Monday, October 24, 2011

Monday, 24th October

Homework

1. English Exam Paper Set A (Pupils who attend remedial have completed it)

Notice:

1. I returned

- Maths Workbook 1A pt 1 and pt 2
- Maths Homework 1A
- Maths File
- English File

The pupils need not bring to school any of the returned items.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Friday, 21st October

Homework:

1. Please complete the Non-routine booklet.


Important Notice:

1. Please take note that I have given the pupils the class photos that they have ordered. If there are any discrepancies, please write a note to me in the student diary. Thank you.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Exam Tips for Maths

New Updates!!!! Please take note that the important tips are always highlighted in red.

The tips I am giving is based on:


1. the format of the P1 SA2 Maths Exam (let's teach the children to be exam smart)
2. misconceptions made by pupils in their work
3. 'careless mistakes' by pupils

Note: (Of late, I find it helpful to highlight to pupils their common mistakes and specifically tell them to look out for them when they check. This seems to be an improvement from simply asking them to 'check your work! check their work!' which simply frustrates everyone. Telling them their 'careless mistakes' helps them to identify and correct them. However this metacognitive skill (awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes) needs to be developed.

Careless Mistakes

Numbers to 100

a) Pupils sometimes misread the instructions.

- Write the correct number in words

Example: 48 instead of forty-eight

b) Pupils tend to miss out or mix up the instructions for 'circle' and 'colour'.

c) Number Patterns - Please as much as possible encourage the pupils to indicate with arrows the difference between the two adjacent numbers. This is important because the difference is not always consistent and this meticulous step prevents them from making a mistake. Please refer to the diagram below.



Place value

a) Example: 48 = 40 tens and 8 ones instead of 4 tens and 8 ones

b) Please take note of the numbers in red in the diagram below. This will help pupils make less mistakes. The place value table helps them to translate 3 tens 9 ones into numerals e.g. 39




Mass


Time

a) Please ask them to look carefully at the hour hand. They can circle it the way I did in the diagram if necessary. If the hour hand has not past 1, than it should be half past 12.







Number Bonds

a) Pupils must know how to interpret the number bond. It comes out in every exam paper.


Length

a) Please take note that the question usually asks for the difference. It would be good if the pupils draw the dotted lines and indicate the length of each of the object (as shown in the diagram).




Friday, October 14, 2011

14th October, Friday

Notice:

Dear Parents, thank you for working with me for our first two tests. The English Oral and the Listening Comprehension. Thanks to your support, the children did very well for their English Oral with more than half the class scoring 13/15. What an achievement. The results of the other paper is not ready yet. I have returned their English and Math worksheets to them for revision during the PSLE marking days. I will be posting study and exam tips throughout the week so do keep checking the blog for daily updates. Let's work together to help the children achieve their best.

Important notice:

1. Mon-Thur next week are non-schooling days. Please help me to make sure the pupils come to school on Friday. Anytime I have left with them before the exam is very precious.

Homework:

1. Maths Practice Paper 3. Please allow them to complete the paper on their own so that I can get an idea of their ability level. Feel free to correct them if you want to but leave their original answers.
2. Maths and English worksheet corrections.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Thursday, 13th October

Homework:

1. Complete workbook ( most would have already finished it in school)
2. Maths Money Worksheet 2

Important Reminders:
1. Please bring the Maths fastened worksheets so thy we may file more worksheets.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Wednesday, 12th October

Important reminder:

1. Supplementary tomorrow at 12.45p.m. - 2p.m.

Venue: Class 1.6

2. Tomorrow is the listening comprehension exam.
Pls practice the 20 spelling words with the pupils. These 20 marks from the listening exam can make a difference between a Band 1 and band 2.

Spelling- 10 marks
Listening - 10 marks

Commonly Mispelled words:

Cupboard, candles, tasted delicious, birthday, heavy, stripes

Writing sentences:
Begin a sentence with a capital letter and end with a full stop.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Tuesday, 11th October

Important Reminder:

1. Tomorrow is the English oral exam. Please practice the reading aloud and picture discussion.

Here are the tips I shared with them:

Reading Aloud (10 marks)

- read fluently
- read with expression
- pronounce the words properly ( pls refer to the common mistakes posted on Sunday)

It is very easy to score full marks. Please help them practice so they can get full marks.

Picture discussion (5 marks)

1. This is a picture of ...
2. Describe what the people are doing
3. I think ...
4. Speak in present tense
5. Thank you. That is all I have to say about the picture.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Saturday, October 8, 2011

What We Learnt This Week

English

  • We did 'Reading Aloud'. Here are the tips I shared with the pupils:

Tip 1. Read fluently. I gave the pupils an example of reading fluently by using a pointer/finger.
Reading fluidly - Pointer or finger moves from one word to another smoothly

Example: One morning, / Danial went to the market with his mother.

