A new year of Living and Learning in Class 2o

The Jardin Botanique

2010-07-04T20:56:00.005+03:00

A major aspect of our work about Our Local Area was exploring the Jardin Botanique and then writing and illustrating a guide book about it. This project involved group work, which can be tricky, especially if you are sharing a camera with other members of your group. I am sure you will have enjoyed leafing through the guidebook produced by your child's group, and having the chance to admire some of the beautiful photos the children took! We are so lucky to have such a wonderful place just a few minutes walk away from school.

The three slide shows reveal your children enjoying

different aspects of the Jardin Botanique and
having fun in the playground

as well as letting you see the wonderful scenes in the Jardin Botanique as seen through the children's eyes and created in the style of Magritte.

I hope that you have njoyed this last "post" of the school year and that perhaps you will share it with grandparents and other family members.

At the Parcours Vita

2010-07-04T20:46:00.003+03:00

One Friday afternoon Mrs Horsford took the class to the Parcours Vita in Chambesy. As you can see from the photos taken By Mrs Horsford, there were lots of activities to challenge the class 2o students and plenty to see as they followed the trail.

Click on the slide show to get a taste of all there is to see and do.

If the slide show does not run correctly a double click will take you to Picasa where you can see the photos in a larger format.

Having more fun with our Buddies.

2010-07-04T20:41:00.003+03:00

On one of the few fine Tuesday afternoons this summer the children had a lot of fun playing with the parachute, helping their younger buddies to listen to and to follow the instructions.

Click on the slideshow to see what happened and how much fun it was!

Gardening in the Spring

2010-05-10T09:10:00.000+03:00

Everyone in Class 2o was really excited to start gardening again. Our first task was to get the garden ready for planting. the children got to work with rakes, spades and trowels, turning the soil and tidying up the beds.

Cova showed us the new poly-tunnels she had ordered from the UK, which will act like mini-greenhouses and help our plants to grow quickly.

As you can see in this slide-show, all the boots we planted with bulbs have flowers starting to show. What a great idea that was!

Have a look at this second slide-show to see the Class 2o students planting peas and salad plants and taking the boots for a walk to the front of the school, so that visitors could enjoy them!

During the first gardening session in May everyone enjoyed looking at the glorious display of tulips as well as investigating what is in the heart of each flower head. Cova explained that inside each flower head are stamen which hold the pollen and a central "tower" where the pollen has to be deposited, either by the wind or by insect activity, so that seeds can be formed. The children were absolutely fascinated by this and were to be seen scrutinising the tulip heads carefully and chatting about their observations.

So many colours and shapes to observe and enjoy.

Taking time to appreciate the colourful display.

Listening to Cova's ideas.

How amazing the centres of tulips are if you take the time to look carefully!

Working in our school garden is FUN!
Thank you Cova!

More activities with our buddies.

2010-05-09T18:00:00.000+03:00

As the children get to know their younger buddies better and better, they seem to enjoy the experience more and more and are disappointed if for any reason the activity cannot take place. They had immense fun playing musical chairs, helping the younger children to learn and to appreciate the game.

On another Tuesday, they read picture books with their buddies, enjoying being able to apply their reading skills in a practical way. It gives an enormous confidence boost to know that they can read a story to another child, especially for children who are not completely fluent readers.

Newsdays 1 and 2

2010-05-09T15:41:00.001+03:00

Our Tuesday Newsdays started on April 27th, with a great variety of news shared in small groups.

Quentin had news about the Ice Hockey Championship finals in Switzerland, where a deciding match saw Bern beat Geneva Servette.
Adam had found news from a Norwegian website about a bear which got its head stuck in a milk churn.
Federica's news from news.discovery.com was about elephants in Dresden zoo which munch up old Christmas trees.

Philip gave his group plenty of information about the Football World Cup which will be held in South Africa in June and July this year.
Miguel shared news about the local weather forecast.
Sofia told us about a Picasso painting, which was damaged in a New York museum when a woman fell on it.

Sree told her group about an Emirates plane which hit an air-pocket and fell towards the ground. Fortunately the pilots managed to avoid a crash.
Rik told us that in Holland there would be big celebrations for the Queen's birthday.

Asedria wanted us to know about the dangers of the Internet for children.

Ali wanted to tell us about the football league tables for England, France, Spain and Italy and which teams were in the lead.
Peter had drawn a map showing the path taken by the Icelandic ash cloud.
Cillian had news of a basketball tournament played in Ennistymon in Ireland in memory of his uncle. He showed us a picture of him taken when the cup was presented.

Yona had looked on the CBBC Newsround website and showed her group some spectacular pictures of the erupting volcano in Iceland.

Octavia wanted to tell us about the huge Earthquake which happened in Chile earlier in the year.

Lizzie and Faizal were both interested in the amazing pictures of the sun taken recently by NASA.

Kate shared news from the Los Angeles Times about a teenage sailor Abby Sunderland whose attempt to sail alone around the world had been stopped by problems with her yacht.
Ko's news was about the cloud of ash from the icelandic volcano which had caused so much disruption to flights.

On our second Tuesday Newsday, we had fewer news items to share, so the children who had remembered to bring in some news shared it with the class this time.

Ali, Quentin, Octavia and Kate all brought news about the oil spill in the ocean near Mexico.
Cillian was excited to tell us about the discovery of a new species of moth.
Russell (no photo) had news about a new kind of plane the X-48B, Which has no tail. Engineers expect that it will use less fuel than normal planes.

Emilie had done lots of inquiring into the volcanic eruption and Yona had discovered some amazing volcano facts.
Philip shared plenty of information about the space shuttle programme.

Sofia had news of a meeting between UNICEF Goodwill ambassador, Shakira ad President Obama.
Shouq told us about the disastrous floods in Saudi Arabia caused by unusually heavy rains.
Miguel had sporting news about the tennis tournament in Rome, won by Rafael Nadal.
Asedria shared some historical facts about how toy teddy bears came into being, because over 100 years ago an American president spared the life of a bear while out hunting.
Ko had scientific news about the worldwide fight against the mosquito-spread disease, dengue fever.

