Newsletter Term 2 Week 4

Dear Parents,

We are now half way through Term 2 and what a busy time so far. In this newsletter we look at the conclusion of one UOI and the beginning of another, the swimming carnival reflections and UOI Expos.

Unit of Inquiry -  'Where we are in place and time'

Central Idea - People are connected with the world around them through their experiences and traditions.

Lines of Inquiry

• Personal experiences and family traditions
• Traditions, customs and history of different groups in Singapore
• How we are connected to our host country

Unit of Inquiry - How the world works - Forces Expo

Over the past fortnight Year 2 presented to their parents through an exhibition of their creative talents and knowledge gained about forces.

How the World Works EXPO photos





Class of the week - 2HO

2HO Forces Expo

      As the culmination to our Unit of Inquiry, ‘How the World Works’, the students of 2HO worked hard to create imaginative and purposeful presentations for the Forces Expo. Students made a model or demonstrated a sport as a vehicle for explaining how simple forces are used in everyday objects. The range of choice reflected the individual student’s creativity, ingenuity and interest. From an underwater fishing game to the intricacies of Rugby, the students were able to apply their knowledge in a variety of ways. Below are a few photographs from the day





Meet the Staff 

Ms Jean Thomas - 2RY Teacher Assistant

5 Facts about me

I am an avid collector of masks

I love listening to music - favourite artist at the moment is C Lo Green

I like baking choc chip cookies...and eating them too!

My favourite show is Fat Albert

I would love to go to Africa someday - to get more masks of course!

    

Y2 Learning - Caught on Camera

This week children from 2Le were caught on a 'shape hunt.' Year 2 are learning about 2D and 3D shapes and 2Le were trying to discover  3D shapes in the Year 2 pod areas.
.

Specialists in the Spotlight - Music

This term, students in our Music classes have been exploring the musical idea of “ostinato”.

Ostinato, which means stubborn in Italian, is a musical term which describes a short pattern that is repeated consistently throughout a piece of music.

Our Year 2 students have been composing their own rhythmic ostinatos to accompany different pieces of music that we have been listening to in class.

Here’s one to try at home:

Choose one rhythmic symbol to place into each beat circle below (remember only one symbol in each circle):

Π   I   Z

Once you’ve created your ostinato pattern find something around the house to play it on while you accompany one of your favourite songs. Can you keep the ostinato going for the whole song??? J

Please don’t use Mum’s good pots and pans J





Year Two  CCA News  -

Construction & Creative Play

Bionicle battles, mass cities of blocks, Lego structures, Petshops playgrounds and craft construction take over the Year Two Pod every Wednesday and Friday Lunch time.  Children create and imagine mystical worlds using a wide range of play equipment. They interact, share ideas and collaborate to make their visions come alive!

Here are some of the things we have been working on during our CCA sessions.



Luca, Nico, Roberto, Joseph, Lachlan, Finlay & Rafferty building towers with the play blocks.



Jessica, Alyssa, Lily, Amy and Charlotte making Little Petshop Houses.

Dioramas



Lego Space Ship



Lego Super Car

Block Towers

Bionicles

House Leaders

The swimming carnival has caused a big change in house points.

Murray were the winners of the carnival with 351 points, 2nd was Lachlan - 290, 3rd Fitzroy -277 and Derwent -201 points.

Leader Board

Murray - 359 points,  Lachlan - 294 points, Fitzroy - 279 points, Derwent -207 points,

Dates to Remember

• Excursion  - Cultures Monday 30 May
• Cultural Celebration Day Wednesday 15 June

 Parent Education

Effective Communication

Teachers believe that effective communication is needed to create an atmosphere of trust and openness between home and school.

Parents ARE the primary educators of the children. Teachers respect this and understand that it is only through teamwork that they will be able to give the utmost to the children in their classes.

Often parents are unsure how to approach their teacher when they have an issue they would like to raise.

Clarify the issue

Before you approach the school or your child's teacher:

• Be clear about the topic or issue you want to discuss
• Focus on the things that are genuinely affecting your child
• Always remain calm and remember you may not have all the facts relating to the circumstances of the topic or issue you wish to discuss
• Think about what would be an acceptable outcome for you and your child
• Remember the teacher wants to help and find a positive outcome

At AIS we have a policy of RESPECT for effective communication

Request an appointment to discuss important or lengthy issues

Email vital information

Seek answers to understand and clarify

Professional relationships

Engage in discussions with the class teacher in the first instance

Communicate the topic of an interview beforehand

Timely communication - 24 hour response to emails

Ms Elle Ryan and the Year 2 Teaching Team.