Reading abruptly - Pointer or finger points to one word at a time. One word is read at a time.

Example: One/ morning,/ Danial/ went/ to/ the/ market/ with/ his/ mother.

Tip 2. Pronunciation: Pronounce the last letter of the word.

Examples:

"las" instead of "last" , "firs" instead of "first"
"live" instead of "lived"
"stop" instead of "stopped"

Tip 3: Common mistakes in pronunciation.

Example: "de" instead of "the"
"their" is pronounced as "there" not "de-are"


  • We did 'Picture Discussion'.




Tip 1: Begin the picture discussion.

Example: "This is a picture of a clinic."

Tip 2: Start from right to left or left to right. Please remember to

(a) Highlight what is happening or what the people in the picture are doing.
(b) Share your opinion.

Example: "There is a girl sitting on her mother's lap". "She is crying." I think the mother brought her to the doctor because she is feeling unwell.

Tip 3: Use the present tense.

Tip 4: Do not say "I see..." instead say "there is ..."


Friday, October 7, 2011

Friday, 7th October

Homework

1. English Worksheet page 11-12
2. Maths Money Worksheet
3. Maths Diagnostic Test
4. Maths Practice Paper Set A


Important Reminder

1. There will be remedial on Monday at 10:45 a.m.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Wednesday, 5th October

Important Reminders:

1. Wear sporty attire tomorrow. If they don't have any, you may wear the PE- attire.
2. Please sign the Written Expression Class Test
3. Please bring the homework file tomorrow.
4. Do try to bring some food to share for our class party.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Tuesday, 4th October

Homework

1. Maths Workbook page 84-100


Important Reminders

1. Sign spelling book
2. Sign the yellow booklet.
3. Sign the listening Practice Paper 1 Set B
4. Sign the reply slip for the Exam topics.
5. Practice oral and picture discussion.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Monday, 3rd October

Important reminder:

1. Do sign the Practice Paper 2 Set B. We did it in class and it's a good gauge of their current standard. Please emphasize and highligt the grammar items. I have done so just now but it would be good to reinforce it again at home.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

What We Learnt This Week

Mathematics

Money: Common Mistakes

1. 60$ instead of $60
2. ¢60 instead of 60¢

Pupils need more practice:
2. $1 = ______ 20-cent coins
3. $1 = ______ 10-cent coins
4. $1 = _______ 1-cent coins

Friday, September 30, 2011

Friday, 30th August

Homework

1. Maths Worksheet Money (1)
2. Maths Homework Book: Money (1)

Important Reminders:

1. Exam Topics have been given out
2. Sharity Envelope donation to be given on Monday

Monday, September 26, 2011

Monday, 26th September

Important notice:

1. There is no remedial tomorrow, 27th September.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

What We Learnt This Week

Mathematics

Numbers to 100:

1. Spelling errors
90 - ninty
40 - fourty

2. Revision of adding and subtracting with regrouping this time with Numbers to 100.
(Most pupils find this easy as we have done this previously in the topic 'Numbers to 40')





Friday, September 23, 2011

Friday, 23rd September

Homework:

1. Complete the Maths Worksheet.
2. Complete page 2-4 on the English worksheet.

Important Reminder:

1. Please ensure your child wear the PE attire on Monday as it is Lower Primary Games Day.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Thursday, 22nd September

Important Notice:

1. Please take note that the SA2 Exam Spelling List has been given out today.

Practice 1: Wednesday, 28th September No. 1-10
Practice 2: Wednesday, 6th October No. 11-20

Note: The words from the Term 4 spelling list will not be tested on these two dates.

2. The Young Zoologist Badge has been given to those who completed the activities. They may wear the collar pin on their uniform.

Homework:

1. Workbook page 39-52

Wednesday, 21st September

Homework:

1. Please complete the fruity face poster that they did in class using crayons.
2. Please complete a second fruity face poster using paint.

Please bring both posters to school tomorrow.


Some examples:



Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Monday, September 19, 2011

Monday, 19th September

Homework

1. Unit worksheet: Time
2. Maths Homework page 71-75 (most have completed it in class).

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Term 4, Week 2

English

1. We learned the use of 'this', 'that', 'these' and 'those':

Grammar rule:

*Please begin revising all the grammar rules I have taught as they will be tested in the exam.

Example: Who is _______ man standing by the gate?

