The LAST Weekly Words

Hi Parents, 

First of all, let me tell you, this year has been absolutely wonderful.  I will miss not only your children but you all as well.  Thank you for being the best group of parents a teacher could ask for!!  A HUGE thank you to you all for the sweet send off slideshow and spa gift card.  For those of you that may not know, I will not be teaching at TAISM next year.  I will however, be in Oman and sub in various classes so I hope to bump into you then!  I have posted the link to the slideshow made by Mrs. Hina below.  Seriously, tissues might be necessary... ok, maybe just for me. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNZP_yZMJjE

As for the kiddos, you guys were AWESOME!!!  And I wish you all the best in kindergarten and beyond.  Make sure to stop and see Mrs. Gita and Mrs. Muna next year as they will still be in the EC wing.  We love you, and have a fantastic summer!

Enjoy the last slideshow of the year!  I forced them all the take pictures with me during free station time so if the smiles are not the most genuine, I apologize. hehe.  Enjoy! 

Our Visit to Kindergarten

It was very special day today!  We got to visit kindergarten!!!  We met all the kg teachers, saw the classrooms, and explored with the kinder students.  It was so much fun, and we are so excited to be in the big kid hall!  Enjoy the short slideshow of our adventure. 

Portfolios

Your child is bringing home a very important bag today.  In this bag is a year of your child's hard work.  Please take some time to look through their portfolio and other books.  The growth from the beginning of the year until now will amaze you!  We hope you enjoy these and will treasure them forever.  :)  A special thank you to Mrs. Gita and Mrs. Muna for their time and effort putting these together.  Kudos to all the students for a job well done!! 

Weekly Words

What a wonderful week in EC2!  We have camped in a tent, fished for letters, read around a fire, and made s'mores!  Today, we enjoyed our last day of swim with Splash Day and ice cream sundaes.  Next week will be our last week of school, and we are excited to have more summer FUN!  Enjoy the slideshow, and have a great weekend.

Splash Day Tomorrow

Our last swim day is tomorrow.  Please come ready for fun in the pool on our Splash Day!  We will have a special treat after pool time from EC teachers. 

Happy Birthday Isla

Our sweet Isla turned 5 today!  Her mommy and big brother Finn brought in cupcakes to celebrate.  We hope you have a great birthday Isla, and thank you Ms. Laura for sharing your yummy cupcakes!

Weekly Words

WOW!!  Only 2 more weeks of school left.  I cannot believe it.  Our ECers are ready for kindergarten!  This week while reviewing our alphabet and alphabet sounds, the children showed us just how ready they are!  They flawlessly flew through the alphabet!

Next week, we will be going camping in EC!  Since it is so hot outside we decided to bring the outside to us... tent included!  We are excited about reading by flashlight, cooking around our "fire", and telling stories.  

Next Thursday is our Splash Day and the last day of swimming for this school year.  The groups will be combined for free choice pool fun so don't forget your suits. :) 

Have a great weekend! 
 

Weekly Words

Hi Moms and Dads, 

Can you believe there are only 3 weeks of school left before KINDERGARTEN!!!  Wow!  It has flown by!!  Please continue to check the blog until the end of school for updates. 
  
This week was magical with Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Hansel and Gretel.  We loved our fairy tale unit!  For cooking, we made Rapunzel's golden blonde hair braid bread.  It was so much fun kneading the dough and twisting it into a braid.  And it was so tasty after we baked it in the oven.  Ms. Liz put the recipe in the slideshow so we can make it at home, too!  We also made our very own castles and crowns and will get to take them home next week after they dry.  Today we graphed our favorite fairy tale and Rapunzel won with 12 votes.  Then we wrote about it.  Our writing is getting fantastic and kindergarten ready!  We are sounding out our words, remembering spacemen, and even putting ending punctuation!  

Next week we will be moving on to review our alphabet with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  Swimming will be on Day 1: Wednesday.  There is no school Tuesday to observe the Prophet's Ascension.  

Have a lovely weekend!  Enjoy the slideshow.

School Holiday Announcement

The holiday for Prophet’s Ascension has been officially announced by the Omani Government as Tuesday, May 27.  School will resume on Wednesday, May 28.

Weekly Words

Hi Parents, 

Our fairytale unit has been a hit with the help of the book Three Billy Goats Gruff.  The children enjoyed making "troll smiles" on cooking day using an apple, raisins, and peanut butter.  

 

They also built their very own bridge collage.  Everyone did an excellent job of retelling the story when adding the characters to the bridge. 

Later, the children came up with words to describe the troll.

Then we discussed if we ever act like trolls.  Are we ever cranky?  What makes us cranky?

