hope that everyone had a good weekend. This is just a reminder to turn in your Homework Contract signature. The form was sent home last week and I am still missing a few.

Homework is going to start first thing on Monday. Each day every student will be expected to complete some maths, practice their spelling words, and write a reflective sentence in their Linkbooks about what they read during their 20 minutes of nightly reading. Parents, please remember to sign the Linkbooks each night before they are sent back to school.

Thanks for all of your help and support!
Miss Rorey