SASA girls dance to the Nutcracker!

On December 11th, Grade 2 SASA girls collaborated with several 3rd Graders and performed the Christmas classic "Trepak" from the Nutcracker Ballet. This was one of the many wonderful performances at the ES Carol Night which celebrated peace and unity at Seisen.

１２月１４日（月曜日）
日本語クラスに「おはなし会」のみなさんがいらっしゃいました。
６つのおはなしをしてくださいました。

Japanese class hosted "Ohanashi-Kai", a story telling group.
Their story telling skills were amazing! 

Grade 2 Mathematics

Peak Into Grade 2 Mathematics

Last week, Mr. Hughes and Ms. Sandra visited us in 2A and 2B and taught some fun addition activities for learning addition number bonds.
2A learned how to play an interactive iPad game called "Hit the Button," while 2B learned how to play a game called "Make 20." 

In "Hit the Button," 2A raced against the clock to find the matching number bond to 10, 20 and 100.

"Make 20" was a dueling game in which two players turned around and quickly circled the matching pair.

Many of girls had so much fun in either activity that they continued playing even after the lessons were over!

Join in on the learning!

Try asking your daughter about one of these games and practice number bonds together at home!

Also, feel free to check out the link below for a "behind-the-scenes" of how a lesson like these are planned. At Seisen we follow a Primary Years Programme  guided through a Solo Taxonomy framework.

HTB/ Make 20 Lesson Plan  

So what's next in Grade 2 mathematics?
We will be learning how to...

• Develop strategies for memorizing addition numbers facts
• Estimate sums and differences
• Add numbers with up to three digits, using formal written methods of columnar addition and subtraction
• Use manipulatives, drawings, tools and notations to show strategies and solutions

Storytelling Time in the Media Centre

Ms Ingrid and Ms Lea told stories today to begin the new UOI How we Express Ourselves. Then the girls retold them to their partners demonstrating how stories communicate meaning. 

Perhaps the girls can remember one of the stories well enough to retell it at home with just some picture clues:

                                    

Guest Storyteller: Buddy the Frog!

On November 25, the second graders met a puppeteer from Brazil named Juan Alberto Uribe (and his friend Buddy the Frog). He taught us how to use puppets effectively. We will be starting a new Unit of Inquiry about storytelling soon, and Mr. Uribe gave us some great ideas about how to use our voices and puppets to tell stories! He has been doing workshops and performing puppet shows throughout Asia. 

Inquirers in Science: Conducting Fair Tests

Why is it important to study fair tests?

As a part of our Earth Changes Unit, Grade 2 is learning how to conduct fair tests. They are investigating about fast and slow changes and observing how different variables affect the experiments.

In one of our fair test experiments, we simulated how earthquakes affect buildings using a scale model. 

What do I predict will happen (hypothesis)?
What will I test?
What are the independent & controlled variables?
How will I make sure it will be a fair test?

Our budding scientists recorded their observations and reflected on their conjectures.

What are other classes learning about how the world works? Click on this link to see a short video of Grade 5's Science Fair.

Rhythms All Around Us

Rhythm is an important part of music. We learned that rhythms are made of long and short sounds. Seisen’s Grade 2 students started the year by learning about rhythms. Students clapped, sang, and played different rhythms. Finally as a summative task students figured out the rhythms for various chocolates and made their own chants with repeated patterns and varied sounds. Their chants were so delicious that students actually ate them at the end!

Students figured out the rhythm for each chocolate.  

They collaborated to make a chant using the names of the chocolate.

Here’s what one of the chants looked like.

Students are using what they learned about rhythm to prepare for our upcoming Carol Night concert. Their performance includes playing instruments, singing songs, and dancing. Students play the xylophones, metallophones, and glockenspiels.

Students are playing various instrument parts in preparation for Carol Night. What do you notice about the set-up of these instruments?

Grade 2 students are learning to identify features in non-fiction texts such as labels, table of contents, diagrams and more! These skills will help them inquire into our current unit, "How the World Works."

In Grade 2B, the students have been learning Cooperative Games on the field. Concepts such as cooperation, communication and teamwork have been discussed and the girls have been developing these skills through the various games being played. Check out the image below of 2B bouncing their way around the field during a game of Rob The Nest! ~ Mr Hawkins

2B Bouncing

Learning to Challenge Ourselves!

On Tuesday, September 29th, the Grade 2 Seisen girls went to the Tsukushino Obstacle Course. In our current unit of inquiry, we are learning that awareness of our characteristics, abilities and interests informs our learning and development. The girls had a great time attempting and completing many of the obstacles. They were able to reflect on their strengths, abilities and limitations. We are very proud of our risk-taking, confident and committed students!