Week 10: Numeracy week

Hello everyone,

Last week was numeracy week. Numeracy week is an entire week where we focus on everything math related in a more fun and engaging way. Each student received school money for math related activities. For us on the 9th floor each day there were a few math problems the student had to answer. We also had a teacher swap similar to the teacher swap during literacy week. I went to Ms Rachael's class while Mr. Ben came to our class to do some math activities with our class.

During this activity, they also did some shape worksheets

And they used these block toys to create shapes that look like Tetris blocks.

On the last day of the week they used the money they saved up and went to a shop that was set up on the 10th floor gym. With the money they were able to pick and choose from many things that were being sold.

The shop was a lot of fun, but some of the prices for things were expensive! Hopefully next year they will be able to gain more money and buy more things. That is all for now. Stay tuned for next week!

- James Barbosa

Week 9

Hey there everyone

As you all know Monday of last week was parents morning. I hope everyone had a good time! Here is the group photo of it.

We also celebrated Lian`s birthday !

Happy 5th birthday, Lian!

Another highlight of last week was Ms Hisako`s Japanese lesson and craft! We made a fathers day craft that we hope you enjoyed.

Week 10 is Numeracy week, so stay tuned next week to find out how that went!

Update: Its beginning to get hotter and hotter and as a result the students will spend more time in the gym depending on the temperature outside, as well as the weather. I would also advise if you haven`t done so already, to make sure that the students have bug spray to prevent mosquito bites.

As always, stay tuned for more.

- James Barbosa

Week 8

Last week was an adventurous week for Prek A. We went to the park with the grade 4 class and did some painting with ice paint! It was really cool. The grade 4 class made ice out of paint and then we all went to the park to paint with it. As some of you know some of the students may have gotten a bit dirtier than usual!

Here was the grade 4 class with the Prek A class going to the park.

Messy hands!

Artists hard at work making art out of paint.

Throughout the year we will do more collaborations with other grades like this. It all ties into our theme for term 1. How communication with others impact relationships around us.

We began using the clay during out center time, the students seem to really enjoy having the option to mold clay during center time.

Lastly, some of the students decided to sit me down in a make-believe restaurant and serve me food. The service was fantastic, 5 stars.

Stay tuned for more

- James Barbosa

Week 7

Terribly sorry about the late post regarding last week.

Last week was the 7th week into the year, and our theme was about responsibilities. What are responsibilities? and what are our responsibilities at home, at school and outside? Many of the answers given were reflective of our classroom rules, but I tried to have them think beyond that and tell me what they are responsible for. Or more simply, what do they have to do in their everyday life.

A first a big word like responsibility may sound like something that is too difficult for a 4 or 5 year old to get, but I was quite surprised that as we discussed it more and more each day they were able to understand it.



We had 4 students complete their sticker charts and given an award this week as well, great job!

Last week was also the end of May, and of course, our birthday party at the end of the month was more Mao and Gen. Happy Birthday you two!

~ James Barbosa

Week 6 and Literacy Week

Last week was literacy week, and it was great to have many of you come out to read to the class. It was also a week full of sunshine so the students had a lot of time to run round outside at the park. We also worked on our theme for the term. This week were discussed how we can be a good friend in situations like during break time, at lunchtime and in class. The students also made bracelets for each other.

The beginning on last week we did a teacher swap. Mr. Ben came to our class to read and I went to his Preschool class to read. The students also played a game with Mr. Ben.

Further into the week the students from Grade 4 came to our classroom to read to the class. It was a lot of fun and everyone had a great time, I think!

It was great to have so many people come to read to the students of our class, even the parents coming to read to us was a treat. The students had a great time listening to the stories, even if they were a bit energetic!

Ai`s mom and Yuns mom reading to the class together.

Julia`s mom reading to the class

Etta`s mom reading to the class.

All in all it was a good week. 

Updates to consider,

At the right hand side you`ll see some information that will be updated weekly. One of them are the words that the students will be practicing each week. These words will change every week and it would help the students a lot if you could help them practice these words at home each week with the laminated vocabulary words that they took home a few weeks ago. 

As always, thanks for giving this a read,

- James Barbosa 

Week 5 in PreKinder.

Week 5 of PreKinder A

Last week was a really good week for weather, we had many chances to spend time in the park and the class is working well together. Each day we covered the alphabet, and numbers up to 100. In regards to the alphabet we focused on the lowercase letters and the sounds of those letters. The students are great at recognizing the uppercase letters, but need improvement recognizing the lowercase letters. They learned that when they read a work in English, they will see that the most common letters are the lowercase letters. These kids are really bright so they caught on quick. 

I'm seeing a lot of improvement in their writing, too. Practice makes perfect.

Week after week we are learning ourselves. This terms central idea is "Communication with others impact relationships" Inside and outside the classroom the students are learning about how friendships, and family interactions impact our day to day lives. We learn about this through positive reinforcement. When they do good things, they are rewarded. We also started to fill our inquiry wall. The students did a cut and paste about what a good friend does and what not a good friend does. Stay tuned to see how our wall will look at the end of the term!

One of the best examples of this is by having them all share one type of toy, and working together to create something they can all be proud of.

An update:

We are in the process of planning a field trip for July, the details have not been finalized but I look forward to sharing that information with you soon!

Last week I had the students take home vocabulary cards. They can keep them at home and if possible take some time out of the week to practice memorizing 4 or 5 words.

Thanks for tuning in!

- James Barbosa

Week 4 and Mothers day.

Week 4 in class was focused around the upcoming mothers day. As you may have seen last Friday the students brought home a card and a craft for their mothers. We hope you enjoyed your gifts! 

The entire week was focused on being a great classmate to each other, I asked them what a great classmate would say, do, is, and is not. And the students would answer and we would write it on the white board. We have done this every day as a way of remembering how we should act in class. 

The park was an interesting time as well. However we will soon have to cut our park time time short as the summer arrives due to the heat. But for now they have enjoyed the park. 

All in all it was a fun week a lot of the playtime was focused around one activity that all the students had to share and work together to use and I am happy that they are working together better week by week.

A few updates,

The students will begin using a phonics workbook. The workbook will stay in the school and they will work in it bit by bit every week. I may have them bring it home on the weekend to show you their progress, and do a little bit of homework in it from time to time. 

Lastly, I will be sending them home with some vocabulary cards that I am making for them to practice. If they could practice the vocabulary a few times a week that would be great! They will be bringing it home this weekend.

Thanks for tuning in.

- James Barbosa