Dear Parents,

Thank you to those of you who were able to come to one of the open classroom sessions.  I hope the opportunity provided insight into teaching and learning in K2D.

Literacy

Over the last few weeks Literacy centres have become a larger part of our learning.  On Monday and Tuesday morning’s the children engage in writing centres.  These rotations consist of journal writing, handwriting, drawing and phonemic awareness.  On Wednesday and Thursday morning the children work on reading centres. Reading centres include small group guided reading, sight word and phonemic awareness games, and independent reading using the RAZ Kids app on IPads.  I am delighted with the progress all the students in the class have made in such a short space of time.

Buddy Time

In our buddy session this week we talked about ways we can work towards achieving the SDGs with our Grade 4 buddies.  The children came up with lots of ways they are working to be kind to each other and to care for the environment.  We will continue to make this a focus in our buddy time in the lead up to SDG Week and UN day.

Celebrations

It was Ms Diep’s birthday yesterday.  Claire drew this lovely portrait of Ms Diep earlier in the week that I couldn’t help sharing with you. 🙂

Dear Parents,

While only three days long, this week was full of action in K2A. Monday was snack sale, followed by a visit from Ms Beth for a 3 Act Math Task.  On Tuesday we had our field trip to the Museum of Ethnology; on Wednesday we all dressed up for Halloween.

3 Act Math Task

On Monday, Ms Beth came to K2D and introduced the children to a 3 Act math task.  Our 3 Act task was called Candy Man.

In the first act we watched a clip of a man putting money into a candy machine, turning the knob and scooping out the contents.  The last frame is of the man’s closed fist.  At this point the clip was stopped and the children were invited to share what they noticed and what they were wondering.  After recording all the questions and observations the children received the second act.

This frame showed a picture that had a piece of each of the coloured candies with a number next to it.  The children had to use this information to solve the question they had formulated earlier: ‘How many candies in the man’s hand?’  The children used paper and coloured pencils to show how they solved the problem.

In the final act the children see the man’s open hand and count to see if they have successfully solved the question they asked.   

Field Trip to the Museum of Ethnology

Our field trip to the Museum of Ethnology was very successful.  The children came back to school with lots of observations and questions about the buildings they saw. Thank you again to the parents who accompanied us.

Dear Parents,

We have enjoyed another productive week in K2D.  This week we have worked very hard on writing. We have worked on journal writing, labelling pictures, letter writing, letter formation, and some students have even chosen to write their own morning messages. I am so excited and proud of the growth every child has made with their writing.

Unit of Inquiry

We continue to enjoy exploring building and materials as part of our Where We Are in Place Time inquiry.   This week we have explored drawing plans and the effect this has on the kind of structures we build.  The excursion to the Museum of Ethnology next Tuesday will allow the children to explore some traditional Vietnamese structures and consider how the natural environment, culture and tradition influences the design of structures.

Thank you to Sujoy, Nhung and Esther for agreeing to join us on the field trip.  We now have enough parents.

Reuse

K2D is collecting boxes and packaging we can use to build with during this inquiry.  We are especially keen for bottle tops, small boxes (toothpaste, Nespresso etc.) and cardboard cylinders.  See below.

Wednesday October 31st Halloween Dress Up Day

Next Wednesday 31st October is Halloween dress up day in the Elementary School.  Please read the guidelines in the ES Tin Tuc for appropriate dress up clothing at UNIS.

Reminders:

• K2D is a contributing class to Monday’s snack sale.  Please send your child to school with some snacks to sell and some money to buy snacks.  You should have received an email from the Snack Sale Committee with all the details yesterday.
• Tuesday October 30 is K2’s field trip to the Museum of Ethnology
• Wednesday October 31 ES dress up day
• Next Thursday 1and Friday 2 of November IB workshops will be held at UNIS. On these 2 days there will be no school for students.
• Please ensure your child has a hat in their school bag every day to ensure they are sun safe in the playground.
• Thank you to the families who have sent headphones into K2D. If you haven’t yet, please send a labelled set of headphones for your child to use at school.

Have a lovely weekend.