(1) this
(2) that
(3) these
(4) those

2. We learned to change singular nouns ending with -fe, -f, and -y to their plural forms.

Rule: Replace -fe, -f, and -y with -ies

Example:

-fe

wife - wives, knife - knives

-f
loaf - loaves, leaf - leaves

-y
lorry - lorries, story - stories, body - bodies

*Do differentiate from words ending with -eg. monkeys
*Please begin revising the rules I have taught. Do take note they will be tested in the exam.

Example:

There are many lorry in the carpark. lorries

Mathematics

1. Division is the concept of 'sharing equally'. Each group must have equal number of items.

Things to take note (common mistakes):

- Groups of 2 do not mean 2 groups. Emphasize that groups of two mean each group has 2.
Division problem sums

Concept: Groups of 3
Mary has 15 bracelets. She gives 3 bracelets to each friend. How many friends did she have?


Concept: 3 groups
Mary has 15 bracelets. She gave an equal number of bracelets to her 3 friends. How many bracelets did each friend get?


Emphasise the different concepts to help them understand and solve division problems.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Thursday, 16th September

Homework:

1. Maths workbook page 16-20
2. Maths Homework book page 63-68

Important reminder:

1. Pupils will be dismissed at 5:30p.m. tomorrow. Please take note.
2. Dear parents, it would be great if you can provide your comments about the Musical Theatre programme and the performance you watched yesterday.You can leave a comment on the blog.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Wednesday, 14th July

Homework

1. Complete Pupil's Strengths form. Please do provide any certificates or forms for verification of any particular award or achievement. i.e. swimming, piano, art competition etc

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Tuesday, 13th September

Important reminders

1. Tomorrow please ensure your child brings a packed lunch, a water bottle, their Maths workbook part 2, a storybook and a pencil case

2. Pupils must be in their PE attire tomorrow to facilitate the change of costumes.

3. Do take note that if you would like to watch the performance tomorrow, you have to be seated in the hall by 3.15p.m. The performance will begin at 3:30 p.m.

4. There is early dismissal on Friday at 5:30p.m due to the Mid-autumn celebration. Please take note and make the necessary arrangements.

Parent volunteers please report at the office at 1.30p.m. Thank you. Your help is much needed and appreciated.

Homework:

1. Maths workbook page 5-15.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Monday, 12th September

Important Notice:

1. The Musical Theatre performance will be on Wednesday, 14th Spetember. Parent volunteers would be greatly welcomed to help the pupils change into their costumes. Do drop me an sms if you are interested.

Parent volunteers arrival time : 1.15 p.m
Parents ( guests) : 3 p.m

2. Please bring scissors, glue and stapler tomorrow. There's no need to bring construction paper as I will be providing it. We will be making a flower and giving it to the school helpers as a show of appreciation.

3. Sign the Spelling book.

4. Bring Maths workbook 1B part 2.

Homework

1.. English worksheet page 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 & 10.

Spelling dates

1. 15th September
2. 21 September
3. 28th September
4. 5th October

Thursday, September 1, 2011

September Holidays

Important Notice:

1. Supplementary consent form 6th September, 10-1p.m
2. Term 4 , Spelling List. Pls bring it on the first day of school so we can finalize the term 4 spelling dates.
3. Exam schedule. Pls do not lose the exam schedule.

Holiday Homework

1. Picture composition
2. Language usage booklet page 8,9,22 and 23.

Dearest Parents,

Thank you very much for the lovely teachers' day gifts. I am touched by the effort you and your child have made to show your appreciation.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Wednesday, 31st August

Important Reminders:
1. School attire for tomorrow: Anything yellow/green; malay costume and school shoes
2. Sign and return the Musical Theatre consent form by tomorrow. It would really be great if you could come and watch your child perform.
3. If you're interested for your child to take the Muscial Theatre Exam, do complete the registration form and include the $40 fee. Please take note that it is strongly encouraged but not compulsory.
4. Complete and decorate the appreciation note for teachers.
5. Please report to school as per usual tomorrow by 1.45 p.m. Dismissal is as per usual also. Please remind your child to leave their school bags at the classroom before reporting at the outdoor stage by 1.45 p.m.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Wednesday, 24th August

Important Reminders

1. Thursday and Friday 25th & 26th August are E-learning days and are non-schooling days. Do ensure that your child logs on to Mc Online and completes the assigned tasks. 2 tasks will be given for each subject.

* Do check the class blog for any possible updates on both the E-learning days. The children have from the 25th -29th to complete the tasks.


1st Update :
1. You can access the school website and subsequently the level blog via this link:
School Website

Tuesday, 23rd August

Homework

1. Picture Composition - Please leave a line and write at least eight sentences. The composition should have three paragraphs, the beginning, middle and ending.


