SEK-Qatar Grade 1

In our second Unit of Inquiry, ‘Life Cycles’, the students began the unit learning about the growth and changes of the human life cycle. Our provocation involved matching baby photos to the teachers at school. This followed a discussion about the form and developmental changes involved in human growth, using their own growth as an example. Following this, they worked in research stations containing resource packages (QR codes, iPads and printed resources) related to the life cycle of 5 different living things: the frog, fish, butterfly, bird and plant. This helped the students make connections between life cycles and helped scaffold the process of research for their summative assessment – a research project on the life cycle of a living thing of the student’s choice, which was presented to their peers and reading buddies.

SEK Qatar participated in a worldwide event called “Hour of Code”. Students take part in one hour of coding (programming) all over the world. Our Grade 1 students were the first set of students in the school to start this year. To make this child friendly, they play games designed for their age group. All over the world they use games using computer software, Ipad apps, robotics and other activities.

This week, Mr. Fran our ICT coordinator came to visit both classes . He introduced the idea to all of the children and reminded the children who took part last year, what it was all about. All of the students had the opportunity to use the Ipads to play a coding game called LightBot. Please ask your child about this as they were all super excited and I am sure that they will want to share their knowledge with you.

This can be accessed here (Flash player is needed):

http://lightbot.com/flash.html

The Grade 1 classes went on a field trip to Baladna Dairy Farm in Al Khor. This was to make a connection between our Unit of Inquiry ‘Life Cycles’ and the world around us. Baladna Farm is the largest goat farm in the Middle East; they also provide the feed for the majority of the animal farms in the region. We saw the development of the farm as now they produce cow’s milk. We saw the milking area and where the cows are kept. We discussed the differences between the cows’ milk when they are stressed and when they are calm. It is quite an impressive and unique place to visit.

We went to the mini zoo and saw some animals including camels, a peacock, wallabies, rabbits, goats and llamas.

Additional to this, we had cheese flatbreads and a play in the play-park. The children had a great time.

What kinds of choices can we make to live a healthier life? Our first unit of inquiry looked at the different components of health: diet, exercise, emotional health and hygiene. We began with a provocation where Ms. Zisin and Ms. Catherine surprised the students by role-playing healthy and unhealthy behaviors and habits.  Balance was an ongoing concept that we continued to connect with throughout the unit.

After finding out what the students already knew and wanted to learn about, we began our inquiry with the four food groups, their forms and different functions. Next the students wanted to learn about the heart and its function. Ms. Ana was kind enough to lend us her stethoscope to listened to our own heartbeat. We also made our own lungs and trachea using plastic bags and straws.

How can we maintain balance in our emotional health? Learning how to solve problems independently and sharing best practices for those times when we ‘flip our lids’ and need to calm down. Ask your child about belly breathing and Kelso’s Choices to find out more.

Our summative assessment began this week. The students will create a video about ways we can stay healthy. First the students will brainstorm and create their own dialogue for the project. The final product is coming soon.

Last Wednesday, both Grade 1 classes went on a field trip to Can Do – this is an interactive play space, located in Gate Mall. This was exciting for the children as it was their first field trip as Grade 1’s and they enjoyed singing on the bus!

Each student was given an electronic wrist band. Points were earned and collected by completing an active game (for example; rowing, step movement, drumming, boxing and wall climbing). These games were designated in Green and Yellow zones.

Once enough points were collected, the children could spend their points on sedentary games in the designated Red Zone (for example; 4D interactive movie, video games, arcade style games, car racing and pin ball).

We made the connection of the IB learner profile attribute ‘Balanced’ as we spoke about exercise and play. This was all linked with our current unit of inquiry “Let’s Stay Healthy!” After one hour of hard work, they enjoyed a thin crust cheese pizza and fruit juice.

In the last part of the trip, Can Do organised a variety of competitive games for all the children to participate in. All of the children tried their best to model sportsmanship.

We had a great day at Can Do and it was a great way to end our unit of inquiry.

« ‹ of 18 › »

It has been a SUPER busy first few weeks at SEK. The induction weeks were spent getting to know the school, the teachers and of course the super grade 1 students. We had a fun time creating super hero characters with super powers to match. 

The students also had the opportunity to use the different technology and resources available at SEK during these weeks, including More to Maths Lego, literacy and maths stations.

Welcome Grade 1 2017-2018 parents and students!

Please find the Extending Learning Activity maths link below.

http://illuminations.nctm.org/Activity.aspx?id=3565

The ten frame activity will help your child visually calculate sums of ten.  These frames are similar to the pegs of Lego blocks in our More to Math’s Lego activities. You can find more information here.

Thank you to all the parents, siblings, nannies and teachers who participated in our Student Led Conferences last Wednesday.  It was a great success!

The Grade 1 students had an interactive ‘menu’ of different activities in Maths, Language Arts, Unit of Inquiry, Arabic and Spanish for that day.

Students showed the correct time on their made clocks to their parents.  Ms. Shelley’s class measured different parts of their parent’s body using made measuring tape. The conference also include a showcase of their published and illustrated storybook and their Public Space design. Ms. Zisin’s class used Lego to build one part of their public space with their parent/visitor.  Well done, Grade 1’s!!!

Thank you all for another successful Book Week. It was a lovely way to start off the third term following our Spring Break. What a pleasure it was having parents getting involved as Mystery Readers. The students enjoyed hearing stories in Arabic, Spanish, English, Greek and French. Many of the stories had insightful morals, while others taught us about Qatari culture (embroidery on traditional attire and the Qatari sword dance). This was also great opportunity for the students to practice their translation skills.

A special thank you to Ms. Shelley for doing an author’s visit for her book, ‘Miss Maizy: The Teacher Who Does NOT Live At School’, it was a wonderful experience having the students learn about the process of writing and publishing a piece of work.

During the week, we discussed our favourite books and drew book covers. We also published our own class book, each class worked on writing a story together and creating a book to add to the school library.  The week finished with a Book Character Parade – what creative costumes we saw!

Keep loving books, Grade Ones!

For our fourth unit of inquiry, the students looked at the form and function of different signs and symbols. We analyzed universal symbols such as bathroom signs and regional symbols such as letters in language. We then inquired into symbolism represented in color, animals, and things and objects found in nature. This lead us to our trip to Café Ceramique in The Mall where the students had the opportunity to design and paint their own ceramic tiles using symbols and signs that represented themselves. It was a lovely trip!