Emily

Dear Parents,

This week we have continued to enjoy exploring building and structures.  Our focus has been investigating different building materials.

K2D Field Trip

K2D are going to The Museum of Ethnology on Tuesday 30th October. The note below along with a permission slip has gone home in your child’s school bag today. We need 2 or 3 parents from each class to join us.  If you would like to come along and help out, please send me an email.

Goodbye Joseph

Today was Joseph’s last day at UNIS.  I am sure you will join with me and Ms Diep in wishing him well at his new school.  The students worked hard to create a beautiful card for Joseph. The card includes portraits of Joseph and messages from all the students.

Reminders:

• Swimming  in K2 continues until October 26th.  For more information click here.
• Tuesday October 30 is K2’s field trip to the Museum of Ethnology
• On Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd of November IB workshops will be held at UNIS. On these 2 days there will be no school for students.
• Please remind your children not to bring toys to school.  They can cause conflict between children and sadness and disruption if they are lost.
• Thank you to the families who have sent headphones into K2D. If you haven’t yet, please send a labelled set of headphones for your child to use at school.

Have a lovely weekend.

Emily

Dear Parents,

I enjoyed meeting with so many of you at the parent teacher conferences on Monday.  Thank you for taking the time out of your day to come and talk with me.

Where we are in Place and Time Unit of Inquiry

This week we have devoted a lot of time to our new Unit of Inquiry.

In this unit we explore structures.  What are they? Why are they built?  What materials make a good structure?  What are interesting structures around Hanoi and the world?  We will also do a lot of building as part of this unit.  We will be exploring materials and design to build strong, tall and aesthetically pleasing structures. We will work in groups to make plans and solve problems.

If you have expertise in architecture, engineering, or building, we would love for you to come in and talk to us about the design and building process.

Letter Writing

Today we read a book called ‘The Jolly Postman’ by Janet and Allan Ahlberg.  When we finished reading the book we wrote our own letters to our friends and posted them in the K2D letterbox.  The letterbox will be an important part of our classroom this year.  If you would like to write a letter to your child and post it in our letterbox I know your son or daughter would love to receive it.

Composting

Composting continues to be a focus in K2D. Some parents mentioned on Monday that children having been talking a lot about composting at home. If you would like to add your vegetable scraps to our class compost bin you are very welcome.

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to Ruben, who turned 6 on Monday and Bao Yen who turned 6 a fortnight ago (when we were celebration Autumn Moon Festival).

Reminders:

• Swimming  in K2 continues till October 26th.  For more information click here.
• Please remind your children not to bring toys to school.  They can cause conflict between children and sadness and disruption if they are lost.
• Thank you to the families who have sent headphones into  K2D. If you haven’t yet, please could you send a labelled set of headphones for your child to use at school.

Have a lovely relaxing Autumn Break, I look forward to seeing your children back at school on Monday 15th October.

Emily

• “My Body Belongs to Me” – being aware of and taking care of my body
• “Safe Touch”/ “Comfortable and Uncomfortable feelings” – understanding personal boundaries and how to keep yourself safe

We will continue with lessons during second semester as well.

Please see Ms Bezzerides (kbezzerides@unishanoi.org) if you have any questions about these lessons or how to talk with your children about this topic at home.

Additional resource for parents can be found at:

Dear Parents,

We enjoyed celebrating Autumn Moon Festival yesterday. Thank you to the parents who contributed to making it a success!

On Monday Flynn’s parents Patrick and Faye, came to K2D to share with us Flynn’s Danish heritage.  We learned about hygge. Hygge is a danish word that means cosy.  We experienced a little bit of hygge by lighting candles and eating Danish biscuits.

On Wednesday Nikhil’s dad Sujoy, came in and taught us about some of India’s many languages. We learned to say hello and count to 10, in Bengali, Marathi, Assamese and Hindi.  We also enjoyed eating Indian sweets called laddu.

On Thursday Lily’s parent’s Jared and Aleks, came to school and taught us about Lily’s Polish and Canadian heritage.  We read a book by a Canadian author and we ate chrusty, a polish treat.

