--
Happy New Year! The holidays are over and we are all back at school ready for lots of teaching, learning, and fun! the children all appear to be happy, keen, and well rested and are looking forward to lots of new things this half term. So, without further ado, let me give you a general breakdown of what we will be doing!
English this half term sees us re-capping nouns, verbs, and adjectives and of course, we will continue to focus on sentence writing and story sequencing. Adding verb tenses (past, present, and future) will be a useful challenge as this will add dimension to the children's writing. Vocabulary building is ongoing, and plays an important part of day-to-day reading and writing. We will be looking at syllables, poetry, and classic fairy tales, such as "The Three Billy Goats Gruff", and "The Little Red Hen". Not only are these stories and absolute must and 'right of passage' in children's literature, they will form the basis for our Spiritual Education - as these stories rely on 'right and wrong' and 'making the right choices'. There will be many questions and 'what ids' so that we can have good debates about the choices and endings of these stories and how we might make them differently by exploring alternative options! In addition, we will be recapping the days of the week, 'weather words' and parts of the body.
In History, we will look at the late Nelson Mandela - Madiba. The children will have the opportunity to research and learn about this iconic man. They will make a time line of major achievements in his life and celebrate him as an African leader. We will also be using one of his quotes: "Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world" as a point for debate!
Geography is all about countries, capitals, climates, and culture. We will take three countries (students' choice) to explore. We will look at differences and similarities between the environment we are in and the countries we have chosen, and discuss what it might be like to live there. We'll look at flags, food, and families too! Wow!
Art takes us up close and personal with The BIG FIVE and BIG ART. We will be looking at the Big Five in Kenya; the lion, the leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo. We will work collaboratively to creative big, exaggerated animal heads that will be displayed at school. The art emphasis will be on textures, prints, and patterns, so drawing on what we learned and the knowledge we have from last term.
Physical Education, as ever, will see us continue with swimming, horse riding, music/movement, yoga, and meditation. On top of this, Phillip continues his wonderful PE curriculum with outdoor skills, which this term includes hand-ball, volleyball, soccer skills and athletics to name a few.
Math as always is eclectic! We will (and always will) be recapping times tables, mental maths, and basic arithmetic in a broad way. Numbers are not just about sums on a board.. we have to explore problems and problem solving and apply maths to everyday situations. We are going to be looking at 5, 6, and 7 sided shapes as well as 3D shapes. We will take walks to look at where we can find these shapes in our environment as well as making them from different materials.
Phillip takes Class 2 on the scientific journey through comparing living and non-living things, weather symbols, charts and appropriate dress/clothing for such weather, basic needs of both humans and animals with comparisons between each, external parts of the human body and how to maintain its health.
Kiswahili as ever, introduces new and recaps familiar vocabulary, grammar, and spelling strategies. It is interesting in this age group how English and Kiswahili mirror each other a great deal.
Social Studies looks at travelling safely to and from school and the dangers we may encounter along the way (zebra, giraffe...), as well as asking questions such as, "How do we keep ourselves safe?". Phillip will also be introducing the topic of dangerous insects and dangerous/poisonous plants around the school. Something very useful in the Kenyan savannah!
So, from all of us here at Kanzi Academy, Karibu tena, and keeping popping back to check from more weekly updates and photos!
Kindest wishes, Sarah
No comments :
Post a Comment