Monday, August 22, 2011

Monday, 22nd August

Homework

1. Please complete the FTGP booklet page 49. Parents do sign on the page after your child has completed it. Thank you very much.

2. Journal Writing

1. I am happy when...
2. My Best Birthday Ever

Do include illustrations.

Please note: I will be collecting the Teachers' Day Appreciation Message tomorrow.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

What We Have Learnt in Term 3 Week 8

Important Notice

1. Do take note of the amendments made regarding the questions and pages to be completed for homework in the previous post. I typed the wrong pages and the pupils will be unable to do the homework as I have not taught them division or page 11-14 of the English worksheet. I do apologise for any inconvenience caused. For your easy reference, listed below are the amendments:

Homework

1. Maths Diagnostic Test (*complete questions on multiplication only as we have not done division) (Amendment as of 19/8)
2. Please sign the Mathematics workbook. Complete the corrections
3. The Enormous Watermelon page 14-17 (Ammendment as of 18/8)
4. Complete the Teachers' Day Appreciation Message.

Mathematics

1. Multiplication in Word Problems (Revise)

After doing more multiplication word problems with the students, I find that it is useful to use the multiplication concept of (groups and items) and models to solve word problems.

Example:

There are three children. The teacher gives each child 6 sweets. How many sweets does the teacher give out altogether?


Teaching Note 1:

Multiplication concept of (groups and items)

*Highlight that there are 3 groups of 6 = 3 children with 6 sweets each

Thus the number sentence is 3 x 6 = 18

**Highlight that the first factor 3 represents the groups and the second factor 6 represents the items in each group. This helps them to formulate the multiplication number sentence.







Highlighting the groups of items in the word problem, i.e. ___ groups of _____ will help them to see that they need to multiply and not add to get the answer.

Teaching Note 2:

Models

I find it effective to get pupils to draw models to visually represent the word problem especially when no picture representations are given.



This model will come in especially useful in helping pupils understand the concept of division ( concept of equal proportions) when we are doing division later .




English

Sound discrimination and listening comprehension (Revise)

1. We practiced listening and identifying the ending sounds /ow/, /tch/, /ose/ and /op/ in words such as cow, witch, rose and mop.

2. We practiced listening and identifying the beginning sounds /f/, /sh/, /k/ and /scr/ in words such as frame, shake, kite and screw.

Common mistakes:

1. Pupils confuse beginning and ending sounds.

Example 1:
They selected the word shake as beginning with the beginning sound /k/ instead of the word kite.

(Error is due to the fact that shake has the ending sound /k/)

Example 2:
They selected the word pot as ending with the ending sound /ose/ instead of the word pose.

(Error is due to the fact that pose and pot has the same beginning sound /p/)

Teaching note: Do highlight and practice listening and identifying the beginning and ending sounds that have been taught as this will be tested in SA2.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Wednesday, 17th August

Important Notice
1. There is no school for P1-P5 students on 18 & 19 August as it is the PSLE oral examination day. Please come to school as per usual on Monday.

2. I have issued the library cards for the pupils who have recently registered as members of the NLB.


Homework

1. Maths Diagnostic Test (*complete questions on multiplication only as we have not done division) (Ammendment as of 19/8)
2. Please sign the Mathematics workbook. Complete the corrections
3. The Enormous Watermelon page 14-17 (Ammendment as of 18/8)
4. Complete the Teachers' Day Appreciation Message.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Tuesday, 16th August

Homework:

1. Maths Homework book page 54-62


Important Reminder:

1. Please allow your child to bring their library card/school smart card tomorrow so that they can borrow the NLB books. For those who have recently registered, I have been informed that you can use your school smart card to borrow the books tomorrow.


Sunday, August 14, 2011

Monday, 15th August

Homework

1. Maths Homework book page 45-54

Important Reminder

1. Please allow your child to bring his or her library card on Wednesday so they may borrow books from the NLB.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

What We Have Learnt in Term 3 Week 7

Mathematics

1. Multiplication as repeated addition

4 + 4 + 4 = 3 groups of 4 = 3 fours = 3 x 4

Please note: Emphasize that we added '4' three times. Hence it is 3 x 4.

Common mistake: 4 + 4 + 4 = 4 x 4

2. Multiplication in word problems.

Please note:

a. Highlight the word 'each' and 'altogether'. This helps them to differentiate (tell the difference) between addition problem sums and multiplication problem sums.

b. Clarify that 'each' represents how much one 'group' i.e. bottle, basket, box has. Emphasise that it also means that each group has the same number of objects.

Example:
Missy had 3 bottles. Each bottle has 4 marbles. How many marbles are there altogether?