The responses were outstanding and ranged from "Sometimes I am like a troll when my brother does not share" to "Sometimes I am like a troll when I cannot play".  Their writing has really taken off!  We are very proud of the effort they all have given!
Next week we will be continuing our fairy tale unit with the books Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, and The Princess and the Pea.  If you have any fairy tales at home you would like to share, feel free to send them with your child. 

SWIMMING REMINDER
Swimming has been moved to Day 1 for the remainder of the year.  Next week, we will swim on Monday. 

Have a great weekend!

Dramatic Play

Our little actors and actresses put on a lovely show of the fairy tales Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Three Billy Goats Gruff.  Enjoy the slideshow!

Weekly Words

First of all, THANK YOU to all of you for the wonderful week of lunches, goodies, and appreciation.  We sincerely could not have asked for a better group of students and parents! Your thoughtfulness has touched our hearts and reminded us that YOU are one of the many reasons we are so lucky to have your kiddos in our class!  

Basket full of goodies from letter A to Z!  Such a clever idea!

Swim Day has been switched from Day 2 to Day 1 for the remainder of the school year; therefore, this SUNDAY is swimming for our class.  Please remember to come dressed in swimwear, and bring a towel, swim cap, and change of clothes.

Next week, we are continuing our Fairy Tales unit with The Three Billy Goat Gruff.  The students did an excellent job acting out The Three Little Bears this week.  I am sure they would love to act it out at home for you!  

Lastly, thank you Mommies for attending our tea.  The children talked about it all day and thoroughly enjoyed preparing everything for you.   I will email you the Mother's Day slideshow for keepsake.  

Have a fantastic weekend!

Weekly Words

Great job everyone on your healthy snacks!  Many students had all 5 food groups in their snack boxes this week!  Not only did the children eat them, but they could identify where each food belonged in the food pyramid.  Bravo!

Next Week's Important Dates:

Sunday- Swimming.  Please come to school dressed for the pool.  Don't forget your swim cap, towel, and change of clothes.

Wednesday:  Mother's Day Brunch.  We welcome all our mommies to join us in our classroom May 7th at 8:45 for a special hour of appreciation. 

Thursday:  Early Dismissal at noon. 

Have a lovely weekend, and enjoy the slideshow.

Welcome Shoo Rayner

Today was a very special day.  We met Shoo Rayner!  Shoo read us one of his stories Cat and Dog.  Once he began "reading" we noticed the book had no words and only pictures!  Who knew you could tell a story with only illustrations?   He showed us how he draws a cat and dog in his book.  He is really quick and a great artist!  He told us we could be too if we practice!  Cat and Dog is just one of many books Mr. Shoo has written, and we are excited to read more during our book week.  Thank you Mr. Rayner for a wonderful visit!

Click the link below to see Shoo draw: 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dht617X7x9U

Weekly Words

This week we continued learning about nutrition and the five food groups.  We learned that dairy is a food group that is not just milk!  It includes cheese, yogurt, butter, and even ice cream!  Everyday we checked our snacks to see how many food groups we have.  This week Lenny, Rawan, and Lena had all 5!!  

Next week, we will complete our nutrition unit with the protein, vegetable and fruit groups. It is also Book Week and the illustrator Shoo Rayner is coming to visit TAISM.  For more information, please check the flyer in your child's folder.

It is beginning to get hot again outside, and we ask you to send hats with your child to school for recess.  Please LABEL these with your child's name so it may return home safely. :) 

SAVE THE DATE!
Mother's Day is just around the corner, and we would like to invite all the Mommies to a Mother's Day Brunch on Wednesday May 7 at 8:45.  You won't want to miss it so mark your calendars!

Enjoy the slideshow of swimming today.  A special thank you to Ms. Griet, Charlotte's mom, for helping us with changing!  Next week there is no "day 2" on the calendar; therefore, there is NO SWIMMING for our class.  We will swim again on the following Sunday May 4th.  



 

Moooo!

Yesterday we had a special visitor in EC2.  "Sally the Dairy Cow" came to our classroom to show us where the milk we drink comes from.  With the help of Sally and the book The Milk Makers by Gail Gibbons, we learned that milk doesn't just show up at Lulus!  Most of the time, it comes from a cow!  Sally even let us milk her.  Farmer Liz showed us where to sit while milking a cow and how to make the milk come out.  We made so much milk!  And Sally told us "Thank moo" when we were finished.  Now every time we eat from the dairy food group, we will know where the milk began.... maybe it's even from Sally!

Enjoy the slideshow of us milking "Sally the Dairy Cow". :)

Helping the Earth Hand in Hand!

