26 Jan 2015 (Monday)

Dear children,

During English lesson today, we worked on a Story Mountain Planner and tried to break down a sample story into its different parts -- the beginning, the build-up, the problem, the resolution and the ending. From the next composition onwards, you will be using this same Story Mountain Planner as a tool to help you plan your compositions. You will get better and better at that with more practice.

During Science lesson, you learnt about the characteristics of insects. Do you remember what are they? Comment on this post to show me what you remember. Watch this video on 15 amazing facts about insects too:

I plan to take you to the Science Laboratory later this week for an activity on insects and fish. Look forward! :)

During FTGP lesson, we discussed the story of Marlar. We put ourselves into her shoes and thought about how we could make ourselves feel better even when things sometimes do not go well. We also discussed how important it is for us to believe that our brains can grow and that we can get smarter if we put in effective effort, which includes hard work and learning strategies. Here is the diagram I shared with you:

I hope you still remember our first lesson of the year after we climbed up to our fifth-floor classroom on the first day of school:

There is no elevator to success; you have to take the stairs.

Your teachers and your parents can teach you strategies, but the hard work has to come from you. Are you going to blame your bad luck, the difficult test, or how you are born? Or are you ready to get smarter?

During Maths lesson, we started on the second maths topic -- "Addition and Subtraction within 10 000". We discussed what "sum" and "difference" mean and you paired up with your partner to roll dice and work out some sums and differences. You also learnt to add 4-digit numbers within 10 000 by regrouping.

These are today's reminders:

1) There will be no remedial classes tomorrow afternoon for P3/5 as I need to attend a conference organised by the Ministry of Education. I will have to leave for the conference at 11.45 a.m. and will not be able to spend the last three periods of English with you. There will be relief teachers going into the class to take care of you. I will leave some work for you to complete. I hope to hear positive comments about you from the relief teachers.

2) Vote for your favourite Head Councillor and Vice-head Councillor candidates on the AskNLearn portal by today.

3) This is the latest ice-cream sticks update:

Diamond and Minecraft earned the most ice-cream sticks this week. Minecraft is still leading in the race! Will that change by the end of this week? ;)

4) Start preparing for this Friday's spelling test. It will be a little more challenging than the first one. Will you be a Super Speller and earn some ice-cream sticks for your group? ;)

Have a restful evening with your family. See you tomorrow!