Last week the students explored the question , "How do flowers drink water ?" Together in groups they made a science experiment to observe how stems of flowers drink water. They filled cylinders with water and red food coloring and placed white flowers inside. Over the weekend the flowers stems sucked up the red water and changed the flower petals red. The students really enjoyed making hypothesis and then recording their observations after the weekend.
Today KG2B had fun making seed observations and students made their very own sprout bags. Students will be observing them over the next few days and recording their observations just like real scientists do!
![]() This week KG2B got their hands dirty and did some gardening. The students really enjoyed and they will be responsible to take care of their new vegetable and flower garden for the next couple of weeks.They are growing, sunflowers, basil, onions, cherry tomatoes, and coriander. Gardening is a wonderful introduction into the world of science especially botany, biology and chemistry. When kids plant their first seeds they become curious about what will happen next. They make their own hypothesis and monitor the progress each day. Without even realizing it, kids are learning the basic steps of the scientific process. ![]() In reading students have really been enjoying learning all about plants. By listening to the read-alouds in this unit students will acquire a fundamental understanding of the parts of the plants and how they grow. They have been learning what plants need in order to grow and stay alive and have also been introduced to the concepts of the life cycle of plants, pollination and photosynthesis. This basic knowledge about plants will lay the foundation for a broader understanding of ecology and the interdependence of all living things. As a class students enjoyed planting our very own garden outside our classroom. We are growing sunflowers, basil, coriander, green onions, and cherry tomatoes. How can you help at home? You may review the following new vocabulary words with your child plant, soil, photosynthesis, pollination, fruit,evergreen, deciduous, roots, petals, crops, year, survival, hero, cycle, bare. Comprehension questions: Questions you may ask your child at home to review the topics are: Name the parts of a plant. (roots, stem, leaf, flower, seeds) How does each part function? What does a plant need to survive? (nutrients, water, air, sunlight ) How do plants make food for themselves ? (photosynthesis) How does the plant life cycle begin? ( from a seed) For further review let your child watch these great educational, child friendly videos on the topics of plant parts and the plant life cycle and pollination: visit www.casdubai.com
Today we had some surprise visitors! Over the weekend Rashid bought two bunnies and he brought them to school to show everyone. The students loved seeing and petting the cute bunnies. The students were extra quiet all day for the bunnies. We discussed how bunnies have very big ears and for that reason they can hear better. They made sure to whisper and not shout so the bunnies wouldn't be scared.
![]() Successful readers use a number of tools to help them understand texts. One of the most effective and powerful reading tools that parents and teachers can help children develop is sight word recognition. When a child is able to grasp and identify sight words he is well on his way to becoming a thriving reader. What are Sight Words? Believe it or not, 50% of all reading texts are made up of the same 100 words! The most frequently used and repeated words in the English language are known as sight words. This list of words includes the, a, is, of, to, in, and, I, you, and that. Think about the number of times that you have seen these words in a piece of reading material. It’s probably too many times to count. Sight words are critical to reading not only because they are used so frequently, but also because many of them cannot easily be sounded out or illustrated. (http://www.k12reader.com/what-are-sight-words/2/) How can I help my child with sight words? Print the sight words I have sent home everyday review each word, (starting with the purple words) by showing the word to your child and having them repeat the word. Each month I will assess the students to see how many words they can name and they will keep track of where they are by placing their picture beside the list of words they are working on. (see the photo above, this is our bulletin board in class with the rainbow sight words. For fun sight word computer games see below: (for all the games be sure to choose the option pre-primer and or primer) www.abcya.com/sight_words_recognition.htm www.abcya.com/dolch_sight_word_bingo.htm www.abcya.com/dolch_sight_word_spelling.htm |
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