Thank you to all the parents for helping our class understand the importance of talking care of our Earth.  The children have made many Earth Day Promises to carry out throughout the year.  Here is a list the students made of how we are going to help take care of our planet!

• We will turn off the lights when we are not in the room
• We will turn off the water while brushing our teeth
• We will throw our trash in the bin
• We will recycle our paper, plastic, and cans 
• We will pick up trash
• We are not going to cut down trees or pick so many flowers.
• We are going to ride our bike to our friend's house instead of riding in a car. (After we ask our parents. ;) )

The slideshow below shows the children presenting all the things they do to keep our Earth a happy place.

Weekly Words

Hello Moms and Dads, 

This week we began out nutrition unit with the help of the book The Little Red Hen.  In the story, the red hen finds grain, plants, nourishes, cuts, mills, and bakes all by herself without the help of her friends.  But when it is time to eat the bread she made, everyone wants to join... instead the Little Red Hen eats the bread all by herself!  We really enjoyed acting out the story.  See the slideshow below for pictures! 

We also cooked a food from our grain group- rotis!  Ms. Van and Ms. Gita helped us mix the ingredients and roll out the perfect circle.  After they were cooked, we enjoyed them with butter and jam.

Learning about the food groups is great!  The rest of the school year Ms. Liz challenged us to bring something from every food group in our snack.  I will need a vegetable, fruit, protein, grain, and dairy.  I hope I can do it!  Eating a well balanced snack is important to keep my body and brain working!

Thursday is Day 2 which means SWIMMING!  :)  Please remember swim caps, flip flops, towels, and a change of clothes.  Students should arrive to school in swimsuits.  

Next week is another short one.  There is no school on Easter Sunday.  We hope you enjoy your 3 day weekend.  

First Day of Swimming

Our first day of swimming was a success.  The children are already asking when we go back!  :)  A special thank you to Mrs. Griet, Charlotte's mom, for helping us today in and out of the pool!  Enjoy the slideshow of their swim experience. 



Earth Day is next week, and there is a small activity for your child to complete at home.  Please check folders today and return as soon as possible.  Thank you!

This week...

Hello Parents, 

We hope you all had a relaxing Spring Break. After a nice break, I am happy to see all the children's smiling faces this morning!

This week we are beginning our Nutrition Unit and learning about the grain group with the help of The Little Red Hen.  Today we found out that grains are very important for us to eat so we can have energy to learn!

We also begin swimming this week on  TUESDAY, April 15 (Day2 of Elementary Calendar).  Please send your child dressed and ready to swim.  A swim cap for long hair and change of clothes is required.  Remember, since the swim is on the Elementary 6-day calendar, I will notify you through the blog on the days swimming will be held.  Please check every Thursday for an update.   

Ready... Break!

We hope you all have a wonderful Spring Break.  We will see you Sunday April 13.  :)

It's Swim Time!

Dear Parents,

The children will begin swimming instruction the week after Spring Break. 

The swimming days are on the Elementary 6 Day Cycle; therefore, will change each week. 

Your child will be swimming on Day 2.

I will post the actual date on the blog every week. Please keep track of the days as the children get very disappointed if they show up to school and don’t have their swimming things, and I don’t have extra.

On swimming day, the children should come to school wearing their bathing suits. Girls can wear their suits underneath their clothes and boys can wear their bathing suit with a t-shirt.

On swim days, students are expected to:

·         Wear waterproof sandals and swim cap (for long hair)

·         Bring a towel. (Clearly labeled with your child’s name).

·         Wear sunscreen.

·         Bring clothes to change into and a plastic bag for the wet suit.

·         Students may also bring goggles if desired. (Please label).

If you are able to help with changing after the class, please let me know on the form in your child's folder.  Any help is appreciated!  :)

Happy Birthday Peter!

Our friend Peter turned 5 this past weekend!  Today Mrs. Laura and Mr. Matthew, Peter's parents, brought in cookies for the class to celebrate.  Thank you Laura and Matt for making our afternoon a special one, and Happy Birthday Peter!

Weekly Words

Happy Rainy Thursday!  This week's weather was perfect for beginning our unit about Spring.  We learned it rains more in Spring to help the plants and flowers grow.  Then we planted our own!  We chose between a bean plant and a daffodil.  So far one bean plant has begun to sprout.  We continue to water them daily and put them in the sun in hopes more will sprout soon.  

With the help of the book the Tiny Seed by Eric Carle, we discovered how plants naturally spread using the wind.  But seeds aren't the only things the wind blows!  Pat Hutchin's book The Wind Blew showed us everything can be moved by the wind if it is strong enough.  It was so much fun acting out the story with a audience of wind blowing objects around!