Global Goals Week

Next week is global goals week at UNIS.  During this week we put the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals front and centre in our thinking and our learning. As part of Global Goals week we will be having a Nude Food Day on Friday 28 September.  Put simply nude food day means sending your child to school with a snack that contains no disposable packaging. For more information click here

Reminders:

• Next week swimming starts in K2.  For more information click here.
• Thursday 27th September – EAL Coffee Morning for new families (returning families are also welcome to attend).
• Friday 28th September Nude food day.
• Friday 28th September 8.30am – K2 Math Coffee Morning with Ms Beth.
• Monday 1st October – ES Parent-Teacher Conferences (no School or ASAs for ES).
• Monday 8th to Friday 12th October – Autumn Break.
• Thank you to the families who have sent headphones into  K2D. If you haven’t yet, please could you send a labeled set of headphones for your child to use at school.

Thank you and have a lovely weekend.

Emily

14 September 2018,

Dear Parents,

Today is International Dot Day. It is a day that we celebrate creativity using the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds. The catch phrase is  Make your mark and see where it takes you… If you would like to read a digital copy of this book click here.

On Tuesday Lina’s Mum, Mi Young came in to talk to us about Lina’s Korean and Japanese heritage.  She taught us how to make origami squares that we then used to play a game. Reminders:

• Monday 17th September – Healthy Snack Day.  Please send your child with 20 000 VND so they can can buy 2 healthy snacks.
• Thursday 20th September – we will be celebrating the Autumn Moon Festival at school.  Students wear Vietnamese Ao Dai.
• Thursday 27th September – EAL Coffee Morning for new families (returning families are also welcome to attend).
• Friday 28th September 8.30am – K2 Math Coffee Morning with Ms Beth.
• Monday 1st October – ES Parent-Teacher Conferences (no School or ASAs for ES).
• Monday 8th to Friday 12th October – Autumn Break.
• In the next couple of weeks we will start using headphones in K2D. Please could you send a labeled set of headphones for your child to use at school.

Thank you and have a lovely weekend.

Emily

Dear Parents,

We have been very busy this week getting to know more of our K2D families.Thank you to all the families that shared this week.

On Tuesday, Joseph’s parent’s Shannon and Christine shared with us information about the USA.  We learned about California, Joseph’s home state, and the sports and foods that are popular in America.  We even tried the most popular candy bar and cookies from America.

On Thursday, Jenna’s mum, Esther, came to K2D and talked with us about Uganda.  We learned about Ugandan food, music, dancing and national dress.  We especially enjoyed learning about the meaning behind the Ugandan flag.

Seo Jun’s mum, Jeein, came in this morning and taught us how to count in Korean.  She also taught us how to bow to our elders as part of Korean New Year celebrations.  After children have bowed, they receive bags with money in them for the New Year. After we bowed today we received bags of cookies. Lucky us!

Also today, Hoang Linh’s mum, Nhung, taught us about Vietnam’s Autumn Moon festival. We really enjoyed listening to the Vietnamese music.

Please enjoy a clip of some work we did this week. 

Today we also celebrated Lina’s birthday with cake and singing.  We hope Lina has a lovely day celebrating tomorrow with her family.

Reminders:

• I will be away from the classroom next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, as I will be attending an Advantage Math course. Ms Renate will be covering me. Please email Ms Diep if you have messages on those days.
• Thursday 20th September – we will be celebrating the Autumn Moon Festival at school.  Students wear Vietnamese Ao Dai.
• Tuesday 11th September 8am – Parent Community Morning with Head of School.
• ES Snack Sale on Monday 17 September.
• Thursday 27th September – EAL Coffee Morning for new families (returning families are also welcome to attend).
• Friday 28th September 8.30am – K2 Coffee Morning with Ms Beth.
• Monday 1st October – ES Parent-Teacher Conferences (no School or ASAs for ES).
• Monday 8th to Friday 12th October – Autumn Break.

Thank you to the parents who attended the information night.  Here is a link to the slides.

Have a lovely weekend.

Emily