Correct answer: 4 + 4 + 4 = 12 or 3 x 4 = 12

Common mistake: 3 + 4 = 7

English

1. We revised singular and plural nouns. Pupils need to remember when to add 'es' and when not to.

Grammar rule for -o words:

Add 'es' when a consonant is followed by the letter 'o'.

Examples: tomato - tomatoes, potato - potatoes, hero - heroes

Add 's' when a vowel is followed by the letter 'o'
Examples: kangaroo - kangaroos, video - videos, radio - radios

Exceptions:

  1. Shortened words, where you add "-s". For example, "autos" ("automobile"), "photos" ("photograph"), "kilos" ("kilogram"), "Zoos" (zoological garden).
  2. Words with Italian origin. For example, "graffito" becomes "graffiti", and "inferno" becomes "infernos", zero becomes zeros.
Common mistakes: tomato - tomatos , onion - oniones, is - was
Correct answer: tomatoes, onions, are


Thursday, August 11, 2011

Thursday, 11th August

Homework

1. A Sum A Day Booklet page 29-37
2. Language Usage Booklet 2 page 8, 18-20

Saturday, August 6, 2011

What We Have Learnt in Term 3 Week 6

English

1. We revised and practiced the grammar rules we learnt last week. There is a list of common words in their present and past tense on page 13 of 'The Lazy Duck Worksheet' that you can use to help the students revise and spell common words in their past tense.

Common mistakes:

Mistake 1: Pupils add '-ed' to the ends of the verbs without removing the 's'.

Present - The duck waddles every day.
Past - The duck waddlesed yesterday. (mistake)

Mistake 2: Pupils add the letter 's' or remove the letter 's' to change the verb to the past form.

Present - I go to school every day.
Past - I goes to school yesterday. (mistake)

Present - They go to school every day.
Past - They goes to school yesterday. (mistake)

Mistake 3: Pupils use the past tense after the word 'to'

I want to blew the candles. (mistake)

__________________________________

2. We learnt when to answer questions in the present or past tense. Students need a lot of practice with this and they tend to answer in the present tense.

Example 1:

1. How did you come to school? *I asked them to circle the word 'did'.

I took a bus.

2. Who helped the king? *I asked them to circle the word 'helped'
The cook, queen and gardener helped the king.

Example 2:

1. How do you come to school every day? *I asked them to circle the word 'do'

I take a bus.

2. What would you like to do tomorrow?
I would like to go swimming.

Mathematics

1. We revise the concept of 'finding the difference'.

Example:

Daryl has 28 birds. Qi Hua has 19 birds. How many more birds does Daryl have?

Daryl has 28 birds. Qi Hua has 19 birds. How many fewer birds does Qi Hua have?

Please note:

(a) Regardless of whether the question is 'how many more' or 'how many fewer', they are asking for the difference and therefore we need to subtract the two quantities to find the difference.

(b) Some pupils apply this rule generally and as long as they see the word more or fewer they try to 'find the difference'. Emphasize that the question has to specifically be 'how many more' or 'how many fewer'.

Common mistake:

Daryl has 28 birds. Qi Hua has 10 more birds.

How many birds does Qi Hua have? *Highlight that the question did not ask 'how many more'

28 - 10 = 18 (mistake)
___________________________________________
2. Use a comparision model to solve word problems.

Tips:
a. Label the models.
b. Indicate with a question mark what you have to find.

Example 1:

Daryl has 28 birds. Qi Hua has 19 birds. How many more birds does Daryl have?

Example 2:

Daryl has 28 birds. He has 9 more birds than Qi Hua. How many birds does Qi Hua have?




Common Mistake:



_____________________________________

3. Pupils need to make sure they carry out their computations correctly and not make careless mistakes. Please emphasize it is important to carry our cancellation and regrouping and to indicate in their working.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Friday, 5th August

Important Reminders:
1. Pupils are to wear a red t-shirt with the school short or skirt and school shoes. No PE shorts allowed.

2. Please ensure your child reports to school by 7.30 a.m. if possible. They are to report latest by 7.45a.m.

3. They are to only bring the national day pennants, water bottle, pencil case and storybook.

Example of National Day pennants:





Holiday Homework
1. Language Usage Booklet page 2-5, 8-11, 14-15 & 23.
2. Maths Diagnostic test
3. Sign the 4 English worksheets. This is a chance for them to revise what they have learnt in English so far.
4. Sign the Heuristic Booklet. This is a chance for them to revise model drawing.
5. Sign the Spelling Book. Complete the corrections.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

4th August, Thursday

Homework

1. Maths Workbook page 81-81
2. Maths Homework book 41-43

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Wednesday, 3rd August

Important Reminder
1. Complete the registration to be a NLB member by tomorrow. If your child is already a member of the library, please allow your child to bring their library card to school tomorrow as verification.
2. Please complete the order form for the class photos. Below are samples of the photographs for you to make your selection















Homework
1. Maths Homework book page 29-38.