I'm hoping to hear news from every child on Tuesday Newsday this week.

Journée de La Francophonie

2010-05-02T15:10:00.001+03:00

On the last Thursday morning before the Spring holiday, the children went on a French-speaking journey through various countries where French is one of the languages spoken. There were six countries to visit, with a variety of activities to experience.

First we visited Ancient Gaul, where the children heard all about some of the amazing adventures of Asterix and his companions, as well as learning some of the history of what is now France, at the time of the Roman Empire. Philip's mum really kept the children intrigued as she explained about Asterix and Obelix and allowed the children to tell what they knew about the stories.

The second stop was Switzerland where the children watched a few scenes from a film about Heidi, a very famous Swiss character from the book by Joanna Spyri. They also heard about some of the animals which live in the Swiss Alps: the marmot, the chamois and the ibex. Maybe later in the year we will have the chance to visit the zoo at the Bois de la Bâtie to see them

Next we visited Roumania, where the children heard a little about the history of Roumania and Peter's mother taught them to play a simplified form of Boules. This caused much excitement.

Back to France, where Rik's mother, helped by Mrs Emblad introduced the children to the story of how the dessert Tarte Tatin came into being. They were able to help to make the apple tart and then to taste it. Delicious!

Off to Vietnam, where the children had the chance to see pictures of the waterways and then got busy creating dragon puppets.

Lastly the children heard about Lebanon, with its amazing history and its cedar forests.

All in all it was a really amazing and engaging journey. A big thank you to Rosalina and Jacqueline for organising such a wonderful experience.

Click on the slideshow to experience some of the activities with your children.

Working with our Pre-Reception Class Buddies

2010-04-11T09:34:00.005+03:00

Just before the spring holiday the students in Class 2o had their first experiences of working with much younger children from Mme Morand's class.

The first shared activity was reading to and sharing books with their younger buddies. For some members of the class, this new experience was clearly the cause of some trepidation, but as I observed the interactions which took place I could see that the apprehension soon subsided, as the two classes got to know each other.

I was really impressed by the confident and caring way Class 2o engaged with their buddies, and I think that this opportunity to use reading skills in a purposeful way proved to be both successful and enjoyable.

The slide show will give you an idea of the happy and comfortable atmosphere in which this sharing and reading took place.

The second "buddy" experience was to work together to create Easter Bunnies. This activity was relatively easy for the class 2o students but they really enjoyed having a chance to be supportive as the younger children developed skills which were much more challenging for them. As each group completed the activity Class 2o were able to delve into the picture books in their buddies' classroom and read the ones they chose to their buddies.

When the bunnies were cooked, all golden-brown, they came home with the children for you to admire, although perhaps some of them were eaten before you had the chance to have a look!

Have a look at the second slide show to see how much fun all the children had.

Keep an eye on the blog to observe more buddy experiences.

Materials at Newstime

2010-03-28T15:34:00.008+03:00

For the first news time of the new unit of inquiry, some of the children remembered that I had asked them to bring in items made from some of the materials we had talked about during our introductory brainstorming session. Others discovered that there were things they already had at school which could be part of a Materials News Time. I thought that was quite resourceful of them!

Whose blue crocs are made of plastic?

Who brought in a plaster statue of a princess in a decorated cardboard box?

Who showed us a plastic drinking cup and a glass jar decorated for Christmas?

Who had a pink fabric shawl?

Whose flower-pot was covered in metal?

Who wore a scarf made of wool that day?

Who had a metal spoon?

Who brought this strange-looking metal object? When we tapped it on our knees or on the table we could feel it vibrating and hear a humming sound. Pascale told us it was a tuning fork.

Who had a paper ticket in one hand and metal money in the other?

Who modeled a brightly coloured cotton beach outfit?

Who brought a wooden box decorated with metal studs?

Whose green plastic ball could bounce up to the ceiling?

Who had a pink cotton scarf decorated with lurex threads made of metal?

Whose red purse was decorated with plastic beads?

Who came to school wearing a wool pullover and a cotton shirt?

Ask your child who brought in the different objects.

Mask Making with Mrs Horsford

2010-03-13T08:30:00.001+02:00

During one art activity linking strongly to the unit of inquiry "Materials", the children worked with Mrs Horsford and Catrin to create a mask using papier-mache.

The three slide shows show you children at work and the finished masks.

The first slide-show shows the children using balloons as a base to stick on the paper strips.

The second slide-show shows them drawing the design for their masks and painting them.

Finally the masks are modelled. Ask your child which one they made and have a look at the other amazing creations. Sometimes the masks are modelled by the owner, but in some cases the children were absent when the photos were taken.

A New Unit of Inquiry

2010-03-11T18:00:00.000+02:00

We are just beginning to think about our new unit of inquiry on Materials, which is in the Organizing Theme: 'How the world works'.

The Central Idea is:

‘The world is made up of materials which have different uses and properties’

We will focus on questions such as:

Where do materials come from?
What are materials like?
What can different materials be used for?
How do materials change?

As we try to find answers for these questions, we will research the origins of a range of materials, thinking about whether they are natural or made by people. We will use a variety of adjectives to describe and sort materials according to their properties. We will think about how materials change and whether the change is reversible or permanent.

During the unit a range of skills will be developed; social skills where children will learn to share materials; research skills where children will describe and record observations; thinking skills where children will grasp meaning from material learned; communication skills where children will read for information; and self-management skills where children will plan and carry out activities effectively.

This unit will be heavily science-based, but there will also be opportunities for work across the curriculum, including using different tools and materials in art activities and sorting shapes according to specific properties and/or attributes in mathematics.

So far in the class the children have made their own paper, used papier-mache to create wonderful masks and started to make clay pots. They have hunted for materials around the classroom, delved with interest into a range of non-fiction books and watched short videos about paper and clay.

Today they went on an expedition to the Musée Ariana to look at the ceramics and glass on display there.

Writing poetry: ABC Animal Adjective Poems

2010-02-14T09:21:00.002+02:00

Mrs Horsford asked me to post these ABC poems.

