Year 2 Fun In Music Class
Music ignites all areas of child development and skills for school readiness, including intellectual, social-emotional, motor, language, and overall literacy. It helps the body and the mind work together. Exposing children to music during early development helps them learn the sounds and meanings of words.
Because of music:
- I can be a singer
- I can be creative
- I can be smart
- I can be a reader
- I can be active
- I can be a learner
- I can be joyful
- I can be a thinker
- I can be a listener
- I can be a team player
- I can be aware of others
This week our Year 2’s had some fun in Music class with their teacher, Mrs Du Plessis. The students practiced learning some clapped & repeated rhythms and then followed that with playing some of these rhythms on various instruments along with listening to different songs. They also enjoyed identifying various sounds together. The Year 2’s absolutely love going Music class each week – a chance for them to enjoy and express themselves individually whilst still having a great time together as a class.
Siobhan Hendry
Year 2 Teacher
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Support Throughout The Students
“Everyone needs a house to live in, but a supportive family builds a home.” – Anthony Liccione
As a Year 1 teacher, I have realised the importance of the younger students participating in supporting the older students in their sports. It is also important for the older students to show their support and provide motivation to the younger students. This support can come in the form of attending sports days, watching and cheering on matches, reading to the younger students to encourage reading and by being good role models for the younger studens. Support such as this, helps to build a passion for sport which will motivate young students to later participate in school sports. This is vital for students when growing up as a team sport can teach students things they cannot learn in a classroom.
I would like to encourage all parents and teachers to motivate students to want to support their fellow peers, from younger age groups to the older age groups.
“It is really important that we promote competitive support in schools. It is very important that we recognise that has to be underpinned by good quality physical education and by getting people into patterns of exercise.” – Sebastian Coe
Year 1 Teacher
Erin Hierse
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Enthusiasm… Motivation… Excitement
I often wonder why I chose to train for (in my day) kindergarten at the teacher’s training college I attended. I mean, they can be frustrating, tiring with their endless energy, impatient, loud… The list is endless. I am sure that most parents will agree. I am not saying that the other age groups are not without their challenges, but the younger ones?
Then Tuesday, 19 July arrived and it was the beginning of the third term. That was when I remembered why I had chosen to teach this age group. Along with the frustrations, comes their passion for learning, enthusiasm, motivation, boundless hugs and just their absolute honesty: Teacher, you look beautiful, but you are still old.
Quite honestly, with the joy our students bring into our lives every day, I would never ever give this up.
I would like to wish our students, parents and fellow teachers a wonderful third term.
Kim Coetzer
Year 2 Teacher
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Investigating Weight And Mass In Year 1
We have had a fantastic time in Year 1 this last week, introducing weight and mass in some practical lessons.
The students learnt how to use the balance scales to compare the mass of different objects. They discovered that mass is not always related to size. They used mathematical vocabulary to describe their discoveries by using the words ‘heavier’, ‘lighter’, ‘heaviest’, ‘lightest’, ‘the same’ and ‘equal to’. They then explained their reasoning.
We set up a shop in each class and asked the students to work in pairs and “go shop”. They then discussed and compared the mass and weight of different items in the shops. They had a lot of fun learning this concept in Mathematics.
Perhaps next time you take your child to the shops to buy food, you can do some practical weight/mass investigations together!
Charlotte Cronje
Year 1 Teacher
Year 1 Outing To The Science Centre
A visit to the Cape Town Science Center is a highlight for many students. On Tuesday, 7 June the Year 1 students enjoyed the morning at the center.
The students were fascinated to see the camera obscura where they saw a 360 view of cape town while sitting inside a dark room. They then enjoyed a lesson about shapes and had to complete a challenging shape sudoku. Working together to build a wall on the construction site was great fun; however when it came time to tidy up the students were not as enthusiastic.
The interactive exhibits allow the students to see how science works in the world around us. Finally, we had the Wizz, Pop, Bang Show, with lots of exciting chemical reactions making fire and sounds and the genie coming out the bottle had everyone enthralled.