Monday, August 1, 2011

Monday, 1st August

Homework

1. Page 2 & 8 of the English worksheet.

Important Notice

1. Please read the previous blog post.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

What We Have Learnt in Term 3 Week 5


Mathematics

1. Numbers to 40: Adding 3 Numbers

- Making ten to add 3 numbers: This is actually a mental calculation strategy as it is easier to calculate mentally when you 'make ten' first. Pupils have to be very good at 'making ten' first before they can master this strategy.

Step 1:
'Making ten'
1+9=10
2+8=10
3+7=10
4+6=10
5+5=10

Step 2:
9+ 7 + 1 = 10 + 7 = 17

8+8+8= 8+2+4+2+8 = 10 +4+10 = 24

2. Part-Whole Model

This is a problem solving strategy to help pupils solve word problems. I cannot stress how important this is in helping them understand and solve word problems at a higher level (2-step word problems and more) later on. Pupils have to understand that parts make up a whole before they can master this strategy. Please note that some pupils can easily identify the parts and whole in a word problem but others need to be practice this strategy until it becomes easy to identify the parts and whole.

Step 1:

Identify the parts and the whole in the word problem. For example:

There are 30 students in Class 1.6. 14 of them are girls. How many boys are there?

Whole: total sum of students : 30
Parts: Boys : 14 , Girls : ?

Step 2:

Draw a part-whole model. This is a basically a bar which represents the whole and that has been subdivided to represent the different parts. Please try to encourage pupils to draw in proportion to the number they are representing. (Please note: this may seem tedious but drawing accurate representations help them to visualise the word problems and again is key in helping them solve word-problems at a higher level in the future).
Common mistake:

This mistake shows that the pupil does not understand that 40 is the whole and should be represented by the entire bar model. It is not a part and hence should not be part of the bar model.

*Please note that this week we will be doing comparison models which requires pupils to draw two separate bar models to represent and compare different quantities.



English

1. Grammar: Subject-Verb-Agreement

A singular noun (S) or a plural noun (P) should be followed by the correct verb.

Grammar rule:

Singular noun + verb(s)
Plural noun + verb

The boy likes to eat sweets. The boys like to eat sweets.
(S) verb(s) (P) verb

Exception to the rule:

The singular pronoun 'I' and 'You'

I like to eat sweets. You like to eat sweets.
(S) verb (S) verb

*I find it effective to ask pupils to highlight/underline the nouns so they know what verb to use.

Please note: The use of the correct verb comes with consistent practice. Pupils may find it confusing at first because they think that plural nouns should be followed by an s because plural nouns have the letter s e.g. table(s), chair(s). That's why I find it useful to differentiate nouns and verbs with them.

2. Grammar: Simple past tense or present tense

Contextual clues such as yesterday, last night/year/week indicates that you must use the past tense.

Example:

Yesterday was an unlucky day for me.
(clue) (past)

Contextual clues such as every day, today, this/year/week indicates that you must use the present tense.

Example:

I go to school by bus every day.
(present) (clue)

2. Grammar: Simple past tense or present tense

Grammar rule:

Add an '-ed' or a '-d' to a verb to change it to the past form.

Example 1: Add '-d' if the verb ends with 'e'.

Present Past
skate skated
die died
dance danced

Example 2:

Present Past
play played
bowl bowled
shout shouted

Exceptions to the rule:

Example 3:
Present Past
cut cut
come came
go went

Please feel free to clarify anything by texting or e-mailing me.

Friday, July 29, 2011

29th July, Friday

Homework

1. English worksheet page 1-3 & 10-12.
2. Language Usage Booklet page 10, 11 & 14.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

28th, July

Homework

1. Heuristic Booklet page 13-17

Please note: I will be doing most of it in class with them. I'm really trying to ensure they can draw the correct models as this will really help with their understanding of word problems all the way to P6. Do help me to reinforce this 'problem solving method' at home. There are two types of models. 'Part-whole' model and 'comparison' models. Do refer to their heuristic booklet for examples of these models. Please be patient with them as this is their first time drawing models and they require ample practice. The effort is well worth it as this is a skill that will help them all the way to P6.

Important Reminder

1. Do report to school by 12.35p.m for the school induction programme. Please line up in front of the book-shop. Thank you.The objective of the induction programme is to officially introduce to the pupils the school values garden, The school values garden is a place for pupils to showcase the school values of Respect, Resilience, Spirit of Excellence and Innovation, Self-Discipline and Integrity. The early reporting time is to ensure the induction is finished before school starts so no curriculum time is taken. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

26th, Tuesday

Homework
1. Maths Workbook page 68-72.