With Mrs. Horsford we also looked at another form of poetry, acrostic where a pattern of the first letter starts each line…not easy but Mrs. Horsford was sure they were up to the challenge. Like with Ms. Oakley the originals are in their patterns class books but here are the typed versions for you to enjoy and share at home. Similarly as with the Morning poems you can see, the amount written in the time available varies considerably but very impressive when you consider the concept of acrostic writing and using adjectives! I was impressed as I am sure you will be!

Ants small and black
Bear strong and big
Cat brown and black
Russell

Alligator swimming in the sea
Bear strong as a strong bear
Cat scary
Dog fast
Jan

An ostrich long claws and can kill a person.
Bear loves honey and is very loud.
Cheetah runs fast and hungry
Dog fast and fun
Elephant huge and loud.
Peter

Ant hungry and small.
Bee flying and buzzing.
Cat creepy and scared
Dolphin jumps and swims
Elephant big and fat.
Adam

Ants is looking and running
Bat fly at night scary and black.
Cheetah fastest
Faizal

Alligator fast and big
Baboon big and hairy
Cat hairy and huge
Kate

Alligator hungry and scary
Bear big and scary
Cat fast and eating
Ali

Alligator long and strong
Bear scary and strong
Cat eating and hunting
Deer hunting and eating
Octavia

Alligator hungry and scary
Bee sting and fly
Cat fluffy and stripy
Dinosaur big and huge
Elephant giant and huge
Federica

Alligator is swimming and long
Bees collecting nectar and buzzing
Cat miaou and sleep.
Dog barking and chasing cats
Elephant stomping and drinking
Fish swimming in the deep blue sea
Gorilla swinging to tree to tree
Horse galloping and trotting
Emilie

Alligator scary and creepy
Bear is very big and strong
Cheetah is very fast and scary.
Deer is spotty and strong
Elephant huge and fat
Fish diving and hides
Gorillas mean and bossy
Shouq

An ostrich is pink and strong
Bear scary and strong
Cat eating and hunting
Deer hunting and eating
Pascale

Alligator long and strong
Bear brown and scary
Cow eat grass and sleeping
Deer camouflage and running
Elephant big and grey
Fish swimming and brilliant
Gorilla black and angry
Hen dark and red
I ????
Jellyfish swim fast and golden
Koalas climbing and grey
Lion brown and eating
Mouse squeak and cute
Newt fast and orange
Ostrich blue and tall
Panda eating and black
Quail little and fat
Rabbit jumping and carrot eating
Snake green and long
Turtle swimming and green
Unicorn wings and colourful
Vixen yellow and beautiful
Whale huge and blue
Ox muscles and black
Yak brown and mountain
Zebra stripy and blacky
Yona

An ostrich is pink and strong
Bear fighting and sleeping
Cat sharp nails and scary face
Dog catching cats and sharp teeth
Elephant big and strong
Frog small and eats flies
Gorilla strong and black
Hen brown and funny
Iguana hungry and green
J (Giraffe) long and spotty
Koala grey and cute
Lion scary and hungry
Monkey funny and cool
Newt fast and cool
Octopus purple and yucky
Panda fat and white
Quail small and fat
Rooster funny and funky
Snake yucky and poison
Turtle green and small
Unicorn one horn and white
Vixen girl and it is a fox
Whale huge and blue
Fox brown and vixen husband
Yak black, white and it is a cow
Zebra fast and stripes
Ko

Alligator scary and terrible
Bear creeping in his cave
Cheetah strong and fast
Dog big and that strong
Elephant big and fat
Frog jump and little
Goat slow and
Horse fast and eating
Iguana spiky and scary
J (giraffe) spot and strong
Koala climbs and fat
Little and smart
Monkey funny and cool
Newt small and looks like a lizard
Octopus swallows food
Penguin cold in the North Pole
Quail small and fat
Rabbit jump around
Snake slider and long
Turtle small and
Umbrella people hold it
Vase is small
Miguel

Ant looks for food and doesn’t give up
Bear loves chicken and very strong
Cheetah runs very fast
Deer an animal with horns
Elephant an animal with a long nose
Fish lives in water
Goat white and hairy
Hedgehog is spiky and small
I (Eagle) eats dead animal and can fly
Jaguar runs and is big
Kangaroo jumps and crawls
Lion hairy and yellow
Mouse small and furry
Newt small and looks like a lizard
Octopus slimy and big
Pig has a big nose and it is fat
Quail is fat and is small
Rat small and fat
Snake long and thin
Turtle has a shell and lives a 100 years
Clara

Alligator hungry and fishing
Bear angry and brilliant
Cheetah leaping and creeping
Deer cross and big
Elephant fat and tired
Fish swimming and playing
Goat jumping and tired
Horse gallop and tired
Iguana green and creepy
Jaguar fighting and hungry
Kangaroo jump and fast
Lion creepy and cross
Mole big and scared
Newt green and fat
Quentin

Ant thin and short
Bear black and fat
Cat sleep and scream
Deer brown and thin
Elephant fat and huge
Fish short and yellow
Goat white and thin
Horse riding and thin
Iguana green and spiky
Sree

Alligator hungry and swimming
Bear hungry and strong
Cat eating and hunting
Dog swimming and diving
Elephant stamping and resting
Fish swimming and hiding
Goose fishing and diving
Horse galloping and diving
Iguana spiky and hurting
Jaguar hunting and strong
Kangaroo jumping and fighting
Lion working and strong
M ????
Newt small and lizardy
Philip

Alligator is strong and big
Bear scared and big
Cat is strong and long
Dog long and fat
Rik

Alligator sharp and dangerous
Bee buzzing and stinging
Cheetah fast and scared
Dog fun and great
Eagle fast and light
Fish small and yummy
Goose nosey and mean
Hedgehog spiky and quiet
Cillian

Alligator is swimming and long
Bear is scary and fat
Cheetah is creeping and funny
D ????
Elephant is enormous and stomping
Fish is jumping and orange
G ?????
Horse trot and gallops
Iguana this go and goes on the trees
Jellyfish has lots of legs and it swims
Kangaroo does jump and has a pouch
Lamb has white wool
Monkey jumps. The colour of the monkey is brown.
N ????
Octopus. This has lots of long legs.
Lizzie

