Asalaamu'alykum Dear Parents,
I pray you all are in good health inshaAllah.
I've jotted down some updates from the previous two weeks of class.
Science: We are nearing the end of our unit on movement and simple machines. We had an interesting time learning about the various different ways our everyday work is made easy due to these 6 basic mechanical devices: lever, pulley, wheel and axle, inclined plane, screw and wedge. During one of our classes we had a physicist visit us from Scientists in School. She helped the students explore the science of simple machines by encouraging them to apply what they learned in a bunch of hands-on activities. By the end of the workshop they learned to recognize all the devices in their environment. Big success on their part! To wrap up this unit, i'll be handing out a take-home project on Monday and will email all parents the expectations as well as the requirements.
Math: Students learned plenty about area and perimeter using non-standard and standard units, as well as 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes over the past two weeks. They not only learned the shapes names but focused on other features such as edges, faces, vertices and whether or not 3D shapes can slide, stack or roll. This helped them to determine the difference between 2D and 3D shapes. We watched related videos and completed workbook activities in which they had to describe and draw 2D shapes and describe the features of 3D objects. They were also involved in making skeletons of a variety of 3D shapes using tooth picks and play dough to investigate how many faces, edges and vertices each 3D shape has.
Language/Library: For our novel study, we finished reading up to chapter 10 of Fantastic Mr.Fox by Roald Dahl. Sometimes the suspense of what will happen next becomes unbearable for some, which is a good indication of how interested they are :) For the most part, students have been diligent with completing the corresponding dictionary detective, main idea, and comprehension worksheets. We've been keen on learning how to use the dictionary as of late thanks to Tr.Nancy, our librarian ,who developed their dictionary skills over the past two library periods. I've noticed that students feel a lot more confident looking through their dictionaries because they're using the techniques shown by Tr.Nancy almost on a daily basis, all the while learning new words and their respective synonyms mashaAllah!
Spelling: We haven't had a spelling test in the past week but will resume this coming week on Thursday, May 18th inshaAllah. The words I will test them on will be from Lesson 32 "Words with the oi and ou Sound": sound, frown, soil, mouth, now, toy, oil, spoil, noise, owl.
BONUS! smothered, keen, oath, wheel and axle.
Art: On friday students had great fun getting their hands dirty with clay during their pottery workshop. After being introduced to the dos and donts, a couple of helpful techniques and a demo, they went ahead with making their own imaginary creatures but some stuck to sculpting real life animals like rabbits and beavers. By the end of the workshop they understood how to manipulate clay and seemed quite satisfied. Their masterpieces will be delivered back to them in a week's time after the finishing touches are made inshaAllah.
Gym: In gym we've been having a lot of fun playing a number of invasion games and relay race games. Recently students participated in their first fun fitness-oriented routine called 4 corners where they had to demonstrate a variety of rhythmic exercises such as line jumps, jumping jacks, push-ups and bicycle jumps at the 4 different stations set up.
Reminders.
- No school on Friday May 19th, 2017.
- Homework was not assigned for this week.
- Marked assignments will be handed back in the upcoming week.
- Please remind your children to read on RazKids for 20 minutes every day
- If your child has any items that need to be returned to the library, kindly remind them.
- Project details on Simple Machines will be handed out and sent via email on Monday inshaAllah
- Please encourage your children to follow the sunnah they loved on the "Sunnahgram" bulletin board last Wednesday. It is related to the character trait of the month: Leadership. We are trying to emulate the teachings of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw).
JazakAllah khayr.
