Primary eNews – May 15, 2020
Next Friday’s Grade 2 – 5 Assembly
Next Friday’s Grade 2 – 5 Assembly will take place from 9:30 – 10:00 am on Zoom. Invitations will be sent to all students, teachers & parents early next week.
Today’s Early Years Assembly
We hosted our first Distance Learning Assembly for our Early Years (Preschool to Grade 1) students today. We had contributions from Ibu Isti, Pak Sam, Mr Marshall plus introduced a fun activity where our Early Years students can earn house points. Please click here to watch the video
Learning Packs
Parents of the grades listed below are welcome to come to school between 9 – 10 am next Monday 18th May to collect new Learning Packs for their children. Parents should drive to the courtyard from the north car park end, stop at the courtyard to return any school resources that need to be returned and collect a new pack. Parents coming after 10:00 am can collect their child’s Learning Pack from the Security Office at the front gate. There is also a drop box at security to return library books and readers.
Classes with new packs on Monday are Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2 & Grade 4.
Classes without new packs on Monday as the teachers have provided enough resources for another two weeks of learning in the previous packs or the students complete all learning with online resources are Preschool, Grade 3 & Grade 5.
Links to Mr E Reads Picture Books on You Tube
I have been publishing one picture book each week for our Preschool to Grade 2 students for the past 5 weeks. I thought I’d share them again in the eNews in case any of the younger students missed the stories and also in case any of our older students want to watch them.
Mr E Reads ‘There’s a Snake in my School’ by David Walliams
Mr E Reads’ This is not my hat’ by Jon Klassen
Mr E Reads ‘Home’ by Carson Ellis
Mr E Reads ‘Mother Bruce’ by Ryan Higgins
Mr E Reads ‘Mr E Reads ‘Mr McGee & the Blackberry Jam’ by Pamela Allen
Mr E Reads ‘A Walk in the Bush’ by Gwyn Perkins
Craig Eldred. Primary Principal
Grade 2 Mini – Electricians
At the end of our “How the World Works” Unit of Inquiry, the Grade 2 students were given a task to use a simple circuit to make something of their own choice, using any material that they could find at home. It was a chance to get really creative, use all of the great knowledge about circuits and electricity that they acquired during this unit, and most of all have fun!
This was a multi-step project that required a series of steps. First, students had to design their projects, decide on the materials they needed, and write out the steps of how they were going to make their projects. The last step was to make a video of their finished creation. Of course, these were shared in our Zoom meeting with the rest of the class.
The finished products were amazing! Grade 2s were not only knowledgeable but demonstrated so many other learner profiles. They were risk-takers in taking on a task that was out of their comfort zone, thinkers, and communicators. Here are some photos of our Mini-Electricians:
Alice Guzowski. Grade 2 Teacher
Grade 4 How We Organise Ourselves
Over the past few weeks, Grade 4 have been developing skills in digital literacies. While we usually conduct tutorials and “dabble” with different digital platforms in our physical classroom, Distance Learning has fostered a “quick” familiarisation of many digital tools among our students. Very helpful in preparing us for hosting a Virtual Market as a summative activity for our unit of inquiry.
In preparing ourselves to develop our own products, we have:
- expressed our creativity through the arts to interview others and retell stories orally and in print.
- created and performed short skits playing with stage directions, characterization and voice.
- expressed messages and moods in art activities and,
- worked with Mr Marshall as he guides our inquiry into how messages and advertising are used to target different audiences through a range of Media
- Interviewed others to find out about games, stories and interests.
Students have conducted primary research to found out more about Global Trade. They went foraging through their cupboards and homes searching for “where products are manufactured”, recording this data in a table. They used Kids Britannica to help them locate countries on a World Map as they transferred data from their data tables to show countries that Bali and Indonesia trade with.
Ibu Martina has supported our inquiries through local markets in Indonesian Studies.