Alligator long and scary
Bear big and scary
Cow medium and it moos
Deer it is big and it is scary
Elephant huge and stomps
Fish is small and swims fast
Goat is big and snorts
Horse gallops and trots
Iguana small and it is like a lizard
Jellyfish stings and it has lots of legs
Kangaroo it jumps and it has a pocket.
Lamb maas and it is white.
Mouse small and it squeaks
Newt small and it has a tail
Octopus, it has 8 legs and big
Pig pink and eats
Quail bird and medium
Rhinoceros it has a horn and big
Snake long and small
Tiger scary and big
Sofia

Lots on Top

2010-02-12T13:57:00.004+02:00

In class we read a very simple early reading book about food, called: "Lots on Top." When I asked the children to write their own versions, I was astonished by the sophisticated food some of them like and by the adventurous language others of them were brave enough to use.

Lots on Top

I eat cheese with pizza on top.
I like syrup with pancake on top.
I hate ketchup with meat on top.
I love ice cream with sprinkles on top.
I eat hamburger with French fries on top.
Lots on Top
By Philip

Lots on Top
I hate fish with spaghetti on top.
I like pie with pie on top.
I love cake with cream on top.
I eat fish with honey on top.
I munch cake with sprinkles on top.
Lots on Top
By Faizal

Lots on Top
I eat pizza with ice cream on top.
I hate apple with strawberry on top.
I eat apple with apple on top.
I love strawberry with cream on top.
I eat potatoes with sauce on top.
Lots on Top
By Ali

Lots on Top
I eat pizza with olives on top.
I eat pasta with meatballs on top.
I love bread with jam on top.
I love cake with cream on top.
I like ice cream with strawberry on top.
I eat lasagna with sauce on top.
I love cake with apple on top.
I like salad with tomato on top.
Lots on Top
By Ko

Lots on Top
I love pie with apple on top
I love orange juice with lemon on top.
I love a cat with a kitten on top
I eat bread with jam on top
I like ice cream with biscuit on top.
I eat carrot with tomato sauce on top
Lots on Top
By Yona

Lots on Top
I like pizza with chocolate on top.
I eat cake with chocolate on top.
I love pancakes with sugar on top.
I like ice cream with strawberry on top.
I eat pizza with jam on top.
I love cake with strawberry on top.
Lots on Top
By Octavia

Lots on Top
I eat hamburger with ketchup on top.
I like pizza with cheese on top.
I munch couscous with sauce on top.
I eat meat with sauce on top.
I eat cake with strawberry on top.
Lots on Top
By Miguel

Lots on Top
I eat cake with raspberries on top.
I hate T-Rex with sauce on top.
I like pizza with sausage on top.
I like bread with honey on top.
I like spaghetti with butter on top.
Lots on Top
By Federica

Lots on Top
I eat bread with jam on top.
I eat bread with peanut butter on top.
I love bread with ketchup on top.
I hate worms with mice on top.
I like pizza with jam on top.
Lots on Top
By Quentin

Lots on Top
I love pizza with fish on the top.
I love pasta with tomato sauce on top.
I hate spinach with cheese on top.
I love bread with butter on top.
I love pumpkin soup with apple at the top.
Lots on Top
By Rik

Lots on Top
I hate pizza with honey on top.
I love ice cream with popcorn on top.
I like fish with icing on top.
I love spaghetti with peanuts on top.
I like tomato sauce with pumpkin on top.
Lots on Top
By Emilie

Lots on Top
I like toast with cinnamon on top.
I like ice cream with chocolate on top.
I hate pasta with sauce on top.
I like cakes with chocolate on top.
I like hot chocolate with sugar on top.
I like cake with strawberry on top.
Lots on Top
By Pascale

Lots on Top
I love pasta with cheese on top.
I hate pizza with mushroom on top.
I like cake with chocolate on top.
I like lasagna with cheese on top.
I like chips with mayonnaise on top.
Lots on Top
By Shouq

Lots on Top
I hate cake with books on top.
I love spaghetti with sauce on top.
I have pizza with cheese on top.
I love sausage with ketchup on top.
I have noodles with soy sauce on top.
Lots on Top
By Peter

Lots on Top
I like ice cream with cookies on top.
I like cream with raspberries on top.
I like meat with chips on top.
I like bread with cheese on top.
Lots on Top
By Russell

Lots on Top
I like ice cream with cherries on top.
I like cake with chocolate on top.
I eat hamburger with cheese on top.
I hate honey with chocolate on top.
I like honey with bread on top.
Lots on Top
By Sofia

Lots on Top
I love soup with bread on top.
I eat hamburger with apple mousse on top.
I eat pizza with pizza on top.
I hate sausage with roasted fish on top.
I eat potato with orange juice on top.
Lots on Top
By Jan

Lots on Top
I like bread with honey on top.
I like cake with strawberries on top.
I like yoghurt with strawberries on top.
I eat spaghetti with meatballs on top.
I eat meat with potatoes on top.
Lots on Top
By Adam

Lots on Top
I have pizza with mushrooms on top.
I eat pancakes with Nutella on top.
I like toast with butter on top.
I hate bread with mushroom on top.
I love cake with chocolate on top.
Lots on Top
By Cillian

Lots on Top
I have ice cream with honey on top.
I love pasta with meatballs on top.
I like milk with honey on top.
I have strawberries with ice cream on top.
I make pizza with pepperoni on top.
Lots on Top
By Kate

Lots On Top

I eat ice cream with biscuits on top.

I hate biscuits with ketchup on top.

I like pizza with fish on top.

I love cake with chocolate on top.

I like biscuits with strawberry on top.

Lots On Top

By Asedria

Lots On Top

I love pizza with a chip on top.

I like cake with pizza on top.

I like a banana with orange on top.

I love a burger with bread on top.

I hate banana with jam on top.