This week we also met Yellow YoYo Man from Letterland.  Yellow YoYo Man makes the /y/ sound.  Many friends brought objects for the Y table such as a yak, yoyo, yogurt, yellow pencil, and yoga moves!  Later in the week, we made yogurt parfaits with cherries and granola.  About half of us thought the yogurt was yummy.  The other half, yucky.  But it was fun to make the layers!

Next week is a four day week, and we will continue to learn about Spring and finish up the alphabet with letter Z.  Please bring an object beginning with the /z/ sound. 

Reminder: Spring Break is April 3-12.

Have a wonderful weekend, enjoy the weekly slideshow, and see you Sunday! 

Student Led Conference Tomorrow and Thursday

Remember Conferences are tomorrow and Thursday.  This trimester, the conference is led by your child so please bring them along. :)  We look forward to seeing you!

Thank you Ms. Hamsa for coming today and sharing with us about Jordan, Kareem's home country.  We enjoyed the video about EID celebrations and the date cookies.  Thank you to all the parents that participated in the home country show and share!  You all are the best!

Weekly Words

Thank you all for coming and sharing with our class about the different places of the world.  We all learned so much!  

Ms. Laura, Peter's mom, spoke with us about Ohio in the United States of America.  She told us that in Ohio they grow corn and brought us popcorn to munch on during snack.  She also showed us beautiful photos of Ohio.  It looked much different than Oman.  There was a lot of green! Thank you Ms. Laura for joining us. 

In the afternoon Ms. Hina, Zaha's mom, told us about Pakistan.  She shared a story Listen to the Wind by Greg Mortenson.  In this story, Greg gets lost in Pakistan, and and the local people help him.  In return, Greg helps builds a school for the village. After, Ms. Hina told us about henna and how in Pakistan they wear henna on special occasions.  She left a paper hand for us all the practice henna on next week.  Thank you Ms. Hina for sharing this special book. 

 

Next week is another short one for students.  Parent Conferences are Wednesday and Thursday.  This conference is student led.  It will be an opportunity for your child to show you everything they have completed during the school year.  Therefore, please bring your child to the conference.   :)

Have a great weekend, and see you at international day at 3pm in the green gym!  Enjoy the weekly slideshow. 

Happy Birthday Alex

Our sweet Alex turned 5 years old yesterday!  Hanane, Alex's mommy, came to class with cake pops to celebrate.  Thank you for making our day special, and happy birthday Alex!

Country Presentations

Ms. Hend came to visit us to share with us about Egypt, Karma's native home.  She read us a story in Arabic and Hana, Karma's sister, translated it into English.  Then she had us all take home a dessert from Egypt.  Thank you Ms. Hend!

Later, Mihika's mother and father joined us to share about India.  Ms. Deepika told us a lovely story of Ram and Diwali.  Mr. Parvesh shared with us that Diwali is the festival of lights that happens around November.  They then passed out goodie bags filled with a candle, a table, an India shaped badge and a sweet.   Thank you Ms. Deepika and Mr. Parvesh.  Having you both was such a treat!

Banners Galore!

Zaha and Lenny did an excellent job of presenting their banners today about Pakistan and Germany.  Way to go friends, and thank you parents for working with us to make this unit so meaningful.

Important Update

International Day EC Performance

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Please arrive at the green gym* to join your child’s class no later than 3:00pm*.

Dressing in national clothing from your native country is encouraged. 

*Time and location has been changed from first note.  Please arrive at 3:00 in the Green Gym.

All Around the World

Today we had two very special guests in our class.  

Mr. Matthew, George's father, came to class to share with us about George's native country of India.  To begin, Mr. Matthew put sandalwood paste on all our foreheads, just like they do before school in India.  This is used to help all the information taught sink in our brains.  After we all had a dot of sandalwood paste, he told us a story of Ram and how Kerala, George's state in India, was founded by a throwing of a knife and splitting of the sea.  After the story, we watched as he showed us how to wear a mundu, the traditional clothes of Kerala.  Even with learning all this information, Mr. Matthew, also left us with Banana chips made in India.  Upon departing, he bowed his head and taught us the word "Namaste" for goodbye.  (It's also used for hello!)  We were very lucky to have Mr. Matthew here with us today to give us insight about India.  Thank you for coming!

In the afternoon, we had our second special guest Ms. Yasmine, Hussein's mom.  His little brother Saleem also came to help!  Ms. Yasmine and Hussein are from the country of Egypt.  She showed us the flag of Egypt, and then we had the chance to color our own flag with red, black, and a yellow eagle in the center.  Later, Ms. Yasmine shared harissa, a traditional Egyptian cake.  It was very delicious.  Thank you Ms. Yasmine for coming today we are happy to learn about Hussein's native country of Egypt!