Lower-Primary - Ms Julieta

Getting out and about

These past months have been filled with learning opportunities outside the classroom. Before the Easter holidays, Year 1 visited the International School of Leuven to participate in this year’s Battle of the Scientists. They met scientists from around the world and learned about their projects, voting for their favourite and presenting them with beautiful homemade trophies.

After the holidays we kicked off with Word Adventure Week where we looked in depth at the story of Alice in Wonderland and went on an Alice in Wonderland adventure in the woods organised by the students of Erasmus School in De Pinte. The trip ended with a fabulous Mad Hatter’s tea party which was enjoyed by all.

For the start of our new IPC unit ‘Live and Let Live’, Year 1 and Year 2 went on a trip to the zoo for our Entry Point. We saw many different animals from across the globe and it was a great introduction to our new topic where we will be learning all about living things and what they need to survive. It was wonderful to see such a wide variety of animals and learn more about them.

In literacy we have been busy looking at poetry and have started our own poetry books. Poetry is a great way to learn and internalise language and grammar structures, as well as this we have been focusing on rhyming and learning to recite poems by heart.

In numeracy we have been finding out about: 1 more, 1 less, 10 more, 10 less than any 2-digit number. We have also been exploring patterns on the 100-square and have been using number facts to help add and subtract 1-digit numbers from 2-digit numbers.

Since our last blog we celebrated Maria Clara and Noam’s birthdays. Happy birthday lovely girls!

We are looking forward to the International festival this weekend and look forward to seeing you all there!

Seeing the Light!

We have had an excellent start to 2019 in Year 1 and the children have been super busy learning all kinds of new skills. Our IPC topic this term is ‘Seeing the Light’. During our Entry Point we went to LPP’s sleeping room to experience darkness and discuss the importance of light. In art, we looked at Van Gogh’s masterpiece Starry Night and the children made their own versions of this famous painting, considering Van Gogh’s techniques, in particular his use of light, dark, colour and texture. We have also been looking nocturnal animals and are busy writing our own non-fiction texts all about them!

In Literacy, we read The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark which is a wonderful book all about how an owl overcomes his fear of the dark. The children planned their own stories which they will be using next half term to turn into shadow puppet plays. As well as this, we have been looking in depth at non-fiction writing and have been learning how to write an information text about a nocturnal animal.

In numeracy Year 1 have been learning all about the days of the week and the months of the year, as well as this we have looked at 3D shapes and their properties, learned to count in 2s, 5s and 10s, we have also been learning how to half and quarter shapes and looked at halving numbers.

As well as all this we presented in assembly this week and the class did a wonderful presentation all about nocturnal animals. We started by reciting a model text about owls with actions and then some children spoke about a nocturnal animal of their choice. They did a fantastic job and I was super proud of them all- well done Year 1!

February has been a busy month for birthdays, we have celebrated Antonio’s, Lana’s and Hiromi and Minami’s birthdays- a big thank you for the delicious treats. We have also been joined by a new assistant in Year 1, Miss Aurora- welcome Miss Aurora we are delighted to have you with us.

All that is left to say is have an excellent spring holiday wherever you go, I look forward to hearing all your adventures on your return.

Ms. Erica

Our entry point

Happy holidays one and all!

The holiday season is upon us and what a busy and enjoyable December we have had here in Year 1!

In IPC we did our last trip of the term to the city centre to sketch buildings for our Our World topic, back at school we used these sketches to produce beautiful Gent skyline pictures. We rounded off the topic with our Exit Point where we celebrated the diversity in our classroom by learning all about children’s home countries. Year 2 joined us to hear the presentations that each child prepared for home learning and also to share the delicious food brought in by the children- thank you parents for your efforts!

In literacy, we have been working on reading and reciting poetry. We have also been working hard at writing recounts. The children have been learning what makes a good recount and have been learning how to use time connectives in their written work.

We celebrated Alyssa’s birthday at the start of the month with an array of individually decorated cupcakes which she worked hard on with her mum over the weekend- thank you both. We also had a visit from Sinterklass who had a message for each child and a gift too! We ended the term with our Christmas show and some very cool hip-hop reindeers! Year 1 and 2 did a wonderful performance and Miss Rebecca and I are super proud of you all.   

That is then the last blog for 2018, all that’s left to say is I hope you all have a happy, restful and love-filled holiday season.  See you all in 2019.

Nature Knowledge!

In Year 1, we have been learning all about trees and the nature that surrounds us through our IPC topic ‘Our World’. We kicked off the month learning about Andy Goldsworthy who is an artist and sculptor who makes art using natural materials. We collected leaves, acorns, twigs and the like and used them to make our own nature pictures on the playground. We had so much fun making them and the results were beautiful!