Lots On Top

By Lizzie

After reading all the children's work I couldn't resist writing my own version:

Lots on Top
Miss Oakley loves curry with coriander on top.
Miss Oakley likes baked potatoes with pepper and butter on top.
Miss Oakley enjoys pancakes with maple syrup on top.
Miss Oakley loves pizza with chorizo on top.
Miss Oakley eats fish with lemon on top
Lots on Top

Why not have fun sharing with your children what you like to eat and what you like to put on top!

Festive Patterns

2010-02-12T13:15:00.000+02:00

Although I am sure you will have enjoyed receiving your child's festive gift, I thought you might like to admire all of the wonderful festive decorations the children drew just before the winter break, and the wonderful patterns they used to decorate the frames. Catrin really supported them all in this activity which demanded a great deal of care and precision. I am sure they were really happy to be able to hand over such lovely gifts.

Writing poetry: Morning Sounds.

2010-02-12T13:00:00.000+02:00

In class 2o we were learning about the verb ending "ing", and the challenge of writing a poem about sounds we might hear in the morning, seemed a great way to reinforce this spelling rule. I was pretty surprised by some of the sounds your children hear..... The original poems are in the children's writing books. I typed and edited them for the blog. As you can see, the amount written in the time available varies considerably!

Birds tweeting, wind blowing,
Dogs barking, babies crying,
Airplane flying, taps dripping,
Toast popping, bus coming,
Telephone ringing, storm striking,
Car speeding, rain falling,
Clock ringing, humans eating,
Train going,
It must be morning.
By Ko

Music playing
Dad calling,
Cats meowing,
Birds cheeping,
Doors slamming,
It must be morning.
By Russell

Bird singing,
Tea boiling,
Shower raining,
Birds tweeting,
Children running,
Eggs boiling,
Dogs barking,
Cat jumping,
It must be morning.
By Sofia

My bird singing,
Airplanes flying,
Alarm ringing,
Cats meowing,
It must be morning.
By Emilie

Clock dinging,
Dog barking,
Toast popping
Egg bubbling,
Cat purring,
Birds singing
Shower raining,
Dad brushing his teeth,
Dad is drinking,
It must be morning.
By Philip

A dog barking,
A bird squeaking,
The clock clicking
The shower raining
The eggs boiling,
The cereal cracking,
Bees buzzing,
Airplanes flying
Mouse squeaking,
Cat meowing,
It must be morning.
By Quentin

Eggs bubbling, cats meowing
People jogging, dogs barking
Radio singing, the post coming
Shower dripping, people talking,
A car revving, someone selling,
Sausages popping, eggs sizzling,
Mum brushing, birds singing,
People planting, planes landing,
Kids playing,
It must be morning.
By Peter

A plane flying,
A car driving,
Fox stealing,
Kettle boiling,
Birds singing,
Cat jumping,
Bread toasting,
Dad talking,
Mum eating,
It must be morning.
By Faizal

Clocks ticking,
Microwave tinging,
Cats purring,
Toast popping,
Kettles boiling,
Persons brushing teeth,
Mums calling,
Dogs barking,
Airplanes flying,
It must be morning.
By Clara

Birds singing in the trees,
The alarm ringing,
Eggs boiling,
Dogs barking,
Cars driving,
Airplanes flying,
It must be morning.
By Adam

Kettle boiling,
Birds tweeting,
Baby crying,
Toast popping,
Airplane flying,
Shower raining,
It must be morning.
By Pascale

Mum calling,
My sister rustling her blanket,
My light turning on,
My cats purring,
My dolls falling,
My sister brushing,
It must be morning.
By Kate

Cats purring,
Teeth washing
Toast popping,
Shower raining,
Dogs barking,
Cats meowing
Eggs boiling
Birds tweeting,
Milk drinking,
It must be morning.
By Federica

Dogs barking,
Birds singing,
The shower raining,
An airplane flying
The wind blowing
The cat meowing.
It must be morning.
By Ali

Dogs barking,
Telephone ringing,
Cats meowing and purring,
My sister crying,
My sister trying to clean,
My mum chatting,
The airplanes coming,
It must be morning.
By Octavia

Bird tweeting,
Wind blowing,
Cat meowing,
Kettle boiling,
Dogs barking,
Shower raining,
Lady singing,
Car brumming,
Radio talking,
Sausage popping,
Mum brushing,
Tap dripping,
It must be morning.
By Yona

Cat purring
Shower drying,
Kitten meowing,
Radio talking,
Tap steaming,
Wind blowing,
Bell ringing,
Car starting,
Storm striking,
Rain falling.
Clock ringing,
Dogs barking,
It must be morning,
By Shouq

Bells ringing,
Airplanes flying,
Telephone ringing,
Dogs woofing,
Cats meowing,
Cows mooing,
It must be morning.
By Jan

Dogs barking,
Toast popping,
Birds tweeting,
Cats meowing,
Shower running,
Clock dinging,
Cars starting,
The baby crying.
It must be morning.
By Lizzie

Milk drinking,
Dad brushing teeth
Mum showering
Me singing,
It must be morning.
By Asedria

Dogs barking,
Cat meowing,
Wind blowing,
Cars starting,
Airplane flying
Baby crying
Lady singing
Telephone ringing
Bell ringing
Egg boiling
It must be morning.
By Sree

Pattern, Rhyme and Rhythm: The Third Unit of Inquiry

2009-12-05T09:40:00.000+02:00

In class 2o we are working on our third Unit of Inquiry.

The Central Idea for this unit is:

Pattern, Rhyme and Rhythm are found in many forms of creative expression

We will follow these lines of inquiry:

How pattern, rhyme and rhythm work
How pattern, rhyme and rhythm are connected
How we can express ourselves using pattern, rhyme and rhythm.

This unit gives us the opportunity to identify, explore and explain pattern in art, music, poetry, dance, language and mathematics. We will be reading lots of poetry and delving into the enthralling stories of Dr Seuss and Julia Donaldson. We will explore rhythm through music, movement and language, and find out how knowing more about rhyme and patterns in language can help with reading and spelling. Students will be encouraged to look for patterns all around them and to bring their findings to school as part of News Time which will usually be on Wednesdays. I will be asking the children to bring in books and music to share with the class and to notice the patterns on the clothes which they are wearing.