Things to note for Word Problems:
Please help me to remind the pupils to include
1. Number sentence (they always leave this out)
2. Working
3. Model (if necessary)

Monday, July 25, 2011

26th, Monday

We had a very fun day at Changi Airport. The children had a lot of fun and I think they need a good rest tonight. No homework was given and no homework could be collected as we arrived in school just in time for dismissal. A big thank you to the parent volunteers who have helped in one way or another during our trip. Your children loved having you there.

Important reminder:

1. Edusave form. For those who have not completed the form and submitted it today, please do so by tomorrow. Thank you.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

What We Did This Week

The students had an enjoyable and enlightening week as they participated in Innochef, Musical Theatre, E-Animation and the English Fun Week activities. Below are some pictures from the Innochef activity, courtesy of Mr Yek.








Thank you Mr Chua for helping us bake our cupcakes =)



Mrs Lim is helping us to decorate our cupcakes



Anyone wants to learn how to make a yummy Milo drink?



Mr Yong and Mr Chua 'inspecting' the students at work =) Thank you for being so patient.

More uploads soon...

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Friday, 22nd July

Homework
1. Maths worksheet page 1-6.


Important Notice:
1. Sign edusave form for Problemsums.com. Those who do not have the edusave form please submit $10.50.
2. For those who have ordered the zoologist badges, please bring $2.50 on Monday.


Things To Bring on Monday


1. Writing materials e.g. Pencil case
2.Clipboard (if possible,for writng purposes)
3. Packed lunch and water bottle
4. Jacket (in case they are cold)
5. Homework.
6. Edusave form.
7. Please ensure the students wear their PE-Attire. Thank you.

Buses will set off for Changi Airport T3 at 1.15pm

21st, Thursday

Homework

1. Maths Workbook page 63-66.
2. Spelling corrections.

Important Notice
1. Parents' Notification letter has been given.
2. Please sign the Spelling Book.
3. Response slip to contribute for Teachers'/Children's Day. This is not compulsory but on behalf of the school, I would like to thank you should you decide to make a contribution.
4. The script for the Musical Theatre has been given out today. Do help them to practice their lines. Thank you.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Wednesday, 20th July

Homework
1. English worksheet page 3-5
2. Math workbook corrections


Important Reminder
1.All pupils are to be in ETHNIC costume on 21/7/2011 (Thursday)in celebration of Racial Harmony Day.
2. Please sign the Maths Trail registration form and make the payment of $13 in cash or cheque by tomorrow. Thank you. Please note that this activity is part of the school curriculum and all students are required to participate.
Parent Volunteers for Maths Trail to Changi Airport

Mrs Lim - parent of Shan Ying

Max - parent of Chloe (pending)

Mdm Chua - parent of Yves

Mrs Chua - parent of Daryl


Date: 25th July
Time : 1.00-5.30p.m. (I will see you at the General office at 1 p.m.)
Role: *To help ensure the safety of the pupils.
We have hired facilitators to carry out the activities with the students.


Thank you very much for offering your assistance. You play a huge role in helping the pupils get the most from the activity.

Tuesday, 19th July

Important Notice
1. Please remember to bring a container for the Innochef lesson tomorrow. The container must be big enough to put at least 3 normal-size cupcakes.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Monday, 18th July

Homework
1. English worksheet page 11.

Important Notice
1. Please remember to bring a container for the Innochef lesson on Wednesday. The container must be big enough to put at least 3 normal-size cupcakes.
2. There is no remedial tomorrow as I will not be in school because I will be attending a workshop.
3. If your child has completed the young zoologist booklet and you are intereted to purchase the badgs at $2.50 each, please indicate in your child's student diary by tomorrow as I need to place an order for the badges. Thank you.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

What We Learnt This Week

English

Musical Theatre

The pupils will be performing a play of the story ‘The Tortoise and The Hare’ in September. They have been taught the actions and dialogue for their roles. I will be giving each of them the script on Monday. It will be good if you can help them to practice their lines.

Grammar

1. Adverbials – one day, every day/evening/morning, tomorrow, in a few days

one day - used to start a story

every day/evening/morning - used to show that something happens daily

tomorrow, in a few days - to show something that will happen in the future

Mathematics

Numbers Up to 40: Key Areas of Focus

1. Count in groups of 10.

For example:

10, 20, 30, 40

2. Revise the concept of place value: tens and ones. This is an important concept they must understand. I use ten-dollar notes and one-dollar coins to help them understand this concept.The ten-dollar note represents the tens and the 1-dollar coin represent the ones.