We have also been discovering how to identify trees. Our local tree expert (aka Dina, Nikos’ mum) came into school and did a wonderful lesson with us where the children learned to identify and measure the height of the trees on our playground. The children then chose a tree and made a sketch of it. They are currently using all they learned to make a book all about their tree which will be hanging outside our classroom shortly.

In Literacy we have been busy with speaking and listening and have been retelling stories. We read the book The Elephant and the Bad Baby and have made up our own story by changing some story elements. Year 1 then drew a storyboard of their new version. To finish, we went down to Pre-Primary and retold our stories them, we had a great time and hope they enjoyed listening to them as much as we enjoyed telling them!

In Numeracy we have been measuring using cubes, paper clips, metre sticks and even ourselves! We have also been learning about position, adding three numbers and have started counting and working on money problems.

It’s been a busy and fun-filled month, until next blog.

Ms Erica

Day-tripping!

We have been busy in Year 1 exploring our surroundings through our IPC unit ‘Our World’. The children have learned about our local area through a neighbourhood walk and mapping activity.  This activity encouraged them to look at familiar places in a new light and to take a closer look at the things we often take for granted. We have also been delving into the history of Gent. We visited the Gent City Museum (STAM) where we learned all about what the city was like in the past. We also took a look at modern day Gent and discovered how it has been shaped by its rich history.

 

As well as this, we went to the local woods where we were met by a guide who helped us to explore and understand woodlands. We found out all about the plants and animals that live there, we learned how to find the oldest tree in the forest and went on a bug hunt where we caught and examined different bugs and animals- such as woodlice, beetles and even frogs! These three trips have helped the children create a better picture of our immediate surroundings and the area we live in. We will continue with this IPC unit this term.

 

In Literacy, the children have been retelling and making up their own stories. We read the story Handa’s Surprise and then rewrote and illustrated our own version. The children did a beautiful job and their work is hanging in the main hall for all to see! We also read the story of Superworm by Julia Donaldson and then made up our own Superworm adventure stories which we read out during assembly. In Numeracy we have been finding one more and one less of numbers up to 100, shape, ordering numbers, place value and number bonds to 20.

 

We finished this half term with a bang: we had a Halloween party and celebrated 2 birthdays- Happy Birthday Ovi and Enrique! Also a huge Happy Birthday to Julia who had a birthday at the beginning of the month. We are looking forward to the rest of the term and all the fun learning we are going to do together.

 

Welcome to Lower Primary

Wow! It’s been a fantastic start to Year 1.  The children have made me extremely proud with their attitude to learning, kindness and positivity. It has also been wonderful to hear about all their summer holiday adventures and get to know each child individually.

Firstly, a huge welcome to both new and returning children and an extra special shout out to our new friends; Ovi, Maria Clara, Enrique, Noam and Julia. It’s great to see how quickly you have all settled in to school- welcome to our class and welcome to ISG!

Our year started with lots of fun games and art activities that were aimed at getting to know one another better. We went on a trip to the park with the whole of primary and played a variety of games, it was great to see the primary classes work together and it was a good experience for Year 1 children to get to know students from the rest of the school.

We have kicked off our Literacy programme and have been busy setting up our reading rotation, phonics lessons and spelling. We are also doing a literacy session each day that is centred around stories; in these sessions we will be extending children’s writing and integrating grammar in a purposeful and meaningful way. In Maths we are following the Abacus programme which started off revising numbers to 20 and pairs to 5 and 6, moving forward we will be concentrating on making 10 and doubling to 5.

Our first IPC project is called ‘Our World’. Our Entry Point was a treasure hunt around school where the children followed clues and had to collect all the letters to spell out the words ‘Our World’. Through this project the children will be exploring where we live – our home, our family, our school. We will also do numerous trips in and around Gent to explore our surroundings and learn more about our environment and the part we play within it.

This year we are lucky enough to have a full-time assistant in class, for those of you who haven’t yet met her Miss Monica has been with us since the start of term, she comes from Hungary and brings dedication and experience to the job. We are delighted to have her with us- welcome Miss Monika.

I am looking forward to a fun year of learning together and watching each child grow, develop and enjoy their time in Year 1!