Mrs Horsford asked me to include this message:

In our unit on Pattern, Rhyme and Rhythm we will look at patterns in language such as endings, plurals, making poems, adjectives in writing and blends. You will be seeing the blends in their red handwriting Homework book. When we look at Pattern, Rhyme and Rhythm in maths we will look at symmetry, repeating number patterns, patterns in adding and subtracting, number patterns bigger than 100, sequencing, number arrays and more.

The children will be also start to bring home a small blue spelling book in a plastic sleeve with a list of words they should be starting to manage in their daily writing.. Each time we write they will be given one word that they are close to mastering. Please find two minutes to let them write this word two times and bring it back each day with the plastic sleeve.

Happy Pattern, Rhyme and Rhythm searching in our world. The children may like to start to wear patterned clothes to school if they find some. I will be.

Regards

Mrs. Horsford

One of the first activities we have undertaken was to work with a partner on a "Rhyme Hunt" using one of the fabulous selection of books we have in the classroom.The children were given the challenge to find as many rhyming pairs as they could.

Click on the slide show to see the partners at work.

One afternoon the children worked to create repeating patterns using plastic cubes. Their enthusiasm and engagement was amazing.

Some observations from the last few days of Class 2o's investigations into plant life.

2009-11-23T16:03:00.006+02:00

All sorts of activities and discussions took place during the final days of our second unit of inquiry "Our World of Plants".

The children were invited to bring in their bean plants to share with their classmates. This was a very real learning experience, which connected well with comments Cova had made during our gardening sessions, that we don't always know whether what we plant will grow, even if we do our best to look after it!. Some of the children remembered to bring their plants, others forgot; some had to admit that their plant had not survived, while a few plants had grown too big to transport!

Have a look at the slide-show to view the plants which thrived. The bean without a person, which appears to have reached the ceiling, belongs to Rik!

We had rather complex discusions about fruits and vegetables and which is which. Of course, much of the confusion arises because quite a few fruits are eaten as what we call vegetables, for example: tomatoes, pumpkins, peppers and courgettes. We came up with the definition that fruits grow out of the flower and contain seeds.
I found this comment about fruits and vegetables on WIkipedia and found that it fits perfectly with the class2o idea of what a fruit is.

"A fruit is actually the sweet, ripened ovary or ovaries of a seed-
bearing plant. A vegetable, in contrast, is an herbaceous plant
cultivated for an edible part (seeds, roots, stems, leaves, bulbs,
tubers, or nonsweet fruits). So, to be really nitpicky, a fruit could
be a vegetable, but a vegetable could not be a fruit."

The challenge to fill a lunchbox, if there were no plants, also provoked an amazing discussion, because the realisation gradually began to dawn, that in fact without plants, there would not be much to eat, if anything, and only water to drink.

We made predictions. What would happen to the cress seeds which were given water but left in the dark? Would celery change if put in a glass with water and red food colouring? After a few days we looked carefully and shared observations. The cress which had been in the dark was yellow and straggly but soon turned green when left in the light.The leaves of the celery became red and when we cut through the stem we could see small red dots where the liquid had travelled up the celery stem.

We had fun tasting the cress with bread and butter. YUMMY.

The class 2o students have definitely become more knowledgeable about plants, and it has been great to observe how everything we have done in the garden with Cova, has been so relevant to all the work which has taken place inside the classroom.

An autumn walk in the park at Chateau de Penthes

2009-11-17T20:40:00.000+02:00

On a beautiful autumn afternoon, we decided to take advantage of the pleasant sunshine to go for a walk to the park at Chateau de Penthes. For many of the class 2o students this is a familiar and well-loved place where they spent happy times in class 1, but for the new members of our class it was their first opportunity to enjoy a really lovely place.

On the path by the tennis club, we had to pick our way, with a good deal of hilarity, through the plentiful droppings left by some sheep, who had just been moved from the field across the road from school and had evidently followed the road down towards the Jardin Botanique. As we crossed that road into the park, we wondered where the sheep might be now, but as we wended our way down the path, the children suddenly fell silent, as they heard sheep noises coming from a field somewhere behind a hedge on the other side of the road. (Class 1o went looking for them the next day and sure enough, there they were, but only visible through a hole in the hedge.)

As we traced the familiar paths, our newer students learned about the fairy dell and the troll, which unbeknownst to me, lurks under the little bridge on the way back up the hill.

We enjoyed the amazing views across the lake, wondered at the brilliant autumn colours and were once again (or for the first time) amazed by the sight of the "lightning" tree.

We are so very lucky to have this beautiful park, so near to school.

Even more gardening news......

2009-11-17T20:00:00.001+02:00

More planting to do.... On the Thursday after the October break, Cova had bulbs for the children to plant. "Remember which way up they need to be", she said. Most of the bulbs were planted in fruit crates lined with plastic, but Cova made sure the children understood that the plastic needed holes for drainage. Each group used trowels to fill the planters and then put in the bulbs, making sure that they left enough space between them. Some of the planters will be left outside, but others will be kept in the dark. We are going to wait and see what happens... One of the things I really enjoy about gardening with Cova is that there are always wonderings and questions.... Uncertainty seems to be very much a part of gardening.

Did you ever stop to wonder what the children had done with all the old boots and shoes you sent in? Well here they are nestling among the "green compost" waiting for something to grow inside them.

Last week Cova once again asked the children to help with the tidying up. They set to work with a will, raking and piling leaves. Then Cova, as usual, had a question for the children. "What do you think is happening under the piles of leaves we made before the holiday?" she asked. No-one was really sure so, she raked off the dry leaves and underneath we were able to see that the leaves had become dark and wet and sticky, and were starting to decompose. There was a mouldy smell which made the children turn up their noses. Cova told us how wonderful this compost was going to be for our garden soil in the spring.
Then she brought out a head of garlic and wondered if the children knew how big the seeds were. Quite a few of the class had no idea what they were looking at and how we use it. Amazingly most of the group expected the seeds to be small and were surprised when they saw the garlic cloves, which are relatively
large, as seeds go. With the help of the class 2o gardeners we now have garlic growing in our garden. I can't wait till spring to see if the plants grow well.