Newsletter 2

Welcome Back

Welcome back to Term 2. We hope all had a wonderful relaxing holiday with many fond memories gained. The children have started the term enthusiastic and focused. It has been a very busy start to Term 2 with Swim Scheme and "Wheels Day' for PE.

We also have celebrated Easter and Anzac Day this week.

ANZAC Day Assembly

Ms Pike and Ms Hitz-Morton presented at this weeks assembly with 2RY as class hosts. This assembly was a solemn occasion where the students learnt about the importance and relevance of ANZAC day for Australians and New Zealanders.

ANZAC Day – 25 April – is probably Australia's most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.

Mr Elliot played the Last Post and the Reveille. The Last Post is one of a number of bugle calls in military tradition that mark the phases of the day. While Reveille signals the start of a soldier's day, the Last Post signals its end. We observed a minute silence after Mr Elliot played. Silence for one or two minutes is included in the ANZAC Day ceremony as a sign of respect and a time for reflection

Japan Fundraiser - Japan Earthquake Fund

Next Friday we will raise funds for the people of Japan affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami.

On Friday all students are asked to come to school dressed up in either red and white or Japanese dress.  Students will make a donation (at least gold coin) to the Japanese earthquake fund.

At lunch time on Friday Japanese parents will paint Japanese Characters for Love and hope on students arms.  Students will need to make a gold coin donation for this. Parents will also give students a paper crane or paper heart in return for a gold coin donation.  Students will write a message on the crane or heart (as well as their names) and we will display them in the pods.  

Unit of Inquiry

How the World Works

Tatiana, Niamh and Lottie enjoying Wheels Day

Wheels Day

The children participated in 'Wheels Day' on Wednesday 20th April. Mr Barnes and Mr Knight prepared the lesson for PE. The children were able to demonstrate their knowledge of forces through the action of using their 'wheels.'

Liam on his wheels

Class of the week - 2HS

This week the class in focus is 2HS. The focus for our class has been our Unit of Inquiry.

  



Jessie and Matilda inquiring about friction




Nicholas and Joe are having fun making discoveries about friction.



Edward is lending a helping hand to assist 2HS learn about gravity.



Francis, Solomon and Hannah investigating the scientific principles related to push.

 

House Leaders

Murray - 8 points, Derwent -6 points, Lachlan - 4 points, Fitzroy - 2 points

Meet the Staff - Mrs Renae Roberts-Thomson
 

5 Facts about me

     I have lived in Singapore for 15 months

     I am from Adelaide, we were just finishing renovating our bluestone cottage when we found out we were moving!

   I got married last December- 2 days after Christmas…who has a wedding at Christmas time?!

     I’m loving the American Idol series at the moment-Will it be Jacob, James or Casey?

   I am going to Turkey for the first time in June-any recommendations?

Y2 Learning - Caught on Camera

This week a group of 2HO students were caught on camera learning how to use the 'Jump strategy' in Addition. Ms Juliet ( who is an accomplished Maths teacher) was teaching the group how to use this strategy. We are very fortunate to have Ms Juliet on our teaching team.

Specialists in the Spotlight - Mandarin

Jamie reading to Mr Foster



Ally Chen reading her Storybook to the class



Children working diligently during Chinese



In this semester of Chinese, Year 2 students are looking at transport words as a link to their UOI  'How the World Works'. This also involves learning how to ask and respond to the question “How did you get there?’   As students returned from their term break, many eagerly responded in Chinese to their classmates when asked how they got to their destinations.  Other activities students have enjoyed included planning and writing in Chinese about a day-out in Singapore with a friend.  The current vocabulary and structure will continue to be very useful throughout the rest of the year in topics such as Places in Singapore, Countries, and Places in China.   Students in most classes are either working on or have just completed their learning journal piece, which involves making use of all vocabulary items learned throughout Semester 1 in a bilingual story book about a great race to China by the animals of the Chinese zodiac.  While all children will present their books orally to their teacher, some will be asked to read their stories to the class.  The second half of Term 2 will see the students start on the topic 'Places in Singapore'.  This topic looks not only at a variety of places here but also different foods and national symbols.  For this topic the students learn to ask and respond to the question               “Have you ever been to/eaten/seen?’.  by  Rodney Foster

Year Two  CCA News  - Team Games

This week's focus CCA is Team Games with Ms LeCornu

Team Games is a fun CCA that occurs every Tuesday at lunchtime. Teams Games is made up of 22 students of mixed teams of boys and girls. Predominately the balance is in favour of the boys but I am hoping a few more girls will join shortly. The students meet in my class room; we have lunch together then head down to the field at the end of the Junior school. Drinks and hat’s are compulsory as we are playing out in the heat of the day.