They have used Google forms to ask questions about interests, favourites and likes and dislikes and shared their group ideas in Google Slides. This coming week, Grade 4 will be further developing their products before designing logos and advertisements and pitching their products before inviting everyone to visit their Virtual Marketplace.
Watch the eNews closely for updates and information on this exciting day, as our young entrepreneurs finalise details.
Kristen Turner. Grade 4 Teacher
Grade 1 Indonesian Studies
Grade 1 has just finished their unit of inquiry of How we organize ourselves with the conceptual understanding “Making and distributing products depends on various processes and people. In Indonesian studies, students analyzed the processes involved in making Batik and have learned to make their own batik design. They also explored the processes involved in the rice production.
Kristina Hutapea. Indonesian Studies and Bahasa Indonesia Teacher.
The Importance of Sight Word Recognition in Learning to Read
Did you know that the Dolch sight words comprise of up to 80% of the words you might find in a children’s book or 50% of words in an adult novel? That being said, it makes sense that if a child knows this list of words, reading becomes easier and children become more confident, fluent readers.
At Bali Island School, our approach to teaching reading in the early years includes a combination of sight words, phonics and whole language instruction. The development of these skills enables our students to become strong and confident readers.
So why teach sight words? Beginning to read can be a daunting task for many children. If a child can open a book and recognise over half of a sentence, they are likely to possess the confidence to attempt to read it. The child can then shift their focus to decoding the more challenging and unfamiliar words phonetically. If a child has to try to decode every word in a sentence, they will quickly become frustrated and lose the meaning of the text. As a result, the ability to recognise sight words automatically not only improves confidence and fluency but also aids in supporting reading comprehension.
During Distance Learning, our goal is to continue to support your child’s reading, but because of our unusual circumstances, we might not be seeing the growth we would typically see in the classroom. Your amazing, daily support has been so beneficial and crucial to their continued development. In order to maintain a love for reading, it is important to keep reading fun and engaging for your child. Below I have compiled a list of NON- DIGITAL/IPAD/COMPUTER multi-sensory, fun games that you might enjoy playing at home with your child. Use the words your teachers have sent home for your child to practice, or find the list by grade level at: http://www.dolchword.net/dolch-word-list.html
Happy gaming!
Ibu Jackie Wyncoll, Primary Student Support
Distance Learning P.E.
During our past few weeks, our P.E. students have been engaged in a variety of physical exercise that helps benefit the mind, body and soul. Routines have been assigned with consideration given to assumptions around sporting equipment, or the lack thereof, at home. Weekly tasks have included: Full body workouts requiring no equipment, yoga, meditation and mindfulness practice, dancing, healthy and simplistic drinks and snacks as well as home challenges.
Students’ submission of work has been fantastic. We are seeing lots of variety in terms of students’ ICT creativity. We have had BIS primary students demonstrate their learning and risk taking via video, YouTube channels, voice notes, photos, slide shows and even with the use of Loom. Each weekly task has been varied to keep students engaged and challenged in new and exciting ways. In the coming weeks, we are introducing live classes for P.E. which will consist of a warm up, followed by a high intensity, full body session and conclude with a cool down. Stay healthy, stay active, stay happy!
Below: One of most active and consistent athletes from Grade 5 has been Jackson. Well done on all your hard work and sharing of evidence!
Below: Lael from Grade 3 has been super active every week with our P.E. class. Here he is during our week 7 dance routine with a creative submission. Great work!
Pak Sam Watson. Primary PE Teacher
Dates for upcoming Assemblies
Friday 22nd May. Zooming into Preschool Online Open Day.
Friday 22nd May. Grade 2 – 5 Assembly.
Tuesday 2nd June. Grade 5 – 6 Step Up Day Zoom.
Friday 5th June. PYP Exhibition
Friday 5th June. Grade 5 Graduation. Friday 5th June
Wednesday 10 June. Primary End of Year Assembly.
Wednesday 10 June. Whole School End of Year Assembly.