Creating a Collage

2009-10-31T15:05:00.002+02:00

One day before the October break I brought in some of the wonderfully colourful, decorative gourds which were on sale in the supermarkets. They are definitely not good for eating, but they did provide inspiration for an art activity: creating group collages. First the children searched through magazines to find the colours they would need: oranges, reds, yellows and greens. Then they worked with Catrin in small groups to make big collage pictures using torn paper.

The original collages and photos of the gourds can be viewed in our classroom.

"There's really a lot of nature in this class"

2009-10-21T09:30:00.001+03:00

The title of this post is a comment I overheard from a child in another class, who came into our classroom for an after-school activity. I thought it was a charming remark and it's actually very true.

There is a lot of nature in Class 2o and since we are studying plants it isn't very surprising!

Many of the Class 2o students took up Mrs Horsford's challenge of doing some homework which involved finding 5 different leaves. They brought in wonderful posters, booklets, plants, seeds and seed cases.

After the children had had the opportunity to look closely at the insides of a range of fruits and vegetables at Le Potager, I decided to bring in some familiar and less familiar fruits, and cut them in half to see the cross-section. Some children had not seen a papaya or a pomegranate before and were amazed to see how much more beautiful the inside was than the outside. They used oil pastels to make some amazing observational drawings, which are now brightening up our classroom.

Click on the slide show to appreciate all the oil pastel drawings on Picasa or better still come into our classroom to have a look.

Our Visit to Le Potager

2009-10-12T14:40:00.000+03:00

On October 1st we went on a trip to "Le Potager", a private estate in Chambesy with beautiful grounds. We were able to visit this garden thanks to a former Pregny student, Kirsty Griffiths. It was a really special and fascinating experience, enjoyed by grown-ups and children alike.

It was certainly rather impressive to arrive at our destination, ring a bell and have iron gates swing open to let us in. Once inside we found ourselves in a haven of calm, just a few metres away from the hustle and bustle of a fairly busy road. We followed a winding path, then went gingerly across a rather rickety bridge over a stream which flowed through a forest of bamboos. Close by we could see what looked like an army tent, with a hammock hanging outside. We wondered who might be sleeping there under the swishing bamboos.

After having a good look at a variety of fruit trees and an old fashioned vegetable garden, we found ourselves in a beautifully restored part of the greenhouse, with a marble floor, some garden furniture and even a piano. With Kirsty's help the children were introduced to a variety of herbs and were able to examine the huge stripey green seeds of the wisteria, compared with the minuscule brown seeds which fell out of the dead basil flowers.

The children were real risk-takers as they tasted mint, chives, spring onions, cherry tomatoes, basil and freshly picked apples and lettuce. Some children were amazed to see the inside of a fig with so many tiny seeds in the stunning red flesh. We would be able to take some figs back to school to try. In the vegetable garden we had discovered a large yellow courgette under the leaves and Kirsty cooked it for the children to eat at snack time. Most agreed that it was delicious. After snack the children had a wonderful time playing under the trees.

The children wrote a recount of their morning when they returned to school. Here are some of their comments.

We went on a bridge. The bridge was in a bamboo forest. Adam
We saw a tent in the bamboo forest. Faizal
I was a little bit scared of the bamboo forest. Ko
The greenhouse was cool. It was great fun. I loved the trip. Cillian
We went to a farm and we picked vegetables and fruits. We ate courgette for snack. Clara
We ate carrots and tomatoes. Miguel
We picked vegetables. I ate everything. Philip
We ate what we picked in the greenhouse. I had fun at the farm. Quentin
I saw a snail in the soil. Russell
I saw seeds inside the apples. Octavia
I saw a lot of fruits and vegetables. Emilie
We went to the giant bamboo forest. Federica
The girls went on one bus and the boys went on bus number 4. We ate snack there. Kate
We looked at all the different kinds of plants. Shashikant
When it was snack time we played the piano. Shouq
I saw three greenhouse and we played catch. Sofia
We cooked a big yellow pumpkin and then we ate it. Yona

More gardening news

2009-10-06T20:00:00.008+03:00

Going on a soil hunt.....

There we were in the garden with Cova and she asked us to find different kinds of soil. The children already knew, if they went gardening with class 1, that there are different kinds. But what might they be? Cova showed us a handful of soil from one of the vegetable beds. "What do you think is in this soil" she asked. Eventually after input from the children the conclusion was that soil is made up of water, air, organic matter like old leaves or rotting plants and minerals, which come from the rocks and stones. How good the soil is for growing things depends on how much of each of those things is in there!

Cova challenged the children to work in teams to find different kinds of soil around the school garden. They went off with trowels and a plastic container. Under the trees they found sandy soil, light coloured and dusty, as well as stony soil. Both of those were also discovered by the path next to the ramp. At the edge of the flower bed we found heavy clay and in our vegetable beds was the best soil for growing, light and airy and full of organic matter. Plenty of compost had been dug in last spring to help create the sweet smelling, crumbly airy soil in our school garden.

Back in the classroom the children remarked that:
Forest soil has no water and no compost.
Clay soil is sticky.
Really good soil is black, full of compost and minerals and not at all sticky.

Savez-vous planter les choux? or do you know how to plant your cabbages?

This week it was time to plant something. Cova had some interesting looking plants with purpley-green leaves, one for each child. The children had plenty of prior knowledge about the structure of a plant which they were delighted to share with her. However, no-one knew that these rather spindly seedlings would grow up to be cabbages.

The children set to work, some with rakes to make the soil smooth and some with trowels, digging holes for the young plants and then pressing down the soil firmly around them. Maybe later in the year, as winter comes we'll be eating cabbage soup.

A different kind of gardening.