For example:

2 tens = 20 and 40 = 4 tens

2 ones = 2 and 6 = 6 ones

32 = 3 tens and 2 ones

Common errors:

32 = 30 tens and 2 ones

3. Writing the numerals in words.

Common errors:

40 = fourty (x) instead of 40 = forty

29 = twenty nine (x) instead of 29 = twenty-nine

4. Number Patterns

For example:

33______, ______, 24, 21, ______


Pupils are usually unable to do this question. I ask them to focus on the given numbers that are beside each other. In this case 24 and 21. Then I ask them what they have to do to 24 to get 21. In this case subtract 3. Then I ask them to do the same to 33 to get the number beside it. In this case, 33-3 to get 30.



Thank you for the support you give to your child at home.





Friday, July 15, 2011

Friday, 15th July

Dear Parents,

Thank you very much for your coorperation. Everyone came in the proper attire for the health check-up except for 1 pupil. Please note that if your child was unable to receive the jab today due to his/her medical condition (prior illness e.g. fever) you will be notifed of when and where you have to bring your child for their imunization injection.

Due to the length of time taken for the health check-up, I was unable to carry out Show and Tell today. Hence, I will do so the following Monday 18th July. Thank you for understanding.

Homework
1. Chapter 12 Math worksheet - all the pages
2. Spelling corrections. Please sign the spelling book.

Important Notice
1. Last date of submission for the Young Zoologist Booklet is Monday 18/7.
2. Last date of submission for the tickets for the Musical Aladdin is Monday 18/7.


I seek your cooperation in meeting the given deadlines. Thank you.





Parent Volunteers






1. I still need at least 4 more parent volunteers for the Innochef activity next week, Wednesday 20/7 2-4.30 p.m. Please do text me if you're interested as you are vital in ensuring the students gets the most from this activity.




Currently the two Parent Volunteers for this activity are:




1. Mr Chua - parent of Daryl




2. Mrs Lim - parent of Shan Ying






Thursday, July 14, 2011

Thursday, 14th July

Important Notice

1. Please remember to submit the completed Young Zoologist booklet tomorrow.
2. Please help me to ensure the pupils are wearing their PE attire for the health check-up tomorrow.
3. The order form for the musical Aladdin must be submitted by tomorrow. It is not compulsory. However do note that your child must be accompanied by a parent or a sibling. Do indicate clearly on the form how many tickets you wish to purchase . Tickets are limited so do try to submit the form by tomorrow.

Homework
1. Grammar worksheet

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Tuesday, 12th July

Homework

1. Poggy Frog and The Cows - page 7-8 and the last page. Please complete the corrections.

2. Maths Workbook page 37-44. Please complete the corrections.

3. Please sign the Maths Workbook.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

What We Have Learnt in Term 3 Week 2

Things to Note:

Math

1. Picture Graphs
  • Highlight keywords such as types = different kinds.
Example of questions:

(a) How many types of juice are there?
(b) How many glasses of juice did the children drink altogether?

  • Highlight the difference between question (a) and question (b). Pupils tend to give the same answer for both questions.
2. Find the difference.

  • Highlight questions that requires them to find the difference. Emphasize that you use subtraction to find the difference.
Example:

(a) How many fewer apples than oranges did Ahmad eat?
(b) How many more apples than kiwis did Ahmad eat?

3. Model method

  • I have taught the pupils how to draw models. Please help me to reinforce this method as this gives them a visual representation and helps them to solve the following problems listed below. I have practiced this a few times with the students and this method seems really effective in getting them to understand the 'more than' and 'less than' concept. This model method will also help them to solve word problems involving 'more than' and 'less than'.
Example of problems:

(a) 16 is 1 more than ? .

What I taught the students: 16 is more so the model for 16 is longer than the model for ? . Hence to get the answer for ? you have to take 16-1=15.

(b) 16 is 1 less than ?

What I taught the students: 16 is less so the model for 16 is shorter than the model for ? . Hence to get the answer for ? you have to take 16+1=17.

_____________________________________________________________


English

1. Word Order

  • Pupils have to take note that they have to rearrange the words and begin the sentence with a capital letter and end with a full stop or question mark.
2. Grammar

  • Singular noun singular verb
Example: The dog sits on the rug.
  • Plural noun plural verb
Example: The dogs sit on the rug.

3. Vocabulary
  • Try to encourage your child to use the new vocabulary words they have learnt.
The words are: evening, meeting, pond, shoo, skedaddle (to depart quickly or hurriedly), thirsty, wonderful

Dear parents, I thank you once again for your support and partnership in ensuring that your child fulfills their potential.