 

We are what we eat

Everybody is so excited about our project. We are talking about food, healthy eating habits and also reading food-related stories...
... Our IPC project is going smoothly and we are learning lots of new things... In the past two weeks we have discussed and analysed “the food pyramid”. We recorded everything we ate during 24 hrs and then compared the results with our food pyramid. As a class we had a very interesting discussion and Ms Julieta was amazed to see how the class is able to plan a healthy meal! Lots of fun activities await us in the coming weeks… This project rocks!
In Numeracy we are learning about doubles, we also practised our number bonds to 10 and we are constantly playing games and practising our skills. I am sure everybody has been enjoying the new online homework! Playing is a great way to learn, keep practising!
Our Reading Rotations are taking shape, now our class is getting used to working independently and taking responsibility for their own learning. We are improving our reading everyday. Well done!
On Thursday we had a whole school photograph taken, it was so lovely to see all ISG together, from the little ones in Ms Inbal’s class to the big guys in Ms Jenny’s class.
Also on Thursday we had our first Lego weDo challenge. Héctor was the first one to try it!
As you all know on Fridays we have show and tell. We have been treated with very interesting and precious objects, like the very first Teddy Bear, a very special swim suit, a well crafted paper airplane, a sophisticated calendar… Please keep bringing your special treasures, we love to hear about them.
Have an amazing weekend and see you next time!
She is happy !

Hello everybody and welcome to Lower Primary!!!

I feel so honoured to have the chance to learn with your amazing children... I have been enjoying getting to know them!
Hello everybody! 
During our first full week we reviewed some numeracy and literacy topics, polished up our reading and most importantly, we have been adjusting to our new routines and environment….We already feel at home here in Lower Primary. Good job everyone!
The personal value we have been focusing on this week is ‘Respect’. We have seen how important it is to be respectful, not only towards our classmates and teachers, but also with the school property! As a class we also discussed how to play and learn together. So we came up with 8 “golden rules’: Be a friend. Listen. Share. Help clean up. Wait for your turn. Raise your hand. Safety first: walk, do not run. Keep your hands to yourself.
During our first week we also talked about how our brain loves to take on new challenges. We now know that we should keep trying when something seems difficult at first. This helps our brain to establish new connections. When we try again it will become easier. We did a brainstorm and all of us could think of something we found hard at first and with some perseverance it did become easier!
We also discussed what LEARNING means and as a class we came up with some interesting definitions; take a look:
I also would like to congratulate all Lower Primary students for their amazing performance at their first spelling test. Sitting down quietly, concentrating, listening to the dictation, writing the words correctly and doing all of this at the same time is not easy! Everybody got excellent results and I hope you guys will keep it up all throughout the year!
As a team building exercise all Primary pupils had a fun morning at the Citadel Park. We took full advantage of the nice after-summer weather! Take a look at some shots:
Today we also had our very first assembly of the year! Our Head Teacher welcomed the new students! 
Las but not least, we celebrated Aryans birthday! We had yummy cake and lots of fun! Congratulations!
Have a great weekend and see you in two weeks time!
 

 

Legends from around the world!

What a lovely and busy week we had!

During this week we worked very hard on our IPC project “The Stories People Tell”. The children were fascinated with some of the Legends we are studying. We learned about Siddhartha and how he became Buddha, and how he showed some of our very own ISG Personal Values, like respect, thoughtfulness, resilience, morality and adaptability. We are also reading other legends from different cultures like China (The Dragon Emperor) and England (Robin Hood).

On Thursday we had the most amazing time hearing the children stories about family members and their experiences. The stories were extremely profound and full of adventures. Thank you for sharing that with us. The children were very enthusiastic and they will be working on creating their very own legend inspired on their very special family member.

This week we also started looking at a new ISG Personal Value: Adaptability. During our class discussions we all agree that coming to a new country requires a lot of ADAPTABILITY. We all are doing our best in adapting to our new environment and are working very hard on making the best out of it. We talked about the things we miss the most from our home countries! Some miss the weather, the food and their friends. It was lovely to hear that one of the children’s favourite thing from Belgium was ISG!!!!

Here are some pictures of the children at work. Enjoy! 

 

 

 

 

   

I wish you all a great weekend, take care and see you on Monday!

 

The Stories People Tell

It was a very busy week for Lower Primary. We had The Entry Point for our new IPC topic : The Stories People Tell. Together, the children made up their own imaginative stories. They planned, rehearsed and finally performed their stories to the whole class. We had some good laughs and were certainly very well entertained! Take a look at some pictures:
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
During our Knowledge Harvest, the children drew different characters from stories they know, some of them even wrote a small story as well! We had fun getting to know some characters from different countries!
 
 
As always we were very busy reviewing and learning new Numeracy topics. Here is a picture of Year 2 students counting money in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s  .
 
The Year One students were very excited showing their Numeracy knowledge during a session with the Smart Board.  Here, Year One is practicing counting in 10’s and finding patterns
 
Have a great weekend everyone! And see you next week!