This week we didn't really go near our garden. We started off by sitting under a tree. (It was really interesting to note that boys and girls who usually have no problem getting dirty, did not much appreciate sitting on the rather stony ground.)
First we looked up at the green leaves where the sun was glinting through. When Cova pulled one of them, it clung firmly to the tree. Then we looked down to the brown crunchy dead leaves at our feet. " These leaves are dead", someone said. "Yes" said Cova, "but how do the green leaves, still on the tree, know when to fall?"

She told us there is a tiny trapdoor where the leaf joins the stem. During the autumn the little doof closes, so no more water can reach the leaf. It becomes yellow, then brown and the stem comes loose, so that the leaf and float to the ground.

Cova put the children into teams to rake and collect leaves. The teams worked away at the task, not needing too many reminders about using tools safely. They filled the big red buckets to the brim and took them proudly to the ever-growing pile by the fence. Hopefully, the pile will stay there through the winter and become wonderful compost to use in our garden next spring.

I am sure that if you asked the children they would say that raking up the leaves was a lot of fun.

Our World Of Plants: The Second Unit of Inquiry

2009-10-05T10:10:00.002+03:00

As you may know, in Class 2o we have just started out on our second Unit of Inquiry: Our World of Plants.

The central idea for this unit is:

Plants are vital for life on earth.

Lines of inquiry which will drive our learning will be:

• Plants have similarities and differences.
• People depend on plants for many different purposes
• Our responsibility to look after plant-life.

We will engage in these lines of inquiry through activities involving observation of plants, looking closely at their flowers, seeds, roots, stems and leaves. We will investigate what plants need for healthy growth and discover similarities and differences by comparing plants. We will go out to visit places close to the school to find out how plants are cared for and to begin to understand the many and varied uses of plants.

Although this unit focuses heavily on science, there are also possibilities for engaging in a range of art activities and for conducting surveys in maths. All of our gardening sessions with Cova fit perfectly into this Unit of Inquiry.

Right at the start of this unit, we sat down in a group (on our lovely, comfortable new carpet) and the children brainstormed what they knew, or thought they knew about plants.

First you plant seeds. Sofia
Seeds need time to grow. Shashikant

Shashikant's comment led us into a discussion about how long different plants might take to grow. After delving into a book: From Little Acorns: A First Look at the Life Cycle of a Tree, we learned that an oak tree has to be 40 years old before it has flowers and then acorns.

Trees have rings which show how old they are. Faizal
Flowers have seeds in them. Lizzie
Plants have roots. Federica
Plants have leaves. Yona
Plants need water to grow. Sree
Plants need sun for warmth and light. Emilie
Plants need soil to grow. Kate
The leaves make food for the plant. Cillian
Bees go inside the flower. Jan
Flowers have nectar. Adam
At night flowers close their petals. Emilie
Some trees lose their leaves in the autumn. Jan
Some plants are spiky. Russell
Some plants are insect-eaters. Quentin
Some plants can be eaten by animals and people. Cillian

We also agreed that most plants have stems and flowers.

As we go on to further investigation by sharing books, watching DVDS and exploring our school environment this prior knowledge will be confirmed or expanded upon. Any misconceptions can be discussed.

Vegetable Art: Making edible faces

2009-10-01T19:00:00.000+03:00

Today with the help of Catrin, the children tried a new and different form of art: using vegetables to create a face. This provided an opportunity to use the names of vegetables, which were not always familiar to the children. It also allowed some of the class, who are less comfortable using pens, crayons or paints, to express their ideas in a different and rather novel way. Another positive aspect of this activity was the possibility to change one's mind, since nothing was ever permanent!

As you can see, the class 2o artists were in creative mood.

After the works of art were dismantled, the remaining vegetables were chopped up, made into delicious vegetable soup by Catrin and eaten with relish by the children!

Please take the chance to talk to you child about the many different faces and the vegetables used in them.

Autumn in Poetry and Art

2009-09-29T19:20:00.000+03:00

As the seasons have begun to change, one of our language activities was for the children to tell all the different things they could think of about Autumn. Out of all these ideas we created a class poem. This may have been the children's first experience of a list poem, where every line starts off in the same way.

Autumn is when animals collect food.
Autumn is when some animals hibernate.
Autumn is when it gets colder.
Autumn is when hedgehogs hide under leaves.
Autumn is when the days get shorter and the nights get longer.
Autumn is when squirrels dig up the food they have hidden.
Autumn is when we plant seeds that will grow in the winter.
Autumn is when we pick apples.
Autumn is when the leaves change colour.
Autumn is when leaves fall down.
Autumn is when we rake the leaves.
Autumn is when we put the clock back one hour.
Autumn is when it’s Halloween.

With Catrin the children also worked together to create this wonderful autumn tree using their hand-prints. Do come into the classroom to admire it!

The children also created autumn illustrations which you will find here in the form of a slide-show. You will also be able to see the drawings in the classroom. There are some fabulous artists in class 2o!

If you double-click on the slide-show you can see a larger version in Picasa.

Self Portraits

2009-09-22T21:20:00.000+03:00

Here are the self-portraits drawn by the Class 2o students during the first few days of this new school year.

Adam and Ali

Emilie, Faisal and Elizabeth

Clara, Federica and Ko

Kate, Octavia and Rik

Miguel, Philip and Pascale

Shashikant, Russell and Shouq

Sofia, Sree and Yona

Cillian, Jan Peter and Peter

Quentin

If you come into the classroom, you can see the originals and the descriptions the children wrote to go with their portraits.

Gardening

2009-09-22T03:24:00.001+03:00

Last week, thanks to Cova Austin, we started to work in the school garden. The children set to work with evident enjoyment, digging, raking, weeding and generally tidying the beds and getting them ready for new seeds to be planted.

It was wonderful to be out in the fresh air, learning about plants and finding out what we may be going to grow this year. Even though her daghter has "graduated" and is now in class 3 at Saconnex, Cova's enthusiasm is undimmed and we really appreciate her efforts. If any parents would like to help out on Thursday mornings, please let us know.

Working in the garden on Thursdays will link perfectly with our upcoming unit of inquiry: Our World of Plants.