 Since the beginning of the year we have played a variety of fun games and sports.  Some of these have included some classic games from your childhood such as:

  What’s the Time Mr Wolf; Duck, Duck Goose; Scarecrow; Freeze Tag and the Hopper Relays. These games are often brief warm up activities that lead into a more organized game of either Soccer, a combination Tee- Ball Cricket game, Leader Ball or Pass Ball.

Team work and communication skill development are always encouraged. The teams are mixed up on a weekly basis so the students have an opportunity to play each other and more importantly to make new friends. I have become increasingly proud of the students in Team Games since we started. I have noticed an increased maturity and a strong development of organizational skills from all students. They all work and play well together and they are always very keen to help each other learn new skills in a positive way.  Alison LeCornu

Dates to Remember

• Labour Day Holiday - Monday 2 May
• Tabitha Mother's Day Stall - 4,5,6 May
• Japan Fundraiser - Friday 6 May
• Swimming Carnival -Wednesday 11 May -
• Pupil free day,  Staff Professional Development - Monday 16 May 
• Vesak Day Public Holiday - Tuesday 17 May

 Parent Education

Throughout my teaching career I have encountered many children showing signs of mild to severe anxiety.  Not only is excessive anxiety upsetting for the child but it can also wreak havoc on daily family life.  Fortunately nowadays there are many places you can go to for help with this problem.

Anxiety is a normal part of childhood.  Most children report having several fears at any given age with research showing that 90% of children between 2-14yrs of age have at least one specific fear.  It is common for children in the early years of school to be fearful of the dark, sleeping alone, thunder, floods, ghosts, and monsters.  As they reach 7-8yrs of age their fears start to become more realistic, eg, they may worry about physical injury, school performance, death, earthquakes, floods. 

Whilst most children will go through phases of anxiety that don’t interfere with their daily life. approximately one in eight children will develop some type of anxiety disorder, making it the most prevalent mental health problem amongst children and adolescents.

It is common to see anxiety start to become a problem in children around Year One and Year Two, and for this reason our School Counsellor runs an anxiety management program in every Year Two class at  AISS.  This program will be underway in Term 3 this year.  Meanwhile if you would like to know more about anxiety in children you can check out the resources below.

·     http://www.emotionalhealthclinic.com.au/ is the website for Macquarie University’s child psychology clinic.

·     "Girls don't start out more anxious than boys, but they usually end up that way.' is an interesting article that explores how parents raise children differently according to gender. Click on the title to read the article.

·      www.beyondblue.org.au

·     “Helping your anxious child” by Ron Rapee.  Available at any big bookstore or on-line at www.opentrolley.com.sg

Please feel free to contact our school counsellor - Lia Gould if you have any concerns about your child’s level of anxiety. lia_gould@ais.com.sg

Ms Elle Ryan and the Year 2 Teaching Team.



Newsletter 1 - Term 1

Welcome to the Year 2 Parents and Friends Newsletter. This is where you will find all the latest happenings in Year 2.

It has been a very busy start to the year. Many new friendships have been formed by the children and they have settled into the everyday learning in the PYP classroom.

I am very excited to be the Year Coordinator this year and welcome five new teachers to Year 2.
These teachers are Jen Kennedy, Peter Hayes, Priscilla Turnell (former AIS student), Marissa Cohen and Renae Roberts-Thomson.
The new teachers join our existing team including Ali LeCornu, Kim Hermmann, Kerryl Howarth and Drew Holmes. Our Teacher Assistant team consists of Jean Thomas, Mary Jane  Cua, Lay Geok Teo , Khairon  Mohamed , Manisah Shariff , Norshidah Shariff , Nazreen  Mohamed, Maylyn Harrison, Emily Gravina and Juliet Cabreros.

The Year 2 team on Australia Day

Unit of Inquiry

The current Unit of Inquiry is 'How the world works' with the central idea  -'People use scientific principles to make everyday objects move.'

During this unit the children will be learning how humans use their understanding of scientific principles and the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the environment.
 The lines of Inquiry that drive this unit are -
·      What are scientific principles?
·    Forces that create and sustain motion
·    How we use scientific principles in everyday objects

Year 2 have been undertaking experiments to learn about the forces. These have included,

• Push and pull       
• Buoyancy            
• Friction                 
• Gravity

The main concepts that we are focusing on in this unit are Connection, Causation and Function by inquiring into -

How do scientific principles work in everyday objects eg Bicycle = push and pull Connection

How do the relationships between forces work? Function

Why do they work this way? Causation

You can strengthen these concepts at home through conversations about the forces, identifying them and how they are related to our everyday living.

Class of the week - 2TU

This week the class in focus is 2TU. The focus for our class has been our UOI and learning about forces.