The bus ride back to school was quiet and some even fell asleep after a very busy morning.
Here is what some of the students had to say about the Outing:
My favourite part is the … bottle rocket and the lighting box! (Ozioma)
I liked the food table and I liked the bottle rocket. (Leah Koopman)
I saw coloured fire and I saw the camera obscura. (Nathaniel)
I liked building a wall and mommy came with me. (Leah Karstel)
I liked the Lego site and I liked the speaking tubes. (Uche)
Ann Cordner
Year 1 Teacher and Key Stage 1 Coordinator
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Year 2 Word Search Fun!
Word searches for children are available in a variety of themes and age-appropriate versions, which means that there is a word search out there for every type of child. Each word search features a list of words, some of which a child will be familiar with, and some of which will be new. The more a child encounters new words, the bigger his or her vocabulary will grow.
The following are the benefits of a word search:
- Provide hours of fun
- Improves vocabulary
- Improves spelling skills
- Can enhance productivity
- Provide a way for adults and children to bond
- Offers an appropriate way for children to socialize
- Develops problem-solving and pattern-recognition skills
- Nurtures an attitude of persistence
- Provide effective stress relief and working memory
This week our Year 2’s had some fun doing a word search activity in their Science class. For Science this term we have been looking at Light and Dark Sources. We find that this kind of activity is a fun way to learn and also revise what we have learnt as well.
Siobhan Hendry
Year 2 Teacher
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A “Safety Circle”
The Year One teachers focused on teaching the students about their safety circle this week. We feel that it is important that our students have a safe group or safe circle that they may approach whether they are in trouble, unhappy, worried or just want to talk. A safe group or safe circle is the few most trusted people in our student’s life.
It is important for students to have a safety circle. Students should be able to name five people on their hand who they can trust and rely on. The Year One students discussed who is in their safety circle, the reason for a safety circle and to know when to use their safety circle.
We encourage parents to communicate with their children to see if anything is disturbing them and to continue to check in on them from time to time without being too controlling. We have noticed that being casual in the way one communicates with children will give them the courage to open up to you more.
“At the end of the day, the goals are simple: safety and security.” – Jodi Rell.
Year 1 Teacher
Erin Hierse
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Having Fun With Shadows
The Year 2 classes have been learning about light and dark during their Science lessons. They have looked at different light sources and can identify those which are man-made and those which occur naturally.
We had some fun during our last Science lesson, using shadows to make funny creatures on the whiteboard, using the light from the projector to create shadows. My class decided that this was the best Science lesson. There was much laughter as their classmates tried to guess what the creature made by their friends were.
Kim Coetzer
Year 2 Teacher
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Marvellous Materials
We have been learning about marvellous materials in our Science lessons in Year 1. Exploring, investigating and identifying different materials is all part of the fun and we have been very busy this week.
We used the school Ipads to identify and take pictures both inside and outside of the classroom of 4 different types of materials, “glass, plastic, wood and metal.” The students then edited and labelled each picture they took and presented it back to their friends in class.
We were very impressed by the discoveries the Year 1s made and how well they recorded their findings.
The students thoroughly enjoyed these interactive activities!
Charlotte Cronje
Year 1 Teacher
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Investigating Capacity
The most effective way for students to learn new concepts is by taking part in practical investigations. This makes their learning more meaningful.
This week, the Year 1 students have learnt that capacity means how much something can hold. Our classes had great fun investigating this concept and conducted various experiments.
Fortunately, the weather was kind to us and the students could go outside and use the water troughs to do practical activities. They had to find out how many cups of water could fill a pot, beaker, vase etc. In groups they had to predict which container could hold the most water and then find a way to prove their answer. This required them to communicate their ideas and reasoning with their peers.
In class we learnt that capacity is not only about how much liquid a container can hold, we filled cups with bottle tops and corks. First making an estimate and then checking, by counting the number of bottle tops and corks the cups contained.
An important part of investigation is being able to accurately record your findings. The Year 1 students did a wonderful job of recording their findings after conducting all the capacity experiments. Well done Year 1!
Ann Cordner
Year 1 teacher
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