   ‘I know I look cool on this skate boarding machine! I used my body to push it and make it move’. (Ji Woong)

William is turning the wheel and it’s going round and round! It is so much FUN’! (Jake and William)

I have to try really hard to pedal this big Go Kart! Riding down the hills was much easier’! (Alexander)

   Isha Pandey investigating the force of ‘push’ when doing our UOI experiments.

     William is testing to see if the boat will sink or float when doing our buoyancy experiments.

 Tomos is inquiring into which object is going to fall to the ground first when doing our gravity experiments.

Gotcha Awards

Gotcha awards went to Shayla Cromie 2RY, Leo Jagger, Rafferty Talbot and Georgie Terry 2 KE, Issie Terry and Natasha Re 2HA , Ellie Goeman 2HS and Thomson Morrisey and Grace Rodsjo from 2CO.
 

House Leaders

Each week children are chosen at assembly for demonstrating the Learner Profile of Principled -(they have a sound grasp of the principles of moral reasoning and have acquired integrity, honesty and a sense of justice' )
The children earn house points  through their positive and responsible actions by listening and respecting others during assembly. 

The current house leaders are Murray.

Murray - 8 points, Derwent -6 points, Lachlan - 4 points, Fitzroy - 2 points

Meet the Staff - Mr Peter Hayes

 

5 Facts about me

I was born in Port Macquarie and grew up in Wauchope on the Mid North Coast of NSW.

Attended University of New England, Armidale, NSW and graduated with a Bachelor of Education (Primary).

I’ve taught in a range of locations including Dubbo -Western NSW , Alice Springs – Northern Territory, Darwin – Northern Territory and Port Macquarie – NSW.

I enjoy outdoor activities especially fishing. I also like to play and watch a variety of different sports particularly touch football, rugby league, cricket, tennis, squash and rugby union.

I have only been living in Singapore since January 2011. I’m enjoying teaching at AISS as a part of a great Year Two team.

Y2 Learning - Caught on Camera

This week 2HE were caught on camera learning about Procedures through cooking -Junior Masterchef 2HE style. Thank you to parents - Jane Farquhar, Jessica Hoang and Angie Glenn
for assisting.

Measuring and pouring

Alyssa and Kyle making Chocolate Balls

One plate of the finished product!

Specialists in the Spotlight

The children have been exploring different media in Art this term with Mrs Curnow.

Using Australia Day and Chinese New Year as contexts to explore the transdisciplinary theme “Who We Are” children explored traditional painting from Australia and China and made connections to themselves and others.

Year Two narrowed their focus further to traditional Chinese scroll painting and experimented with their own creations. The children investigated the universal concept of perspective from an artist who represents space and distance to different cultures’ perceptions of Chinese New Year and Christmas.

Here is are two of completed artworks.

 by Caitlin Lovegrove 2RY

by Gabrielle Bryant  2CO

Year Two’s Website CCA group:

The Year Two CCA group has been working on a very exciting project. The students have designed an exciting website especially for our students. Go on to this website and have a look…….. www.aissfunline.weebly.com password - aissfunline

Dates to Remember

• Swim scheme - starts this Friday - April 1st for 2RY, 2HO, 2KE, 2LE, 2RT
• Wheels Day  -Wednesday 20th April
• Good Friday Holiday -  Friday 22nd April
• Swimming Carnival -Wednesday 11th May
• Labour Day Holiday - Monday 2nd May
• Vesak Day - Tuesday 17th May

 Parent Education

During the last few weeks and during Parent/teacher Interviews I have been asked questions such as, 'What is best for my child?' 'Should I put them into after school tutoring/coaching if they are good at art, music, sport etc?' 'I want the best for my child should I get extra tutoring outside of school?'

An interesting article about modern parenting has surfaced this week in Singapore which also highlights the issues of 'doing too much' for our children and not  allowing them to gain independence and resilience. Here is a link to the story if you missed it. http://bit.ly/eKYfKX

I am very conscious of the  amount of activities that children are committed to after school.

During my teaching day I observe that children are often tired, anxious and unhappy.

My short answer to parents is usually 'Let them play at home and enjoy family life.' 'Try and enjoy a healthy balance in your home and use time to relax.'

The following article about 'hyper parenting' is one that could assist parents when making judgements about how many 'extras' to include in your family schedule. I hope it is useful.

http://www.consistent-parenting-advice.com/hyper-parenting.html

For more information look at the official website here

http://www.hyper-parenting.com/


Thank you for your support at home and at school. Parent involvement is integral to the successful functioning of our learning environment.

Ms Elle Ryan and the Year 2 Teaching Team.